Page 30 of Since Always

"Oh, they're all coming to the party?" I ask, trying hard to take the edge out of my voice. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that. There are a lot of parties happening around town, and at all the bars, and I guess I had thought her friends would want a younger scene.

But then again, when I was her age, getting an invitation to the Sloanes’s New Year's Eve party was a big deal. Anyone who was anyone wanted to be seen there. I guess that hasn't changed.

"Yeah, of course. I think they might go over to Smithy's afterward, but they'll be here for midnight at least. Lexi always comes and Drew said he wanted to be here."

"Who's Drew?" Jessica asks, and the regret flashes across Cassidy's face. Chris beams.

"Yeah, Cass. Who is Drew?"

To her credit, she doesn't miss a beat. "Just a friend of Lexi's who I've been hanging out with. Hey, Chris, are you bringing anyone with you to the party?" His eyes narrow at her.

"If you mean Stephanie, I already know and I don't even want to talk about it," Jessica says.

"What do you mean you already know? How did you..." He catches Jessica glancing at me and stops, an incredulous look on his face.

"Sorry, man," I say. "Slipped out."

"Real nice. Well, I don't want to talk about it either, so I guess we are good."

"I will say, though…” Jessica says.

"Ah, here we go," Chris says.

Cassidy throws me a smile across the table, and I can't help but return it. Chris could use a little motherly warning.

"I think you have blinders when it comes to that girl. I never trusted her, and I tried to tell you that, but you told me I was crazy. Look how that turned out."

"Your concern is noted."

She goes to say something else, but catches my eye, and I shake my head.

"Okay, fair enough. I said my piece.” She turns back to her daughter. "Now, Cassidy. Drew. Tell me his story."

Chris and I can't help but laugh at the look of exasperation on Cassidy's face.

"My mom said to tell you guys hi and Happy New Year," I tell Chris and Cassidy in the car on the way to the Powder Club. "She called while I was getting ready."

"And what very Parisian thing are Cindy and Thomas Blaze doing, to ring in the New Year?" Chris asks from the front seat.

"They are going to a dinner party that some of their friends are hosting. They were just heading out when she called."

"I miss your mom," Cass says. "When I was little, I thought she was the most glamorous woman on the planet. She was just so beautiful. When we would hang out at your house, I would sneak in their room and try on all of her jewelry."

"Cassidy," Chris cries. "You what?"

"I was a kid. Mom and Dad and the Blazes were busy drinking wine downstairs, and you and Owen were off doing who knows what..."

"Getting high," Chris and I say at the same time.

"Wait…You were? With our parents there?"

"Didn't you ever wonder why we hung out in the Blazes' basement all the time? Emphases on 'Blazes.'"

"I thought you were playing video games."

"Well," I say, “we were. But we would also sit in the window well and smoke."

She shakes her head. "I can't believe I never knew that. You little delinquents.”

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