POV: You’re Paul, and It’s Part 1 of the Party

I felt like a real smooth operator for the mind games I had played to get Jessica to go to the party—even though I found the magic words essentially by mistake.

In hindsight, it actually made sense. Jessica wasn’t a puritan, just a prep. And preps liked parties. I think.

Noel was easier to drag along than I thought he’d be. He was a total square most of the time, but I think that hanging around Jessica had been good for him. Regardless, it was time to go. I had gotten the location from Geoffrey. I was a little surprised how on-my-side he was about the Matt and Jessica situation; Jessica made it seem like everyone hated her, but maybe she was just too self conscious.

I had to be the chauffeur, since Noel wasn’t sixteen and Jessica was literally a snake. I picked up Noel first. I was surprised how “provactive” he was being with his basketball shorts and oversized t-shirt. His mother must not have told him that young ladies shouldn’t be showing so much skin, I reckoned.

But in all seriousness, I hadn’t seen him wear shorts in years. I teased him about his outfit, and he rolled his eyes. He was—honestly—kind of cute when he did that, but Gabi would punch me for saying it. Man, I wish I had gotten her to come with, that would have been fun.

Noel directed me to Jessica’s place next, and she was wearing her iconic flower. It really did look nice.

The party was being held at some rich kid’s cabin property in the woods. It was a long drive out of town, but the area was pretty.

When we got there, the sun was low in the sky, but not set. I went off to meet the football team, and the two dorks followed me.

“What up?” I casually called out.

Most of the team was there. They smiled at us.

“Just trying to figure out who would win in a ‘tail wrestle’,” Mok said. He had the head of a crocodile, but the body of a human. He didn’t have a tail.

“Uh, probably not you,” I snarked.

“Doofus,” he laughed. “Geoffrey or Zane.” Geoffrey was a minotaur, and while he was massive, his tail was puny. He probably couldn’t even grab stuff with it. Zane was smaller. He was a half goat and his tail was much shorter but probably more dexterous.

“Why don’t you just try it?” I suggested.

“Because it’s kinda gay?” Zane said, half serious.

I laughed. Those guys could be so crude.

Geoffrey spoke next. His voice was as deep as his shoulders were broad. “By the way, I’m happy you could make it, Jessica.”

Jessica seemed a bit coy, but the snake-thing made it hard to tell. “Thanks, I’m glad this guy convinced me,” she said, nodding at me.

Geoffrey continued. “I like the flower.”

Jessica was, yet again, impossible to read. If I were to guess, I’d say she was very flattered. “Thank you!”

The whole time, Noel was silent. He tried going for the whole “I’m cool” expression, but his—if I’m being honest—lame clothes made him look like—honestly—a weird loner girl.

“Oh yeah, by the way,” I told my passengers, “This is the football team. This is Zane, Mok, Geoffrey, Zack, and Rob.”

“Gee, will Kevin show up next?” Noel asked. I could tell he was making a joke, but I didn’t get it.

“Who’s Kevin?”

“No one. It was a joke. It’s like…” he tried, before giving up. “Nevermind. It made more sense in my head.”

We chatted about nothing and everything. Geoffrey seemed to invite Jessica into the conversation as much as possible.

Someone had brought a huge speaker setup, and was jamming out. I didn’t mind.

After a while, the group split up. I wandered around, chatting up as many people as I recognized. It was pretty easy to start a conversation with a senior. All you had to ask was, “What are you gonna do after you graduate?” The conversations flowed like water.

As the party went on, the number of drunk and high people naturally increased—like the entropic principle from Chem, but with drugs at a party.

Noel was doing his best to appear as dorky as he could. At some point he stopped trailing Jessica and Geoffrey, and instead found himself sitting around a campfire. There was a bird-girl—harpy?—wearing a tanktop with some crazy band’s logo, a giant bat wearing cargo shorts, and some other shapes I don’t remember well.

Zane was hyping me up to one of his friends, and I was only paying half-attention. I watched as the bat guy pulled out a bottle of vodka, took a drink, and passed it around. I eagerly waited for it to reach Noel, and when it did, he took a swig.

I wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or proud. I was glad he was willing to try new things, but it didn’t feel like they were the right ones.

I grit my teeth as I watched the bottle come to him over and over again. He took mouthful after mouthful like he was immune. Which, knowing about his father, wouldn’t have surprised me.

I decided I’d head over and see how he was doing. The circle members were already conversing.

“Nah, you’re not a guy,” the harpy said. Everyone was grinning at Noel, who was clearly not on his A-game.

“I’m literally a guy,” Noel said slowly, deadpan.

The bat sitting next to him spoke up. Their voice was so high-pitched I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. “He’s a dude,” they said, drunk. “He used to be a guy, so he’s still a guy… in here,” he said, motioning to his head with a finger.

“Montana gets it,” Noel nodded, distantly smiling.

“If you’re a guy,” the harpy continued, “Then take off your shirt!” she teased.

“No way,” Noel dismissed, oafishly waving his hand.

“Ah come on, a boy wouldn’t be afraid of flashing,” she continued to goad.

The boys around the fire stared at the exchange in drunken mirth, probably hoping they’d get a free show.

“Montana doesn’t wear shirts. He’s a guy,” she continued.

“Eh…” Noel considered.

The harpy continued to taunt him, but I took a quick peep at my phone. My heart jumped: twenty two missed calls from my dad.