Lie Until You Laugh

13- Drunken Walks

I sigh and decide that I should just punch Brian in the face for bringing that up. I planned on telling Stella that it was actually Penn and not Andrew after practice so that she wouldn’t go all overdramatic on me during practice. “No, it wasn’t.”

“Well, this is a whole new level of excitement,” She chirps, her eyes brightening at the thought of a mystery. “He’s probably in this room with how red your cheeks are right now.”

She looks around and so does Mason. The only guys in the room are Brian, Anthony (who sits alone now that both of his friends are suspended for this week and next), and then there are too scrawny-looking guys who had joined the girls in the corner a little while ago, and then obviously Penn.

Stella glares at me once she gets the head count and I assume she thinks that I was out with Anthony. The thought makes me cringe. “My brother?”

“No!” I say quickly. I don’t know which one’s worse- her thinking that I was with Anthony or her knowing that I was with Penn. They both sound pretty bad, but I’m a terrible liar, so I’ll go with the truth. “Gross, definitely not.”

She scans the room again. “Brian?”

“Yes, Stells,” Brian replies sarcastically. “I snuck out of my dorm last night and then I met Sienna in the forest and then we just randomly hooked up. Because that makes so much sense.”

I laugh although maybe I should feel embarrassed or something about his joke, but I just think that it’s funny. “There you go- mystery solved.”

“Okay, so it wasn’t Brian or Anthony, so it had to of been…” Mason trails off when she finally realizes that Penn is the only other person besides the two creepy guys that are in the room. Her eyes go wide and she stares at him for a moment as he’s sitting in his chair, tapping away at his phone.

“Who?” Stella wonders, obviously feeling a little bit left out. “WHO?!”

“Let’s just drop it until after practice, yes?” I plead hopelessly as a group of people file into the room and the volume in the room increases with chatter of the people around us. “It’s really not that important. It’s not like anything happened between me and this person, we just had a conversation, so let’s not raise our voices or anything.”

“Penn!” Stella finally figures it out and when she does, she yells his name louder than most people should ever yell. “Holy cow!”

“Shh!” I hiss, shooting her a small glare to try and get her to be a little bit quieter. “He’s right there, just keep your voice down at least.”

“She’s embarrassed,” Brian teases with a laugh. “Adorable.”

“I’m mortified, actually,” I correct him.

“Wait, no I need details,” Stella tells me. “I need details.”

“After practice,” I promise her. We only have a few minutes before practice is about to start anyway, and then when stretches start, we won’t be able to talk and then I’ll be safe. “I will tell you everything after practice.”

“You can tell me on the way to the bonfire then,” She decides.

“Okay,” I sigh. “Sure, I’ll tell you on the way to the bonfire.”

“So you are going to the bonfire?” Mason wonders.

I nod. “Yeah, I guess so. If you guys don’t make a big deal out of this.”

“Of course not,” Mason shakes her head and Stella does too, but for some crazy reason, I don’t believe them.

“Ten minute stretch,” Penn announces from his metal chair and then stands up, putting his phone in his jeans pocket.