Young Writers Society

I peered over my shoulder to the awkward group we had left behind. Rowan gave me a wave, obviously waiting for my sister and I to relieve his awkward conversation. I waved back, quickly dropping my pinkie from Kenny’s. We strolled back to our table, me making a mental note to act less weird around Rowan. He was my friend, and I needed to remember that. 

Maybe I needed to go somewhere with him where we would be around other people. I didn’t want Rowan to think that our next friendly outing was a date. We needed to get some of the awkward meetups out of the way before we did anything solo again.

Before Kenny started walking back to the table, I grabbed her hand lightly, “What time did you say that party was at tonight?”

Her eyes widened three sizes as she stared at me, as if I were some kind of alien.

“The party? Jeremy’s party?” She asked, grabbing my shoulders with excitement.

“Uh, yeah, Jeremy’s,” I laughed weakly.

“Oh my god!” Kenny screeched, suddenly hugging me, “We can go after Mom and Dad fall asleep. I’ll take care of everything. Oh, geez, I can find you something to wear! And makeup, oh my gosh.”

She chattered on as I took her hand, leading her back to the table, where she sat down heavily, quickly telling everyone of what I was going to.

“You’re going?” Rowan puzzled, as I realized that he hadn’t even agreed to go yet. I had to convince him.

“I guess so,” I shrugged, “You should come too! Maybe it will be fun.”

“Yeah, but, I don’t, uh, I don’t drink,” He said clearly, looking slightly embarrassed.

“Ha! I don’t either. And I certainly don’t plan on starting. I’m just going to go for a little, then leave. Nothing big. Just a little social interaction, as I seemingly have none,” I agreed, relieved that my new friend didn’t plan on drinking. I had no interest in it, so I was glad to see that he didn’t either.

We all smiled, but Kenny most definitely had the biggest grin. She put her arms around me lightly and squeezed.

“Oh, Bray Bray, you’re coming with me!” She laughed, squishing me.

☼

“I don’t know,” I squirmed on my vanity chair, “Can’t we just tell Mom and Dad? I’m sure they’d let us go. Even if it’s for an hour or two. Come on, Ken.”

“No!” She shouted, “If you tell them, then I can’t have a good time. And you’ll be there to keep us safe anyways. No more staying home and worrying, Bray. We’re going to have a great time, and Mom and Dad won’t be worse for wear.”

Uneasiness settled in my stomach as my sister brushed blush on my cheeks lightly. I told her that I didn’t want to look like a disco ball, I just wanted to look slightly better. The dress she’d tried to stuff me into had already been enough. I settled for my tighter fitted black dress that still allowed me to keep my dignity.

“Perfect,” Ken whispered, spinning me to look at myself in the mirror. I was pleasantly surprised. She had done exactly as I wanted.

I turned and wrapped an arm around my sister, “Thanks. I’ll try not to be a downer all night, okay?”

She nodded happily, and helped me up from my chair, “Jer will be here in a couple, so we should head downstairs. Be quiet.”

“I know,” I rolled my eyes playfully, trying to cover up my clear nerves. We tip-toed downstairs, me pausing next to my parents’ room for a moment. If I just told them, then if anything happened, they would know. Kenny snapped me out of my thoughts by grabbing my arm and pulling me down the stairs. I breathed out lightly, trying to stop myself from telling them. Kenny would never forgive me if I did, and I knew that. We kept moving.

“Jer!” Kenny whisper-shouted as we stepped outside, running down the walkway, “Hi, sweetie!”

She kissed him lightly, before sliding into the passenger’s seat. I hesitated outside of the back seat door.

“Get in, Bray. We’ll be fine, just stick with me,” Ken prompted, reaching her light hand out to me. I sighed, and slid in.

Jer only lived two miles away, but it had felt like the longest minutes of my life as anxiety rested against me. I would be fine once I saw Rowan there, knowing that there was someone else there on my same boat. We arrived, and Kenny was greeted by a group of her friends, who embraced her and quickly handed her a beer.

“Guys, guys,” She laughed, pointing to me, “My sister’s here! Can you believe it?”

They all eyed me warily as I smiled awkwardly, searching the growing crowd for Rowan, who I finally spotted. I waved him over.

“Hey, Braylie. Ken, Jeremy,” He nodded to us, coming to stand by me, “I put my stuff in the living room if you want to head in there.”

He leaned down lightly to me, “It’s the quietest place. Not as many people are in there.”

I nodded happily, following him. I hadn’t realized that my sister wasn’t there before we had already gotten in. Rowan reassured me that she was fine, with her friends. I took his word and sat down on the couch.

“I cannot believe that I’m actually here,” I said loudly, laughing.

“I would have to agree with that. This is certainly not how I thought I would be spending my Friday. But at least I’m with you,” He shrugged, sitting down with me. I leaned back into a pillow as an awkward silence lapsed over us. A much as I liked spending time with him, we didn’t know each other all that well. I needed to find something to fill the time while it was just the two of us.

“Twenty questions?” I offered.

He nodded eagerly, gesturing for me to start.

“Okay,” I licked my lips, trying to think of something to ask, “On a one to four scale, what was your GPA in New York?”

“Geez, Braylie,” Rowan laughed, kicking his head back, “You really are getting into the good stuff. Okay, okay. Grades. I’ve gotta say, you won’t be too proud. I have a two point nine right now, but I plan on getting it up now that I’m in a ‘stable environment’. That’s what the counselors say.”

I smiled lightly, pleased with his answer.

“My turn. Were you at your Dad and step-mom’s wedding? What’s that like, to be at your own parents’ wedding?”

“That was two,” I held up my finger, “I get to ask two then. I was at the wedding. It was actually pretty awesome. I stood next to them. It was small, not too many people there. I loved it.”

We went back and forth for a while, until my sister stumbled into the room, laughing wildly.

“Bray Bray! Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you for an hour!” She skipped over to me, giving me a big sloppy kiss on the cheek. An hour? I couldn’t believe that Rowan and I had already been there for an hour.

“Hey, Ken,” I replied quietly, wrapping an arm around her lightly, “What’s up?”

“We’re dancing in the kitchen. Come on, come have fun. This is boring,” Ken dragged out her words as she dragged me up.

I shrugged, looking over at Rowan who also stood. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad if we just had a little bit of fun with the rest of our classmates.