The Day We Changed

Chapter Fifteen

By around eight o'clock in the evening, half of the party is drunk.

I'm one of the sober ones, which, you know, makes sense, right?

Francis is still sober, too, which I find pretty surprising.

"Having fun?" he asks me.

"No," I say honestly. "Half of the group is already drunk, and it hasn't even been three hours, yet."

"Yeah, I can agree with that," Francis nods with an understanding smile. "Want to sit outside for a bit?"

"Sure," I agree. "It's getting hot in here, anyway, with everyone dancing and making out in corners."

Francis laughs, wrapping his arm around my shoulders once more as we walk out of his house and sit on the steps that I feel like we were just standing on, the two of us talking about why this house seems so familiar to me.

He still holds me close to him after we sit down, but I don't really mind it, now. It feels nice, and comforting, something that I haven't felt in a very long time.

I look up at the sky, surprised by how clear they are in the City's bright lights.

"The sky is beautiful tonight, no?" Francis wonders, and I can hear the smirk in his voice at my gazing.

"We're not dating, remember?"

"Aw, but can't I start a normal conversation?"

"Like what?" I question, looking at him with a raised brow for emphasis.

"Well," he chuckles lightly, "like...how modest you are, and loyal to your friends. You stood up to Elizabeta for us, even if she did stomp on your foot afterwards. Or, that day the four of us went out, and you and Alfred had such a nice conversation about being friends. Thank you, Arthur, for giving us a second chance."

"You're welcome," I reply, "but-hey! How did you know about our conversation anyway?"

"I have ears all over the school, you know~"

"Creep," I shake my head with a laugh.

"Call me what you want," he rolls his eyes with his smirk still on his face, "but I am not going to give up on you, Arthur. You'll love me. Eventually~"

"Ha, we'll see."

"Yes, we will."

~~~~~~

We go back inside after a few more minutes, and already everything is a mess.

"Aren't your parents going to be upset when they see this tomorrow morning?" I wonder, looking at him.

"Oh, they're out of the country until Tuesday," Francis explains in his carefree manner, "so it's okay. Besides, since it's Saturday tomorrow, we can just clean it up, then, can't we?"

"Well...I...suppose so," I reluctantly agree, "but won't the principal at the school be angry for all of us being late to our dorms?"

"Oh, no, they won't," Francis shakes his head. "They don't do dorm checks on the weekends."

"Why not?"

"Because they know people usually go out of the country during the weekend, so it would be unfair to do dorm checks at that time."

"Oh."

Before Francis can reply, Gilbert shoves a plastic cup of beer in my hand while Antonio does the same to Francis.

"Drinking contest, and...GO!" they cheer, and Francis chugs his cup in two seconds flat.

I just stare at mine, trying to find a good place to dump it out in. They look at me, utterly confused, and I chuckle awkwardly.