Page 94 of Foolish Games

“We go to your school,” Tony yells, tugging up the shoulder of his torn jacket. He holds it in place, standing on the lawn looking up at the big house behind the Darlings. All seven of the Darling boys stand on the front step, facing off with the group they just threw out into the rain.

“You go home with them,” Joseph Darling says, nodding to the crowd of Sebastian’s friends on the lawn. Behind the Darlings, a dozen more founding sons-and-daughters including my brother are still crammed together trying to see.

“We’re Knights, though,” Vinny says. “Just like you.”

“Not like us,” Joseph says. “We live here. Y’all live on Mill.”

There’s a tense silence, and then Jeremiah slings an arm around his twin’s shoulders. “Go to bed with dogs, wake up with fleas.”

“Yep,” Jedediah says. “Go scratch your fleas, losers.”

“You’re going to regret this,” Tony seethes, spitting on the ground at their feet. “Mark my words. One day, you’ll be sorry.”

Jacob laughs. “Chill the fuck out, man. We’d kick out any of the help who showed up tonight. Don’t take it personal. This party isn’t for your kind, that’s all.”

“Let’s roll,” Donny says in his deep, Bronx accent, gesturing for his brothers to back off. “If we aren’t wanted here, we don’t wanna be here. We’ll go to our own party. There’s more beer and easier chicks at our parties anyway.”

“Hey,” Lexi protests, having left my side while I wasn’t paying attention. She now stands in the rain with the group she came with—and Sebastian.

“You’re just our type,” Benny says, throwing an arm around her. “The bitches here are uptight little prudes.”

The public school crowd starts to disperse, but Tony hesitates another moment.

“You’re going to pay for this,” he swears, backing up.

The Darlings laugh, and Sebastian gives me one more look before turning and retreating with his friends.

“Wait,” I call, grabbing the nearest Darling. Despite telling them to kick out my date, I feel terrible now. “Sebastian really does have an invite. He came with me.”

“Then go with him, whoever he is,” Joseph says. “And don’t bring thugs to our party again. They don’t belong here.”

My throat aches, and I stare at Sebastian’s retreating back, wondering if this is really it. I want to go after him, but my brother throws his arm around me. Maybe it’s for the best. How well did I really know Sebastian, anyway?

“Come on,” Robert says. “Let’s get you back inside before you get wet.”

I think about it. How easy it would be to let Sebastian go. We were already fighting anyway. We always knew it wouldn’t last, that it wasn’t real.

But I can’t seem to let it go, can’t let it end like that.

“Sebastian,” I call, ducking out from under Rob’s arm and hurrying down the few steps to the walkway that circles the side of the house. “Wait!”

Sebastian pauses at the corner of the house, turning back and watching me pick my way over the gravel walkway toward him. The others are crossing the long expanse of lawn toward Billy’s truck, which is pulled up along the side of the driveway with some other cars that arrived late. Sebastian doesn’t move to meet me, but he doesn’t walk away, either. He lets me make my way through the rain until I reach him.

“Don’t go,” I say when I reach him.

“Why not?” he asks, still not moving. He stares at me, rain running down his face, blood trickling from the corner of his split lip.

“Because,” I say, trying to find the words I need to make him stay. Some part of me knows that if he walks away, he’s never coming back. It’s over.

“I don’t belong here,” he says quietly. “I shouldn’t have come.”

“You do,” I insist. “You can. Just stay. Show them who you are. They’ll like you if they get to know you.”

I don’t know what I’m saying, and it strikes me how ironic my words are, considering I don’t know him at all.

“Vivienne,” Rob calls from the doorway. “Let him go.”

Sebastian glances at my brother and then back to me. “Look, he’s right. You may go to Faulkner High instead of Willow Heights like everyone else here, but at the end of the day, you’re still founding heirs,” he says. “You and Rob. You belong on this side of town. You belong at these parties. You have the invites to prove it.”

---