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When George Shaw tries to find a plan for the last fifteen days to spend with his best friend, who he's had a crush on for as long as he can remember, all he needs is a map to plot out a road trip and his daily h...
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When I stopped the engine, Abby still looked nervous. She didn't want to go to the party, but each time I told her we could ditch, she said we promised Roy.
To me, it meant nothing, but she was true to her word. This was the first time she had to mingle with people she'd avoided for four years straight. I'd been to parties many times before, but she always found a way to avoid them.
I had no idea what changed now, but we were going to see. I was still positive she could like this party because drunk people could be annoying, but being surrounded by people wasn't that bad in general.
"What's wrong?" I asked, turning to her. It wasn't so dark outside yet, so I could clearly see how her eyes shone with worry and her lips twitched. This oddly reminded me of the first presentation we'd had together in grade five. We were quite happy during the process because the teacher teamed us up—that was rare since everyone knew we were getting along—but Abby looked so queasy when it was our turn. I told her it would be okay, and she held my hand. Well, I almost did all the talking that day and got a higher score than her, but it wasn't important. She asked me to back her up and I did. That was the first time she'd fully trusted me.
"I don't know anyone," she replied with a hoarse tone, her eyes focused outside, at Rachel's house and all the deafening partying noise. "I literally don't know anyone—"
I held her hand, like that time she was so nervous and unsure, and whispered, "You know me. I'll always be by your side, okay? Always. It's gonna be cool."
She held my gaze for a few second, calculating my words and probably considering her options. Then, she nodded with defeat and then, grinned.
"This reminded me of that presentation." There were a thousand reasons why I loved her but the best one was this: we thought the same things at the same time. "Maybe you don't remember but your support meant everything for me. Thank you, Georgie."
"You just ruined the mood." I unbuckled my belt and opened the door. Turning around, I threw a last glance. "Let's go and party like there's no tomorrow." When she did the same, she was laughing. God, I needed alcohol like right now. When we walked toward the door, she looked at me and I knew what was running through her mind. She was nervous to be here, but I was keen on showing her that this wasn't so bad. I held her hand in mine as I walked up the porch.
We stepped into the house from the open door, passing through people shaking their bodies with solo cups in hand and I squinted my eyes to spot someone familiar in the crowd. Rachel's party was full of people indeed, some I remembered from school and lots of strangers. "I should have brought my glasses," I said to Abby, our hands still linked.
She didn't hear me well due to the noise, so she just moved closer and yelled, "What?"
"Never mind," I yelled back since I was saying nothing important. She looked at me to make sure but just shrugged when she was assured. As we made our way through the crowd, I caught a guy checking her and instinctively squeezed her hand. The guy's gaze landed on our linked fingers, then at me and finally, he got the message. Abby was looking around with that familiar curiosity in the meantime, so she just smiled at the sudden squeeze.
