Young Writers Society

In the midst of the chaotic conversations, Elias realized his beer was out and he needed a refill. Yes, he was drinking while wearing his inflatable dino costume. Don't ask questions.

"Gotta fill up, be right back!" he said to Lordy, Daniel, and Benji, but they seemed preoccupied anyways. Elias bounced between the crowd, vibin' to the music and was only a few strides away before something else caught his attention...

"Oh hee-e-e-e-e-yyy," Elias said with a laugh in his voice, approaching the subject in question. "You really did dress like a cowboy. Cool."

It was James, dressed basically exactly how he thought he would. Grungey, like he was an actual rancher, which Elias was convinced was true anyways.

Elias didn't really give James much time to respond, because his eyes landed on the person next to him: Jerica, dressed like a frat boy. Was she wearing his fraternity's letters? She totally was.

"Yooo! Did you get inducted into my frat?!" Elias exclaimed with a grin. How did he miss this?

"Your frat?" she scoffed, lowering her voice and taking on the frat boy persona. "I think you mean our frat, home boy."

"No way. You mean I can start calling you my bro?"

"You already do," James said.

"Bruh, it's like that meme, hold on." Jerica yanked out her phone, which took her a minute to figure out where she'd put it, so Elias turned to James instead.

"So where's your horse?" he asked casually. "'Cause that's what cowboys bring as their plus one, right?"

"Elliot isn't allowed at parties," James said flatly. "He tends to be a party crasher."

"He probably gets that from you," Elias teased.

"Yes," James continued dryly. "I am nothing but a negative influence. At least I'm self aware."

Finally, Jerica finished furiously typing into her phone and then turned the phone around for Elias to read.



"Broooooooo," Elias said with a grin. "That's the bro'est meme ever."

"Right?" Jerica grinned and held her hand up with a half-heart, clearly expecting him to complete it. "Bros."

Elias instead fist-bumped her half-heart. "What's that saying go? Bros before..."

"Hoooooooooos," Jerica shouted. "Be jelly, I can be both."

Elias laughed, maybe a bit too drunkenly. "I can too. Who says I can't?"

"True tho," she agreed. "Ho's before bros."

Elias snorted, then paused in thought. "Hey, wait a sec. Are you saying -- you and James--" He stopped to whirl his inflatable dino self around to look at James, but he had mysteriously vanished. "Hey, where'd he go...?" he mumbled.

"He...?" Jerica turned too, then completed the circle and turned all the way around. "Jame go poof."

"Lame. He doesn't believe in bros before..."

"He's not a ho, I guess." Jerica hesitated a moment, then, "He's good at fixing my dumb though. Solid. Gotta give 'im dat."

"Fixing your what now, huh?" Elias sputtered out. "Hey, do you want a drink?"

"Yeah!" Her smile turned into a slight frown. "Wait, I don't think I'm supposed to go in there... you? could go? get them?"

Elias squinted his eyes at her. "Why can't you go in there? This is like, your house now too, bro."

"Oh, yeah, I lied about that. I'm just dressing up as Carter." She waved her hand. "And I, uh... heh... I um... might of... heh." She was blushing.

"No way. You? And Carter? ...Huh." Elias stroked his dino chin. "Guess that explains how you managed to get his clothes."

"Me and...?" She furrowed her brow, looking at him in drunken confusion. And then her eyes widened. "Nooooo. No, no, no. I didn't -- I'm not -- that's... I'm not actually a ho."

Elias laughed and patted her back a few times. It was squishy since he was squishy. "Hey man, you can do what you want. Not sure you can say bros before hos out loud, though. 'Cause, you know... we're all bros. Geddit?"

"But Carter's not who I wanna do," she rambled, still caught on that accusation. "Not that I, heh..."

"But you're dressed as him," Elias commented, trying to piece together what she was saying. It was kind of all confusing.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I wanna do him," she scoffed. "That'd be taking 'go fuck yourself' to a whole new level."

"Huh... yeah, I guess you're right. Just 'cause you like someone doesn't mean you copy what they're wearing. Otherwise I'd be wearing dresses," Elias said, still stroking his chin.

"Hey, nothin' wrong with that," Jerica answered. "You can be a liberated woman 'n shit."

"You too, man. A bro and a liberated woman. Hmmm." Elias then looked around. "Hey, speaking of, have you seen Mel anywhere?"

"Uh, no, I was outside with James and... James."

"There are two Jameses?"

"He's, uh..." She was blushing again. "No, I just meant one Jame."

"Wait, I'm confused," Elias said, totally lost. "Are we talking about the same James?"

"Yeah!" she said. "Same Jame. He was outside, being James, you know? James no like parties."

"Mmhmm. Yeah. Makes sense." Elias paused, squinting his eyes again. "Wait, then why were you outside? You don't hate parties too, right?"

"No, dude, I'm the life of parties." She hesitated a moment, not quite making eye contact. "I just hate myself. Well, hated myself. Needed a minute."

"Whoa buddy, I'm gonna have to stop you right there," Elias said, willing his brain to sober up just a smidge. "Do you need more minutes?"

"Nah, James gave me minutes," she answered. "I've come to terms with being dumb tonight."

"If you're dumb, then I'm way dumber. But I don't think I'm dumb -- well, maybe a little, but not a lot -- so that must mean you're smart. That's how that works, right?"

"I don't think so? But then again, I am very drunk."

"That's totally how this works," Elias said with a grin. "I'd cheers to that, but neither of us have a drink. So..." He lifted his dino hand up for a high five. "High five?"

"Yeah, I'm uh..." She gave him a high five, but seemed flushed.

"Hey, come on. I know what will cheer you up," Elias said as he started to herd Jerica through the crowd and towards the snack table. "Snackies! Bo made them so you know they're gonna be good." He pointed at a cookie shaped like a dinosaur. "Hey, that one's made for me."

"Nooooo." Jerica's eyes went wide. "You can't harrass someone after they give you a pity date, Elias. I can't be here."

"Hm?" Elias said as he turned around, cookie already half-eaten. "What pity date?"

"I... maybe... might or might not have... called Bo... hot," she whispered the last word. "So he came outside and asked me on a date because he hates me now."

"Awww," Elias cooed with crumbs on his face. "I don't think that's how that works, though."

"It's gotta be, because that's what happened," she insisted. "He like, pretended I'm pretty or whatever. But I know for a fact that's not true, so..."

"Well, you might think that, but there's only one way to really find out, right?" Elias said, already scanning for faces along the crowd. Before Jerica could even say anything, Elias made a loud animal screeching sound that warranted a couple weird stares near them.

"It's our 'come over here, I need help' sound," he explained when finished. "It's a roommate thing."

"Come over...?" She hesitated then her eyes went wide and she hit his chest. "You summoned him?!"

"Yeah, isn't that so cool? Look, here he comes right now!"

Bo slid into the room, popping up right behind Elias. He playfully bonked Elias's dinosaur head lightly with his fist and then came around, glancing between Elias and Jerica.

"What's up?" he asked. "What happen?"

"Hey man," Elias said as he and Bo performed their secret bro handshake. "So Jerica says you hate her. Is that true?"

Jerica wanted to die. She didn't care if James said it was off the table -- she'd simply find a different table. Because she was going to go die. In a hole. And take Elias with her. Double murder suicide.

Bo blinked.

"What?" he said, sounding genuinely confused and caught off-guard. "No, not-- not even close. Like, the opposite. Uh. Why...?"

"Great q," Elias said as he swished his head over to Jerica with raised eyebrows so she could explain.

"I..." Jerica trailed off in a whimper, not having the first idea how to fix this. Why did Elias have to go and make it worse? Why had she even told him?

"I know right, who'd hate Jerica? Someone's been spreading dumb rumors," Elias continued when the silence stretched out too long.

Jerica. Jerica was who could hate Jerica.

"I don't hate you, Jerica," Bo said, looking at her with a soft look in his eyes.

"That makes one of us." She chuckled nervously. She could feel all of the blood in her body rushing to her cheeks.

Bo flicked his eyes to Elias's dinosaur head, but looked back to Jerica.

"Well," he said gently. "It doesn't have to be that way forever. But we don't have to talk about it all now."

He reached out and set his hand on her shoulder, giving a faint squeeze. Her heart fluttered a bit. How could something be so good and so bad at the same time?

"I want you to enjoy the rest of the party," he said. "Can't have the infamous Carter walking around not having fun at his own party."

He gave Jerica a little wink, and a warm smirk. She didn't even know what her emotions were doing. She grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled it up, pressing both hands against her cheeks as she tried to figure out whether she was happy or not.

"See, that wasn't too hard. Bros always have you back, bro," Elias said as he roughly ruffled her hair.

Bo was not a bro... was he?

"And so do the Bo's," Bo said. Somehow, though it was a jokey quip, she could hear something in his tone that sounded like he was trying to intentionally make a distinction.

Elias snorted. "Bo's before bros?"

"Where do the ho's fit?" Jerica pulled her shirt back down, deciding she simply had to be ridiculous in order to pretend she wasn't as flustered as she was.

"I thought those were used for farming," Bo said, clearly hopping on the ridiculous train.

"In that case, they belong in our backyard garden," Elias answered instead.

"It is a nice garden," Bo said with a small nod.

"Oh hey, my three favorite people!" a familiar voice said behind them, but before Jerica could turn around, she was hugged from behind. It was Mel. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Garden hoes," Elias answered.

Mel shot him a weird look. "Um, okay. Kinda weird, but not the weirdest I've heard."

Jerica was glad for the at least brief break in the tension. Somehow she felt less out-numbered now. She reached her hand back and awkwardly patted Mel over her shoulder.

"We could make it weirder, if that's a challenge," Bo answered.

"I'm down for that. Show me your freaky side, Bo," Elias said with a grin.

Bo looked at Elias with a small, clearly suppressed smile.

"I don't know if anyone's ready for that," Bo said.

Jerica's mouth ran before her brain did. "Did you know wombats have square poop? That's kind of freaky, right?"

"Does that mean their buttholes are also square?" Bo asked.

"I also want to know this," Elias added.

"I dunno, bro." Jerica hesitated, conflicted. She felt like she shouldn't be calling her date "bro" -- no matter what James said. "I am a limited source of freaky facts."

"I know a few freaky facts about shrimp--" Bo started.

Mel sighed. "You boys are so weird," she said as she let go of Jerica and started to tug on Elias. "C'mon, Elias, I have to show you something actually freaky."

"But the shrimp--" Elias protested, but was already getting dragged away.

"He's your roommate, just ask him tomorrow!" Mel scolded.

"Get your freak on, Mel!" Jerica shouted after them.

And they were off.

Well, now, this was... Jerica looked after Mel for several moments too long, not quite finding the courage to look back at Bo yet.

"Shrimp have their hearts where their brains should be, in their head," Bo said.

"Same," Jerica said, looking back at him with a little smile. "Brain empty, no thoughts."

"Same," Bo said with little smile. His cheeks looked... a little pink.

"That's cool though," Jerica said. "I know some things don't have like... blood vessels 'n shit. I think it's crawfish? The heart just yeets all the blood to the spine and it trickles down 'n gets pumped again."

"So they got a blood spine," Bo mused. "That's sick."

"Right?" Jerica smiled, pleased that he'd appreciated her random bits of knowledge that she wasn't sure why she knew.

"Did you know that camels have three sets of eyelids? Apparently it has something to do with keeping sand out of their eyes, so one set is like, transparent ish and they can still see through it but technically their eyes are still 'closed'," Bo said with a bright smile on his face.

"I did not know," Jerica answered, even more pleased that she was getting random facts out of this exchange. "So it's kinda? sorta? like a snake? They don't really have eyelids, but like...yeah."

"But like, a really big, hairy, mammalian snake," Bo said, pointing his finger at her.

She gave a playful grin. "No, you."

Bo squinted his eyes for a moment and then let out a big laugh.

"No, you," he retorted through laughter.

Jerica laughed too. She still felt so odd around Bo now. Part of her felt the overwhelming sense of contentment she usually had when she was around Bo -- the security in his presence and friendship. The rest of her was still angst incarnate. "You shoulda been a biologist."

"Unfortunately, I'm not really good enough at math and science for that," Bo said. "I can only do math in cups and teaspoons exclusively."

"Oh my god!" She said with more force than she meant. "Don't even get me started on math. It's the devil."

"How many math test nightmares do you have a year?" Bo asked. "For me I average at least twenty."

"You mean aside from having to go to class?" She rubbed her chin with faux contemplation.

"Those are waking nightmares," Bo said with a wave of his hand. "Different beast."

"True," she agreed. "You know, I sleep talk when I get stressed. Heh. It's the weirdest thing. I don't know why stress brings that out in me. But I definitely sleep-ramble about radians." She shuddered.

"Sometimes Elias sleep talks, but usually it's always near-incomprehensible," Bo said, looking up in thought. "Though sometimes he will very energetically say 'yeah boi' or 'broooo'. I don't know if I sleep talk..."

He squinted his eyes and pursed his lips together as he looked off into the distance, pondering.

"I didn't know that I do until college," she said. "Rek and I had separate bedrooms growing up, so he didn't hear it until I started rambling about chemistry in my sleep a few months ago." She laughed a bit. "He thinks it's really funny. Can always tell when I have a test coming up."

"I guess Elias knows when I have a test coming up when I end up falling asleep in the kitchen... which happens more often than you'd think," Bo said. "I have to obsessively set alarms so that I wake up in time to get food out of the oven."

"That's so sad!" She reached out and put her hand on his arm in sympathy. She immediately wasn't sure if that was the right move or not, and uncertainly left it on his arm as she continued. "That somehow seems worse than falling asleep on a textbook. Where do you even rest your head? By the knives?"

Bo laughed, looking off to the side.

"No, it's more like uh, I'll lean against the wall or just sit down at the table with my head on the table. You know when you tell yourself 'I'm only going to close my eyes for one second?' and then it is not one second? Happens all the time."

"Oh, that's valid." She was silent for a moment, thinking of all the places she'd passed out. Well, fallen asleep. She didn't even want to think of all the places she'd actually passed out. That involved a lot of random frat houses and the occasional field. "Dangerous game to play. I always have to put my alarm across the room or I'll snooze it and stay in bed the rest of my life."

"I feel that," Bo said. "So much. I should probably start doing that and putting my alarm across the room, but I think I run into the problem where if I can't stop the alarm, my brain will just learn to tune it out instead. Which is uh, not the best. So I kind of just use my phone to wake me up by staring at if for a few minutes in the morning, hah."

"Fascinating." It was so odd how different people coped with waking up each day. Rek was a psychopath who actually slept enough and could simply... wake up? It could never be her. "See, alarms really irritate me. So I start each new morning with unfettered rage."

"I just start every morning as a zombie," Bo said. "I roll out of bed and by the time I get ready I usually can't remember getting ready."

"Or roll off the table, as the case may be."

"Naturally."

"That's valid," she said. "Honestly, I used to have such a hard time sleeping. But now I'm just so perpetually exhausted I pass out super easy. And wake up not-easy."

Bo hummed and nodded.

"I still kind of have a hard time falling asleep, but I feel you on the struggle to wake up," he said.

"Why's that?" she asked thoughtfully, cocking her head to the side.

"I have a hard time shutting this down," he said, pointing to his head.

"Big brain," she answered solemnly.

"Only when I try to sleep apparently," he said. "But yes."

"I feel you," she said. "College is wack, yo. Can't wait to be done with this place. Go on and be a big-kid biologist." She hummed and looked up at him. "And you can be a big-kid-chef-man with your hundred billion Insta followers."

"Bro, I have, like, 500 maybe. I don't think I'm gonna go viral," Bo said. "I don't think I could handle that sort of fame."

"I could double that number for you tonight," she offered, glancing around the room. That might have been a slight exaggeration -- she had a penchant for that -- but she was sure if she went around the room ordering people to follow Bo's Insta, she could convince them. "At least -- wait, am I even following you?"

"I uh," Bo said. "I... I don't think so? What's your insta?"

"Itsnotmyfirstname420," she laughed a bit, suddenly embarrased.

"Blazeit," Bo added immediately.

"Eyyyyy!" She finger-gunned at him.

He finger-gunned back. "Eyyyyyy."

"For real, though," she said. "I'm convinced half the team still thinks my first name is Ainsley. And... it's not. Heh." She shrugged. "I mean, like, I don't really mind it -- Ainsley's a good name. It's just funny. Especially since that means none of them have literally any idea what my last name would be, you know? Out here being a renegade Ainsley."

"Wait, so none of them call you Jerica?" Bo asked.

"I mean, a couple do -- like, Davey, and the -addeuses." She thought for a moment, brain moving slow, as she tried to remember if anyone else called her Jerica. "But... I think they don't know what to do with there being a girl on the team, you know? 'Cause some of the boys go by their first name, and some by their last -- and I know a few who call me Ainsley that do know that my name is Jerica. But, like, I dunno. Once Frankie tried to introduce me to someone that I knew that he didn't know that I know, and called me Ainsley, and seemed really confused when my friend was like 'oh hi Jerica'." She smiled to herself as she thought about the sheer ridiculousness of that situation. "It was actually really funny."

"It's almost like you have a cool secret not-so-secret alias," Bo mused.

"I'm like double-o-seven," she said. "The name's Ainsley. Jerica Ainsley. But no one knows that. Hah."

"Ainsley does kind of sound like a spy name," Bo said with a little smile. "Ainsley. Super secret soldier spy. Agent Ainsley."

"I'll take it," Jerica laughed. "Still disappointed your last name isn't Patron."

"What, like a patron god or something?" Bo asked.

"No, no, we went over this with your dad, remember?"

"Oh, right," Bo said, sounding like he was remembering.

"You're not the Patron to my Cuervo. Sad!"

"Too bad your last name isn't Cuervo," Bo said. "Then we'd at least be closer to it being a thing."

"A tragedy," Jerica agreed with faux sincerity. "But I think Bo 'n Jer is a pretty killer duo." She flushed in an instant, not sure if that was too flirty or not.

"Me too." Bo smiled. "But not in the literal killer way."

"You don't know me," she cut in playfully. "Don't tell me how to live my life."

Bo raised up his hands.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said innocently.

She grinned up at him. But then she suddenly felt unsettled. She noticed Bo's smile faded, and he too looked a little off, having a slightly sour expression. Either he had gas, or he was unsettled too. She blinked, hard, trying to clear her mind. Why was she thinking of swords all of a sudden? She wasn't actually a killer, obviously.

"But, uh, heh." She coughed, trying to move past the awkwardness of the moment. She forced a smile and playfully lifted her hands, but even that felt more threatening than she knew what to do with. Still, she forced the joke. "Good. Or you'd catch these hands. Bam-bam." She did a fake swing towards his shoulder. Well, arm.

But before she made contact, he actually did catch her hand, with surprisingly speedy reflexes. His face started to turn red though, as he stayed frozen, holding her hand between them.

She blinked at him, startled by the response. And unsure how to respond. She felt a sudden impulse to actually try to hit him with her other hand, but managed to stop herself before she did something they'd all regret.

"Ahah," Bo laughed, giving her hand a small gentle squeeze before letting her go. "Sorry."

"Heh!" She shook her head, still not quite sure what was happening between them.

"Are you hungry?" Bo asked suddenly.

"Always!" she piped quickly, glad for the change in subject. She rubbed the back of her neck, not quite sure what to do with her hand now that he'd turned loose of it.

"Then let's go raid the snack table," Bo suggested, already walking off in the direction of the kitchen and waving for her to follow.

"How many of them dino cookies did you make?" she asked, trotting after him like a toddler.

"Too many," Bo said. "Which means we'll need to eat a lot."

"The limit does not exist," she said, wondering if he'd catch the meme.

Bo smirked. "That's right."

Jerica grabbed one of the cookies and held it up to him. "Cheers!"

Carter smiled thinly. So, Evaline was going to play dumb. Fine.

"James Hawke's roommate and long-time friend," Carter said politely. "I believe he's a mutual friend of ours."

Evaline slowly nodded and briefly looked up in thought like she was trying to remember a Carter Haddon. She didn't have to, of course, but she didn't want to feed his ego either.

"Oh, that's right. James may have mentioned you once or twice. It's nice to meet you," she said.

"A pleasure to meet you as well," Carter said with a smile. He looked her up and down for a moment. "I see you're the devil to Mel's angel costume."

"And you're the knight to a princess, I assume," Evaline quipped back.

"Oh, but Evaline. All women are queens," Carter said cheesily.

Evaline had to try really hard to not show her inner cringe. "I suppose renaissance knights can be modern-day feminists too, I guess," she said, shuffling her weight to her other foot.

Carter scoffed. "Of course. We've got to keep up with the times," Carter said. He waved both hands out in front of him, closing his eyes for a moment as he shook his head. When he looked back up she could sense he was about to change the topic before he said anything.

"How are you enjoying the party so far?" Carter asked.

"I'm underdressed, surrounded by fraternity boys, and already smell like beer." She tilted her head ever so slightly, observing him. "What do you think?"

"Sounds like you need another drink," Carter said with a teasing smirk.

"And if this were a game of jeopardy, you'd have lost," Evaline said, mirroring the tease in her voice.

"But this is real life," Carter said with a look Evaline could only liken to condesencion. "And if you're not even trying to have fun, I'm pretty sure you're the one who's losing."

"Are you having fun?" she asked, shooting his question back to him.

Carter's smile grew almost devilishly.

"Oh, I'm having the time of my life," he said with a hint of mischief weaving its way into his words. "Surrounded by friends, good food, and feeling a little tipsy. Couldn't be happier."

Evaline watched Carter closely before carefully and slowly saying her next words. "The true joys of life are found in the quiet, honest conversations."

It was a quote James once told her, and possibly even to Carter.

The look of recognition that passed over Carter's face was almost imperceptable, but Evaline caught it in the way he slightly narrowed his eyes.

"I see you've been spending a lot of time with our mutual friend," he said. "Well said."

"I'm sure you've spent a lot more time with him more than me, though," Evaline said, then paused for a moment. "Since you are close friends and roommates."

"Naturally," Carter said smoothly. "We go way back."

"It's nice that history brings you together. But if history is of any indication of the future, then you'll be roommates even past graduation."

Carter's mouth turned into a sly smile, as if he was trying to say with his eyes that he knew she was trying to get under his skin.

"For everything there is a season," Carter said. "At some point, we will part ways naturally. That's simply part of adulthood and growing up. But I do expect for us to stay in touch."

Evaline hummed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought you were the poet."

"You'd be surprised," Carter said, sly smile still remaining. "James and I have more in common than you'd think."

"Likewise," she said as she crossed her arms, eyes still focused on Carter. Somehow, it felt like the party music dimmed so they could hear each other clearer.

"I'm glad that James has found another kindred spirit," Carter said, standing up a little straighter. "He's made more friends in this last semester than the entirety of his college career. I'm happy for him."

Evaline hummed again, drumming her fingers on her crossed arm. "It may have something to do with him getting out of his home and 'putting himself out there,' so to speak. I'm also happy that he has other people he can talk to and depend upon."

She didn't really care that that came across as thinly-veiled arrogance. She had heard of enough stories from James about Carter's manipulation tactics, and she wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine.

"I am too," Carter said. The words came out almost too sincere to the point of being suspect. "He's been isolated for too long."

"Why do you think that is?" Evaline asked. "On why he isolated himself, I mean."

"Are you asking for a general psychological analysis or my opinion as his friend?" Carter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize I was speaking to a psychologist. Next time, I'll book an appointment," she said, this time not trying to hide the sarcasm.

Carter rolled his eyes.

"If you really care to know," he said flatly. "I think it's his way of protecting himself. But you didn't hear that from me."

"Protecting himself from what? A dull roommate?" she continued, patience wearing thin.

Carter only blinked as he looked off into the crowd, at least, on the outside, appearing unfazed.

"From getting hurt," he said. "Obviously. Ever heard of trust issues?"

Evaline faltered, not sure where this conversation was going now. It made her skin crawl that the next conversation topic might be about James's trust issues from the point of view of his manipulative roommate.

"You really are a psychologist. Could have fooled me," she said instead.

"I was going to major in psychology my first year, but then I switched," Carter said like it was common knowledge. "Still intrigues me though."

"People are complex. It's only natural to want to understand how other people think."

"Unless, of course, you're always flying by the seat of your pants," Carter said, his eyes flicking into the crowd. It felt like he was looking at someone in particular, but Evaline wasn't able to make out who it was. "Nothing wrong with that, though, necessarily. I suppose there's always a balance between the two. You have to be flexible. But if you pay attention, you're able to make more informed decisions. It's good to have both skills."

Evaline wasn't sure what warranted this lecture, but she didn't really care. "Thanks for the advice," she simply said, blandly.

"Anytime," Carter said, matching her disinterested tone. "On that note, I think I'm getting a little hungry."

He turned, pointing himself in the direction of the kitchen, but glanced over his shoulder back at her.

"I'm sure I'll see you around throughout the night. Enjoy your time talking to... the professor. Evening, Morri," Carter said with a nod of his head to acknowledge the teacher's quiet presence.

"And to you," Morrigan echoed.

And with that, Carter disappeared into the crowd.

Daniel couldn't even mutter a response back to Lordy's question about the costumes. His cheeks were burning at the thought of what they had just been called. When he sneaked the briefest of looks over at Benji, he saw Benji's face was bright red, too.

It wasn't the first time they had been confused for a couple tonight. Daniel knew it was understandable to feel a little flustered right now, but it should have been easier to deal with this time around. Was it really that obvious that he liked Benji?

He glanced over at Benji again, knowing that doing it would really confirm Lordy's comment. He just cared too much about Benji to not check up on him.

Benji's cheeks were still red, but he had a different expression on his face now. It was almost contemplative. He stood there for a minute, arms crossed and lips in a thin line. Then something just seemed to click on his face, and he glanced over at Daniel with wide, startled eyes.

Eyes that, for a moment, looked bright red instead of brown.

Daniel blinked and rubbed his eyes. The red lingered for a second before turning back to brown. For some reason that Daniel didn't entirely get, he glanced down at the necklace that Benji always seemed to be wearing.

Before Daniel could process why he was suddenly so drawn to that, Benji stammered out a, "I-I need to go use the bathroom!" and rushed off into the crowd of other partygoers.

Daniel just stared after him.

So maybe that entire conversation wasn't Evaline's shining moment. Looking back on it now, she came into the conversation with a huge negative bias against Carter, and it showed. Evaline didn't really care to make friends with him, so she came off as arrogant, rude, and mean.

But to be honest, she still didn't really care. Nor did she care when she felt Morrigan's eyes on her.

She needed a distraction, and that was when she remembered Rek.

Rek watched Bo leave, a stupid smile plastered on his face.

This was ideal.

Jerica liked Bo. Bo liked Jerica. Rek liked the idea of the two of them together.

And then he realized he was awkwardly standing in the middle of the party. He wasn't quite sure what to do then. He groaned as he remembered his task. So much for forcing Jerica to take Morri his beer. It'd be weird to pawn it off on anyone else, unless Elias or one of Jerica's equally chaotic friends magically appeared in the next five seconds.

He grudingly walked the rest of the way to the kitchen and retrieved the beer, then walked towards the shots table. If he was going to be the beer-bitch, he may as well follow through and take the girls their shots as well. He tucked the beer under his arm and balanced two shots on one hand, then turned around.

He stopped short, eyes going wide as they landed on Evaline.

She was standing right in front of him, arm extended like she was about to poke him to catch his attention, but he beat her to it by swiveling around.

"Oh... sorry," she said awkwardly, taking back her hand. She glanced down at his drinks. "I wanted to talk to you. Is now a bad time...?"

"Oh, um, I..." He cleared his throat, involuntarily edging away a bit. This couldn't be happening right now. This was the last party he was going to in his entire life -- and no amount of wheedling by Jerica or Elias could change that. "No, yeah... no..." He held his hand balancing the shots out. "Drink?"

"I'm not -- I can take it off your hands, if that's, uh -- if that's what you want," Evaline said as she awkwardly reached out to take the drinks, should he hand it to her.

He blinked at her. "Is that a... yes?"

She nervously laughed, clearly losing the put-together persona from the start. "No, I mean I can help you set it down, or put it somewhere, since I wanted to talk, and I don't know if you need the space and talk with your hands or what, but -- no. I can drink... water?"

"I, um, yeah, for sure." Rek nodded, too fast. He turned towards the table and planted Morri's beer on it, then set the shots on the table. "I'm sure there's gotta be water around here... somewhere... frat boys do drink water, right?"

Why had he said that? He resisted the urge to bury his head in his hands.

"Yes, of course they -- you know what, it's fine. It's fine," Evaline said frantically, waving her hands in front of her and nearly toppling over one of the beers he placed on the table. "I don't need water. I just -- I know we got off the wrong foot last time. And I wanted to say I'm sorry. Because..." She glanced around and released a faint, unhinged laugh. "Because what's a better place to do so than a Halloween frat party?" she said with sarcasm, prusumably directed towards herself.

Rek gave a nervous laugh, coming out as more of a giggle. He stepped backward again, bumping into the drink table. He planted his hands on it behind him, trying to pretend that he'd meant to lean against it. "What? Oh, uh, no, it's fine. You're fine. Everything's... fine."

He glanced down at the table, considering the possibility of adopting Jerica's alcoholic tendencies. Is that how she managed to make it through situations like this without dying from embarrassment?

"Can we... go outside, maybe? Or somewhere quieter?" Evaline asked, pausing for a moment before saying her next words quickly with obvious panic in her voice. "Just to talk. Obviously. Just to talk. It's hard to hear with the music and all."

"Oh, uh, heh, yeah, of course..." He nodded again, but made no effort to actually move. "Good idea. Perfect idea. Good... idea." He decided to try it. He turned towards the table suddenly and grabbed a shot and downed it. Then coughed. Good gods that had gone down rough. He cringed and turned back towards her, trying to play that one off as well. "Perfect. Let's... go... to..."

His eyes were watering.

"You pick," Evaline said quickly.

"Right, yeah, sure, of course," Rek said hastily. He hesitated, remembering his advice to Bo. Jerica always fled when she actually embarrassed herself. Which meant she'd be outside. And he'd ruin all the wing-man efforts, if he dragged his angst into the middle of Jerica scoring a date. "Let's go... to the... front? yard?"

"Sure, sure," she replied distractedly, clearly not caring where they went. She swished her hand out in front of her. "Lead the way."

"Great!" He turned and started towards the front door, not really waiting for her. This was going to be bad. This was already bad. Why was she even here? This hadn't been part of the plan shared with him at all.

He walked out onto the front patio, burying his hands in his pockets as he resisted the urge to start pacing now that there was space. He realized there was a couple getting handsy on a nearby couch. No.

He turned and suddenly walked off the patio, to a darker corner of the yard, but away from that... awkwardness. He ripped off the stupid cardboard costume Jerica had made him wear, then buried his hands in his pockets again and turned to where he... thought... she would probably be.

"You don't need to take your costume out to talk. I think it's fitting, since you're a musician and all," Evaline said with a more confident voice this time. The outline of her shadow stood several feet in front of him.

"No, yeah, I know." He cleared his throat. "It just feels... constrictive. Need room to... breathe, and stuff, yeah? Yeahhh.."

"I get that. Nothing wrong with that," she said, then sighed. Deeply. "Listen. There's no easy way to say it, so I'm just going to get into it. I'm really sorry about what happened the start of the semester. I was in a bad time of my life, and I'm better now, but it doesn't excuse my behavior. I really am sorry. I'm not asking you to be my friend, even though you even offered that to me after the fiasco. I just want to apologize and help us reach some kind of closure."

"No, it's fine. Really." He shook his head emphatically. "I'm closed. All good."

Evaline faltered, clearly hesitating. "Are you, um... are you sure?" she asked.

"I mean..." He closed his eyes, forcing himself to take a deep breath. His anxiety was getting the better of him. And he was being a bad friend... acquaintance? Whatever it was that they were, since she clearly wasn't interested in being friends. Still, he was letting his own emotions get in the way of making sure that her needs were being met. "Sorry." He opened his eyes and looked at her, forcing another deep breath. "I... am also sorry. I feel like I led you on, and that was not my intention."

"No. No, no, no -- you don't have anything to be sorry about," Evaline said, sincerity in her voice. "You're not to blame. I should have been better at communicating. Really, Rek -- I'm sorry. I'm not normally -- you caught me at a weird time of my life, and that still doesn't excuse what happened, but I promise you that you will never see this type of behavior from me again."

"I mean, there's nothing wrong with that behavior." Rek shrugged. "You're into what you're into. You can't change that." He wasn't sure if he was making this better or worse.

Evaline nervously laughed again. "I know. Yes, I know. But it is wrong to assume and not confirm consent."

"I mean, you stopped though." He shrugged again. "It was just, a uh... heh... uncomfortable miscommunication. But no harm, no foul."

"But -- But that's not all," she protested. "Afterwards, you tried to reconcile things, but I refused. So I'm trying. I'm trying to reconcile things, even if it's too late. At least I'm trying."

"No, yeah." He needed to stop saying that. But he didn't have any idea how to put together a coherent answer to that. "I uh, I appreciate it. I am... unclear about what you're hoping for out of the reconciliation, though... you... don't want to be friends? Yeah?"

Evaline paused, maybe for a bit too long. "Do you?" she asked.

"I mean... we did have a lot in common before the... incident. Um... I mean, I can't really speak for you, but, uh... it was... nice. For me, anyway."

Evaline sighed, leaning her back against the wall before speaking. "Yeah," she said softly. "It was."

Rek offered a nervous smile. "It was," he reiterated. "And... it can be, I feel like. As long as we both make an effort towards it... if it's something you want, of course."

Evaline paused again. It was a long, stretched-out pause that felt like an eternity, but she spoke before he could.

"There's an upcoming art show featuring Prestige alumni." Rek blinked at her, startled at the transition, but listened intently as she continued. "I'm helping organize it. It's a big showcase featuring every art imaginable. You may have heard some of the artists' names. Some are famous, others are up-and-coming. Anyways..." She turned her head towards him. "The showcase could use a pianist. If you're interested. It'd be good exposure."

"Oh, um, yeah." He was still startled by that transition. She seemed to be intent on not actually answering whether she wanted to be friends or not. "I mean... you haven't actually heard me play." He blushed a bit. "But, um, I mean... if it's a good fit? I could, uh, possibly... uh... do that."

Evaline hummed lightly. "You're right, I haven't heard you play. I'm putting blind trust on a new friend. But I guess this means you'll have to let me listen to a few of your songs beforehand."

"I, uh..." He flushed, forcing himself to take another deep breath before he could say something stupid, like stating it had to be somewhere public. It wasn't like she was going to try anything a second time... she wasn't. No. For sure. "Yeah, I'd like that. Sometime."

A sudden rush of anxiety seemed to grab a hold of Evaline since she said her next words in a rush. "I'm not around HPU often, and even when I am, I'm either here for an assignment or on a date," -- she emphasized the words date -- "so, I, um, am free this weekend though. If that works with you. I have nothing going on besides painting."

"Yeah, that's good with me." He flashed a nervous smile. A date? With who? It seemed like all the romance was happening at this party. He didn't understand, but he also wasn't opposed. "Um... what uh..." He suddenly couldn't remember any of the words that would have made him sound smart.

"Professor Lordshire," she quickly said, but then immediately backtracked. "For the painting. I'm talking about the painting. I'm painting the professor. Dean. I'm painting him. For an assignment."

He blinked at her, too horrified by the initial implication to fully process what she'd said. But even the painting seemed awful. "You have to... that..."

"So, um, uh, yeah. This weekend? Works?" she said instead, voice thick with anxiety.

"What is painting him like?" he asked, still too stuck on that mental image. "He's... insane."

"Yes. Yes he is," she said as she rubbed her forehead and sighed. "I'll spare you the details. It may give you nightmares."

"Yeah, he does." Rek scoffed and shook his head a bit, thinking through all of the bizzare things Dean Lordshire had done so far this semester. "I'm pretty sure I'm the only student he hasn't seriously traumatized yet, and that's because I avoid him like the plague. And sit away from Jerica. So he can't associate us. Because -- sorry, rambling."

"Well, you better knock on wood. I'm not even a student here but got traumatized twice by him." She let out a little laugh, but one out of amusement instead of anxiety. "The one thing Lordshire offers that I appreciate is that it has bonded me to others. Nothing like mutual suffering that can really strengthen a friendship."

"Trauma bonding," he agreed, nodding.

"But... really," she continued. "I'm free tomorrow. I wouldn't mind getting to know you more... as friends, of course."

He smiled, finally relaxing ever so slightly. "Yeah, I'd like that. I'll uh... probably be playing mom in the morning. Usually am after a frat party. But, uh... after, maybe?"

"No rush. There's no rush," she repeated, then took out her phone, the screen illuminating her face. "Let me give you my number so you can contact me."

"Sure, yeah." Rek pulled out his phone too and opened the contacts to put her number in. He took a deep breath and slid his phone back in his pocket, not quite sure how to transition from that. "So, uh... back inside, then?"

After what felt like an eternity but was probably only a minute at most, Daniel realized that something was wrong. Part of it was that he was sure he had just hallucinated Benji's eyes turning red. Maybe it was the alcohol. It hadn't ever bothered him like this, but he guessed there were always first. Maybe it was like poison ivy. Everyone had a tolerance to it at first, but interacting with it too much stripped that protection away over time.

Another wrong thing was that he hadn't ever paid so much attention to Benji's necklace before. It was just kind of there.

But the part that really got him was how Benji had suddenly run off with the questionable excuse of needing to use the bathroom. Daniel couldn't shake the feeling that he had something to do with it, even though all he had done was stand there after Lordy had assumed they were a couple.

Either Daniel was overreading everything right now, or he really needed someone to talk this through with. He scanned the room for someone to talk to. His gaze eventually landed on the doorway to the kitchen. He caught a glimpse of Bo and Jerica as they were heading inside of the room. It wasn't a pair he expected to see at the party tonight, but he was glad two of his friends (why did that word feel so weird to think?) were in the same place right now. He could kill two birds with one stone and ask both of them for advice.

He walked across the room and slipped into the kitchen, his footsteps soft.

As Daniel came up from the side, Bo caught sight of him first and flashed him a smile.

"Oh, hey Daniel!" he said with a smile. "Nice Supernatural costume."

"Thanks," Daniel said. If he hadn't been confused by Benji running away, he would have been happy that someone finally recognized his costume. "Nice chef costume."

He paused for a moment.

"...Can I talk to you about something?" he asked.

Bo glanced at Jerica, then looked to Daniel, his expression growing more serious and concerned.

"Yeah, sure," he said sincerely. "Here? Or...?"

Daniel faltered. He wasn't really sure where he wanted the conversation. He just wanted some advice.

"Here works," he said. "I need some advice. Benji's acting...weird. I've tried figuring out why on my own, but I'm not making much progress."

...There was also the thing he had to have hallucinated, but he wasn't going to bring that up right now.

"Do you want me to go talk to him?" Jerica offered. "I can ask him why he's weird."

"Uh," Daniel said, suddenly questioning if asking a drunk Jerica for advice like he had been considering just a minute earlier was really his best idea. Someone else talking to Benji sounded like a great idea in theory, but he didn't want to make Benji even more uncomfortable than he already was. "I, uh, think we can figure that out by talking. Right here. Right now. Not by chasing after Benji, who's probably in the bathroom right now, anyways."

"Tru, tru," Bo said with a nod. He looked over to Jerica with a small, tender smile and he briefly rested his hand on her shoulder as he met her eyes. "Let's let Benji have his bathroom time."

"Mm." She gave a warm smile that reached to her eyes as she looked up at Bo. She put her own hand on Bo's. "Yeah, fair. I'm a little bit drunk right now anyway." She maintained her gaze for another long moment, then looked back at Daniel suddenly. "Do you need a hug? You seem... bothered... bothered? Is that a word?" She looked up at Bo, but then didn't wait for a response before looking back at Daniel. "Whatever. Need-a-hug-ed."

Daniel stared.

Bo and Jerica had always been friendly with each other, but the way they were looking at and touching each other seemed a little much—even for them. It also weirdly made him think of Benji, even though he couldn't figure out why it was making him think of his roommate.

...Okay, that was a total lie. Daniel knew exactly why it was making him think of Benji. Not that he was going to admit that to Bo or Jerica right now. He had been good at hiding it.

(Except around Lordy, Elias, and Carter, apparently, seeing that they all thought the two of them were dating.)

"I would never say no to a hug," Daniel said, "but I'm not bothered right now-"

Another lie.

"-but I am worried about Benji being bothered," he finished.

"Have you asked Benji what's wrong?" Bo offered.

Daniel faltered.

"...No," he admitted. He shifted a little and fiddled with one of the rings he was wearing. "He ran off before I could. Right after Lordy came over, Benji said he had to use the bathroom and just booked it. He might just have had to go, but..."

Daniel hesitated again.

"Benji looked right at me before he ran off," he said.

Jerica silently walked forward and threw her arms around Daniel in a drunken hug.

"It might be better to just find him and ask him what's up," Bo suggested as Jerica eventually let go. "But we can still talk, bro."

Daniel stiffened a little at the sudden contact, but didn't fight Jerica's hug. He stood where was. When Jerica finally let go, he looked over at Bo. Bo's suggestion made sense, but Daniel didn't really trust that Benji wouldn't come up with an excuse to run off again.

"Thanks," he said.

Jerica nodded a few too many times and then flashed a peace sign.

"Okay, Imma find the bathroom," she said before twirling around and heading back towards what looked like the kitchen.

He thought for a moment. He wasn't really sure where to start or what to say, even though he knew he wanted to sort out what had just happened.

"I think I might know what made him uncomfortable," Daniel finally said. "Lordy thought we were a couple. It wasn't the first time someone thought that tonight, but..."

No matter how hard he tried to forget it, he couldn't stop thinking about that look Benji had given him. It had reminded him of something, but he couldn't remember what. And then there was that hallucinatation he had, too...

Bo's eyebrows shot up, and he flicked his eyes back into the crowd where Jerica disappeared for just a moment.

"Oh gosh," he said. "That's really awkward. I mean, I think when people make assumptions like that out loud it can make anyone uncomfortable, regardless of how ya'll feel about each other."

"...Yeah," Daniel agreed, somewhat uncertainly. It had made him uncomfortable, but that was because Lordy had hit the nail on the head with his feelings. He shifted again and fiddled with his rings a little more. He knew there wasn't anything wrong with his feelings. He had told himself that multiple times before. But if someone incorrectly assuming they were dating scared Benji, how would Benji react to Daniel genuinely liking him like that? Wouldn't that scare him away even more?

It was at that moment that Daniel realized Bo was looking at him with his head tilted to the side, and his eyebrows drawn together in concern.

"What's going through your head, there, man?" Bo asked.

Daniel faltered.

He glanced around the kitchen, just in case Benji had slipped into it without him noticing. He hadn't—it was just Daniel and Bo right now. He took a deep breath, spun one of his rings around his finger, and tried to convince himself that sharing how he was feeling wasn't a bad idea.

"...Lordy wasn't entirely wrong," he admitted. "He was wrong on us being a couple, but he wasn't wrong on one of us liking the other like that. I...kind of have had a crush on Benji since the beginning of the semester? And maybe a little bit before that, too? And obviously I haven't told him because he didn't even like me in a platonic kind of way at first, so it wasn't like I wanted to make things worse."

Bo tilted his head the other way, and his expression seemed to soften.

"What makes you think Benji doesn't like you?" Bo asked softly. "As friends or otherwise?"

"I know he likes me now," Daniel said. Then, he quickly added, "Platonically."

He stopped playing with his ring.

"He never said he didn't like me," he quietly admitted, "but it's obvious when he doesn't like being around someone. He runs away or gets withdrawn. He did it at the start of the semester around me."

"Why do you think him being withdrawn means he doesn't like someone?" Bo asked. "Maybe he's just nervous, or introverted. Or both. I mean, like, James was like that a lot when I first met him but I never thought that didn't mean we were friends."

Bo wasn't wrong about Benji being an introvert or nervous around other people, but Daniel would agree to disagree on that being the only reason for Benji's reactions. Bo didn't get it because he didn't live with Benji—Daniel had been able to see how Benji reacted to situations and people that stressed him out numerous times. There was a difference between when Benji was shy and when he genuinely didn't want to be around a person.

"Maybe," Daniel said. It was clear he didn't really believe Bo. "Anyways, he likes me as a friend right now. And I know what it was like when he didn't like me like that, and I don't want to risk returning to how things were before. And going off of how Benji reacted to Lordy's comment, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what would happen if I told him the truth."

"But you don't know that for sure, though," Bo said. "And also, like, and I know this is sucky, but now that people have made comments, like... you kind of really do need to talk about it one way or another. Either way it's just going to get more awkward and there will be all this..."

Bo paused, smacking his fists together like some kind of visual demonstration.

"Tension," he said.

It was at that moment that Daniel was starting to realize that Bo was quite a bit tipsy. Still present, but tipsy.

"Communicate," Bo added. "Or terminate... I can't think of a better word that rhymes but you get the idea."

Daniel was quiet.

He didn't want to outright admit and accept it just yet, but Bo was making a good point. Ignoring the comments they had gotten these past twenty four hours wasn't going to make things magically better. Knowing Benji, they would probably make things worse. He needed to have a conversation with Benji about everything—maybe not right now at this party, but sometime in the near future.

"I'll try that," he finally said.

Then he hesitated again, thinking about what he had seen right before Benji had run off.

"...There was something else, too," Daniel admitted. "It's not a feelings thing, but..."

"What is it?" Bo asked.

Daniel opened his mouth to describe what he had seen, but then closed it again when he realized how stupid it would sound. It was probably just a trick of the light. Why else would Benji's eyes appear to be a different, unnatural color?

He shook his head.

"Never mind," he said. "It's just something weird I noticed right before Benji ran away. I don't think it's anything important-"

"Dude," Bo said. "You can tell me, man. It's okay."

Daniel took a deep breath.

"...Okay," he relented. "This is going to sound...weird. But when Benji looked at me right before he ran away, I could have sworn his eyes turned red. Not like he had been crying—like the brown part of his eyes became a bright, bright red. And I can't explain why, but I suddenly couldn't stop myself from looking at the necklace he always wears. I feel like I'm missing something, but I can't put my finger on what."

Now that he was describing what he had seen and felt, he was suddenly starting to realize just how much it had thrown him off.

"Huh," Bo hummed. "And the red lights... wasn't from all these?"

He pointed up at the array of red string lights dancing across the ceilings.

"It was something different?" Bo asked. And it didn't quite sound like Bo didn't believe. Just like he was asking for clarification.

Daniel nodded.

"I thought it might be the lights, too," he said. "But it was different than that. His eyes actually changed colors. And if it had been the lights, I should have seen it happen at other times this night."

He studied Bo for a moment. When he spoke again, he hesitated a little.

"You...You believe me?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" Bo asked. "You seem like the kind of sane guy who wouldn't just make that up to mess with me, and you seem serious, man. 'Course I do."

Bo's response made a warm feeling settle in his chest. "Thanks. I...I could try bringing it up to Benji when I see him again, but I don't think he would believe me."

"Maybe tackle the whole crush and Lordy thinking you guys are dating thing first," Bo said with a small supportive smile. "Red eyes can come later."

Daniel gave a tiny smile of his own. "That sounds like a plan."

Except Evaline didn't go back inside.

She and Rek continued to chat and exchange pleasantries, and Evaline didn't mind it and was glad that she had resolved this painful loose end, but she didn't think it was worth going back inside to the sea of masses since she was thinking of leaving. She didn't tell Rek that, of course, and instead sat on the porch front steps and told him she needed some air and he could go on without her.

It was strangely quiet now, and also empty. The handsy couple was nearby but out of her direct field of view, and there were a few people gathered on the yard talking and laughing.

Evaline sighed, taking a moment to collect herself before taking out her phone. Before she saw Rek and Carter, she was in the process of sending James a text. Now she had resolved the situation with Rek (and more, since they were friends now... or would be), and did... whatever the hell that was with Carter, so she could return to focusing on this message.

It's not supposed to be anything special. She was just overthinking it, and she found herself typing a message but then deleting it, over and over, way too many times, and taking more minutes than she cared to admit.

Too casual? Too direct? Too vague? She had to find the balancing point.

To her horror, before she could make a decision and send something, James texted her first. Evaline had to stop herself from throwing her phone from the cringe since this meant he saw her type and delete again and again.

James wrote:I saw Mel. Are you here?

Evaline closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Okay. Good. This is fine. She was going to ask that anyways. This worked out. Just focus and answer.

Evaline wrote:I was just about to ask you the same thing. I'm at the front patio if you want to join me.

James wrote:See you soon.

She clicked her phone screen off and sighed a breath of relief, putting away her phone again. This played out to be a lot harder in her head, but as usual, James made things feel natural.

Evaline found herself smiling a little waiting for James as she leaned against the railing and looked up at the full moon. What she should even tell him? That she talked to his professors, had a tense encounter with his roommate, and an incredibly awkward confrontation with a guy she love bombed earlier this semester?

The front door opened with a faint shuffle against the doormat, and she saw James step out onto the porch. For a moment, she thought he hadn't dressed up. He looked like he was wearing his normal clothes that he wore to work on the ranch, but only with the addition of a cowboy hat, and a gaudy belt buckle.

She stood up and couldn't help but chuckle. "I didn't realize reduce, reuse, recycle could also reference costumes," she teased.

James turned to her, catching her eyes with a small relieved smile. He walked over to her, putting his hands in his pockets and shrugging.

"I couldn't be bothered to spend money on an outfit I'd only wear once," he said. "And besides, both Elias and Carter practically begged me into dressing as a cowboy. I decided not to fight it."

"It's not only sustainable, but also fitting," Evaline said with a little smile as she lightly flicked the edge of his cowboy hat.

"I'm glad you think so," James said, squinting and tilting his head back at the flick and smiling just a little bigger. "Can't say the same for your outfit, though. You're hardly a devil."

"Careful, James," she teased. "You're talking to the literal devil. You don't want to get on my bad side."

"I'll try my best not to," James said, still with a slight smile. He walked up to the railing beside her, leaning his forearms on the rail.

Evaline's smile lingered as she kept her gaze on him for a few moments, but then looked beyond the frat house to the streets leading up to it. "You know, I was actually just thinking about leaving. I'm not really sure why I came, really. I guess I can cross off fraternity parties with a 'yes, not my thing, and yes, I've tried.'"

"I've thought about leaving since the moment I came," James said, looking out into the yard. "But I gave Carter my word that I'd hold out at least until midnight, and... well, I was hoping you'd come too."

Evaline found her cheeks warming up from his words, and she sheepishly crossed her arms and looked down, kicking a pebble across the steps. "Well... I'm here now. You've got me." She paused for a second, cringing at her own words. "Until midnight, obviously. That's when the Halloween magic wears off."

"Is that so?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. "Who's your fairy godmother? Satan?"

Evaline playfully snoffed. "Please. That's too stereotypical. Everyone knows that fairy godmothers are dragons."

"Oh, right," James said quickly. "Dragons. The fire dragon, I imagine. With hell and devils and whatnot."

"That's right. Someone's been catching up on their fairy tale studies," she said with a smirk. "But it's you, so I'm not surprised."

"Well, I have to keep up with you somehow," James said with a smirk that mirrored her own.

"Is that a challenge?" she teased with a grin tugging her lips.

"I know when I'm outmatched," James said, meeting her eyes. "I'll pass on this challenge, but maybe next time."

"Yeah. Next time." Evaline lingered her gaze on him for a little longer before joining him against the railing, lightly leaning against it with her back. "Thanks for coming out. You make the party a little more bearable."

"I enjoy spending time with you," James said. "Likewise."

"But you don't have to go to parties with the intent of seeing me," she said quickly. "You could just let me know."

"I know," James said, his voice a little softer. "I just wanted to seize the opportunity."

Evaline felt her face flush hot and her heart beat faster. She was nervous, but she tried not to let it show. She was just glad the light was dim so he couldn't tell. Or could he? No, he couldn't. She knew he needed new prescriptions.

She inched her hand closer to his, but stopped herself an inch away in panic when she realized that her hands must be clammy from the nerves. He'd be able to feel that.

"You know," James said slowly. "I know we've been talking for a while, and keeping in touch, and meeting up when we can. I don't know if this is the ideal setting for this conversation, but... I think we've been on enough dates now that we should consider more seriously what we are. I really enjoy you, and --"

In the middle of his long-winded speech, Evaline decided she couldn't wait anymore. This felt too surreal, and she knew she wouldn't know how to put her own confession into words. She wanted this to feel right.

So she grabbed his hand and pulled him in closer, wrapping her other arm around him in a close hug. It was a bit of an impulsive move since James wasn't a hugger, but...

"Sorry," she said with a smile with her head over his shoulder as she gave him a squeeze. "I wanted to seize the opportunity. This feels right."

She could feel that James had frozen up for a moment, and it took him a solid three seconds before he finally reacted, returning the hug gently.

"I... wanted to ask if you'd be my girlfriend," he whispered faintly into her ear. "Officially."

Evaline laughed out of giddiness. This didn't even feel real. Was this real? This was real.

"Yes," she said faintly, then louder in his ear this time. "Yes!" She pulled her head back, a big smile reaching her eyes as another little giddy laugh came out.

When she looked into James's face, he was smiling back just as big, but she could also tell his cheeks were beet red.

Evaline was being swept up in this ball of joy and happiness, but she had to actively suppress the urge to lean in and kiss him.

Instead she tipped his cowboy hat forward, just barely concealing his eyes.

"Hey... partner," she said playfully, saying partner with a country twang.

"Hey," James replied back bashfully, dipping his head and adjusting his hat when he looked back up.

"For the record, I like you too," she said, letting the words come out without any thought whatsoever because she needed a distraction to stop herself from leaning in again to kiss. "Enjoying you, I mean. Since that's what you said."

"I was going to get to the 'I like you' part," James said, looking down with a shy smile. "I just didn't get that far."

"What can I say? I can get swept away sometimes. You bring that out of me," Evaline said, returning the bashful smile that never went away.

"Well, just don't sweep away without me," James said in a light, teasing tone.

"I'll try not to, but... it can be difficult. Sometimes," she said softly as she swished his hair to the side.

She didn't think it possible for his face to get any redder, but it did.

"Sometimes," he echoed softly.

"But -- not all the time," she added quickly.

"That's... good," James said faintly.

"It is," she said just as faintly, her heart rattling against her chest so loud that she was sure James could hear it.

Evaline found herself leaning her face in, slowly creeping up to his, but stopped when the rim of his hat hit her forehead. She let out a nervous laugh, pulling away and shaking off the 'swept away' feeling and awkwardness.

"Sor-sorry," James stuttered in a whisper.

"N-no, don't be," Evaline said gently with another nervous laugh. "You look good in it."

"You think?" James asked, tilting his head to the side and looking up, like he was assessing his own hat.

Evaline vigorously nodded. "Yes. Mmmhmm. That's what I think. But if you want to take it off, that's fine too. It's really not my decision."

James's eyes dropped to his feet for a moment, and then she caught him glancing up at her, only for a moment before he offered her a timid smile.

"As long as you don't mind hat hair," he said, slowly taking off the hat and balancing on the railing. When he looked back at her his smile remained, and he met her eyes.

He did, indeed, have hat hair. It was sticking up in a few places - reminiscent of some of their morning facetimes.

Evaline smiled warmly, reaching up to lightly tousle his hair. "I don't mind. I think it's kind of cute. There's more to you than a clean cut and tailored clothes." She chuckled as she slid her hand down to his upper arm as she gave him another look over. "Sometimes, you can be a messy rancher with bed hair. And there's nothing wrong with that."

"No," James said softly. "I suppose not."

With her free hand, Evaline swept his hair back again, this time with more freedom without the hat. "Am I getting swept up without you?" she asked softly.

James reached his hand up to her face, gently brushing his thumb over her cheek before sliding his hand behind her neck.

"I think I'm getting swept up too," he said softly.

Sounds like there's another opportunity to seize, was what Evaline wanted to say, but she didn't want the words to ruin the moment.

They were already leaning close to each other, but she filled the gap and kissed him on the lips, one hand cupping his face while she did so. It wasn't a kiss that was overly-passionate or felt like fireworks.

It was gentle, and it felt just right.

When they pulled away, she lingered inches from his face for a moment before gently kissing his cheek.

"I've always figured you'd be a romantic," she whispered with a smile, face still hot.

And she didn't think she'll fall for another one, but yet here she was.

Maybe she was repeating history. If she was, she didn't care.

"Was it that obvious?" James asked, averting his eyes.

"There's nothing wrong about it," she said softly as she tilted her head and tried to meet his eyes. After a lingering moment, she reached in and gently hugged him again, setting her head on his shoulder. "Don't change."

All it took was a few seconds of eye contact and a nod to the stairs. Carter could tell that James had been antsy the whole party, and he knew James needed a break. Normally, Carter wouldn't care so much, and he'd simply let James fend for himself like an adult, but this was different. Carter was still trying to prove himself again. He had to go above and beyond, and sometimes that meant a little babying.

Wordlessly, the two of them headed up to the second floor. Carter had caught James alone, so the two of them met at the top of the staircase, and Carter led them out onto the patio that overlooked the backyard. There was a couple out there being a little extra with their PDA, but the moment they saw Carter step out they seemed to take the hint, and they shuffled back into the frat house.

Out on the balcony, they had a clear view of the glowing red pool. By now, several people were swimming around whether their costumes were waterproof or not, and they were splashing and laughing. Several people could be spotted sitting around on the grass under the trees, and the music from inside the house leaked out, muffled and dull.

There were red strings of lights wrapped around the balcony's rails, but other than that, the space was dimly lit, only by residual light from the pool below and what leaked in through the windows. Carter let James walk ahead of him and choose whether he wanted to sit or stand. James opted for leaning on the railing, looking down.

Carter had thought about bringing up Evaline, and how James was trying so hard to keep their relationship a secret from him, even when Carter had been going out of his way to try to repair their friendship. But he could sense that doing so with no transition would rub James the wrong way.

Carter was aware that he'd toyed with James's emotions a lot, and sometimes too much in moments of poor judgment. It was a delicate balance. He was always having to work around James by influencing other people connected to him subtly. When they were younger, he could do things outright, and James never seemed to notice. But now, James was keener. Carter had to play it smart.

James was oblivious, but the truth was, James was a key thread in the whole tapestry that was their friend group. He was key because he was connected to Jerica, and collectively the two of them always managed to bring everyone together. Carter was at the center of it all too but in a different way. He brought them together physically, but he knew everyone seemed to have their own reservations about him. Jerica, Bo, and Elias were all a little too dim to care, but Rek, Daniel, James... he had to be more careful.

James was a friend Carter didn't want to lose. He was useful. He kept the peace. And, at least, back in the "old days," it felt like they were unstoppable when they were on the same page and actually working together.

He slowly walked up to James, leaning beside him on the railing, idly looking down at the pool.

"I'm glad you went with the cowboy fit," Carter said. "It suits you."

James huffed through his nose.

"Oddly enough, the knight armor suits you too," James said.

Carter looked to him, raising a brow. "Oddly enough?" he said with a smirk.

"It's a little... self gratuitous, don't you think?" James said.

"Are you calling me egotistic?" Carter asked playfully, setting a hand on his chest. "Elias was the one who suggested it, actually. The whole knight thing was his idea."

"Ah," James said softly. "I see. Apologies."

A small silence passed between them. Carter knew James was comfortable with silences, but he couldn't help but feel like James was sitting on something that he wasn't saying out loud.

"You know," James said slowly. "I still don't understand what it is you get out of all of this. Parties. Noise. Getting blackout drunk and forgetting half the 'fun' you had anyway..."

James sighed, giving Carter a serious look. Carter met his eyes.

"Is this an intervention?" Carter asked.

"I don't know. Should it be?" James asked.

"We've been through this before," Carter said. "It's not like drinking is disrupting my life. I'm still functioning."

"Yeah," James emphasized. "I know. That's what worries me."

Carter let out a short breath, pursing his lips together. It felt odd for James to bring this up at a party. Normally, he'd bring it up when it was all over. Maybe he was hoping to reason with him while he was still more sober. Still, they'd talked through this a million times. Carter wasn't about to change.

"I'll ease off for tonight," Carter said.

James looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. Instead, he just nodded. Carter felt like he could hear him saying: That's not what I'm getting at, but okay. He wasn't about to press the subject, though.

"Are you okay?" Carter asked instead. "I know you haven't been drinking, and most everyone else has."

"It's not about that," James said wearily. "I'm -- I'm okay. I'm just getting tired."

"Ah, yes," Carter said, leaning in. "The infamous: I'm just tired."

James looked over to Carter, narrowing his eyes for a moment, but then he saw a small, small smile. He was quick to mirror it.

"Am I really that predictable?" James asked.

"Always have been," Carter said with a smirk. "You should really start coming up with more convincing lies."

"You think so?" James asked. "I suppose the truth would be too easy, wouldn't it."

"You never were one for taking the easy route," Carter said, watching James out of the corner of his eyes.

James's eyes softened with a quiet, underlying sadness, and it was strange. There was a depth to it that he wasn't used to seeing. Not quite like this. Yes, they both had history, and he knew so much of James's story, but this... it was hard to describe. It felt like, no matter how much he pounded on it, there was always this wall between them. He'd noticed it ever since Anna.

"What did you really want to talk about?" James asked with a sigh.

He was surrendering so early, but he didn't seem annoyed. Just resigned.

"I don't know," Carter said. "I just wanted to be with you for a bit, away from the crowd."

Carter could tell that response worked because James seemed to relax a little bit.

"It's been a while," James said quietly. "Since we've just... talked."

"Yeah," Carter said, matching his wistful tone. "It has."

"...It's been a while since I've asked, but, how are things with your parents?" James asked softly.

Oh. So he wanted to have that conversation. Well, Carter could pretend to open up a little bit so that James would feel comfortable reciprocating the openness.

"They still think I'm the golden child if that's what you mean," Carter said.

"You know it's not," James answered.

"They still don't really know me at all either, so there's that," Carter said. "You know, I've gotten really good at pretending to be sober over the phone. It's surprisingly easy when you focus. Just takes practice."

"You mentioned they'd be coming into town... right?" James asked.

Carter blinked. He did not recall mentioning that, but he may have been very drunk when he did. That was fine. He could work with this. James clearly sounded concerned, and it was always easy to gain pity from him.

"Yeah," Carter said with a sigh. "In three weeks. Sounds like a long time, but I know it'll be here before I know it. They're only going to be here for like, a day, though. They're not even here to see me, you know. They have business in the area, so seeing me is just a convenience. I just happen to live here, too. How nice."

"I'll try to be around when they're here that weekend," James said. "I know seeing them is always hard."

"It's not that it's hard as much as it is exhausting," Carter said with another sigh. "They're both just like... energy leeches. All they think about is themselves."

He looked over to James. It seemed like he was just listening, which was fine, but Carter wasn't interested in venting at the moment.

"I'll be okay, though," he said quietly. "It's just one day, anyway."

James nodded. "I know. I just thought I'd ask," he said softly.

"Thanks," Carter said with a small smile.

There was another pause, but this time, this one felt natural. There wasn't anything hanging in the air. They were just breathing.

"So... how's your family doing?" Carter asked.

"They're doing alright," James answered. "I talk to Larrel almost every day, at least through text, and whenever I call my mom she's pretty good at keeping me up to date on everything. Petrus is talking about proposing to his girlfriend soon, which is a pretty big deal. They've been dating for two years now, I think."

Carter raised his eyebrows. This could be an easier transition than he thought.

"Two years is a while," he asked. "He's still dating that girl Resa?"

James nodded. "Yeah. I like her. She's really sweet. The two of them get along well. They're both more mellow, but very focused. It's an interesting dynamic."

"And she's into botany, or something, right?" Carter asked.

"She's a florist," James corrected.

Carter hummed.

"Well, I hope it goes well," Carter said. "I guess that'll be a wedding for you to go to soon-ish, then, if it all works out."

"They probably won't set a date until spring," James said. "... Or that's what my mom said."

"Fair enough," Carter said, letting another lull fall in the conversation.

Carter was about to break the silence between them, but they were interrupted.

The door to the balcony opened, and both James and Carter abruptly fell silent as they turned to see who it was. At that moment, Carter knew the two of them had very different reactions. Carter saw James's eyes go wide and his eyebrows raise in surprise, and Carter had to hide the knowing smile that he felt tugging at his mouth. Instead, he feigned surprise as well.

Standing in the doorway was Eliza. She had a masquerade mask on, but even so, her presence was easily identifiable. Her long blonde hair was pulled up in a braided crown, complete with a real crown as well. It looked like she'd fully committed to her masquerade princess ball-gown, because her poofy skirt flowed all the way down to the floor, and she even had a corset. Somehow, she'd managed to pick something that looked elegant and over-the-top at the same time. It worked, though.

The mask only covered the top half of her face, so when they both stared at her for a moment, they could see her smile. It had been a while since Carter had seen her in person, but even longer since James had.

"Long time, no see," she said, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door behind her.

"Where's your posse?" Carter asked.

"Oh, they're just outside. They're not crashing your party or anything," Eliza said with a wave of her hand. "You don't need to worry about it."

"Did you already get a look around?" Carter asked, noticing that James was now awkwardly silent.

"I did! You really went all-out with the decor, huh," Eliza commented.

"Speak for yourself," Carter said, gesturing to her whole costume.

"Touché," Eliza said with a smirk before her gaze slowly drifted to James.

The pause between the three of them was only a second, but it felt much longer.

"What, surprised to see me?" Eliza asked, crossing her arms.

"Yes. Actually," James said, giving Carter the briefest look like he was asking if Carter knew she was coming.

The answer was yes, but Carter quickly shook his head no.

"That makes two of us," Carter said. "But, we're happy to have you here."

Carter could feel that James wasn't in agreement with that statement, but he knowingly watched as James summoned his customer service fake smile that everyone always thought was real. Carter inched closer to James as a "show of support" and brought his arm around James's back, only lightly touching him.

He was about to come up with an excuse to leave when fate had perfect timing, and they heard some shouts and laughs, and some more excited splashes coming from the pool down below.

He glanced behind him and over the balcony, but not long enough to decipher what all of the fuss was about.

"I should probably go make sure nobody's actively drowning," Carter said with a little laugh. "I'm going to head down there. But I'll catch you in a bit, Eliza. You two think you'll be able to survive without me?"

He started walking back towards the sliding doors, watching as Eliza watched him neutrally, and James was begging him with his eyes not to go.

"I'll be back," Carter added quickly, before dipping out. It was a lie.

He was excited to hear about this later.

Jerica wasn't good at emotions, but even if she was, she doubted she would have been able to keep track of all the different ones she felt throughout the night. Drinking and hanging out had felt nice. Confessing her feelings to Bo had felt bad. But finding out that he reciprocated her affections had felt excellent. And she carried that energy with her through the rest of the night.

She made an active effort not to hover around Bo after their last conversation. Instead, she flitted around the frat house like the social butterfly that she was.

Rek had long-since fled the party. She wasn't exactly sure when he'd left -- or why. But she'd discovered a text from him, and she was pretty sure the gist was that he was going home. But, then again she was very drunk, so reading was hard.

But as she bounced from room to room, she made sure to keep an eye out for him, and he was nowhere to be found. And he also wasn't drunk. So he was fine.

Still, she made a point of checking the bathrooms and closets, just to be sure he wasn't one of the victims passed out and getting drawn on with Sharpies.

Now, she was outside. The party was starting to die down a bit as people left -- but the people who were still there were still going strong. She'd formed a bit of a silent alliance with these people. The students who were able to keep up with her borderline alcoholism and somehow live to tell the tale -- even though most of the night ended up fuzzy or blacked out.

There were a bunch of people in the pool. She wanted to be. But she vaguely remembered that she was borrowing -- stealing? it was hard to say -- someone else's clothes... Carter. Carter's clothes. Yes. So she had to be good.

"AINSLEY!" Thad shouted from the deep end. "Get in here!"

"Nah, broski, I'm good," she called back, but walked a bit closer.

"What, you scared?" he taunted.

"Of you? Pff," she scoffed.

"I think you're being a little chicken," he slurred.

"CHICKEN FIGHT!" Chad was suddenly behind her shouting. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and dragged her into the pool. "I CALL AINSLEY!"

Jerica spluttered, inhaling more than a probably-healthy-amount of the chlorinated water, but managed to flail until she got her head back above the water.

"C'mon, on my shoulders, go." Chad bent down and shook his shoulder at her.

"Bet." She scrambled onto his shoulders and swayed in the suddenly-elevated position. It was a bit cold now that she was both wet and in the open breeze. She looked around at the other girls climbing on top of random jocks and frat boys. "LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLEEEEEE!"

The fight lasted longer than it probably should have, since they were drunk and balance was poor on all sides. Still, the battle wasn't evenly matched in any stretch of the imagination -- two of the football game versus everyone else. Before she knew it, Chad was spinning in a circle beneath her in his victory lap to celebrate them both.

"I see you've dabbled in identity theft," a voice shouted out. "Along with drunkeness and disorderly conduct!"

Jerica's brain seemed to lag for a moment, but she connected the voice with Carter. He was here. She tried to find him, but Chad was still spinning, and her attempt at keeping a singular focal point was making her dizzy. She fell backwards off Chad's shoulders, doing the opposite of a belly-smack. She resurfaced a moment later spluttering and shaking her head as she started towards the side of the pool where Carter stood.

"Though I suppose I could only reasonably take you to court for one of those things," Carter went on. "But I don't have time for that. What should I call you now? Carter the Second? Or would you prefer Jarter? Or Cartera?"

Carter stood at the edge of the pool looking down at her with a smile and one eyebrow raised and his arms crossed.

"I prefer 'Carter the Superior'." She grinned up at him.

"Oh, so that's how it is," he said, smile growing. "A challenge, then."

"Bring it," she taunted. "I'm the champion on this pool and it ain't changing, Carter-The-Inferior."

Carter squatted down so he was more level with her.

She giggled nervously.

"You know," he said. "If you're feeling so superior, why didn't you use you own clothes?"

For a moment, it felt like his words were laced with a threat, but she wasn't sure if it was real or imagined.

"This my costume, yo," Jerica shot back.

"Okay, then, yo," Carter mimicked. "How about this, then? Let's have a rematch. Wrestling. You and me. Winner gets the other person's costume when the party's all over."

Her brain was moving slow. She was vaguely aware that wrestling had ended poorly last time, but her competitiveness was only enhanced by alcohol, of which she'd had a lot. "You want your own clothes back?" she asked stupidly. "That's not a costume if you wear them."

Carter laughed loud, and long, and Jerica wasn't sure if it was because she'd said something funny or if Carter was just as drunk as she was. Probably a mix of both, honestly.

"Then I guess the stakes are pretty low for you, hm?" Carter asked. "What do you have to lose but your reputation?"

"Pfff," Jerica scoffed. She was trying very hard to put on a cool persona, but her drunk amusement kept poking through and she cracked a grin. "Ain't no stakes to be had here. I'mma just... just..." Jerica hesitated as she suddenly got very dizzy. But then she remembered where she was, in the midst of her shit-talking. "Beat your knight-y ass. I'll look good with a sword."

"Get out of the pool, then," Carter taunted, backing away from the edge. "All-Mighty Carter Superior."

His beckoning to get out of the pool suddenly made her really want to force him to get into the pool. "No you. Come. Carty-infery... or..ie..or." She laughed stupidly. "Eeyore... E-I-E-I-O." She was just babbling at this point.

Carter laughed again and muttered something under his breath, but she didn't catch it.

"Huhhhhhh?" she questioned a bit too loud. "I can't hear you over the sound of... my... uh... superiority... complex... Carter... costume."

"Nice," Carter said, still not inching any closer to the pool. He was about two feet away.

Just within arm's length.

"Nice," she echoed, walking closer to the edge of the pool but still making no effort to get out. She patted the water next to her. "C'mon. You getting in or not?"

"Wrestle? In the water? That's a good way to drown," Carter said. "No."

"I just out-wrestled everyone in here, 'cause I'm a winner. Legend. It's what legends do. Win in water wrestling... and shit."

"You chicken-fought," Carter corrected. "That's an entirely different battle."

"I still won. And I'll win again. Chaddy, heft me up... we..." she laughed stupidly again, clearly enjoying a joke with herself. She looked back at Carter with a mischievious smirk. "We can move to the shallow end for you."

The other drunks in the pool raised an ooooooo.

"I see you'd rather drag me down to your level," Carter said with a cool confidence. "Fine then. Thaddeus, I'd like to borrow your shoulders."

"Awwww yeah! That's what I'm talking about." Jerica grinned broadly and scrambled on top of Chad again. At the same time, Thad swam over to Carter, and Carter hopped on his shoulders, only getting his legs wet in the process. For some reason, Jerica felt a pang of annoyance. He was entirely too dry to be part of a pool party... battle... thing.

She twisted and got her knee on top of Chad's shoulder, then launched herself forward, diving through the air with every intention of tackling Carter into the pool. Thad wasn't fast enough to dodge as Carter's legs, so Carter ended up having to bear the full force of her smashing into him. Miraculously, though, Carter somehow didn't go flying into the pool. He leaned back and she heard a small splash, but then the water went flying over her head, and Carter pushed back, propelling her backwards, arms flopping to the side before she recovered her balance.

She surfaced, coughing, but entirely pleased with herself. She scrambled back onto Chad's shoulders, shaking her head to get her hair out of her face."Daaaamn, boy, clinging to them borrowed legs are we? Enjoying the view from up there?"

"Yes, actually," Carter said with what sounded like a surprisingly sober sense of calm. At that moment it occured to her that maybe Carter wasn't really drunk at all.

"WAIT!" she put both hands up. That was entirely unfair if he was coming into this sober. She didn't sign up for that. "Are you cheat--?"

But before she could finish her question, Carter was flying at her. He got her in a hold so fast she barely comprehended what was happening. One moment, she was being grabbed. The next, she was flying off of Chad with a flip into the water.

Jerica surfaced coughing, more deeply this time. She'd been prepared to be dunked when she tackled Carter. She wasn't expecting it this time.

"How was the view from down there?" Carter asked with a laugh, still atop Thad's shoulders - though Thad was already moving to the edge of the pool.

"Cheater McCheatface."

"How was that cheating?" Carter asked as he climbed out of the pool.

"We didn't say 'go'," she snorted, coughing once more.

"Okay, Carter the Inferior," Carter joked dismissively as he got to his feet, once again looking down at her in the pool.

"Talking about yourself in... in... the person that's not you."

"Smooth," Carter said with a smirk.

"I feel like your bitch ass is sober," she complained. "And if so you already lost the whole party."

"Boo hoo," Carter teased. "Would it make you feel better if you knew my blood alcohol content?"

"Whatever it is, it's not high enough." She wiped her face. "Them's rookie numbers. Gotta bump those numbers up."

"Sounds like someone's a little bit of a sore loser," Carter said as he started walking away, back towards the house. "Let me know if you need some ice for your bruised pride!" he shouted over his shoulder.

"WE NEVER SAID GO!" she shouted after him.

But by that point, he was already getting out of earshot, and he wasn't looking back.

Jerica blew a raspberry, deciding to cut her losses. It's not like a dunk in the water was all that bad -- even though her collarbone was still a bit sore from the impact.

Chad appeared next to her, or rather, she wasn't sure how long he'd been there, but she finally noticed his presence.

"Hey, you're still a winner in my book," Chad said with a little smile. "And an all-star quarterback."

Jerica laughed, giving him a playful shove. "Shots?"

"SHOTS! SHOTS! SHOTS!" Chad shouted, which got everyone else in the pool to join in the chant.

James hadn't seen Eliza in four years.

They fell out of touch after high school, and like some friendships naturally do, they stopped talking to each other. James knew that Carter and Eliza would touch base with one another here and there, but to say her arrival at the frat house's Halloween party (of all things) was a surprise was an understatement.

It would be one thing if she was just another former classmate, but she was a childhood friend. One that knew things. One that knew a different version of himself. James was by no means the same person since high school, and he imagined that Eliza wasn't either, but it was always weird being around people who knew you during that stage in life.

He hoped they'd both changed. He hoped a lot of things had changed.

"You're looking surprisingly in character for a costume party," Eliza said with a little smirk as she looked him up and down, scanning his 'costume.'

"I could say the same to you," James said, before realizing how that could sound. He had to fix that. Quickly. "If you were going for period accuracy, I mean. If you were--"

"What, roleplaying as a princess instead of the daughter of the president? That's funny, but maybe work on the delivery next time," Eliza said with a little laugh.

James would've mustered a fake laugh, but he was already feeling a little too socially spent at the moment. Maybe it was just all the noise, or the party being far more eventful than he'd planned, but it all just felt like a lot. Surely, all parties weren't like this - but of course the one he finally caved and went to was.

"Sorry," he said dryly. "I guess I'm not cut out for comedy."

Eliza smiled at that and drew closer, walking up to the balcony's edge and peering over the railing.

"A shame," she said. "I imagine you still have a pretty quick wit when you want to."

"Being witty isn't the same as having a charismatic on-stage personality," James said, inching back just a little before leaning on the railing once more.

"Oh, please," Eliza said. "Don't act like you can't summon one at will when under pressure."

"Under pressure is the key phrase in that sentence," James said.

"So, what, being on a stage isn't enough pressure?" Eliza asked, turning to look at him with a smirk as she leaned against the balcony as well.

"Is it not enough to simply not want to?" James asked. "Why are you trying to pressure me into becoming a stand-up comedian anyway?"

Eliza narrowed her eyes at him, still smirking, but shook her head after a moment, letting out another laugh.

"I missed our stupid banter like this," Eliza said. "It's been too long."

James's eyes flicked down to the pool. He really couldn't even pretend to make out who was down there without his glasses on, and his contacts weren't doing him many favors in the dark, dim light. He probably needed a new prescription, but that wasn't a pressing issue at the moment.

He didn't really want to unpack the layers to Eliza's statement, but he found himself overanalyzing anyway.

"What, Princeton is lacking people capable of stupid banter?" James asked.

Eliza flicked a look towards him, but then her eyes lingered.

"When people know you're the daughter of the president, things are different. You know that," Eliza said.

James at least understood that nuance. Carter had expressed similar sentiments to being someone in a family of money, and he knew Eliza's experience was exorbitantly amplified. She'd explained it in the past, and he could only assume her experience had been much the same, or perhaps worse since going into higher education.

"But... I also know who you are," James said.

"But it's different," Eliza said. "Because you didn't at first."

James was quiet for a moment.

"What, do you not see me as a person anymore?" Eliza asked. "Has it been too long? I'm just another wealthy friend you had in your childhood? A story you tell your friends about how you knew the president's daughter?"

"You're making a lot of assumptions when I haven't said anything," James said quietly.

"I guess that hasn't changed, then," Eliza quipped back quickly.

James was quiet at that. He didn't want to confirm that with a comment. He was just going to let it be. A long pause passed between the two of them, and they both ended up staring down at the pool. James could hear distantly the voices of what sounded like Carter and Jerica. He hoped it was just their usual dynamic and nothing more.

There were a few faint splashes here and there, and then it looked like Carter was climbing on someone's shoulders?

He really should've just brought his glasses.

"Carter mentioned you two had... something of a falling out," Eliza said slowly. He could hear in her voice that she was treading lightly.

What did Carter tell her? How long had they been in touch, for that matter? Had they spoken before she came? Was her arrival really a surprise...?

James's mind was starting to spin, but Eliza kept going.

"He said things haven't been the same since Anna died," Eliza said softly. "Between you two."

James found his mind splitting in a million different directions.

"Yeah, well... we both changed after that. Carter became an alcoholic and I dove into school. Pick a coping mechanism," James said flatly.

He knew he was being too dismissive. He could see in Eliza's face both her hurt and concern and how she winced at his inelegant response.

"I only met her a few times, really. I could count the moments on one hand," Eliza said softly, glancing over to him. He didn't meet her eyes. "But I know you knew her a lot better than I did..."

"Carter doesn't talk about her anymore, does he?" Eliza concluded.

"Only when he's so drunk he's hardly breathing," James said faintly.

Eliza watched him this time, and he couldn't help but feel like, somehow, he was being assessed, even though her face read 'empathy.'

"He mentioned... how you've put up with him," Eliza said.

"I'm surprised he was so open with you after all these years," James said curtly. "If I want to hear how he's really doing he has to be one beer from alcohol poisoning, and even then getting him to be coherent is a pain."

"He didn't say all of that. I just read between the lines," Eliza said, and for a moment they both looked to each other, sharing a brief look of understanding. James was quick to look away.

"It was always harder to read between yours, though," Eliza added, her tone softer.

The prod to open up only made him put up his defenses more.

"Maybe it's time to stop living in the past, then," James said.

"See, I think that's always been your problem, James," Eliza said quietly. She inched closer to him, and out of reflex, he backed away but found himself backed into the corner of the balcony railing.

He considered turning around. She kept talking.

"You always try to just forget it and move on, but you can't really move on if you never heal from it, can you?" Eliza asked, stopping about a foot from him and trying to catch his eyes. He actively avoided her stare.

"Did Carter put you up to this?" he asked stiffly.

"You're deflecting," Eliza said.

"Yeah, well, I didn't know you were going for a major in psycho-analyzing childhood friends, so--"

"Still deflecting," Eliza interrupted.

"And you're being invasive," James countered. "Without laying any groundwork to rebuild relational equity. You haven't earned it. So don't expect me to emotionally dump on you just because you think you understand where I'm at. We haven't spoken in years, Eliza. What are you even doing here? You never come to these things, and it's so much work for you to get here."

He gestured to her ball gown.

"And this? You expect me to believe you just rolled into town and this was a last-minute costume to stop by and see some old friends? Carter invited you, didn't he," James continued, this time meeting her eyes. "Don't lie to me. I'm not blind."

"That's debatable," Eliza smirked.

"You know what I mean," James said through his teeth.

Eliza stared at him for a moment, unmoving. The prolonged eye contact was uncomfortable, and James eventually broke it himself after three agonizingly long seconds.

"You realize how paranoid you sound, right?" Eliza asked. "When did you start feeling like Carter was always out to get you?"

"Why do you even care?" James asked, his voice cutting. "Frankly, Eliza, it should be none of your concern--"

"But I am concerned," Eliza snapped. "For you. For both of you."

James pressed his lips together in a thin line.

"So it's a pity visit, then," he said. "You were always good at those."

"Seriously, James?" she sneered.

James felt his own pride sting. Petty insults and leveraging past childhood wounds was unbecoming.

"Sorry," he said, dropping his eyes back down to the backyard with an unfocused gaze.

Another silence fell between them, but this one tenser than the last. James was eager to escape whatever this conversation was becoming, but he had a feeling Eliza might chase him down after if it was left unresolved.

He nervously tapped his fingers against the railing, watching Eliza out of the corner of his eyes.

"I missed you, you know," Eliza said softly, breaking the silence.

"Sorry," he said again. Because he was.

"Don't act like it was all your fault. It was mine too," she said. "I didn't reach out either."

"That's just how it happens in life, sometimes. When people go different paths," James said, matching her quiet volume.

"But it doesn't have to stay that way," Eliza said. "You can carve your own path, and bring it back around again. You can twist and turn until your paths run into one another again. You don't have to leave it all to chance."

James felt like he was at a loss. Why was she here? What exactly did she want?

"What are you trying to say?" James asked.

"I'm trying to say... this is something I should've done a long time ago," she said, turning to look at him.

James didn't know what that meant. Did she just mean coming back? Visiting?

"What--"

But he didn't get to finish his sentence. Eliza quickly closed the gap between them and kissed him firmly on the lips. She leaned into it, but he was scrambling.

His knee-jerk reaction was to punch her, but he managed to not do that. Instead, he settled for flailing his arms between them as he rapidly ripped himself away from her and backed away, towards the door.

"--the hell--???"

"If you still have feelings for--" Eliza started.

"I never did!" James sputtered in a rise of anxious frustration and confusion. Everything was spinning. He snapped his eyes shut, holding his hands to his face.

"Eliza, I'm seeing someone," James groaned. "What-- how did Carter not mention--"

"He said it wasn't anything serious," Eliza defended, but she sounded just as hurt.

"Not anything--" James stuttered, then pulled his hands away from his face, peering at Eliza.

She'd taken off her mask, and her eyes were wide and teary.

"Listen. Eliza. I'm sorry you came here misinformed, and I'm sorry this has all been a huge misunderstanding," James said slowly, each word deliberate.

He was desperately trying to do damage control. He didn't know if it was working.

"No," Eliza said, her voice hardening. "I think you're misunderstanding."

James dreaded what explanation was going to follow that, but he'd already found his way to the door. With his back now up against it, he glanced down at the door handle.

In that quick glance, Eliza seemed to have moved very fast while in a full-length ball gown. Her hand clenched over his as he held the door handle, and she leaned in close so he could feel her breath on his neck.

"I always get what I want," she whispered, and the words made him feel... like now was the perfect time to go.

He turned the doorknob and the door fell back against his own weight. He stumbled onto the floor, losing his hat as he half caught himself and Eliza towered over him. He got to his feet, looking back into the mostly empty game room - but there were maybe three people. Yes. Three.

"You might want to reevaluate your priorities, James," Eliza said as James got to his feet.

"What a nice, ominous threat," James said thinly, backing away. "How many guys has that line worked on?"

Eliza narrowed her eyes at him.

"Look," she said lowly. "You always settle for less. I'm just trying to--"

"I'm not interested," James said, raising a hand. Before he could see her reaction, he turned around and booked it for the stairs.

He was done with this party. He was done with reunions, and private talks, and interventions, and costumes, and the stupid red lights that were giving him a headache.

James wanted to go home.

Carter was on the brink of losing his self control when it came to drinking. He'd meant it when he told James he'd take it easy this night, but it wasn't for the reasons James thought. Carter genuinely wanted to be sober for this so he could enjoy it and not ruin it.

Carter hovered by the snack table, which by now was much more thinly decorated with different foods. There were still plenty of spider cookies, though, and Carter was munching on those to stave off the craving for another shot.

As he scanned the crowd, he caught sight of the familiar inflatable dinosaur head bobbing around in the distance, but he then squinted, realizing... that couldn't be Elias in there. Elias, for one, was way taller, and two, did not have what looked to be Kayla's face.

Huh.

As if poetically, the explanation followed in the form of a sexy nurse. But instead, it was Elias, wearing Kayla's costume.

Carter blinked, and Elias caught Carter's eyes from across the room, giving a fake-vampire toothed smile and waving. Carter smiled and waved back with laughter in his eyes, watching as Elias followed dinosaur Kayla around.

He took in a deep breath as he leaned back on the table and continued scanning the room, still filling up on cookies - very slowly. It was another minute or two of nothing unusual, and then he spotted James, very hurriedly coming down the stairs and speed-walking through the crowd, making a beeline for the door.

Having already noted where important people were in the room, Carter knew that James would fall into Evaline's line of sight if there was no interference.

And, well, he would prefer there to be interference.

Carter sped his way through the crowd. Though he got short jokes all the time, he never faulted his size for its usefulness in weaving through groups of people without notice. He made it to Evaline quickly, coming up from behind, poking her shoulder.

Formerly, she'd been staring off into the room looking a little lost, like she was looking for someone. Obviously, he knew who that someone was. He just didn't want her to find him.

"Evaline!" Carter chirped as she turned around. "I'm surprised you're still here."

"Oh," she said with a disapointed expression as she gave him a look up and down. "It's you." Although the conversation hardly started, she was already exiting it, looking past him and about to turn around again.

"Are you looking for someone?" he asked quickly, pulling her attention back to him. "Maybe I can help. Last I saw Mel she was on the back porch?"

"I don't need help, thanks," Evaline replied curtly.

"Yes, because you're doing a marvelous job yourself," Carter shot back quickly. "Look. Elias is over there--" he pointed, not at the dinosaur. "He had a costume change. And if you're looking for James, last I saw him, he was upstairs, on the balcony. Looked like he was talking to someone."

Unamused, Evaline followed Carter's finger to watch Elias shuffle around in Kayla's too-small heels. In the split second she looked away, Carter searched the crowd for James, watching him just slip out the front door. Perfect. Evaline then narrowed her eyes as she faced Carter again.

"To who? You?" she asked.

"At first, yeah," Carter said. "But I left, and he started talking to someone in a princess costume."

Evaline laughed, but immediately stopped as her expression grew weary. "Oh, sorry. I thought that was a joke, since you're a knight and all."

Carter hummed, looking up thoughtfully.

"That would've been a good joke, yes," he said. "I really should've milked that more, huh."

Evaline wasn't in the lighthearted mood. Still weary-eyed, she let out a long, deep sigh and stared at the staircase leading up to the balcony.

"Okay. You said he was still there?" she asked.

"Well--" Carter started, but then paused, staring off towards the staircase.

Eliza was coming down, and from the way she was walking, she didn't seem too happy, even behind her mask. She stopped at the bottom of the staircase with her giant dress pooling around her feet, spilling over the steps.

"Huh," Carter said, shrugging. "I guess he's not."

Evaline's patience was growing thin as she stared at Eliza's poofy dress, but she didn't seem to care much for Eliza. Just Carter.

"I don't know why I half-expected this joke to end with James in that dress to display another costume change," she said blandly with her arms crossed.

"Well that would be interesting," Carter said with a raised eyebrow. "But okay. Fine. Sorry for not being very helpful. I'll leave you to your search, I guess."

"Wait," Evaline said quickly. She was drenched in suspicion, trying to read him while doing her best to be unreadable herself. "Why are you wasting my time?"

"Wasting?" Carter scoffed. "Wow. Rude."

And at that, he quickly turned away, stepping into the crowd.

Evaline wasn't sure what that was about, but she didn't care. She was already weary of Carter and found it very suspcious that he would feed her false information or -- worse -- go through small talk with her like they were buddy-buddies. Something about him set off a red flag in her gut, and she didn't care to set up a friendly foundation with him, even if that meant she would be spending more time with him because she and James were together.

Unless James told her that he would like her to be friends with Carter, that possibility was never going to happen.

Carter wasn't worth her time. She just wanted to find James. Some time had passed since he disappeared after she went to the bathroom, and her phone was dead, so she couldn't contact him. She was getting a little worried, but before she asked for anyone else's help, she wanted to check the whole house herself first.

Evaline stepped off to the side as the gaudy princess woman stormed off towards the front door. She had no clue if Carter was telling the truth that James was upstairs talking to her, but she hadn't checked the upstairs area yet anyways, so it didn't hurt to try.

The minutes ticked by as she sped up the stairs and peeked in every room and hall, not finding James in the crowd, until she decided to stop by the balcony before coming back down.

Evaline opened the doors to the balcony, the crisp air filling her lungs. When peering below, she could notice the crowd shrinking and the music dying down. The party was ending, and that was her cue to leave.

When she turned around, however, someone caught her eye. Or rather... something.

It was James's hat, nested on the edge of the floor by the railing and door.

Evaline stared at it for a few seconds, mind blanking as she tried to process what this could mean. Questions started to course through her mind: why? How? When?

She gingerly picked up the hat, lining the familiar creases with the edge of her finger.

For unexplained reasons, she couldn't help but feel a comforting darkness settling in her stomach. Like this was meant to happen, and no matter what she did, she couldn't prevent it.

She had to charge her phone and find James.

James was exhausted. One party ended up being an emotional rollercoaster, and he felt like he was caught up in the center of it, over and over again. The moment he got to his car, he swore to himself: never again. He would never go to a party ever, ever again.

He felt like his mind was in a bleary haze the whole drive home. There was a blanket of fog over his mind that wouldn’t lift, and the discomfort of the last remaining minutes of the party clung to him like a thick film over his skin. The stairs up to his apartment felt agonizingly long and the hall’s air suffocatingly stale. Everything smelled like beer and grease, and his mouth felt dry. The skin on his face felt like it was being pulled taut around his eyes as a weariness washed over him the moment he made it to his door.

He’d never wanted to go to bed more than he did now, but something crept into his mind, catching him off guard, and keeping him frozen with his key in the lock.

He felt like he was being watched.

An overwhelming paranoia flooded in, pushing back the exhaustion with an urgent sense of alertness as his head twitched from side to side, scanning the hall.

The hall was empty. He was alone.

James pinched his eyes shut, shaking his head. He really needed to sleep.

He opened the door and slunk into the hall, locking the door behind him and making a bee-line for his room. With sagging shoulders he pushed his door open and took off his shoes. Like he was on autopilot, with limbs barely wanting to function, he peeled out of his "cowboy" outfit and threw on a giant t-shirt and pajama pants before dragging his feet to the bathroom.

His eyes were irritated, so he took out his contacts first. Without the benefit of clear sight, he resigned himself to brushing his teeth and calling it a day.

But when he looked down at his arm as he went to grab his toothbrush, he saw a long, gaping wound tracing down his forearm.

He dropped his toothbrush.

Throwing himself backward in shock, he slipped on the tile floor and fell. His tailbone made contact with the floor first, shooting pain up the base of his spine as he landed with far too loud of a thump. He groaned, pulling his arm back into view only to see clear skin. The blood that had been oozing was gone, completely lacking any of the reasonable sensations tht should've accompanied such a wound.

He didn't move for a moment, and instead leaned against the bathroom wall, feeling the very real ache of his tailbone.

"I'm overreacting," he muttered to himself, pinching his eyes shut.

Hallucinating because of unwanted advances was beyond extreme. Something was seriously wrong with him. Was it possible he'd somehow been drugged at the party by accident? Had he eaten something that wasn't what he thought it was? It wasn't like he was drunk. He knew that much. But this level of anxiety felt far too extreme for this.

Desperately, he tried to ward off the panic attack he could feel coming.

"This is stupid," he muttered to himself. "I'm--I need to calm down. I'm fine. I'm fine."

He we hyperventilating.

So, clearly not fine.

He kept his eyes pinched shut as he forced himself to start taking in deep breaths, letting them out slowly. They started out shaky and erratic, but when he was able to focus on counting -- and he didn't know for how long -- eventually his breathing leveled out to normal.

He was still shaking, but at least he felt more functional. He could think.

But thinking came with immediate regret, because he remembered that he left the party without any communication -- without so much as a goodbye.

Clumsily, he fished in his pockets for his phone, fumbling with it as he went to messages.

For what felt like ten minutes, he attempted to type something comprehesible with shaking fingers and a trembling phone, but after having to retype one too many words, he was fed up.

"Fine, fine, fine," he said to himself, pulling up the contacts to make a call instead.

It rang a few times, and he waited.

"Hello? James?" Larrel's voice came through.

"Hey," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "I didn't wake you did I?"

"No, I was just procrastinating on homework," Larrel said. "Why? What's up?"

That felt like a loaded question.

"Um. Well. Good news or bad news first?" he asked.

There was a pause.

"Good news?" she asked.

"Evaline and I made it official," he said.

And then he had to hold the phone away from his ear, because Larrel was squealing right into the microphone.

"Yessssss! I knew it! I can't wait to meet her! Yay, I'm so happy for you!"

James dreaded explaining the bad news, now. Her excitement was hard to follow.

"Me too," he said, trying to sound as happy as he actually felt.

"So what's the bad news, then? She's gonna make you shave your beard or something?" Larrel asked.

James laughed weakly.

"Nothing that simple, actually," he said. "I, uh... saw Eliza again."

Another pause.

"What?" Larrel said. "That b--"

But James dropped his phone with a jolt when there was a sudden knock from the doorway. The door was already open, but Carter was standing there, still costumed as a knight, looking down at him.

The tension that permeated the silence between the two of them as they locked eyes was palpable.

"Is that Larrel?" Carter asked.

"Carter, are you drunk?" Larrel's voice came faintly from his phone on the floor. Was she shouting? She had to speaking loudly for him to hear. Maybe she did the math.

Carter snorted.

"No. But I wish," he said, his eyes still resting on James.

James hastily picked his phone back up.

"Larrel, I'll call you back," he said quickly.

"Okay," she said.

And with that, he hung up, shoving his phone back in his pocket as he got to his feet. Carter remained in the doorway, still watching, with his shoulder against the wall.

James didn't look at him as he found his toothbrush on the floor and grabbed his toothpaste.

"So, what happened?" Carter asked.

James quickly stuck his toothbrush in his mouth, starting to brush. He didn't answer.

"Eliza said you ran off?" Carter pressed. "Are you alright?"

James continued to brush his teeth, still not giving Carter a second glance. The silence between them dragged on as James spit into the sink and rinsed out his mouth, and Carter simply stood there and watched.

When James turned off the faucet, he held the edges of the sink's bowl, putting his weight on it when he looked over to Carter.

"You're angry with me," Carter said, his voice steady.

"You lied to me," James said cooly.

"About what?"

"You invited Eliza, didn't you?" James hissed. "Did you tell her to -- you set me up. You brought her here and now she thinks -- she thinks -- I don't know what the hell she thinks now, but--"

"You're not making any sense, James," Carter said. "What did Eliza do? What happened after I left? I went to go find you and you were both gone."

James's knuckles were turning white as he gripped the sink tightly. He grit his teeth together and had to take in a slow, deep breath to push back the wave of rising anger and panic.

"You were never planning on coming back," he said bitterly. "This whole thing -- it was to get back at me, wasn't it? You hate me, and you've hated me for a long time. Don't pretend like I'm making this up. I know I'm right. You've hated me for a long time. I don't know what I ever did to make you hate me but this whole time, you've just been trying to keep me wrapped around your finger, haven't you? Just to toy with me? To watch me suffer?"

James felt like his ribs were curling inside of his chest as he stared at Carter's face. Everything felt so real, but he couldn't bring himself to believe any of it. He'd wanted to believe Carter was really trying, but he knew the bitterness inside him had been welling up for a long time.

And now, staring into Carter's eyes, he still found himself hesitating.

Carter looked so hurt, and selfishly, James wished he couldn't feel empathy for him. But he did.

"Did Eliza hurt you?" Carter asked, his voice filled with what sounded like genuine concern. "Are you okay?"

No. He wasn't going to let this happen. Not again. Why was he always the fool? Why couldn't he ever tell the difference?

James's throat started to tighten up.

"No," he said stiffly, his voice thin. He could feel tears fighting at the back of his eyes, trying to push their way out. Holding them back was building pressure in his head.

"James," Carter said softly. "You can tell me."

James's head hurt.

"No," James pushed out, but it wasn't a sufficient answer.

"James," Carter said again. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know what happened. You're safe here."

James felt his eyes starting to gloss over, and he ripped himself away from the sink, turning to Carter to try to push past him. Carter took a step back to let him by, and James made it just outside his bedroom before he slumped forward, with his head against the door, and he let out a stifled sob.

Something about this sadness felt painfully familiar, and even right, and that thought scared him. His heart ached, and the heaviness felt like more than he knew how to bear. He couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right -- more than just what happened with Eliza -- but he couldn't place it. Something was wrong, and it felt like... things would never return to the way they were.

But he was just being a pessimist. Right?

He felt Carter's presence hovering behind him, and before Carter could reach out, James quickly opened his door and shut it behind him, likely with too much force. He grabbed his desk chair and stuck it under the doorknob, and slunk over to his bed, crawling under the blankets and pulling them over his head.

He knew he was being overdramatic. He was overreacting. He was going to be fine, right? That's what he could imagine everyone telling him. It was just a stupid party.

So what was so wrong? What was happening to him?

He curled up tightly under his blankets, trying desperately to drown out the dark cloud of thoughts hovering over him, and in the midst of wading through the muck, he remembered again: he left the party without saying goodbye.

Evaline.

He pulled out his phone from his pocket, squinting at the bright light under the sheets. Now, at least, his hands were steady.

James wrote:Evaline. I'm sorry I just up and left without saying goodbye. Something happened with someone I wasn't expecting to see... and I panicked. I'm okay. Just a little shaken.

He paused, staring at the text for what felt like forever as a million thoughts swirled through his mind.

He knew that sounded crpytic. What was she supposed to say to that? It was too late, because the text was already sent, but he felt like no matter what it was going to blow up in his face. Things had barely started and he was already ruining it. What would she think of him? What did he even think of himself?

Well, he didn't want to answer that question.

He kept his phone under his blankets, compulsively checking other apps but retaining nothing. He was just emptily scrolling through things, and the content wasn't even really registering. He didn't realize how much time had passed until he got a notification.

It had been fifteen minutes.

Evaline wrote:Sorry. Phone died and I wasn't able to charge it until now. I'm glad you're okay. I was a little worried there when I couldn't find you. Are you sure you're okay?

And then she quickly also texted:

Evaline wrote:I'd call you, but I'm with Elias, Mel, and Bo right now.

James wrote:Where are you?

Evaline wrote:Their apartment. And you?

James wrote:I'm home.

Evaline wrote:Meet me at the bench where we first met?

James wrote:See you soon.

James knew that leaving his room would mean facing Carter again, but he didn't care. James threw off his blankets and grabbed his keys and a hoodie out of his dresser, pulling it over his shirt. He didn't feel like bothering to change out of his pajama pants, and frankly, didn't really care at the moment. He quickly grabbed a pair of sandals and pulled his chair away from his door, stepping back out into the hall.

He made it to the living room before Carter had stepped into the hall. James could feel Carter's eyes burning through his back, but he didn't turn around. He sped to the front door and locked it behind him, going the long way down to the first floor through the stairwell.

When he made it outside, he walked down the street to the bench, spotting Evaline sitting on the end. She'd taken off the devil costume and was wearing a fluffy jacket. It looked like Mel's.

James walked over with his hands in his hoodie's pouch pocket, plopping down on the bench beside her and looking down into his lap.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey, stranger," Evaline said with a soft smile. "How are you holding up?"

"Alright - at least - now I am, I think," James said. "Can't say I wasn't overreacting a little bit earlier, though."

"Did something happen?" she asked.

"Less something and more someone, but, yes," James said quietly, finding himself sinking a little in the bench, raising his shoulders and slouching. "I..."

He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed.

"Evaline, this is probably going to sound dramatic so please don't--" he prefaced.

Before he could continue, Evaline reached over and placed a hand over his hoodie pocket where his hands were bunched up.

"James, it's fine. You can tell me. I'm not going to judge," she said. "You know that... right?"

James felt like he shrunk a little under Evaline's gaze. While he did know that, he still wanted to crawl back under his covers and hide in his bed. It wasn't because he didn't think Evaline cared.

"I know," he said quietly. "I'm just not... excited to explain."

"Was it Carter?" she asked, then sighed. "He talked to me a few times."

"He invited an old childhood friend of ours," James said, staring down into his lap. "I haven't seen her in almost four years. Carter acted like he was surprised to see her, but I think he invited her just to... to mess with me."

Evaline gently squeezed his hands once before slowly letting her hand drop back to her lap. "I assume... it worked?"

James was quiet for a moment, caught up in reliving the moment. It made him want to crawl out of his skin.

"Eliza and I used to be friends," he said quietly. "But... she, um. Well..."

He closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh as he leaned forward, taking his hands out of his pocket to bury his face in them as he let out a low groan.

"So, she's always sort of... had a thing for me," he muttered into his hands. "I've told her like, a million times in so many different ways that I'm not interested, but she just doesn't want to take a hint. I thought after I graduated highschool that, you know, that would be the end of it and I'd never see her again. But apparently, I was wrong."

Evaline hesitated, likely because this was a lot to process all at once. "Why would Carter invite her?" she asked slowly.

James sighed again, sliding his hands down his face and holding his chin instead.

"I think he's mad at me for, essentially, keeping you a secret. Not that he couldn't figure it out himself, but, I never talked to him about you at all," James said quietly. "I thought maybe he'd gotten over it because he really seemed to turn around the past month or so, but I keep..."

He groaned, once again burying his face in his hands.

"I keep falling for it, Evaline," he said, his voice muffled. "I'm such an idiot. I never learn."

"Hey," Evaline said gently as she slid closer to him so that their knees were touching. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder, lightly patting him. "You're not an idiot for being nice. That's just being nice. There's nothing wrong with that. The problem lies with Carter, not you."

James let out a drawn-out breath into his hands before he showed his face again, letting his hands flop down into his lap as he looked down at the ground.

"I just keep thinking that maybe one day he'll change, and that I should hang on a little longer until that day comes," James said quietly. "And I really do want to, but it's so exhausting. I don't think he wants to change, and I don't think he really wants help either. And I can't help someone who doesn't want help. But I can't just give up on him, either, you know? I mean... if -- if that was me? I wouldn't want someone to just give up on me..."

Evaline continued to rub her hand along his back in a steady rhythmic motion. "It's not your responsibility to change who he is. And you can't ask yourself what you would do if you were him, because you're not him. You're a much better person, and you have people you can depend upon." She sighed. "I know it may not be easy to hear this, especially because you're so just so nice... but some people cannot be helped."

James knew she was right, but it still didn't feel good to hear.

What did that mean for him, then? He still lived with Carter, and he didn't know how easily he could just break that out without causing a big mess. If he knew anything about Carter, it was that Carter had the potential to be very, very petty and vengeful, and even the thought of James trying to move out made him feel exhausted beyond belief.

"If anything," Evaline continued, "I think it's admirable that you've managed to come this far trying to help him. But at least now you recognize that he's hindering your growth, as well as his own. Now you can do something about it."

James was quiet, still processing the implications of that.

Now he had to do something about it. He'd known deep down that he had to do something about it for a long time, he'd just never had the courage to do it.

"Yeah," he finally said heavily.

"Change doesn't have to happen overnight. It can occur slowly over time."

"I think... I'm going to have to plan a lot ahead of time," he said quietly. "For this one."

If he was going to move out -- which he knew was the logical next step -- he needed a solid fallback, and clear boundaries. He needed to think those through.

"And you don't have to do it alone, either," Evaline said with a caring smile. "Starting tonight. Do you have a change of clothes in your car?"

James drifted his eyes over to her, meeting her eyes.

"Yeah," he said slowly. "My work clothes."

"Okay, that's a start," she said with a deeper smile. "Now would you rather: crash a small party of sleeping friends, see a half-finished painting that will scar you for life, or commute a bit but go off the grid from people?"

James blinked slowly, putting together puzzle pieces to unpack each option. He didn't know if he had the energy to explain why he was sleeping over to Elias, Mel, and Bo, and he didn't want that to be awkward. He also didn't really want to see the painting of Lordy he knew Evaline was working on, even though he knew he probably should see it at some point just for solidarity. Now just... wasn't a great time for that.

"What do you mean by... off grid?" James asked.

Evaline rustled through her coat pocket until she pulled out a white keycard, holding it in front of James for him to take.

"It's the hotel I'm staying in," she said. "I didn't have a ride back anyways. You're free to unwind there if you want to."

James looked at the keycard, then up at Evaline.

"You're coming too, right?"

Evaline pursed her lips and slightly turned her head away as she used her free hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. James couldn't be sure since it was dim, but he thought he caught her blushing.

"If you want me to..." she murmured.

James felt his cheeks get a little warm, and he looked down again.

"I mean, I just... don't really feel like being alone right now," he said softly. "If that's okay."

"Well, lucky for you, I feel the same way," Evaline said, then looked back at him with rosy cheeks and a smile. "Come on, then. We have some planning to do."