"Me, a chauvinist?" Patrick scoffed. "I think you have me confused with my little brother."
"Nope, no mistake. Low morals and all around debauchery run in your family," she shot back.
Patrick clutched a hand to his chest and staggered backward a few steps. "You wound me, O Fiery One."
Briella let out one of her usual snorts, but before she could respond, a football slammed into Patrick's shoulder. The guys he'd been playing with earlier exploded in laughter.
"Miller, quit dicking around!" one of his friends called.
"For fuck's sake! Give me a minute, will you?" he shouted back, and I noticed that Briella's expression had suddenly gone sour.
"Well, as much as I've enjoyed our repartee, I better go before people start getting ideas." She nudged me in the opposite direction. "Come on, Evelyn. I'll show you where the cool people hang out."
"Hey, Blondie. Hold up." Patrick's fingers snaked around my wrist, but when Briella shot him a look, he let go and held up his hands in defense. "Chill, Cherry Bomb. Just gonna have a quick chat with our resident newbie, okay?"
"You're not going to throw her over your shoulder and carry her off to some high tower, are you?" she quipped.
His eyes flashed. "Come on, Briella. You know I'm nothing like Dash."
The conversation had taken a sudden nosedive, shifting from playful and light to sharp and serious. I glanced between the two, my forehead bunched up in confusion. What the hell was going on here? Clearly I was missing something.
Patrick glared at Briella until she relented. "Fine," she said with a sigh, "but I'll be right over there watching you." She gestured to the kegs.
I glanced at Patrick out of the corner of my eye. His shoulders were tense, and there was an expression on his face that I couldn't place. Anger? Maybe pain? It was hard to tell, especially in the dark.
When Briella was out of earshot, I cleared my throat. "So, um... what was that all about?"
"Nothing you need to worry about," Patrick said, offering me a lazy smirk. It was amazing how quickly the look on his face had changed. From cold and imperceptible to open and friendly.
I frowned, but dropped the subject. It was none of my business anyway. "Okay... you said there was something you wanted to talk about?"
"Yeah, I wanted to warn you—be careful if you go over there." He nodded at a bonfire about twenty yards away.
An old tree trunk had been cut into stools, and three familiar faces were gathered on the seating around the flames. First I spotted Turtle, who was standing on one of the stumps and shotgunning a beer. Zuke and Henry sat close by, cheering him on. When Turtle finished, he crushed the can between his hands and gestured at something in the grass. Henry reached down, grabbed a baseball bat, and passed it to him. After pointing to the cornfield like Babe Ruth calling his shot, Turtle proceeded to toss the can in the air and hit it so far, I lost track of it in the darkness.
"Be careful? What do you mean?"
"They're playing Truth or Dare. If you sit down, they'll make you play."
I made a face. Was he really warning me off a bunch of horny teenagers who were just looking for an excuse to touch each other? As if I couldn't handle that. "What is this, middle school?"
"Nah, they don't play the kiddy version. Ever watch Jackass?" he asked. I nodded. "Well, it's exactly like that, and they're crazy. Always daring each other to do dangerous shit. Last time they played, my brother ended up in the ER."
"What'd he do?"
Patrick snorted. "Tried to pole-volt over the bonfire with a pitchfork."
Okay, so Briella's friends were morons. Duly noted. "Thanks, Patrick. I promise not to do anything life threatening or pitchfork related."
"Have fun." He offered me a little salute before scooping the football off the ground. Then he was gone, jogging off into the dark to rejoin his friends.
***
Hi friends!
So I know it's been a super long time since I last updated. Like, almost a year. But as I mentioned when I first posted this story, I only add new chapters when I have spare time. If you need a refresher, feel free to reread the first couple of chapters. Also, you'll notice that I took down the cast list. I've posted character aesthetics instead, which can be found in the synopsis chapter.
Until next time.
Deze afbeelding leeft onze inhoudsrichtlijnen niet na. Verwijder de afbeelding of upload een andere om verder te gaan met publiceren.
