That Scandalous Year

22. The Weird Party

"And your birthday cake!" Clead's mom carefully placed the round white chocolate cake in the middle of their rectangular dining table.

"It's part of the tradition," Clead quietly explained to Marie, while Vlad said a compliment to Clead's mom.

"Right," Marie nodded. "You guys celebrated your birthdays some days ago."

Clead's mom walked away from Vlad and approached Marie, who was standing tall and shy next to an untouched dining chair. "Feel at home," the house's matriarch said with a smile. "Don't be a stranger. Clead's friends are our family too." Then she turned around, walked back to the kitchen sink, and arranged a batch of fried spring rolls in a white ceramic tray.

The weird party started as an annual event for them when Clead's family moved to that house with an open roof deck. Since Vladimir and Edward also enjoyed nerdy activities such as stargazing and watching meteor showers, Clead gathered their group there every peak weekend of the Geminids. And since Richelle became involved with Clead, she and Mitch also became regulars. But now that Richelle was no longer whom she was to them, and Mitch wanted to join the very low-key party, her only ticket so her parents would agree she'd spend the night there was Marie.

They were in the school cafeteria four days before when Vlad asked the group if Marie should join the party.

Clead said, "Sure. Definitely. Why not?" He also assumed his friend was asking for some sort of affirmation since they'd be in his house.

Marie, of course, hesitated at first. "I'm not sure, guys," she said.

"Oh, come on, girl, please," Mitch begged her. "I'll cover for you if you need me to. My folks won't allow me to go if I'm the only girl around. Please, Marie, you have to."

Marie sighed at first, and then she said, "Okay, okay. I'll see what I can do."

Vladimir gave her a high-five afterward.

It was a Friday night. The two guys went there straight from school, while the two girls arrived right before dinner time. It was their tradition—as insisted by Clead's mom—to collectively celebrate the boys' birthdays during that humble gathering. So, dinner was technically party food, and most likely for their breakfast the next day too.

Clead's parents gave them space and took their food upstairs in their second-floor living room that doubled as their home office.

Vlad was, as always, the boatman of the conversations. Edward was more upbeat than usual. And the girls were, from time to time, texting someone—Clead assumed it was their mothers—and showing the other's screen, while sharing discreet giggles.

Marie was aloof at first until Clead noticed how she filled her plate with food. It was like she rarely ate platefuls those days. Or maybe, she hadn't been to parties or socialized enough. It probably had something to do with her family's living arrangements. Clead had nothing against it. But sometimes, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. At the same time, he felt like it was his responsibility to give her what she needed no matter how basic or small.

Fifteen minutes before ten o'clock, and after Clead's friends settled their stuff in the guest rooms, they began unfolding sleeping bags in the middle of the rooftop.

It was a partly cloudy chilly night. All five of them wore jackets, sweatpants, and socks. Edward even sported a beanie.

Clead was sandwiched between his friends. Edward and Vlad were to his right. Marie filled the spot previously held by Richelle. And Mitch was next to Marie. They also kept chips and sodas beside them as they looked up and waited for meteors to strike somewhere in the sky, even if the celestial objects hid behind thin clouds.

They had to switch positions and drag their stuff to a different angle when they realized they had a better vantage point near the corner.

Vlad told a joke that sounded a little naughty. And for some reason that Clead missed, Mitch began whistling the tune of an inappropriate early 2000s alternative song by a one-hitter band. Marie was shaking from stopping herself to laugh aloud.

"What was that about?" Clead asked Mitch.

"Huh? Nothing. It's... It's better if you don't know."

"Yo! Clead! It's just a joke," Vlad said with a snicker.

Clead decided it was probably best to let go whatever that was.

Edward checked again if they were in the right spot to see more meteors where they'd lie. "Looks good. Gemini is right over there," he said, pointing toward the constellation, which was only faintly visible that night.

Clead came closer to Marie. "Just so you know," he quietly said. "There may come a time later when these guys start saying deep philosophical stuff. It may kick in at around one or two a.m."

"Should I not participate or something?" Marie whispered back with her head leaned closer to him like they were in on some secret or something.

"Uh. No. That's not what I mean. I was just, you know, giving you a heads-up. You might, uh, find it a bit...weird."

"Nope," Marie said in a louder voice this time. "I don't find it weird at all," she added with a laugh. "Or I won't be here altogether." Then she turned around and dragged her sleeping bag next to Mitch.

"Oh, right," Clead shrugged to himself.

They counted the meteors they saw, most of them were seen from behind the clouds. To their advantage, light pollution wasn't too much of a problem yet in their province, so they saw stars and meteorites even though it was cloudy. The moon was also absent from their sight.

Marie asked if they were supposed to come up with a number, and the others explained that it didn't matter how many meteorites there were that evening. The point of being there on the rooftop was to be amazed by something far bigger than they were or will ever be.

"Are we guys still going to do this?" Edward asked against the quiet that was occasionally broken by Vlad's noisy crunching of potato chips. "Like next year or so. Even when we're in college."

Clead never thought about that until Edward pointed it out.

No one volunteered an answer.

"Do you?" Clead asked instead. "Do you want to keep this tradition alive?"

"Yo. I'm all in if you guys are," Vlad said.

It just dawned on Clead's mind that minute that he had no plans whatsoever when it came to his friends. That night was one of those things that kept them together. It wouldn't be just if they simply stopped it because they went to college. It'd be like placing a definitive period to their friendship because high school ended.

"I'd look forward to this every year, even next year," Edward said.

"Okay, guys," Clead said. "Okay," he sighed. "But I can't promise this same rooftop. I think we should try to level things up in the future."

"Like go off-grid?" Vlad asked excitedly. "Or... Or climb a mountain?" He added even more excitedly.

Clead and Edward agreed, but the latter stressed that there shouldn't be any concrete early promises to avoid disappointments. "Considering that sometimes this time of the year is rainy or stormy," he added.

"You really should consider becoming a weatherman, Edvard," Marie teased.

Clead didn't know if it was just him or if the other guys also noticed that Marie and Mitch didn't respond to the question about their tradition.

But, Clead knew deep down, that it didn't matter if the girls wouldn't commit. And frankly, it wouldn't be the end of the world if his two best friends wouldn't either. Sure, he'd miss those nights. And he won't watch the Geminids the same way again. But life had always been like that. If they'd move on without him, then he'd move on without them. Although, he also knew somewhere inside him, they'd never do that. He'd never do that as well.

At about a quarter before midnight, they all realized that the clouds started growing thicker by the minute. Mitch even pointed out aloud that they hadn't seen any meteorites in half an hour already.

Marie hurriedly stood up. "Guys, I think it's going to rain," she said.

And without any word, they grabbed their stuff and ran for the door.