Meet You There

Chapter Five: The Ballad of Brody & Brianna Braceface

Friday finally comes. Throughout the week, Frank gradually increases my workload, so I’m pretty tired come Friday night, but I still want to go, anyway. I wonder if anyone will recognise me. I used to play with Brody and Megan’s friends a lot as a kid.

Brody, Megan, Kyra and I head over to the party which is on the other side of town, the richer side, where the houses are bigger, the cars are shinier, and people have their sprinklers on about six hours a day. My grandparents, despite living in a large house, didn’t live this side of the town. They built their own house in the center of the town to be near the ranch.

Outside the house of the party, thrown by a girl I’ve never heard of, people stand in the front yard smoking and loud music seems to make the trees that line the sidewalk shake.

Someone shouts Megan over and she grabs Kyra’s wrist and runs over the best she can in a pair of platforms.

Inside, there’s a coffee table full of various bottles of alcoholic drinks and a crate of beer next to it. Brody and I grab a beer each and I glance around nervously to see if I recognise anyone. There’s a few, but everyone is significantly taller and more mature looking, as you can imagine. I see Brianna Martin, who used to be known as Brianna Braceface and got acne before anyone else, now brace free with celebrity clear skin. Luke, who was once one of the smallest boys our age in the town, talks to a group of blonde girls sitting on the stairs. He is now taller than me.

Brianna spots Brody and walks over holding a bottle of peach schnapps, flashing a pristine, brace-less smile. “Hey, Brody,” she pauses and looks at me, squinting. “Ruben?”

I nod my head. “Hey, Brianna.”

Before I can say anything else she pulls me in to a tight, one armed hug. “It’s been years! How come you didn’t come back to Ranley 'til now?”

I wouldn’t want to kill the mood by telling her my grandparent’s death was the prime reason, so I don’t. “Got bored of you guys,” I joke.

“It’s great to see you back. Are you in college?” she moves a lock of hair behind her ear and shifts her weight on to her right food, putting her hand on her hip.

Before I can explain, Brody puts an arm around my shoulder. “He’s the new farm hand in the ranch. He lives with me.”

She raises an eyebrow at him and looks back at me. “Well, if you ever get bored shovelling horse poop all day, let’s go out. Find me on Facebook, I’m on Brody’s friends list.”

She hugs us both and walks away. Pretty sure telling someone to add you on Facebook is the new equivalent of giving someone your number. I’m flattered, Brianna is very attractive and given the amount of boys that try to get her attention after she walks away, she clearly has plenty of admirers. Brody’s smile turns in to a straight, thin line when she's gone. There was blatant tension there.

“What was that all about?” I ask.

“That’s a weird story. I’ll explain later. For now, drink up, it’s gonna be a long night.”

As the living room fills up, the temperature starts to rise, it feels like the entirety of Ranley’s teenage population is in the room. Desperate for fresh air, we go to sit outside near the pool, where fully clothed people jump in and splash and scream.

We see Megan sitting on the pools edge with her feet in the water, her shoes next to her, and Kyra next to her crossed legged because she’s wearing stockings. They’re laughing hysterically at something, sipping their drinks.

Brody and I sit facing them on the other side of the pool and they wave when they see us, then get back to whatever they were laughing at. Kyra actually seems to be having a good time, despite it being obvious that like myself, she isn’t exactly the party type.