Page 2 of Your Fault

“What’s so funny?” I asked, envious of her. What I’d have given not to be the center of attention.

“Nothing, I just know how you hate stuff like this. Take it easy, though. I’m here, and I’ll make sure we do it right.”

She kissed me on the cheek, and I smiled at her, thankful. Maybe my boyfriendwasmissing my birthday, but at least I’d have my best friend by my side.

“Shall we?” she asked, smoothing down her dress.

“I guess we’ve got no choice!”

The yard was completely transformed. Mom had gone all out, renting a white tent full of round pink tables and flashy chairs and balloons. The servers were wearing suit jackets and bow ties. On the far end was a bar and several long tables with trays of every food you could imagine. All this luxury wasn’t like me, but I knew my mother had always wanted to throw me this kind of party. She’d joked about me turning eighteen and going off to college, and we’d talked about what we’d have at the party if weever won the lottery…and we’d done it! And she had gone totally overboard.

When I went outside, everyone shouted “happy birthday” in unison. I guess they were trying to surprise me. My mother came over and gave me a big hug.

“Happy birthday, Noah,” she said, and as I pulled her close, I was surprised to see so many people lined up behind her. Not only were all my friends from school there, and all the parents Mom had made friends with, but even neighbors and friends of William’s. Uncomfortable, I unconsciously began to scan the garden, looking for Nicholas, the one person who might have calmed me down. But there wasn’t a trace of him… I knew it: of course, he wasn’t going to come—he was in a whole different city, and it would be a week till I saw him again, at graduation—and yet…a small part of me still hoped I might find him bustling through the crowd.

It took more than an hour to greet everyone, and afterward, Jenna came over and dragged me to the bar—to the special section cordoned off for those not yet twenty-one.

“There’s a fancy cocktail just for you,” she said, bursting out laughing.

“My mother is off her rocker,” I said while the bartender served me. He smiled. It was obvious he could barely suppress his laughter. Great. He probably thought I was your typical rich girl.

I was taken aback when I saw the drink. It was served in a martini glass and was hot pink with a rainbow sugar rim and a strawberry garnish on either side. A ribbon was tied around the stem with an18embroidered in tiny white pearls.

“It still needs a little something,” Jenna said, bringing out a flask and pouring its contents into our glasses. I’d have to watch out if I didn’t want to be stumbling drunk by midnight.

The DJ was good, the music was varied, and my friends weredancing like they were possessed. The party was a success, no doubt about it.

Jenna hauled me off to dance with her, and we started jumping all over like idiots. The heat was killing me: summer was just around the corner, and you could tell.

From the edge of the dance floor, Lion was watching us, leaning on a pillar and observing as Jenna shook her ass in a frenzy. I laughed and left her with the others. I was exhausted.

“You bored, Lion?” I asked him.

He smiled, but he seemed a little worried and didn’t look over at me.

“Yeah, happy birthday,” he said, as though he hadn’t heard. It was strange, seeing him there without Nick. Lion wasn’t friends with many people in my grade: he and Nick were five years older than Jenna and me, and the age difference was evident. The kids in my class weren’t particularly mature, and our boyfriends never liked hanging out with them.

“Thanks,” I said. “You heard from Nick?” I felt a pang in my stomach. He still hadn’t called or texted.

“He told me yesterday he was up to his neck in work. At the office, they barely even give him time to eat lunch. He did manage to find the time to tell me to keep my eye on you.”

“Seems like you’re keeping it on someone else,” I said, noticing he was still staring at Jenna. She turned and smiled at us both, looking completely, genuinely happy. She loved Lion, was in love with him, couldn’t stop talking about him on the nights when she’d stay over: about how lucky we were, being with two guys who were such close friends. I knew Jenna was incapable of falling for anybody else, and I was glad to know Lion felt the same about her. I couldn’t get enough of Jenna; she was a true best friend, and I loved her. She had always been there when I’d needed her and had helped me understand what a real friend was. She wasn’tjealous, manipulative, or resentful like Beth back in Canada, and she was incapable of hurting me, at least on purpose.

She came over and kissed Lion with a loud pop. He lifted her, and I turned away, dispirited. I missed Nick; I wanted him there; I needed him. I looked back at my phone. Nothing. No missed calls, no texts, no emails. That was starting to piss me off. All he needed were a few seconds to write. What the hell was going on with him?

I walked over to the bar for the twenty-one-and-overs. The crowd there had thinned out, and the guy who’d served me my birthday drink was working with the help of a young woman. I sat down and tried to figure out my approach, hoping I could flirt with him and get an actual drink.

“Any chance you could make me something not pink, but with a bit of kick to it?” I asked, thinking he’d tell me to piss off. But to my surprise, he glanced around, and when he saw no one was looking, he filled a shot glass with clear liquid.

“Tequila?” I asked.

“If anyone asks you, it wasn’t me,” he said, glancing away.

I laughed and drank it down. It burned my throat, but it was good.

When I turned, I saw Jenna dragging Lion off to a dark corner. It depressed me, seeing all my friends hugging and kissing.

Damn you, Nicholas Leister, why can’t I get you out of my head for at least one second a day?

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