The Way It Was Before

nine

"This... is a small gathering?" I asked as I stepped into the gate of the Hunter residence.

Practically half of the student population was partying on the front lawn. All of them were laughing and dancing and drinking from red Solo cups. Some couples were making out in the corner. Several people were playing beer pong, and I saw one of them run off to puke into a bush.

I shivered.

"Supposedly. I invited, like, ten people over, but my stupid cousin Ryan told everyone about the party as a joke. So, here we are," Finn said over the loud rock music. He was standing beside me, and we were watching the chaos.

I couldn't blame everyone for crashing the party. Again, it was a small town where interesting things rarely happened, so it was expected that kids would crave entertainment like this.

Still, I was horrified.

"My parents are going to kill me," he said with a groan.

"Where are they?" I asked.

"At an art exhibit with their friends in Faircoast. They'll be home by midnight, and I'll have to find a way to fix this mess up before they come home."

I laughed. "Good luck."

"Thanks. I need it," Finn said. For once, Aislin and I had something on which we could agree. I must admit that he looked attractive with his tousled hairstyle and his midnight blue casual shirt that was rolled up at the sleeves.

"Um, by the way... I got you a present." I showed him the paper gift bag that I'd been hiding behind me, and his cornflower-blue eyes widened as he took it. "I-I don't know what stuff you like, but I made you a mixtape with the songs that I think fit your style," I said, alluding to the talk we had in biology class. My cheeks were getting hotter with every word passing through my lips. "Also, I got you a water bottle because you play soccer, and you know... you might need it even though you clearly have a bunch of those already..." I trailed off and sighed, frustrated at my awkwardness. "I'm so sorry if they're bad. I didn't know what to give you. And I'm sorry if I told you what's inside. I ruined the surprise. Okay, you know what? I'm shutting myself off."

I bit my tongue to stop my blabbering.

Finn only gaped at me. The silence between us must've only been a minute, but it felt like a century had passed before he finally spoke.

"Thank you," he said in almost a whisper. "I... It means a lot to me."

"Well, I'm sure it pales in comparison to what others gave you," I replied with an insecure laugh. I imagined his family and friends giving him awesome gadgets or the latest video games or whatever his favorites were, but this imagination flew out of the window when he said:

"No. This is the only gift I got."

"Oh." At this point, my whole face was on fire you could probably fry eggs on them. I didn't know what the proper response to that was because I was too shocked by this revelation, but I asked him, "R-really? You didn't get anything even from your parents?"