Page 19 of Life of the Party

“Is it hard, though?”

“No. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay.” I knew Riley was lying, but I was desperate. I tried to keep the smoke from reaching him and inhaled happily, glancing at Grey and his friends again over Riley’s shoulder. They seemed to be planning out their next gig.

I paid close attention, trying to hear the date of their next show.

“So, how’d it go anyway?” Riley wondered quietly, noticing my interest in the table behind him. “With Grey.” He clarified. “The reason you got this job, remember? How’d it go?”

I smiled sheepishly, filling Riley in on the whole shameful “screw you” story, my voice quiet so we wouldn’t be overheard. He was laughing by the end of it, shaking his head at my foolishness.

“Leave it to you, Mackenzie. Grey’s a jerk to everyone here; some days are worse than others. It takes a while to warm him up. Most people accept it and ignore him. Not you, though.” He shook his head again, chuckling mirthlessly.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Riley muttered. “I bet you made an impression, that’s all.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” I argued, but at the same time, I desperately hoped so. I blew my smoke out and glanced at Grey’s table again. He and his friends were immersed in conversation, a serious one, by the looks of it. I watched carefully, wishing Grey would look at me again.

“You made an impression. Of course you did.” Riley sighed quietly in his chair.

I was aware of his eyes on me, but was too busy looking at Grey to acknowledge him.

CHAPTER 8

I sighed heavily, doodling in my binder, ignoring the teacher as he went over the materials we should study for finals. The thought of those dreaded exams bored me nearly to tears. I sighed again. Everything was boring.

My entire life was in the doldrums.

I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment it happened, but suddenly my schedule was full with work (of all things), and I was home relatively early every night, giving me ample time for homework (or it would’ve, had I wanted to do it). Stone-sober most days, stuck at Ben’s house watching the same damn movie or suffering through my sister’s constant wedding planning (along with her fiancé’s collared shirts and his un-funny jokes that kept my parents in stitches) every weekend, with no end in sight.

I’d made little to no progress with Grey, either. On the nights we happened to work together (which weren’t very often) his moods changed so much I was confused on the best of days. He was never openly hostile again, but he ranged between totally indifferent and nonchalant to smiling at me openly from behind the order counter.

To say I was baffled was an understatement, but at least he was generally friendly, (and totally gorgeous, of course).

But the real reason for my doldrums…was Riley. I barely saw him anymore—only in the mornings when we drove to school, and the random nights we happened to work together. The rest of his time he spent with Emily, or the “Christian,” as I called her.

I’d done a little reconnaissance work on Riley’s little friend. Emily ran the lunchtime group Riley disappeared to every day—some bible thing they were doing. He thought I didn’t know, and he refused to talk to me about it or her, which could only mean they were getting serious.

The thought made me nearly sick to my stomach, but I was trying—really trying—to be a good friend, to not nag, to stay positive and keep a brave face.

It just seemed like the more I tried, the more he slipped away from me.

The arrival of summer was only making things worse. Its warm, hazy air encouraged all manner of wild teenage activity—reminding me, painfully, of everything we were missing out on. All the plans Riley and I had made for this time of year. Bonfires. Concerts. A camping trip upriver somewhere, all the booze and drugs we could want.

The kind of activities I craved. The kind of fun I was desperate for, with him.

It had been so long. Wasn’t it my turn?

Surely, he could handle slumming it a little with me.

I had my plan in action the moment the bell rang. I nearly sprinted down the hall toward Riley’s locker, smiling victoriously when I beat him there and turned to wait. Kids rushed by me on their way to the cafeteria or to the parking lot and their awaiting cars; some pushed through the nearby doors to begin the walk uptown to the convenience store.

Finally, I spotted Riley coming down the hallway. I smiled in greeting, hopeful…until I saw Emily close beside him.

The smile fell from my face.

It was nothing new, seeing them together. That wasn’t what threw me.

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