The Decuplets

Saint Patty's Party

Ella

Because I am 50% Irish, I have no choice but to get plastered on this holy holiday. When Scarlett and I heard there'd be a party, we ran to Party City yet again, this time buying everything green. I think the workers recognized us.

The house of said party was a sage green on the outside, thus it was the perfect location for the festivities. As soon as the decuplets dispersed into the crowd, I felt lonely, and like any good Irish leprechaun, I was looking for gold. AKA Zach.

After downing one more beer, I swam through the hoards of people looking for golden blonde hair, which did not take me too long to spot. He was leaning against a wall and talking to Gabe.

"Zach!" I exclaimed, wrapping my arms around him in joy.

He gave me a half-hearted hug in return. "Hey, El," he said with much less enthusiasm, "what's up?"

"I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you, too," he replied, bopping me on the nose.

"Let's talk," I asserted.

"About?"

I darted my eyes around and lowered my voice. "You know what. Come on," I said, tugging his hand.

"No."

"What? Why?"

"I'm sick of only talking when you're drunk. Why don't you ever want to have a conversation when you're sober?"

"Well, I'm more honest when I'm drunk. I'm an open book."

"That's not how relationships work."

"Oh my God, we're in a relationship!" I squealed.

"Not what I meant," he said flatly.

I shrunk. "Okay."

"Look, Ella, I'm not trying to make you upset. I know you can be...fragile when you're drunk. So I can hold your hand or whatever you need me to do, but we can't have a serious conversation." He paused, looking afraid of my reaction. "Okay?" he asked hesitantly.

"Okay."

-

Noah

God, I'm so fucked.

A couple weeks ago, I started going out with this girl named Izzy. It started casual, but as I got to know her, I quickly figured out this girl was perfect for me. We both loved 2000's throwbacks, we were both big night owls, and we even had the same favorite movie.

There was only one issue: she's Ava's best best friend. Scarlett and Ella level. I soon realized I'd have to reveal this to my brothers, especially after the events of tonight.

I took her hand and led her down a random hallway of this house, confident I wouldn't run into my brothers in this secluded part of the house. The music in the background was shaking the house. The setting was far from romantic, but I had to make it work.

"I really like you," I said, squeezing her hand. It was rare for me to be sober at a party, but I came here with a purpose.

"I like you more," she giggled, blushing.

"I wanted to ask you tonight," I started, my heart beating against my chest, "if you would be my girlfriend."

"Yes, yes, yes!" she cheered, jumping to hug me. I was ecstatic. I honestly had no idea what she was going to say.

"The only thing is, um, I have to tell my brothers."

"What's the issue?"

"They're not Ava's biggest fans."

"I don't know why people dislike Ava," she said, furrowing her brows, "she's so sweet to everyone."

"Yeah," I lied, not wanting to upset her in the first minute of us dating. "Let me go do that," I said, darting away.

I was mainly looking for Clay, who wasn't too hard to spot over the crowd. I knew this wasn't going to go well, but I figured it was best for him to hear it from me.

I pulled him aside and cut right to the chase: "I've been going out with Izzy."

Shock took over his features. "Oh" was all he mustered.

"She's my girlfriend."

"Oh," he repeated.

"Say something else, please."

"I don't know what to say. That I'm disappointed?" Then he groaned, "why did you get with Josie just to get a girlfriend two weeks later?"

"I am really sorry about that. If I could take it back, I would."

"Whatever," he said, shooing me away, "I don't want to talk. I'm sick of fighting with you. Just leave."

It was a shocking reaction for sure, but I wasn't upset about it. I call that a success. I went off to find Izzy again, knowing Clay would spread the news to the rest of the family.

-

Ella

Zach broke his promise and stopped holding my hand, so I wandered off aimlessly, eventually running into Brandon who was sitting on the couch alone.

"Hey," I slurred, expecting him to immediately scold me for being so drunk. After all, I've made pretty poor decisions in my past drinking days.

"Hey," he responded, lifting his head so slowly there was only one explanation: Brandon, resident father for the orphaned Romanos, Mr. Anti-Alcohol, was drunk. Very drunk by the looks of it, and not in the highest spirits.

"Woah, are you drunk?" I asked in shock.

"Maybe a little," he sighed.

"Wow. Are you depressed or something?"

"Maybe a little," he sighed again.

I sat down with him, placing a hand on his knee. I could sense he was really not feeling well. "What is going on?"

"You can't tell anyone."

"I won't."

He scoffed, "I don't even know why I'd tell you, but...I've been hooking up with Roxy."

This came as a huge surprise for many reasons. First of all, though I hardly knew Roxy, I would not have imagined she had been secretly getting with Brandon. Second of all, I had never pictured Brandon as much of a ladies man. He was very reserved, and even if he had fucked a million girls, he would never divulge a single name, date, place, anything.

"And she broke it off?"

"She's had a boyfriend the whole time," he muttered, staring at the ground and running his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Oh my God," was all I said. "I'm so sorry."

"I really liked her."

"How did you find out?"

"I just did maybe an hour ago. I tried to go talk to her while she was with this boy, but I figured they were just friends so it wasn't a big deal. But I watched her kiss his cheek before turning around to me and...I just walked away." I could tell his eyes were becoming teary, so I squeezed his hand.

"Is there anything I can do to cheer you up? I heard they have cherry flavored vodka, which sounds pretty good, we could go do shots!" I paused. "Wait, that's not a good solution."

"Just talking to someone about it has been a great help. Thanks, El."