The Unexpected Everything

“Anything but brandy,” I said, making a face. “That did not mix well.”

Palmer nodded and led the way into the house. I knew Kevin enough to nod at in the halls, but I didn’t think I’d ever actually had a conversation with him, so I was happy to let Palmer go first. I heard Bri and Toby laugh about something as I followed Palmer inside. I looked around and realized it was like pretty much every other party I’d been to. There were groups of people standing around talking or lounging on the couch, and the dining room table had been commandeered for what looked like a pretty major game of beirut. The kitchen counter was covered with bottles and mixers and a half-filled blender, and through the open doors to the patio, I could see a keg. The people who always headed to the edges of people’s yards to smoke were smoking, and I could already see two people standing in the shadows of the living room, talking close, only minutes away from starting to hook up.

Palmer headed directly to the liquor bottles, and Toby and Bri headed outside to the keg as I scanned the room. I hadn’t texted him that I was coming, but I had a feeling he might be here. From what I’d heard, he and his last girlfriend had ended things around when I’d dumped Zach, meaning we would both be unattached at the same time, which hadn’t happened in a while. I was about to give up looking inside and see if he was by the keg when a girl I recognized from my AP Chem class stepped aside. And there he was, leaning against the kitchen counter, looking bored. Topher Fitzpatrick.

My pulse kicked up, the way it always did when I saw him. I took him in for a moment longer, since I was sure he hadn’t spotted me yet. There was a petite girl talking to him. I didn’t recognize her, and she was laughing, smiling up at him while he gave her a smile she probably thought was genuine, and an invitation to keep talking. I knew better. But then, by this point, I probably knew him better than most people.

He looked away for a second, scanning the room, and his eyes met mine. I held his gaze for just a second, but it was enough to know my evening had just taken a turn for the better.

“Here,” Palmer said as she appeared at my elbow with the Diet Coke bottle, the top firmly on. “It’s rum. I mixed it up.”

“Thank you,” I said, giving her a smile as I took the bottle. It was the only way I let myself drink at parties. If any pictures from the night got posted, the only thing I would be drinking, or even holding in my hand, was a Diet Coke. I knew only too well that all it would take was someone’s cell phone picture on their profile, with a picture of me in the background, holding a beer or even a glass with liquid in it that couldn’t be identified, and suddenly it would be a story. I unscrewed the cap and took a long drink, feeling the kick of the rum.

“Oh, look who’s here,” Palmer said flatly, her eyes straying to the kitchen. She sighed and looked at me. “Andie.”

“I know.” Topher was still talking to the petite girl as he drank from a Sprite bottle that I would bet money didn’t just contain Sprite—after all, he was the one who’d taught me well.

“What?” Toby asked as she joined us, sipping a beer that appeared to be mostly foam. Toby had never been great at tapping kegs. She followed Palmer’s glance and then looked at me. “The Gopher surfaces?”

“Stop it,” I said.

“You know we don’t approve,” Palmer said in her best serious voice.

I nodded. “Noted.” I’d given up defending Topher to them years ago. He could be charming when he wanted to be; he just never seemed to want to be around my friends.

“Speak for yourself,” Toby said, taking another long drink. “I think it’s romantic. Like Harry and Sally, circling around each other until they can admit how they feel.”

Palmer shook her head. “I really don’t think that’s what’s happening here.”

“Well, what do you know?” Toby retorted.

“I know you have foam on your nose,” Palmer replied.

“Goddamn it,” Toby muttered as she wiped it off.

“What’s going on?” Bri asked, joining us, holding a cup of her own. She followed Toby’s nod and then turned to me, shaking her head. “Andie.”

“I heard it all from them already,” I said, swirling the contents of my Diet Coke bottle for a second before taking a quick sip.

“Hey,” Toby said, flicking me on the arm. “Wingwoman. You’re falling down on the job.”

“Okay,” I said, looking around the party, trying to find someone I hadn’t dated, Toby hadn’t already rejected, and wasn’t someone we’d known since elementary school. “Just give me a second.”

“Alden!” I looked over as the party’s host, Kevin Castillo himself, headed over to us from the dining room, holding up his hand for a high five, which Palmer returned with gusto. “Glad you could make it.”

Palmer nodded toward the table, where the game seemed to have broken up, at least for the moment. “How’s it going?”

“Getting killed in there,” he said with a groan. “You guys want to help me out? Bri?” he asked Toby. “Or Toby?” he asked, turning to Bri.

“Reverse those,” I said as I took another sip of my drink.

Kevin frowned. “Are you sure?” He pointed at Bri again. “It’s not Toby?”