8 Years Ago
“Come on, are you being serious?” Theo laughs, squeezing my shoulder.
If he asks me to go one more time, I swear I may actually puke. I don’t know why he says things like this. He seems to think he knows me better than anyone, yet he couldn’t be more wrong about this.
“No one will even know me there,” I mutter.
Theo groans. “Oh brother, not this shit again.”
Leaning over me, he places both hands on my shoulders, looking me straight in the eyes.
“Jeremiah Blackwood. You sweet, sweet boy.“ I roll my eyes at his obvious sarcasm. “This is your last year of high school and you’ve never even been to a party. You’ve gotta start livin’ man. L-I-V-I-N.”
I squint. “Did you just quote McConaughey at me?”
Theo’s mouth quirks up on one side. “You know your movies.” He swings his arm around one of my shoulders and holds me close. “You’re coming Friday.”
“Only cool people go to cool parties,“ I only semi-tease.
“Snap out of it,” he groans. “You’re cool, Jay. Really fucking cool. You’ve just gotta give people a chance to see that. Trust me, they’re not all bad.”
I take a deep breath. I usually assume the worst about people. But, that’s because people usually suck. And I have yet to be proven wrong about that.
And yet...
My eyes drift through the cafeteria until they land on Chase Rutherford. Something twists in my stomach when I remember what happened the other night. We just… swam in my pool for a while. But…it was nice.
“Will Chase be there?” I ask, trying to sound casual.
Theo follows my gaze, eyebrows lifting.
“Rutherford?” He lets out a short laugh. “Uh… probably. But you don’t know him, do you?”
He gives Chase a wave, who catches and returns the gesture. For some reason, sparking snickers and laughter from those around them.
I may be pale, but I try to stifle the light blush creeping up my neck. “Yeah…we’re kind of friends, I guess.” I shrug.
“Friends?” He repeats slowly. Then he shrugs. “If you say so.”
A small smile tugs at my lips. Friends. It only took me four years, but it feels nice.
I look back over to see Chase walking over to us. I wonder what he’s doing. With a frown plastered on his face, gripping a tall cup in his hand, and murmurs and taunts following close behind him, I can’t help the awful feeling rising in my stomach.
Maybe I was wrong.