Social Suicide

E I G H T E E N : Face The Music

SOCIAL SOLITUDE: ARISTELLE
Wednesday, October 31 2018
"I'm ditching school today," Spencer informed me, sitting on the edge of the bed to put his shoes on. I was fishing in my closet.
"Why?"
"The whole team is. Because of the party we're throwing."
"What party?" Odd for them to throw one on a Wednesday.
"For Halloween. You haven't heard about it?"
I shook my head. "Am I invited?"
"Wouldn't be the same without you there," he stated passively.
"How did I not hear about it before now?" I wondered to myself.
"Not sure," he answered, pursing his lips. "It's not invite-only like the frat parties are. Most of the school is coming."
I peaked my head out to look at him. "Your frat parties are invite-only?"
"That's right. By someone in the house or on the football team. Only people who get a free pass are the cheerleaders." He winked.
"I was never invited by anyone."
He smiled without looking up at me. "You had pull by someone important."
"Who would that be?"
"Who do you think?"
I hesitated. "Matthew?"
He rolled his eyes. "Me. I thought that was obvious."
"You didn't even know me back then."
He didn't answer.
"Wait. If you're not going to school, why are you putting your shoes on? It's only seven."
"I need to do something productive today since I bailed on football practice." He stood up, brushing off the front of his jeans. "So I have an extra shift at the hospital to pay for the band I hired for tonight."
I felt my stare go blank. "You have a what at the where?"
He chuckled. "I'm pre-med."
"I didn't know that."
"Well, now you do." He squeezed my knee before starting to walk out. I was still stunned by the new information. "Have a good day at school. I'll pick you up at eight tonight. Dress up."
Were we going together? Did I miss him asking me if I wanted to?
My assigned parking spot—that I paid for—in front of the fourth building was taken. As I walked by, I wrote down the license plate on the palm of my hand; I'd deal with it later. Elijah was sitting on the bench in front of the car.
"Hey. You didn't call."
"Sorry, hypocrite," he teased. He held out a coffee for me.
"Thanks. How'd it go with Mason?"
"I think..."
I waited patiently.
"I think I'm gonna forgive him. You might have... You might've been right," he choked out.
I stopped walking. He's never said that to me before. He's never said that to anyone before.
"Are you drunk?" I wondered honestly.
"No."
"High?"
"No!"
"Are you having a stroke?"
"Stella!"
I shrugged. "What exactly was it that I was right about?"
"That he's never hurt me before. I was happier than I ever had been with him... Blah, blah, blah. Garbage like that."
I humphed. "Well, good. I knew I was right. Glad you finally realized it, too."
"Oh, shut up." He held open the door to our Communications class for us.
"Really, though. I'm happy for you."
"We're gonna start over though. Make sure we talk everything through before we make it official."
"That's a good idea."
We sat together. Prof Carter walked in right on time.
"So, what's Spencer like in bed?" Eli suddenly asked, causing me to spew my coffee all over the desk.
"What?!" I coughed.
"I know things. I'm expecting an improvement in your attitude. He's a God." He smirked.
"You—" I halted, not sure how exactly to tell him to fuck off. I left to get some paper towels from the bathrooms next door. My phone buzzed when I got back.
(11:06am) Molls: What are you dressing up as tonight?
(11:07am) Aristelle: Shrek
(11:07am) Molls: Oh, shut up
I almost laughed aloud at the coincidence.
(11:08am) Aristelle: Queen Anne Boleyn
Eli leaned into me. "Talking to your boyfriend?"
"Holden Spencer is not my boyfriend," I told Elijah firmly.
"Sure he's not."
Behind my phone, I noticed a girl with a badly caked face turn around toward me. I lowered the device so I could look back at her.
"What are you staring at?" I snapped. She turned her back and slumped in her chair. Smart.
"Okay, so not that much of an improvement..." whispered Eli. I pretended I didn't hear him.
The lecture was actually less boring than it usually is. Carter was chipper and making jokes. He must've gotten laid last night.
As I was packing up, Lucian's caller ID popped up and my heart almost stopped beating.
"Is she okay?" I immediately asked.
He didn't answer.
"Vaughn?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out. I should have known you would've jumped to that conclusion since I never call you. Molly's fine."
I let out a breath of relief. "Then what do you want?" I didn't mean for it to come out as rude as it did, but Lucian didn't seem fazed.
"Is Holden with you? He's not answering me."
"No, I'm in school. He's at the hospital."
"Oh, I didn't think he had a shift today."
Elijah snatched the phone from me. "He didn't. He had a heart attack this morning from mind-blowing sex."
"What the fuck, man?" I tried to grab it from him, but he was eleven inches taller than me and easily kept it out of reach.
"He did," he answered Lucian. I wasn't sure how he heard what Luc said to me, but I couldn't hear what he was saying to Eli now. "I don't know why... Fine... Yeah, bye."
"What the hell?" I tried again.
"Molly says hi," he passed along, a dumbass smile on his face.
I changed the subject, not feeling up to playing along. "Are you going to the Halloween party tonight?"
"Honey, everyone's going. But I'm doing a couples costume with Mason, so you're gonna have to find another date."
"I have a date," I corrected him. "And costume matching is dumb," I lied. But I wasn't going to ask Spencer about it.
"He's not your date if you aren't dressing up together." He patted my shoulder condescendingly. "Must swim. Talk later."
There was time to kill between now and the party. I already had an outfit at home, planned ahead of time. Molly and I were going to spend this weekend with Miles. He was having a Halloween party of his own on Friday.
"Hey, honey," a familiar woman in her late forties drawled. "What'll it be today?"
I put on a smile. "One large strawberry boba with extra bubbles and a medium espresso frozen yogurt, if you please."
"Gotcha. Six-twenty-seven." She walked away to dispense the ice cream as I swiped my card.
"Aristelle?"
When I turned, it took me a second to register the face. I blinked. "Hey. Hunter, right?" I vaguely recall meeting him the night I intruded the football team's movie night at the fraternity.
"Right. How's it going?"
"It'll be great in a second." I jutted my chin out to the barista. "You?"
"Can't complain. You coming tonight?"
"The party? Of course. Are you?"
"Have to. I lost a bet."
I narrowed my eyes. "Lame bet."
"Lame guy. But I hate parties, so that's why he picked it." He pulled out his wallet and put a punch card back in.
"Who?"
"Greg Scott."
I nodded, feigning interest. Ruby was taking forever with my drink. "He's on the team, right?"
"Yeah. He's also my foster brother." Hunter rolled his eyes.
That peaked my attention a little. "Foster brother? Were you in the system, or was he?"
"I was. But after I turned eighteen, his parents still let me live there." I didn't know what expression was on my face, but he paused before gesturing to the counter behind me. "I'll see you tonight."
I smiled at Ruby, and Hunter was gone when I turned back around.
"Hi." Molly grinned up at me from the couch. Lucian's still head was in her lap. "Where'd you go after class?"
I raised my cup. "Chandler's. I got you a frozen yogurt." I whispered. I handed her the small paper bowl. "I should have known he would be here, too. I would've gotten him something."
"Don't worry about it. He probably wouldn't wake up until it melted. He can sleep through the apocalypse. Thanks."
"Mm-hm."
A few hours later, I heard Molls groan from the kitchen as I was writing a paper. I watched her bump her forehead on the edge of the fridge door.
"What's the matter?"
"I'm going to starve to death."
"Ugh, I knew I forgot something. Go sit. I'll clean out the fridge and then go to the store."
"You go, I'll make some room in here. I need something to do."
"As you wish." I slipped on some shoes and grabbed my keys. When I opened the door, I stepped back in surprise. "Miles!"
I heard Molly drop something behind me.
Miles lowered his raised fist and crossed his arms with a confused yet expectant look on his face. "You don't look sick to me," he said in an accusatory tone.
"Uh..." I looked back at Molly. She looked like a deer caught in headlights. Well, she wanted something to do. "See ya."
I practically ran down to my car. I felt kind of bad, but it wasn't that big of a deal. She had told him we were going to be late this weekend, and didn't want to tell him she was seeing someone. He had always been a tad too protective of her—of both of us, really.
While in line at checkout, my phone buzzed.
(4:52pm) Z: Are you busy?
I raised my eyebrows. What could Zander possibly want in the middle of the day? Maybe he meant to text someone else.
(4:55pm) Aristelle: Just grocery shopping, why?
By the time I pulled into the parking lot at home, Zan still hadn't responded. I took my time unloading the groceries, unaware of what I would be walking into.
I did not prepare for this.
Opening the door, I pulled the full collapsible cart behind me quietly. Molly was laying sideways on the couch with her eyes closed and Miles was sitting on the floor, watching something on our television. I stood still in awe.
"Well, look at you two," I gushed. "And here I thought that I'd be coming home to a bloodbath."
He stood and walked over to help me put stuff away. "You're not wrong. I was pissed about the lying, but she'll make it up to me."
"Hm. Well, we're going to a party tonight, if you wanna come with us? We can all drive back to your place tomorrow."
"Sure, Ells."
I closed the pantry door. "It's a costume party," I informed him hesitantly.
"Of course it is," he muttered in disgust and waved an arm down his figure. He was dressed in all black. "I'll just go as... I dunno. Maybe you could put some makeup on me."
"That should be fun."
His eyes lingered on me as I laughed.
I changed the subject. "Are you hungry?"
"Always."
The clock on the stove read five-eighteen. "I'll make some quick dinner. Can you wake her? She'll wanna get ready soon."
"Mm-hm."