Hannah watched the boppy blonde go around the room, talking to everyone. Beverly walked to a chatty girl who had shoulder-length hair. She rememembered her name was Eden. She wasn't gorgeous. But she was beautiful. She had bewildering blue eyes and mile-long eyelashes. She had subtle cheekbones and pouty lips. Like a model. A look Hannah never really had.
Eden and Beverly then made their way to her. Beverly told an inside joke, something about adulthood, and Eden gave her loudest laugh.
"Hey Beverly, Eden," Hannah greeted. Eden smiled and held her hand out. She shook it lightly and Beverly began talking.
"Okay guys, make sure nobody has too many drinks," Beverly sighed. Hannah unknowingly made a face. She wasn't exactly the partying type, but she definitely wasn't a stickler. Beverly gave a little laugh.
"It's not because she's uptight. Someone threw up four times on her new couch last year," Eden chuckled. "Wasn't it Danny?"
"Danny? I think I met him at the convention," Hannah added.
"Oh, Danny. Doesn't he have anything better to do?" Beverly rolled her eyes. Hannah raised her eyebrows.
"By that I mean... anything to do that's not you," Beverly said. "Not that I don't like you. It's that I do, and well, you seem like a good, committing person. Danny is not that."
"She means he's not the type to settle. Like now, it could be one girl, and next week it might not still be her," Eden explained. Hannah laughed disappointedly. She already knew that by the way he spoke so confidently to her, but a tiny bit of her wished it wasn't true. It was better now anyway, she had other things to focus on.
Beverly sensed an awkward feel between the girls, so she decided to change the subject. "But who cares about Danny, or boys in general, right?" Beverly laughed. Eden scrunched her eyebrows and raised her hand.
"I have a boyfriend. Possibly had. He lives across the country now so," she said. Beverly laughed with her. And Hannah joined, too. Eden grabbed a bottle of clear liquid sitting on a side table and chugged a third of it. She sighed and wiped her mouth.
"Hannah, I hope you've got some muscle. I haven't been having the best week, so I will get drunk tonight, and you will not stop me. I don't talk to anyone when I'm drunk so don't take it personally," Eden explained drowsily. She must have had other drinks.
"What do I need muscle for?" Hannah asked.
"She's drunk. She's going to pass out in about an hour, and we're going to haul her upstairs," Beverly said. Eden gave a thumbs up and walked toward a black leather couch. Beverly watched with confused eyes as Eden stumbled onto it. Then she turned to Hannah.
"Don't worry, she's not an alcoholic. She's just had a really bad week. I have to stay here and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. You want to go look for Cara and Mason?" Beverly asked, and Hannah nodded.
"So you're pissed at me, is that it?" Cara hissed. She'd already shoved a few of his papers off his desk accidentally.
"No, that's not it," Mason said.
"Then what is it?" Cara growled. She was supposed to be at Beverly's, having fun. She did not want to have this fight. "You're ignoring all my texts. You're ignoring my calls. You don't want to see me and you can't admit it."
"Did you ever think that maybe it's not about you? Maybe the world doesn't revolve around Cara Coltherd?" Mason yelled. Cara gripped a polished, wooden chair. She bit her tongue, trying not to cry. Not wanting to make it worse.
"It is. It is about me. You didn't call or text over summer at all. You didn't even want to see me when you got here. We're supposed to be at Bev's having fun," Cara said. She touched her forehead. "Don't you think it's exhausting when I have to sit by the phone waiting for you to call and I have to sit there waiting all day because you don't. Even though you said you would. And that doesn't seem to matter to you." Mason turned around, not wanting to face her.
"Not everything is about you, Cara. This isn't about you," Mason said. He was staring out the window trying to grasp what was going on.
"I'm not trying to be selfish. I'm never selfish. I put you before me. Every day of my freaking life! When was the last time you dropped everything to be with me?" Cara whimpered. She took a deep breath then let it go. Her mascara was running. She should've gone with waterproof. "I'm going to leave, Mason. And I want you to go after me. No, I need you to go after me."
"I'm really busy," Mason said, whiping his wet face with his shirt.
"You can't hop in and out of my life and expect to be an important part of it," Cara said. "I'm giving you an out. You have until I walk past the threshold. Then you have to let me go because I am holding onto to nothing."
"Don't do this, Car," Mason sighed. "Don't make me choose."
"What are you even saying? Choose between what?" She exasperated. After a moment, she added,"These past few months have made it clear that I'm not a choice anymore." Cara twisted on her heel and headed through the door toward the elevator. With each step the tears fell faster. When she was pressing the button for the elevator and heard nothing behind her, she felt like she had no more air. She was being choked. The elevator doors closed and there was no one behind them. She gave him an out, never thinking he'd take it. If only she'd kept the doors open a second longer.
"Hannah, right?" Danny snuck up behind her. He held a drink in his right hand and offered the one in his right. It was a pretty dark room, and the few ceiling lights hit his eyes.
"Yes. I'm surprised you remembered. I've heard about your track record," Hannah laughed.
"Oh, Bev and Eden told you? You know Eden says stupid things when she's drunk, right?" He tried. He did get an eye roll and full-hearted laugh. Danny's expression suddenly darkened.
"Cara? Cara!" Danny ran toward her, leaving Hannah. "Car what happened?"
Her makeup was smudged and her cardigan looked out of place with her outfit. She, herself, looked out of place.
"Mason and I had a fight and I told him I was going to leave him and I told him to go after me and he didn't and I think I made a mistake and I shouldn't--"
"Stop. Slow down, what happened?" Danny asked. His eyes were sad for her.
"He doesn't love me anymore, Danny. I don't think he has for a long time," she cried. "I need a drink. No, drinks. Many, many drinks. Many." Danny laughed a little and grabbed her a beer. He smoothed her hair out of her face.
"Boys are jerks," Cara exasperated. She flailed her arms dramatically.
"Hey!" Danny said.
"Oh come on, Danny. You just dumped Elia or Jackie or Liz or maybe all of them last week and now you're jumping Bev's new friend?" Cara chugged half the beer.
"I'm not jumping her. I've got my eye on someone else," Danny smiled.
"Oh yeah. We were talking about that earlier, your mystery girl. Who is it?" Cara asked, sitting up. She held Danny's shoulders. "Tell me." She always had a way of getting what she wanted.
"It's no one you know," Danny said, smiling again.
"You're mean, you know that?" She took her hands off him and hugged her beer bottle. "But you're awesome. I want you to know that, too." She locked eyes with him and for a second he was electric, but that second was a fleeting moment. Even though it was short, the feeling lingered around him.
"You have pretty eyes. I hope you know that too. So pretty. Like seashellsss," she slurred.
"You're drunk," Danny raised his eyebrows. She inched closer to him. "Go to sleep, Car."
She whimpered, then passed out.
