“Duncan!” The red-head chimed. His voice was a low, husky baritone–and it was as bright and sing-songy as I remembered. Oscar Murphy. He was a choir kid, which was how I met him. We stood next to each other sometimes in rehearsal–of course, back then I was an Alto.
Duncan waved, and was instantly pulled into a hug by the blond, Ian Rogers. His girlfriend, Connie Wilson, joined in on the hug. Then Oscar. Last to join was Violet Fisher, but just as she was about to wrap her arms around her friends, her eyes locked with mine.
And she stopped.
My breath hitched in my throat, and I shoved my hands in my pockets to hide the fact that they were shaking. I could practically hear the seconds tick by. Once she caught sight of me, the others were close to follow. One by one they saw me, furrowed their eyebrows, and turned to Duncan for an explanation.
I couldn’t find my voice.
The room swirled around me, becoming a mess of conversations and familiar faces. I wanted to run, but I stayed rooted in my spot. If they clocked me, they would tell Duncan, and then he would be pissed at me and I didn’t want to deal with that.
“Oh, right, everyone, this is Liam. He’s new in town.”
My throat was dry. They each turned their attention back to me, and I desperately tried to read their expressions. I needed to find some indication of whether or not they recognized me.
Ian nodded and held out his hand. “Liam! Good to meet you. I’m Ian. This is my girlfriend, Connie.”
I didn’t really know what to do, so I shook his hand.
She smiled and waved. “Hi.”
Oscar held his hand out next, and I shook that one as well. “Oscar. Oscar Murphy. Nice to meet you.”
“And I’m Violet, but most people call me Vi.” Vi. That was new. She smiled at me as she adjusted her plaid flannel, but didn’t offer a hand.
She was never the touchy-feely type, but the lack of the gesture still made me nervous.
I let out a long, shaky breath. Maybe they noticed, maybe they didn’t, but at least they weren’t saying anything. I could work with that. So long as I didn’t say anything stupid. “Nice to… uh, meet all of you.”
“So, Liam, where are you from?”
“L.A.,” I answer quickly, trying to keep my responses short and sweet.
Oscar whistled. “Wow, the big city! What brings you to a little town like Chestnut? Did the grind get to be too much for you?”
I shook my head. “Oh, no, it’s not like that. I’m not actually moving here. I’m just here for a few months.”
The collective look of confusion on their faces told me I probably didn’t reveal enough.
“What brings you to town, then?” Connie asked as she leaned into her boyfriend’s side. Honestly, I never pegged her and Ian as a couple. They certainly hadn’t been dating in high school–but things changed in eight years.
I was walking proof of that.
Before I could answer, Duncan responded. “He’s a contractor.” A pause. “Dawny hired him.”
The air in the room grew cold. Vi clicked her tongue and looked away, her eyebrows furrowed. Ian scoffed. Anger coated each of their features–years of what I could only assume was pent-up confusion, not knowing where I was or why I had left. I knew people were going to be mad at me for leaving the way that I did, but I never thought I would ever have to actually face them again.
It… kind of hurt.
“Dawny,” Oscar scoffed, “now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long while.”
“So that’s where she’s been all this time, then? L.A.?” Connie asked.
I couldn’t tell who her question was directed at, so I didn’t answer.
“Good to know she’s alive.” Ian huffed. “Would have been nice of her to, I don’t know, tell us.”
“Come on, guys, go easy on her. It’s not like any of us know why she left. Maybe she had a good reason.”
I don’t know whether Duncan defending me made me feel better or worse, but I did know that I wanted to change the topic as quickly as possible. But I also didn’t want to be suspicious. So, I shifted on my feet. I tried to look confused. I tried to seem like I was the odd one out–but not from disappearing for 8 years and then coming back a dude, from just… being the new guy. Even though I wasn’t the new guy.
How, exactly, did I manage to make my life so complicated?
“So you know her then, Liam?” Vi flipped her raven hair over her shoulder and clutched her drink a little bit tighter. She had that glint in her eye–the one that told me she was judging me. Harshly, at that.
I gave a little shrug. “You could say that, yeah.”
“Vague and mysterious.” Oliver narrowed his eyes at me.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss my clients.” I shot back, a thick defensiveness bubbling up in my stomach.
“Come on, guys, seriously. He’s new in town, he’s only been here like a week! We should be showing him the ropes–the fun parts of Chestnut! Not scaring him off by interrogating him about Dawny.” Duncan to the rescue.
Again.
It was almost exhausting.
As charming as the knight in shining armor routine was, it was getting slightly old. Or maybe I was just annoyed because I hadn’t even had one drink and I had already been accosted by my entire high school friend group.
In short, I needed that drink.
I cleared my throat. “Look, I don’t know what happened with… all of that, and I’m not really interested in finding out. None of my business. What is my business is this party, and wherever Ian got that beer. So I’m going to go hunt that down.”
Ian blinked, as if suddenly remembering I was a person, and nodded towards the back door. “Oh, right. Sorry, man, there’s a cooler out back. Want me to show you?”
“It’s fine.” I’d participated in enough basement parties in high school to know where “outside” was in just about every party spot in Chestnut. Sometimes, you just have to know how to make a quick escape. Not that Chestnut is known for its ragers or anything.
I slipped away from the group and weaved through the crowd, making myself as small as possible. Which was hard, given my entire outfit, down to the heavy work boots clomping around on the hardwood, and my general size. I was drawing way more attention than I wanted to. I could feel it. The hairs raised on the back of my neck as people caught sight of me, their eyes following my movements.
The party was a bad idea.
A very, very bad idea.
Finally, I found the cooler, and grabbed a beer off the top. I didn’t even look at the brand, or what it was, before using a nearby windowsill to pop the top off and take a swig.
It was going to be a long night.
And the party was only just getting started.
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