Party Boy

Cafeteria Conversation

On Monday, at lunch, I only sat at my usual table briefly to tell Evelyn and Lila I'd be sitting somewhere else today. I refused to give them details. As soon as they found out I would be associating with a boy, there would be endless interrogation from them.

Although, I wasn't completely sure I would be sitting somewhere else. I needed to give Nico his jacket back, but I had no idea where he was. The cafeteria was huge, and it was difficult to see his face the other night.

I decided to get lunch before looking for him, and luckily for me, he was sitting at a table near the lunch lines. Only three other people were sitting there, and they were all spread out and absorbed in their own activities. I sat down across from him and set my tray down in front of me.

"Hey," I greeted him. "I'm glad I found you."

"Oh, hi," he replied. He sounded a bit surprised. "Why were you looking for me?"

I handed over his jacket. "I accidentally took this."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Thank you."

"No problem. Is it okay if I sit here today?"

"Uh, sure," he said, still sounding somewhat bewildered. I hoped I wasn't bothering him.

"If you didn't hear the other night, you were right. My friends just needed someone sober to drive."

"Sorry."

I shrugged. "It's fine. I should have known... But we've just been friends for so long. I feel obligated to do things with them. I don't want to let them down. I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear about my life problems. Anyway, what was that long story? About why you don't like parties?"

"Heyyy, little bro!" said a tall, muscular guy with curly hair just like Nico's. He put Nico in a headlock and gave him a noogie. It was Anthony.

Nico had a look of loathing on his face. "Let go."

Anthony did as he was told and sat next to him. "Who's this?" he asked, referring to me. "You look really familiar... Ah, that's right! You were the hot redhead I ran into at my party."

"This is the idiot who spilled his drink on you?" asked Nico.

"I didn't realize it was him at the time, but I guess so."

Anthony mocked a hurt expression. "How couldn't you recognize me?"

"Go away," Nico demanded, clearly irritated.

"What, you want some privacy? Are you two dating or something?" Anthony directed his attention to me. "You like him over me?? You know, I'm bigger than him. In more than one way," he explained with a wink.

"You're revolting," I stated.

"I can show you."

Nico glared at him. "Leave her alone, Tony."

"Fine, fine." Once again he directed his attention to me. "If you're into short lonely nerds, I won't judge you. But if you ever want some of this, hit me up." He handed me a card and walked away.

I looked down at the little slip of paper. Ten small numbers were printed on it. "Is this his phone number?" I asked incredulously.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Yes."

"What a... I don't even have a word for it. Jerk doesn't even begin to describe him."

"Douchebag, jerkoff, pervert, narcissist, asshole... I could go on."

"I don't know how you live with him. How is he even your brother? The only thing you have in common is the hair. He's nothing like you. He's awful."

"We actually are only half brothers," Nico explained, "but we were raised by the same people. How he turned out like that beats me."

"Well, back to what we were talking about. Do you think you can give me the long story short before the bell rings?" I asked. I was curious. Maybe he was like me. It would be nice to have someone to relate to.

"Let's see. First of all, they're way too loud. I can't hear myself think. I hate that. And underaged drinking isn't good. But it really boils down to the first high school party I went to. I was a freshman and my brother was a sophomore. It was something the basketball team threw for all the new members. I didn't know why he was bringing me along with him, but I thought it might be fun. And boy, was I wrong. Turns out, the sole purpose of the party was to haze. Somehow Anthony knew this and, well, we looked enough alike that they believed I was him. I'll save you the details. Let's just say it involved nudity, freezing water, and an audience. It was humiliating."

I frowned. "God, I'm so sorry. That's terrible."

"Yeah. I guess my distaste isn't very reasonable, but I've had no desire to go to one since."

"That's not unreasonable. I wouldn't want to go to them ever again either, after that. You have more reason than me, anyways."

"Why don't you like parties?"

The bell rang before I could give him an answer.

"I'll tell you later." I took a pen from my bag and crossed out the number printed on Anthony's card I had left sitting on the table. I scribbled down my own and handed it to Nico. "Text me."

I did what my friends called the mom walk and sped out of the cafeteria. I was too nervous to hang around any longer. A wave of nausea washed over me.

I gave him my phone number. I was scared he would take it the wrong way. I wasn't making a move on him or anything, I just enjoyed talking to him. And we needed to finish our conversation. I didn't like him as more than a friend. But what if he thought I did? Or worse, what if he liked me more than a friend? Then I'd have to friend zone him, which I've never done before, but it seems like a horrible thing to do, and I don't want to hurt his feelings, I would hate to hurt him. And all before I got to know him well. I wanted our friendship to grow, if you could even call it a friendship yet, but I may have just ruined it by giving him my number.