The Novelty of Existence

13

𝙼𝙱 ⋆ 𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 ⋆ 𝙿𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚖𝚊

I liked Isla. She was bubbly, like Wes, but not crazy like Wes. She hyped up every dress I came out of the dressing room wearing. Even the wedding dress I put on as a joke. Spending time with Isla at the thrift store made me realize what I had missed out on by not having female friends growing up.

I had sisters, but they were all at least 10 years older than me. They treated me like a daughter, not a friend. I could forget about my Danny worries, even though it was Isla's presence that inadvertently re-triggered them in the first place. This was girl time.

It was the first time I'd ever worn a dress so short and tight. It was dark blue and I would never have worn it out if Isla hadn't been there, sporting her own little red dress.

We left in our outfits hours later, and sipped on smoothies as we walked to the address Wes had texted me a while earlier. It was still early evening, so I imagined we had a long night of partying ahead of us. Oh, how wrong I was.

As soon as we turned onto the street of the club, I could hear the commotion. Isla looked around for the source of the troubling sounds, but I knew. I knew the sound of drunk Wes.

A few blocks up, we saw them in plain view. The summer sun illuminated the scene in all its glory. Aiden and Danny were pulling on Wes's arms, trying to force him down the street. Wes was leaning back, slurring and occasionally yelling. That kid could set a world record for the fastest anyone could get absolutely shit-faced.

Danny and Aiden spotted us first. Aiden was pretending to be as annoyed as Danny actually was, but really, he found this behaviour funny every time.

Wes's head finally snapped to attention once we were all standing in front of each other. He took a blurry-eyed look at both of us.

"Oh man, Mo you look so hot right now." He said quietly with a sly smile. I grimaced, and Danny hit Wes hard on the shoulder.

"What?" Wes went back to yelling, "That's not against the rules!"

What?

"No dating her. No dating... But compliments aren't breaking the pact! I can say..."

Aiden's hand covered Wes's mouth, making the rest of his sentence incoherent. I could hear my heart beating in my ears.

What?!

We all stood in the quiet for a moment. Aiden's eyes were wide. Wes wasn't amusing to him anymore. Even Isla had nothing to say. She could tell, I assumed, that something secret had just been revealed. 

Danny looked at Aiden, a quiet authority taking over his face. Aiden understood immediately, and pushed Wes forward, right past us, down the street. Wes was protesting but had moved on to a new subject entirely, unaware of what he had just done. 

"Look, Mo..." Danny started. 

My anger flared up. "The pact from 9th-grade grad?" I knew the answer without asking. 

He nodded. 

"No dating Paloma pact." My voice was higher and more emotional than I wanted it to be. "As if I don't get a say in who I date." I felt Isla's hand rub my arm lightly. It gave me more courage. "You guys are such bastards." 

Danny was hurt by that, I saw it in his eyes. But, it didn't matter to me at that moment. I watched him purse his lips, the way he always did when he was feeling indignant. He wasn't going to argue with me. He really thought that the pact was the right thing to do. I turned around and briskly walked away, refusing to look back even once. 

I was hurt and angry about too many things at once. I wanted to scream at Danny and tell him to go to hell. I wanted to punch him hard in the chest. Best friends my ass. But, I wouldn't. I knew I had to keep my cool as much as I could. I knew this trip meant a lot to all of us. 

By the time I got back to the van, there was no one around. I just wanted to grab my stuff and go to a motel for the night to cool off. Tomorrow, maybe I could act like it didn't bother me so much. I went to open the back door, but it was locked. Of course. The one time Wes remembered to lock his stupid van doors. I kicked one of the wheels in frustration and was startled when the back doors suddenly swung open. 

"Leave Fran out of this," Wes said, sitting in the back of his van, still sleepy-eyed. 

I gritted my teeth. "I'm just grabbing my bag," I stated, walking towards him. 

"C'mon Mo. You're not seriously mad, are you?" 

So, he did remember what he said. I shot daggers at him, and his smug grin faded. He slid out of the back and stood up as I approached, leaning against one of the open doors. 

"Is it because of Danny?" He asked suddenly, making me stiffen. I looked up at him. His blue eyes seemed duller than I was used to. 

"No," I sighed. "It's not Danny. Why does everyone always think it's about Danny?" 

"Because you act like he's some kind of angel." 

I scoffed and folded my arms. "None of you guys get it." I tightened my ponytail, wondering why I was bothering in this conversation with an inebriated Wes. "It's different when you're a girl. And no one likes you at school, and none of your friends has ever liked you. Though now I know why..." I trailed off, shaking my head. 

"Guys liked you at school," Wes said with a little smile. 

"What?" 

"Yeah, but they thought we were all your boyfriends," He chuckled to himself. "Brother husbands." 

"That was a joke!" I insisted. No way people actually thought that. 

"Yes and no." Wes was still chuckling, making me realize he had been the one perpetuating the rumor. No wonder none of us dated in high school. 

"I can't believe this." I said, mostly to myself. 

"It's not like you didn't know you were hot." Wes insisted. I ignored him and reached into the van, rifling through bags, pillows, and blankets to find my bag. When I finally found it, I grabbed the handles and yanked it out, turning again to face Wes. 

I found him looking at me. He looked at me with an unfamiliar gaze. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to dig himself an even bigger hole. "I mean, you're literally the prettiest girl I've ever seen." He said, too seriously. 

Before I could gather my thoughts about his previous statement, Wes had leaned down. So close, I could feel his shaggy blonde hair hit my forehead. Instinctively, I held my breath. But, I didn't move. I don't know why. 

He kissed me, holding on to both sides of my face as he did so. I let go of the breath I was holding and kissed him back, just for a moment, dropping my bag and holding on to his forearms. And then, he let go, and dropped his hands. My feet planted themselves on the ground again. I hadn't realized I was on my tip-toes the whole time. 

My mouth was still slightly ajar, the smell of beer and Wes on my lips, I watched as Wes hopped back into the back of the van and started to pull the doors closed. 

"Night Mo." He said quietly, before slamming the doors shut.