Page 7 of The Puck Decoy

A comforting silence stretches between us, one that can only be bound by years of friendship, as we sway with one another and block out the outside world. I didn’t always hate dancing. In fact, I remember a time when we did this almost dailyone summer. It was right before my dad’s affair with Diana Darkmore came out, and I didn’t have a care in the world. I thought my parents were the picture of happiness, I actually aspired to be like them one day, and Hallie and I would watch their wedding video on repeat and dance like it was our wedding day. I thought I would grow up and be just as happy, just as in love, but I was nothing but a foolish child. The only wedding I will ever have is the one to Hallie in the name of taking my father down, and I’ll still be happier than he ever was.

We slowly rock back and forth, and I realize this is the first time we have danced together since that summer, and it now feels a lot more intimate than it did back then. “You know you’re nothing like him,” Hallie utters against my chest, her head tucked comfortably under my chin thanks to our height difference, and I wish her words didn’t affect me. She knows better than most what it does to me to be in his shadow. “Like, you know you’re amazing, right?”

I ignore the sentiments of what she is trying to get at and choose humor as my deflection instead. “I mean, I haven’t had any complaints, amazing does seem to be the general consensus,” I grin, and I practically feel her eye roll.

“I meant at hockey, you prick,” she curses, and I chuckle. This I can do with her, our banter, it’s simple, easy, and comfortable. I am forever fascinated by how easily I can push her buttons.

I might have spent the last few years keeping her at arms length and not allowing myself to be open and fun with her like this, but those old habits don’t just disappear. The same foundation we built as kids is still there, it’s just buried beneath all my issues.

“That’s not a very nice way to speak to your future husband, Hallie Bear,” I tease, and I feel her hand tighten around my shoulder as she digs her nails into me in response.

“My future husband is about to get a dick punch in front of all of his father’s friends if he isn’t careful,” she claps back in her usual, taunting manner, and I smother my laugh in her hair. It smells like cotton candy, and I can’t stop myself from inhaling softly.

“Now now, stop flirting with me, Tink, or I’ll have to start breaking those pesky rules you wrote so carefully on that pretty pad.” My tone is joking, but my words have her pulling back and snapping her stare to meet mine, almost as if they have her intrigued. “What? Don’t tell me, little old Hallie Bear enjoys breaking the rules,” I tease, watching her closely and she huffs.

“Can we get divorced yet?” she snaps before adding, “I really do hate you.”

“No you don’t,” I declare, but before she can say anything back, another voice interrupts us.

“Damn, Hals, you got him on the dance floor, it’s a Thanksgiving miracle.” Hallie and I pull apart and find my sister watching us both with a smile. “You both look amazing, have you been here long?” she adds, flicking her stare around the crowd with complete uninterest.

“You’re late,” I tell her. “Dad was pissed.”

Her smile doesn’t even falter as she responds, “Yeah, well, dad is always pissed.” Usually hearing something like that would have her concerned, but it seems Nova has had a positive effect on her, even in such a short space of time.

“That’s true,” I agree with her, locking eyes with Hallie and silently conversing that we need to tell Maddie about our arrangement, before I look back to my sister and add, “We need to talk to you about something.”

“Ladies and gentleman,” my father’s voice booms across the room, cutting our conversation off before it even started, as the lights around us lower and a spotlight pins him center stage. “You could be anywhere in the world tonight but you chose to behere with us, and for that we are eternally thankful.” The three of us share a look of contempt as we all turn our focus to where he is standing with my mother by his side. “I am always thankful for everything I am blessed to have, but nothing more so than my wonderful children.” He raises his glass towards us and a few guests look our way and smile as we all pretend he is the perfect father they make him out to be. “But this year I have even more to be thankful for.”

Panic starts to curl in the pit of my stomach at his choice of words. No, surely this can’t be going where I think this is going. He wouldn’t do that, not here, not in front of everyone with no time or planning. As if her thoughts mirror my own, Hallie slips her hand into mine and squeezes tightly, and when our eyes collide, hers shift nervously towards Maddie.

“Maddie,” I grit through my teeth in a whisper. “I really really need to tell you something,” I plead, and of course she gives me her full attention, but just like always, my father wins.

“My son is getting married,” he booms, and silence echoes around him as the smile on his face widens. “He proposed to his childhood sweetheart earlier this evening and she said yes, so please, raise your glasses to the future Mr. and Mrs. Josh Peters.”

Fuck.

Applause explodes around us as all eyes turn our way, but my only focus is on the way my best friend’s face drops in confusion. Maddie looks between the two of us like she is missing something, and before I can make it make sense for her, my stare flicks back towards her father. Mayor Peters is watching us closely, just like every other person in the room, and his face doesn’t look as happy as it should be. This is all a game to him, he enjoys the control, and I know how happy he must feel to be forcing his son's hand to get what he wants, and this right here is the proof.

Clearly this is a test, and from the tension I can feel rolling off of Josh, he knows it too. This isn’t good, I need to do something, and the first thing I have to do is damage control. The look on Maddie’s face right now doesn’t scream ‘I am happy my bestfriend just got engaged to my brother’, and that’s a problem, especially if we expect people to buy our story. So without thinking of anything else, I throw my arms around her neck and pull her into an embrace.

If my actions of affection aren’t enough for her to realize we are in an emergency, I hope my next statement is. “We can explain everything I promise, but for right now we really need you to go with this, your dad is watching,” I rush my words out in a whisper against her ear, praying she understands the meaning of them, before pulling back and painting a happy smile across my face.

There is a fake smile across her own mouth now too, one I have seen at every single event like this that we have attended together, and I know I’ve got her. “I’m so happy for you two,” she preens, tossing her blond hair over her shoulder and no doubt enthralling all of the guests around us with her beauty. “My big brother finally popped the question,” she adds, smirking at Josh, who still looks more than mildly irritated.

“We knew you’d be so happy,” I reply, louder than necessary, as I move into his side and place my hand on the center of his chest, which seems to jolt him from his thoughts.

“Couldn’t have planned it without you, sis,” he responds coolly, pulling her into us for a hug of his own before he adds much lower, “Sorry, Mads, we will explain everything after all of this.”

When we pull apart there is no time for any more hushed words between us, because we are immediately accosted by other party goers. Plenty we know, and others we don’t, all offering their congratulations in an effort to suck up to their Mayor. We then get asked every question you would imagine for a newly engaged couple to be asked, until I can barely think straight. I’m not very good at communicating clearly all the time, especially to people I don’t know, so Madeline does her bestto interrupt when she can, answering questions with ease. It reminds me that she has basically trained her whole life for this kind of thing, and all it does is reinforce to me why I am doing this.

Of course the number one question is people wondering where the ring is, which we manage to ignore or move past with ease the first couple of times we are asked, but when a third person asks, Josh jumps in and saves us. “It’s being resized, we need to get it done before we get pictures for the announcements to go out.” An answer which is met with understanding, because of course what's a high society wedding without an announcement.

There are mentions of engagement parties, bridal showers, and huge event spaces where we could hold the wedding, all of which overwhelm me, but my forced smile of a mask remains in place. Josh is a rock by my side, holding me against him, and any other time I might enjoy his firm body being pressed against me, but right now I just feel like I could collapse into bed and rot.

After twenty-minutes of hell, I manage to slip off and grab myself another glass of champagne, surprised to see that Josh leaves behind Maddie and follows after me. My best friend is still doing damage control after her father’s bomb dropped, as her brother accosts me by the drinks table and curses.

“Can you fucking believe he did that?” he seethes, grabbing himself a glass and draining it completely. I shouldn’t be surprised at his anger, I know better than most people what his true feelings towards his father are.

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