GENTRY

09

Their car pulls up at the same time as Luis' taxi. Normally late, Luis actually made good time. If his goal is to find Kai and talk to him, at least semi-sober, he needed to arrive early. Luis loses track of time like the insane lose their minds. It's perpetual.

They exit together, wave hello, and head into the house. The music is raging, and they swear the floor might be shaking from all of the poundings of the dancers.

While Briar makes her way into the crowd, dancing with strangers and drinking liquors that men bring her, Ellie and Luis meet at the table. Kai is still there, with Jetta, chatting.

The longer the conversation has been going, the more insufferable Jetta thinks Kai is becoming.

"So, yeah, I showed those football guys a thing or two," Kai finishes. He turns to see Ellie and Luis, pouring each of them a shot.

As soon as he looks away, Jetta rolls her eyes.

"Come on, you've got some catching up to do," Kai grins. "Jetta and I are three drinks deep."

Ellie looks at Luis, who is already pounding back the liquor. Ellie raises it to her lips and swallows. She's not a drinker, and the liquid is more bitter than wine. While Luis sucks in a breath, Ellie tries to hide her cough.

Kai sees one of his friends and disappears into the crowd. Jetta narrowly escapes his hand, as he goes to pull her along.

"Can either of you even stand him?" Jetta asks.

"No," Ellie laughs.

Luis pours himself another shot, to avoid answering the question. While yes, Kai is a little bit self-oriented, he's not bad on the eyes.

The party continues for quite some time before Felix arrives. He walks in through the front door, and the first thing he sees is Ez on the stairs. What a pretentious motherfucker. He approaches Ez and sits down on the stair next to him, "you're reading a novel on the stairs at a party?"

"It's a collection of short stories," Ez clarifies, rolling his eyes. "Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a fas-"

"I bet Roman's read it," Felix says. "Maybe grab a drink and go talk to them about it?"

Ez gets up, shakes his head and heads into the party.

Felix feels like he's done something truly altruistic for the first time in a long time. Well, not entirely altruistic. Now it'll be easier to go to the bathroom when he inevitably pukes up his guts. Alcohol, especially on an empty stomach, does that.

Ez fills a red solo cup with coke and rum. As he walks through the party, he finds a spot on the couch next to Roman. Roman sees the opportunity to dodge Evelyn and seizes it, like clinging to a rope hanging over the abyss.

"Is that The Yellow Wallpaper?" Roman asks. "My God, I had an English teacher in high school tell me it was about insanity, and not you know, the plight of women at the time."

Ez's eyes light up. He's ecstatic. Thrilled, even.

Evelyn gets up, not bothering to bother with it.

Just as she passes by the door, Poppy arrives. She knows it's risky to be here. Among them all. Too many eyes. Someone brushes her shoulder and she grits her teeth. Risky, but worth it.

She watches as Evelyn approaches Kai in front of a few of the other members of the rugby team.

"Hey," Evelyn says, her voice high-pitched.