Murder On 24th Street

Chapter Three: The Party

It's been a year since Miles had his date with Andrew. Since then he's been stalking him on friend's computers and lost phones. He hasn't directly spoken to Andrew since that fateful day. He was lucky as all hell that he didn't hear him and Mark talking about him. But he always feared that one day the cops would bust down his door and take him to the big house. Today is New Year's Day for the year of 2018 and Mark's family is hosting a New Year's party. Maybe today is when Miles will finally calm down.

Miles arrives at the party around 10 o'clock in the morning. Everyone in their family is already awake and running around. So, when Miles opens the door he gets rushed by his young 7 year old daughter, Abigail. As for his older daughter, Casey, she stood at an average 5 foot 7 at the ripe old age of 16. He was overwhelmed by the rush of a child ramming themselves into your abdomen. Once entering the house he was met by Mark with a fruit and deli plate in his hand.

"Broccoli? The kids hate it so it up for grabs if you want it."

"Actually, I will have some. Thank you!"

He grabs a piece of broccoli and bites into it. He wasn't really a fan of broccoli but ate it anyway since he hated wasting food. Once he finished he joined Mark and his wife on the couch to pick a movie to watch for the kids as they set up the rest of the party. Casey went up to Miles after they picked the movie and pulled him aside to ask him a question.

"Okay, Dad tells me you're really good with guys. Can you help me ask out this boy from my school?"

"Sure, sounds easy enough. Who is this fella?"

"A guy named David Hannigan. He goes to my school and he's super hot and super sweet. I just don't know what to do with myself."

"Well, first, you want to assess availability. Is he emotionally and physically available for you? Next you want to think about if he likes you back. Cause if he doesn't then this is all for nothing. After that you see if he has any partners, if so, stop everything and forget about it. Do not go after him if he just broke up with someone. You never know if you're just a rebound or someone he actually cares about. For example: I broke up with this guy a while back because I wasn't emotionally available. I was in love with someone else and I couldn't date them. Lucky for them I realized this early on, we only went on one date. His name was Andrew and he seemed like the perfect guy for me but deep down I know it wasn't the right time. So, think about that when you ask this guy out. Are you ready to date a guy who might not be there for you emotionally or physically? If he's all good and ready to date and is good in his mind then go for it. If not, don't. It'll only hurt you in the end."

"Woah, wow. That's actually good advice. Thank you, I knew you were the person to go to. Dad always speaks so highly of you it's like he worships you or something."

Hearing this Miles lips part ever so slightly as him and Casey part ways as the rest of the partygoers arrive at noon for the daytime part of the party. As expected only half the people showed up for the early hours of the party as most had other things going on in there life and couldn't show up so early in the day. But when the rest of the people showed up at 3 or 4 in the afternoon, the real party began. Mark showed Miles to everyone in the room even though most of these people they knew together. Seeing a few not familiar faces Miles introduces himself to a girl named Aubrey Harris. She stood at a short 5 foot 3 inches and wore heels along with a knees length red and black dress.

"Hello, miss, my name is Miles. What's yours?"

"Wow, so formal. My name is Aubrey. How do you know Mark and his family?"

"We met a few years back at a coffee shop and haven't left each other's side since. How do you know Mark?"

"I don't."