Page 23 of This I Promise You
“Wait, what? A frat party?” Excuse me! Unless I’m the center of attention in one of those crazyFrat Bros Gone Wildvideos I’ve watched, I’m not so sure I want to be at anactualfrat party. “I thought Kylie was throwing it.”
“E. Look.” Huxley waves her hand around the room, and my eyes start to connect with the things I’d missed coming in. “There are frat symbols all over this bitch.Ifthey weren’t the ones throwing it then, like, set me on fire and call me Sandy.”
“Dammit.” I throw my head back and then take a massive gulp from my bottle. “You definitely ain’t Sandy. I would end up at a damnfratparty when A leaves me by myself.”
“Could be worse. I could not have shown up to save your ass. Yes, I know, I’m a literal goddess. You’re welcome.”
“Goddess might be—”
“Anyway, we’re probably the only queer people here, you and I. We gotta stick together. Anything could happen, after all. And then what? It’s V-Day! No hate crimes tonight, amiright?” She’s rambling and drunk, so that makes total sense. Then her eyes light up like she just remembered the coolest fact. “OMG! I almost forgot. Here, gimme your phone.”
“Uh,” I say and get my phone out. Before I can hand it over, she’s yanking it out of my hand. “Okay.”
“It’s locked,” Huxley sings to me and holds my phone up to my face.
“Usually is.” I smile, not thinking, and it unlocks with my Face ID. Damn she’s good even when she’s drunk.
I wait while she does who knows what withmyphone, hoping to God she doesn’t open my photo gallery. To get my mind off it, I let my eyes wander around the room. Yep, frat party. Those are definitely Greek letters. Not sure about the first one, but that’s definitely Sigma and Lambda.
“Okay. There. I got a new number.” She hands my phone back to me with her new contact card still open on the screen. That’s when I realize I’m a little buzzed already. I have to squint to see it. Too late now though. “Oh! Let’s do lunch tomorrow. I’ll be alone on V-Day too. But you gotta call me. I’ll be passed the fuck out ’cause I plan on getting druuunk.”
“Yeah, okay. That sounds great.” I smile. It’s been a while, so lunch could be good. Then she starts to head off. “You leaving or something?”
“Leaving to getmore shots! You’re not nearly drunk enough. You need to get on my level.”
That won’t take long. I’m a lightweight.
“Oh, I…” I start to protest. I need to be able to walk home, and my doctor is really going to get on my case, but then I remember it’s just going to be me when I get back. Alone. “You know what? Fuck it. Let’s do this.”
* * *
“Hey East, what’s up?” Aidan’s voice comes to life over the line.
“I love you, man,” isn’t what I intend to say, but it’s the first thing to come out. “Not like I want to fuck you, I love you, not saying I wouldn’t, but you know that’d be weird, but, like, you’re the best friend ever. Like ever.”
“O-kay,” he stretches it out. “You drunk?”
“Maybe a little. Just a little,” I assure him. I nod to my right as if he can see the girl sitting next to me. “This girl thinks I need a ride home. Can you come get me?”
“I’m in Greenville, Easton” he reminds me. Dammit. That’s right. “I’m like three hours away!”
“I can wait,” I blurt.
“Easton, you gotta call someone else,” he tells me. He’s starting to sound real concerned. “Where are you at?”
“Uh, Kylie’s party. Although I think it might actually be a frat party. My bad,” I apologize. “That’s what Huxley thinks, anyway.”
“Huxley? Is she with you?”
“Nah, she left,” I tell him. “She wasn’t drunk though, so she’s good. I’m not even that drunk really.”
“Yeah you are!” the girl yells loud enough for Aidan to hear.
“Okay, so could you call her—Huxley? See if she can give you a ride,” Aidan suggests, and dammit if he isn’t smartandcute.
“That’s a great idea, A! You’re so smart. I should do that.” I’m about to hang up but remember I should say bye. “See you tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, late, but yeah,” he says. “Let me know when you get a ride, okay?”
