The Midnight Boys

Chapter 7

As Sophia jumped down from the passenger seat, the doors of the barn swung open. A guy with high top dreads and a Green Bay Packers shirt stepped outside. He waved when he saw us, and something about him was vaguely familiar.

Owen waved back to him before saying to Sophia, "I'm going to unload the beer. Can you ask Patrick where the plastic tubs for the kegs are?"

"No problem." She kissed Owen on the cheek before grabbing my wrist and dragging me toward the stranger. "Come on. I'll introduce you."

"Hey, Sophia," the guy named Patrick greeted.

"Patrick Miller, long time no see! How's Chicago treating you?"

He shrugged. "Didn't flunk any of my classes, so there's that. How've you been?"

"Oh, you know. Same old, same old. The only exciting thing that's happened in town recently is our new arrival." Sophia turned to me. "Patrick, this is—"

"Evelyn," he finished, looking me up and down. "You're the blondie who moved in with the Brooks. My brother told me all about you. Apparently you make a killer lasagna."

My cheeks went pink. "Your brother?"

"Zuke," he replied with a knowing grin.

Ah. No wonder he looked familiar. Patrick had the same beautiful, dark brown eyes as his brother.

"Right." I hooked my thumbs through the belt loops on my jeans. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

A moment of awkward silence passed, but thankfully Sophia came to my rescue. "Owen said you had tubs for the kegs?"

"Yeah, just pulled them down from the loft," Patrick said. "Let's set them up next to the picnic table and then we can run up to the house for ice."

The next ten minutes passed quickly as we prepared for the party. After Owen arranged the kegs in the tubs, Sophia and I dumped bags of ice around the beer to keep it cold. When we finished, I wiped the condensation covering my hands onto my jeans and looked around.

"Are we legit going to have a party in a cornfield?" I asked, frowning. "Because this place is giving off a serious Children of the Corn vibe."

"We're not in a cornfield," Sophia answered. "We're next to one."

"Oh." I rolled my eyes. "My mistake."

"What's Children of the Corn?"

"It's this cult classic horror film from the eighties based on a Stephen King story. Basically the entire movie is about these children from a rural town who ritually murder adults to ensure a successful corn harvest."

"Um, creepy much?"

"Yeah, it's not really my thing either," I told her. "But Elliot loved that kind of shit."

Sophia's brows wrinkled up. "Elliot?"

I froze when I realized my mistake. I hadn't planned on telling anyone about Elliot, but he was such an integral part of who I was, it was impossible not to talk about him.

"Hey, ladies!" Patrick yelled, poking his head out of the barn. "If you're done with the ice, I could use your help in here. Owen said he could get the music up and running, but he underestimated the complexity of my brother's sound system. All he's accomplished so far is tangling himself up in the cords."

I jumped at the chance to escape our current conversation. "Yeah, sure thing!" I knew next to nothing about Patrick Miller, but as I strode across the grass in his direction, I offered up a smile as if he were my knight in shinning armor. So what if I repelled technology? Pretending to help Owen with the sound system was just the excuse I needed to avoid answering Sophia's question. With any luck, she'd forget I ever mentioned the name Elliot.