“Go home,” my dad says, leaving without another word, his office door slamming shut behind him.
I let my camera roll while everyone’s slow to move at first, eventually grabbing their bags or belongings and standing. I close my camera and slide from the table, passing by Colton, Travis, and my brother who are lingering outside my father’s door.
“I wouldn’t go in there,” my brother laughs.
I meet his eyes, and for the first time I can remember, I see something unkind in them. He’s almost reveling in the spiral, loving that things weren’t quite perfect without him. And there’s something a little menacing in his stare, too. I don’t respond, instead opening my father’s door and letting it close behind me. I don’t speak, moving right to the locker and placing my small camera in the bag with my other things, clicking the door closed and fastening the lock.
“You can pick it up Saturday. I’ll be here early,” my dad says, his eyes down at the paperwork in his hands which are resting in the fakest pose ever on his desk. He’s looking at spreadsheets, and I know he’s not really looking at anything.
“Okay,” I say, moving back to the door.
“Are you going to Charlie’s tonight?” he asks. I pause with my hand on the door handle and nod.
“I was thinking about it,” I say, my answer honest. I’d planned on going with Izzy until my stomach twisted seeing her talk to Nico. Now I kind of want to go home and sit in the shower until the hot water disappears and my body can’t stand the cold.
“Nico going?” my dad asks, his eyes raising slightly from the papers, but not fully to me. His question catches me off guard, and I shift my weight.
“I…I don’t know,” I say.
He nods a few times, then glances up at me through raised brows.
“I don’t want you giving him a ride home,” he says, and he waits for my response.
My brow pinches, and I let out a short breath through my nose, but nod in agreement.
“Okay,” I say, turning my full attention to the door and leaving.
My brother and Travis are gone, probably already on their way to Charlie’s. The parking lot gets full fast, with families and players crowding in for the free ice cream the owners give out after wins. We always pack the lot until midnight, until the neon lights are shut off, and sometimes well past then.
And tonight is the first one ever that Nico Medina will be there for any of it.
I snag the last spot in the lot. It’s near the alley, and it isn’t really a parking spot, but I know nobody is picking up the trash this late on a Friday night. I have to slide against the metal garbage bin to get out because I have to park so close. I’m sure I’ve smudged some dirt on my white shirt, but I brush the front and worry less about the back as I get closer to the party.
A few girls I recognize say hi, but I don’t stop until I get to my favorite picnic table closest to the building. Izzy is already sitting on the table, the straw from her chocolate shake lodged between her teeth as she tugs it free from her cup with her mouth then pokes it back in for a new position.
“Hands free, huh?” I tease as I sit next to her.
“My hands get cold, so I leave all the work up to my mouth,” she says, just loud enough that Travis hears and stops at our table to comment.
“I can give your pretty mouth a work out, Izz. Whataya say?” Travis reaches into his pants as if he’s really going to do anything. Izzy waits him out, not even blushing with embarrassment, and eventually he has to push his hands in his pockets and laugh to avoid feeling foolish.
“My mouth will never touch any part of any of you, Travis Wickersham,” my friend says, her lips wrapping over her straw then slowly stretching into a closed-mouth grin. She sucks in a taste of chocolate while Travis looks on, and he holds his hand over his chest.
“You break my heart, Izzy. But I’ll get over it,” he laughs.
“She just won’t give in because my sister is in love with you,” my brother says, his voice behind me and instantly sending my head three years into the past and my temper a dozen levels hotter.
“Noah!” I shout, twisting in my seat to look him in the eyes, only to notice Nico is just over his shoulder, hearing everything.