HUNTER IS A dead man walking.
"Well, at least it's a change from your usual death threat victim," Gia's crackly voice replies from the other side of our FaceTime call shortly after I say this out loud. "Hayden not around?"
"He's MIA. I haven't seen him since the dumb party started," I admit. "But that's beside the point—Hunter was the one that initiated this whole thing over a girl and..." I get up from my bed to peer out the window, "I haven't even seen Laney tonight."
"Laney, like Delaney Johnson?"
"Mhmm. We met her at the White the other day, and now Hunter suddenly remembers he has unrequited feelings for her or something."
"Really? I always thought it was the other way around."
"It is," I insist. "Hunter's just being an idiot as per usual. Plus he'd never ignore an excuse to throw a party."
"On the upside, at least it's down at the beach, rather than an actual house party," Gia responds, still trying to make something positive out of it. "It'll be quieter inside."
"Yeah, you'd think, but they're just as obnoxiously loud anyway. They have to at least be a quarter mile away but I can still hear them."
"Yikes." Gia winces. "How have the neighbours not complained yet?"
"Their son's cohosting the party? I don't know, Gi," I mutter irritably. "Probably not at home either."
I let out a sigh, glancing outside once more and then at my door.
"I'm going to go make myself a sandwich," I declare.
"Oh, okay then," I hear Gia say. It's hard to see because her side of the screen is dark, but I could tell she had an eyebrow raised as she said this. Ignoring this, I pick up my phone and head down to the kitchen.
I prop my phone up on a counter where Gia is able to see me (there isn't much point in me seeing her — she is sat in a dark room, I can barely make out her face in the dim lighting).
"The worst part, Gi, is the music they're playing isn't even that good," I carry on, as I manoeuvred my way around the kitchen in search of the ingredients from my sandwich. "It's that awful, mainstream synth pop stuff. The drumbeat alone gives me a headache."
"Oh, the horror," Gia replies drily. "How ever will you survive the dreaded mainstream music."
I look up from cutting my sandwich into triangles to glare at her.
"Funny," I reply in a mocking tone, before I tear aggressively into my sandwich.
"Ooh, PB&J? You must really be annoyed," she notes, this time in all seriousness.
"You think? But Gi, seriously if you were here, you'd be complaining as well," I say. "I can't concentrate. I can't do anything, I can't hear anything. I can't even hear myself th-"
The rest of my sentence is muffled by a chorus of raucous cheers and laughter. I inhale sharply.
"That's it. I'm going out there." I slam the rest of my sandwich on its plate and push myself off the tabletop.
"Godspeed, ye brave soldier," Gia salutes me.
I momentarily pause to give her a questioning look.
"What? Never mind. You're sleep deprived," I state. "Of course, it's like 2am over there, isn't it?"
She nods. "And you say I'm not a good friend."
"I never said that, Gi." I walk over to my phone and pick it up. "I'll talk to you later."
"Wait, no! I want to see what happens."
I roll my eyes. "I'll text you the details later," I promise.
"You better," she warns me, distrustingly. "I'm holding you to that, Mackler."
"Whatever, Benedetti."
><{{{(•>
If I thought the party couldn't get any louder, I was severely mistaken.
Upon opening the back door, the noise levels rise from 'mildly painful' to 'deaf by thirty' in a matter of seconds. I physically wince at this but my anger eventually wins over my resolve to just head back in and I march through them to where Hunter is sat with a group of his friends.
They had lit a bonfire, and most people were gathered around it now. It didn't take me long to identify Hunter and his friends. Seven or so huddled in a corner, all wearing the ridiculous tiki hats the guys had made, with a pile of bottles, crushed cans and red solo cups strewn around them. At the centre is Hunter angling his phone so everyone could see whatever is playing on the screen.
As if sensing my presence, he looks up, shooting me a grin and pushing his dark brown hair away from his face.
"Harvey!" He greets me, beckoning me over. A chorus of hoots echoing my name shortly follow, muting the beginning of what would've been a very angry rant on my part.
"What, Hunter?" I say. I fail to ignore the curious looks I am getting from other familiar faces around the fire. Anyone who knows me would know this definitely isn't my scene. Wrapping my hands around my arms, I turn to address Hunter again. "I'm not in the mood for—"
"I need to show you something."
"But—"
"Please?" He pouts. "It won't even be a minute, I promise."
I consider this with a wary glance at his friends and our immediate surroundings. Hunter took his 'not discriminating by age' thing seriously. Some of the people here were around my age; others, Hunter's — and a few maybe even a year or so older.
"Fine. Be quick."
"You're going to love this," he assures me with a Cheshire Cat grin as he plays the video. My eyebrows furrow automatically when a familiar yellow dog fades on to the screen.
"Bacon pancakes, makin' bacon pancakes..."
Oh no. I couldn't actually believe he was playing this song again.
"Hunt, I've already seen –"
"Shush, Harv. The best is still to come," Hunter says, quickly silencing me with a raised index finger.
A second later Jake the dog is replaced by Alicia Keys (the human) on a keyboard, layered on with an new melody.
"New Yooork. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of..."
"You've got to be kidding me," I mutter.
I look up to gauge everyone's else's reaction. It's obvious Hunter is too drunk (or maybe just tipsy, I'm not too sure) to acknowledge his immaturity but maybe there is still hope for the rest. Unfortunately, Hunter's friends are all as drunk as him, so break into another round of laughter even though they've probably watched it at least twice already.
"I give up," I sigh in defeat. None of them seem fazed by this, so I take it as my cue to leave.
"A 10 hour version?!" I hear someone exclaim just before I'm out of earshot.
"Click on it," someone else urges.
"No, no, click on the deluxe rap version," another counters. Soon enough, a cacophony of twenty different versions of 'Bacon Pancakes' are playing on in the background.
Cue major face-palm.
><{{{(•>
Watching the waves crash against the shore helps my anger to finally dissipate.
It is therapeutic almost. The way the sea moved.
The way the waves rise, lapping over each other, racing to cross a nonexistent finish line. The sound made when two waves finally met, crashing and melting and moulding to form an even bigger wave amidst a flurry of blues and dark greens tainted with foamy white. The way they then dissolve into nothingness once more, so the cycle can begin again.
It isn't anything I haven't seen before, but I find it calming, in a mesmerising way.
I change my mind about going back inside. I am too upset about everything. Hunter for throwing the stupid party in the first place, Gia not being here to make it better, and myself, for not being able to tell Hunter to at least turn down the music. I don't even have the guts to go back now. It would be too awkward.
And if I go back home now, I'll probably end up breaking something – and that's already Hayden's repertoire. I, myself, don't particularly want to start explaining to my parents what happened to their antique vase collection we got them for their 20 year anniversary. So instead, I went to the Hole.
The Hole is like my second home. It's like a small cave, or really, a massive rock structure that's half sunk in the sandy bay with a hollow inside, big enough to comfortably fit four people; and when I was younger, big enough to stand up and walk around in.
There are many things I love about it here. Today, it is the view. (And the fact I have a stash of chocolate stored up here in a medium sized wooden chest.)
I remember the first time I came up here, years ago. Dad, like everyone else, was totally against it, but when he realised grounding me wouldn't stop me from coming back, he finally conceded. And that's when he built me the chest, along with a couple renovations to the inside, so I didn't actually die one day, like Gia always assumed I would. The chest contained a series of supplies in case of emergencies, along with a few other extras and snacks I'd secretly added later on.
I momentarily tear my eyes away from the sea, rifling through the chest in search of my spare set of headphones. It is too dark to read one of the books I had stored up here and I prefer not to read on my phone, so I hope a 90 minute movie would be long enough for the guests to get bored and finally leave. It's a bit of a long shot but that's not going to stop me from trying.
"Aren't you cold in there?" a familiar accented voice says.
I freeze. Even with only having heard him speak a couple times, I recognise his voice in an instant.
I turn around to face the newcomer, confirming my suspicions.
Finn.
My eyes instinctively narrow in distrust. I give him a once over. He looks like he'd been hurrying off somewhere before he encountered me. His hair looks wet- from water or sweat, I'd rather not know. His blond waves are plastered to his head, framing his sculptured face in an oddly attractive way.
I notice he's also changed his outfit. It isn't that different from what he was previously wearing. Another pair of shorts, another form fitting V-neck. He is still persistent on donning the beach surfer vibe. Only difference is the colour, and this shirt has no sleeves, exposing his toned arms.
"Aren't you colder?" I counter truthfully.
Finn takes a moment to consider this, as if only just realising what he himself was wearing. Something seemed to click as he felt his damp hair.
"Right," he says. "Got in an underwater breath holding competition with Hayden and some of the guys. Not one of my better ideas — I had to go back home to get some dry clothes to wear. I guess I should've thought about drying my hair too..."
That explains where Hayden's been for the past hour.
Finn runs a hand through his hair after saying this, trying to restore it back to its usual coiffed masterpiece. The look on my face tells him it hadn't worked. He drops his hand again in defeat.
"I don't know why I'm telling you this," he admits.
"Neither do I."
Finn rolls his eyes at my response, as if it was exactly what he was expecting.
"Can I sit?" he asks me.
I give him a dubious look, but don't give him a verbal response.
He sighs in exasperation. "I'll take that as a yes."
He closes the gap between us, nudging me to the side so that he could sit comfortably beside me. "This is actually quite roomy. Bigger on the inside," he comments.
"Yes, revel at the TARDIS-like contraption," I say flatly, not skipping a beat. "What are you doing here?"
"Honestly? No idea. I saw you were looking lonely so I came to offer my company," he says with a shrug.
"How chivalrous," I note sarcastically. "As tempting as the offer is, I think I'm good."
Again, he ignores my attempt to scare him away. Instead, he changes the topic with a question of his own.
"So, why aren't you at the party?"
"You mean, the Tiki-hat bonanza?" I snort. "There are way too many reasons behind that that I'd rather not going to," I say sardonically. "We'd be here till morning."
Finn raises an eyebrow. "That's a bit dramatic, don't you think? The party isn't that bad."
"Considering the current song choice, that's pretty debatable," I reply.
Finn quietens down for a moment to listen to the faint thump of a bass beat. "Okay, I can't really argue with you there. What would you rather be playing?"
"I don't know," I shrug. "Just anything not awful? I don't even care if it's mainstream anymore. Though right now, I do feel like I relate to Alessia Cara's Here."
Finn laughs. It's a nice sound.
"Again with the dramatics. Are you sure it isn't something more personal? I've been to my fair share of disastrous parties, and I can say, this isn't one of them."
"It isn't this party in particular," I confess. "I just dislike parties in general. And bonfires are just the worst."
"Really? How so?" Finn's attention has unfortunately now been piqued. With a sigh, I elaborate.
"Maybe not for you, but they're the worst for introverts."
"I would've thought the large amount of space would be a good thing," he mused. "More corners to hide and all that."
"See you'd think that, but except if you want to walk in on people getting it on, drown, or die from hypothermia—" Finn chuckles at this, "—you always have to go back to the fire. Where everyone else is. And soon you'd be dragged into playing all the stereotypical games, or doing dumb dares," I gesture to Exhibit A, also known as Finn, "and back to my original argument."
"Which was...?"
"Parties are bad, socialising is bad, quite a lot of things are bad."
"Wow." Finn tilts his head to watch me. "Never pictured you as a recluse."
"I'm not a recluse," I say. Finn looks doubtful. "I'm not."
"Debatable."
"No really," I insist. "I just have this thing where I have no life. My life is pretty uneventful."
"Okay, now I really have to disagree with you."
"What? It's true. I literally do nothing all the time. I'm doing nothing right now."
"You're choosing not to do anything. There's literally a party going on less than a 100 feet from here-"
"It's actually about 200 if you count the difference in altitude, we're more uphill."
Finn carries on, ignoring my correction. "You live right next to the beach, with every form of entertainment possible at your disposal and no controlling parents looming over you. And if that's not enough, you have four brothers. I only have a sister, but I know how chaotic it can be. I've seen your brothers so you can't say it isn't ever like that."
"Chaotic," I agree, "but not eventful."
"How could you even—"
I could tell Finn is getting worked up now. He has a frustrated tone in his voice and an incredulous look on his face, as if he couldn't fathom the logic behind my answer. It is sort of amusing to watch. Unfortunately for him, Finn doesn't get to finish off the rest of his rant.
"Brit-Boy!" a voice hollers, interrupting whatever else Finn had to say.
"I think you're being summoned," I inform him, a hint of a smirk playing on my lips.
Finn sighs, seemingly dropping the argument. He waits for his name, (or rather his nickname) to be called again a couple more times before he ultimately concedes.
He stands up reluctantly, sparing a momentary glance in the direction the calls were coming from. He then returns his gaze to me after a moment and opens his mouth, as if he's about to say something, but closes it again almost immediately.
He has a conflicted look on his face. As if he couldn't decide if he really wanted to go back himself. I decide to make it easier for him.
"Bye, Blondie," I say pointedly with a twiddle of my fingers goodbye, hoping he'd take the hint.
At this, Finn rolls his eyes again and looks away. He takes a couple steps forward, running a hand through his — slightly dryer than before — hair, before turning back to face me.
"I promise you, Harvey Whatever-Your-Middle-Name-Is Mackler, one day," he says confidently, "I'm going to make you realise your life is definitely not uneventful."
"Looking forward to it," I reply, amused.
I watch as Finn begins to walk away, his figure shrinking as he gets farther and farther away until he is another medium sized speck running along the sandy beaches that join the Peak to our shared backyards.
I'm not quite sure how long I stare into the distance, but it takes me a while before I finally realise where I am. Shaking my head clear of all Finn related thoughts, I go back to my original task — and that's when I hear it.
It is only faint, meaning they've finally turned down the speakers, but I could still make out the lyrics of the new song being played.
"I'm sorry if I seem uninterested..."
I bite back a smile.
________________________________
A/N:
A rare creature, thought to be extinct has been rumoured to have once again reemerged from her hiding hole buried deep in the earth's crust (aka her bedroom) to deliver a much over-due chapter.
Was it a trick of the light? A hallucination, perhaps? It couldn't really be true, could it? Alas, it is! Carmen has returned, along with a new chapter featuring Harvey and co!
[Edit: Originally when I wrote this chapter/Author's Note, I was in the middle of my GCSE exams. That feels like so long ago now...]
Thanks for reading!
~ Carmen ♥︎