Thrill of the Fall

Once Astin finished reading the note, she gathered her things and made her way toward Evie’s locker. The boy she’d bumped into on her way out of class embedded himself in her thoughts. He was the same one who’d opened her locker for him and the same one who--unknowingly to her but more than obvious to Alex--looked at her like she was the only girl in the world. But as she walked down the hallway, all she could hear was the majority of the student body talking animatedly amongst themselves about some show and some after-party. She was sure Evie would know what they were talking about; she was even more sure their names were already on the guest list.

Astin came into Evie’s line of view and she dramatically threw her books into her locker and slammed it shut. She glared at the blonde in front of her. “Took you long enough! God, I was starting to think you left me here.”

“Like your absence wouldn’t be noticeable,” Astin mumbled to herself, hoping her best friend hadn’t heard what she said. She had to be careful about things like that. Friends, in her world, were hard to come by. Keeping the ones she had was more important to her than finding new ones. Besides, she didn’t exactly have a line of people waiting to be her friend once her current ones got kicked to the curb.

“Anyway,” Evie started, obviously deaf to the comment Astin had just made, “I’m thinking you can pick me up around six-thirty.”

“For what?”

The pair exited the doors of their high school, moaning when they felt the scorching heat of the sun on whatever skin was left exposed. It was nearing graduation and that meant it was also nearing summer. Evie had been a citizen of the state all her life; she was used to the brutal temperatures and always dressed accordingly. Astin, however, had moved there from New York City: the headquarters of her mother’s company. Back home (as Astin always referred to the city as) she experienced seasons. The winters were always freezing cold and, when she was lucky, characterized by the levels of snow they’d get. The summers were hot, but not as hot as the ones she now lived through. Even being confined to the miles of blacktop and smog, New York City wasn’t anywhere near as hot as her new home.

Evie pulled her best friend from her nostalgia as she began rambling about some show she’d been invited to and the party that’d follow it. Astin should’ve known better, seeing as she was always Evie’s designated driver. In the history of their friendship the roles had never been reversed; the only time Astin could go to a party and actually have a sip of alcohol was when the owner of the house was cool with people sleeping on their floor. Most of the kids from their school were paranoid about that sort of thing so it never happened unless the party was thrown by someone who had their own apartment. That was rare, too, so Evie appointed Astin as her party chauffeur and Astin didn’t have a big enough backbone to argue.

As Astin climbed into the driver’s seat and buckled her seatbelt, waiting for Evie to do the same, she began going over the scenario in her mind. Parties almost always followed the same routine whenever her best friend was involved. She knew how the night was going to turn out before it even started: Evie would socialize for about twenty minutes, find a beer pong partner that met her criteria, probably lose because she wasn’t any good, move on to mixed drinks, find a boy she thought was attractive enough to keep her company for the night, leave Astin alone for a few hours, then stumble back into the living room where her best friend was usually sitting on the couch--alone, might I add--and ask her to take her home. It was that kind of behavior that gave them both a bad reputation--only one side of the story being true.

“I don’t know about this, Ev,” Astin began. “You know I don’t like parties-”

Evie feigned hurt. “What d’you mean? I already told everyone we’d be there...”

“Just because you get invited doesn’t mean I do too.”

The girl in the passenger’s seat was silent sans an unattractive, obviously embellished scoff. If Astin had any hope of getting out of the party she had to start early; telling Evie she wasn’t going to go when they were scheduled to leave for the show wasn’t going to cut it. On top of being a bit of a floozy, Evie was manipulative. She got her way and didn’t care how she went about doing it. That much was clear to anyone who’d even heard of Evelyn Beck...and the reputation that so often exceeded her.

“Whatever,” she grumbled, “I’ll just ask Alex.”

It was then Astin’s turn to roll her eyes. Alex didn’t go to parties. He didn’t go just to socialize, he didn’t go to drink, and he definitely didn’t go to babysit a girl he didn’t even like. She knew this was Evie’s way of trying to extract revenge for Astin abandoning her. Alex meant more to Astin than Evie did, and Evie knew this. If she could find a way to use the boy against her best friend then she was sure Astin would be putty in her hands. It would be even better if she could get Alex to sleep with her but she’d tried and failed on plenty of occasions.

“Like that’s even a realistic plan.” Out of the corner of her eye, Astin could see the girl shoot her a nasty look. In reality, she didn’t even need to look out of the corner of her eye to see it. Evie played dirty. “Look, I’m just not in the mood to babysit you-”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you always drink too much and leave me sitting on some random person’s couch with a party full of people who don’t like me to begin with.”

“That’s not my fault,” Evie replied quickly. She didn’t want to take the blame for initiating the tainting of Astin’s reputation.

“I never said it was-”

“But you hinted at it.”

Astin turned to look at her before returning her eyes to the road in front of her before they crashed and had more important things to worry about than going to Craig Donahue’s party. “No, I actually didn’t hint at anything-”

Evie exhaled heavily, obviously hulking up for an argument. It was another routine of hers: she’d close her eyes, breathe in deeply, then exhale through her nose in an even pattern. It was more annoying than it was effective. “Well, since you all of a sudden grew some fucking balls and are just laying it all out there, why don’t you tell me the real reason you’re not going to this party?”

Astin’s foot descended on the brake pedal as she brought the car to a stop. She was a mere two blocks away from Evie’s house: definitely not enough time to evade the question with how persistent the asker was. Instead of emitting an answer, her lips formed a small circle as she sighed. This wasn’t the first time the two had ever had a disagreement, but it was the first time Astin had gone so far as to stand up for herself.

“I just-” she sighed again, trying to calm the queasiness of her stomach as she tried to avoid a complete blowout, “-I just don’t want to go. I never have any fun.”

Evie scoffed. “That’s because you don’t try.”

Astin’s eyebrows were halfway to space. How could she try to have fun when she knew everyone in the room hated her? And for no reason, no less. It would be different if she’d singlehandedly offended or done something to earn their grudges, but all she’d done was transfer to the high school from some bogus private school in Manhattan. How could she have fun when she knew whatever she did would make its way to every ear by Monday? How could she have fun when she knew that even if she sat on a couch all night--whether it be leather, pleather, suede, whatever--she’d be hearing about how many drugs she’d done and how many guys she’d slept with the following week? Evie’s accusations were incredulous. There was no having fun in Astin’s world. The last time she’d had fun was during the family’s road trip to their new home, some five years ago. They’d stopped at the Grand Canyon--Astin’s idea of fun.

So, without thinking about what she was about to blurt out, Astin let her anger get the best of her. “Well, I’m sorry that fucking a different guy every weekend and getting shitfaced isn’t my idea of fun, Evelyn.”

The light turned green as soon as the period was placed on her sentence and she pressed down on the gas pedal so fast her tires squealed. An awkward, strained silence filled the car; neither of the girls spoke for a long time. Not until Astin pulled into Evie’s driveway and they were forced to.

“I guess I’ll umm--I’ll see you on Monday then,” Evie mumbled as she collected her things and exited the car.

Astin didn’t reply, just put the car in reverse and started off toward her own home. She was sure her mother would have some list of chores for her to do before she was to go out and she was, for once, looking forward to them. It’d give her enough time to clear her mind of what’d just happened. If necessary, it’d also give her enough time to think up an apology. Not for standing up for herself, because she inwardly swelled with pride at the thought, but for discreetly calling her best friend a slutty alcoholic.

When she pulled into her driveway, she noticed the absence of her mother’s Mercedes and her father’s BMW: a sure sign that they’d be away for the night, if not the entire weekend, and that she could push off doing her chores until later on. It wasn’t uncommon that she all but lived alone on the weekends. Both of her parents took their jobs quite seriously during the week and spent their weekends in some tropical island or at some quaint resort. In Astin’s terms, that meant sleeping over at the secretary’s apartment for her father and maxing out credit cards in Los Angeles for her mother. Not that their youngest daughter minded much. The solitude was a nice change from her mother’s constant barking of orders and her father’s failed attempts at hiding his affair, which seemed to be obvious to everyone other than his wife.

As soon as she set her schoolbag down at her desk, her phone began ringing. Alex’s name flashed across the screen and she breathed a sigh of relief; she wasn’t sure if she could handle talking to anyone other than him.

“Hey,” she greeted as a smile instantly grew on her face.

“Hey yourself,” he retorted. “Are you still going to the show?”

Astin groaned. “Don’t remind me, please.”

“Ut-oh, trouble in paradise?”

“I maybe, kind of--I called Evie a whore.”

Alex was quiet for a few moments. If they were having a face-to-face conversation, Astin would’ve been able to see the look of pure shock that adorned his features. “Wow, congratulations. It’s about time-”

“Alex, I feel awful!”

“I mean, it’s not like you falsely accused her...”

Astin flopped backwards onto her bed. She knew Alex wouldn’t understand why she felt bad; Evie wasn’t his favorite person and he’d called her out on her promiscuity plenty of times before. He was probably one of ten people in their graduating class that she hadn’t slept with--an accomplishment Astin seriously considered buying him a trophy for.

“I just--I don’t know, Lex. I feel bad. You know how I am.”

“Well, why don’t you go to the show with me tonight? Maybe it’ll get your mind off things,” he offered. Astin could hear the gentle smile on his voice so she agreed. “Great, I’ll be there around seven.”

Before he could disconnect their call, Astin stopped him. “Hey, wait!” She could hear a faint what? so she continued. “Do you know anyone with a chest tattoo?”

Alex’s eyes widened. Of course he knew someone with a chest tattoo. Nearly everyone in school made such a fuss over it when he’d gotten it done. How Astin didn’t connect the dots baffled him. He knew where the conversation was headed so he lied. “Uh, no, why?”

“I don’t know. I thought I saw who was giving me the notes and I could’ve swore he had a tattoo on his chest. I figured you might’ve known someone who had one.”

Alex chuckled. “And if I did, why would I want to ruin the surprise for you?”

He didn’t give Astin a chance to respond before he hung up the phone. It probably wasn’t the smartest choice, seeing as he knew he’d have to answer for his comment as soon as she climbed in his car later on, but it added to the suspense of her situation. Additionally, he wasn’t sure if the sender was ready for her to know. Alex didn’t think it was his place to go ruining secrets so he kept his mouth shut. He hoped he’d be rewarded later on.

Astin, on the other hand, stared at her phone in disbelief. The time of their phone call flashed, reminding her that they’d spoken for five minutes and forty-one seconds. Shaking her head, she headed toward the small bathroom that was attached to her bedroom. She didn’t have much time to get ready--a whole four hours which, to her, was nowhere near the amount of time she really needed--so she decided to get started sooner rather than later.

Halfway through her shower, she heard the bathroom door open and close. Whoever was in the bathroom with her was rummaging through the medicine cabinet and Astin knew instantly who it was.

“What are you looking for, Nathalie?”

Nathalie was Astin’s sister, older by two years, who was already done her second semester at college and was home for the summer. The two got along okay so Astin didn’t mind much. It got lonely without her siblings--Nathalie and their brother, Blythe, who was older than Astin by three years--so Astin was always grateful for their company. Blythe attended a university in Connecticut so he only came home for Christmas.

“Do you have my mascara? I’ve been looking for it everywhere-”

“Mom took it. Look in her bathroom.”

“What? Why would she take it?” Astin shrugged, even though Nathalie couldn’t see her through the shower curtain. “What a bitch.” And with that, the door opened and shut again.

Astin finished her shower, returned to her room, and began her search for a decent outfit. She settled on a pair of cuffed shorts, a loose-fitting sweater, and a pair of matching flip-flops. The heat was still awful at night so she always had to watch what she wore. The venue was bound to be packed if the band was half as popular as Alex told her they were, and that was just additional heat. By the time she got dressed, curled her hair, and applied a light layer of make-up, Nathalie was calling up the stairs that her “cute friend” was waiting for her in the foyer. With a roll of her eyes, Astin grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs.

“Excuse her,” Astin grumbled as she eyed her sister.

“You ready to go?” Alex asked, ignoring the remark about Nathalie. When his friend nodded, he opened the front door for her and followed her out. To his credit, Alex didn’t know what was about to happen. If he had, he would’ve done everything in his power to stop it. Or reroute both involved parties, at least.

Once they reached the venue, paid the admission fee, and got lost in the sea of people, the third-to-last band was just wrapping up their set. Alex abandoned Astin’s side in search of something to drink so Astin just stayed put. She didn’t know anyone around her; she wasn’t even sure if they attended the same school as her. Regardless, she felt awkward and out of place. The only time she went to shows was when Evie dragged her, babbling on about this cute guitarist she had a crush on. Even then she just stood around awkwardly. She was too insecure to let go and have a good time.

When the next band got their equipment set up and began playing, Astin decided to get some fresh air. She’d been standing next to a rather large guy who was perspiring terribly for the last fifteen minutes and couldn’t take it any longer. Alex, who’d returned a few minutes before Astin decided to go outside, opted to stick around to watch the band. Apparently they were kids from their high school and were pretty good friends of his. This didn’t deter Astin’s decision and she was immersed in the heat of the night a few moments later.

She melted into the brick exterior of the venue for the duration of the band’s set before Alex sent her a text message saying it was safe to return. When she did, she saw him talking with who she presumed to be the band. She noticed the tallest of the group was standing around awkwardly, not really partaking in the conversation. Alex noticed her standing there and waved her over. It would be a lie to say she didn’t notice the looks on the faces of the band members; it was a look she’d seen a million times before.

“Guys, this is Astin.” With Alex’s introduction, Astin plastered on a smile and shook each of their hands individually. The tall boy, who had his back to her, didn’t bother to turn around and greet her. She frowned, but was pleasantly surprised at how decent they all were being.

The four of them went their separate ways while the tall boy stood in his place. She assumed there was a person on the other side of him that he was talking to and she just couldn’t see. Alex noticed her staring so he tapped the boy on his shoulder and nodded in Astin’s direction. When he finally turned around, Astin’s breath hitched in her throat. It was the boy with the chest tattoo--the one who’d been sending her the anonymous letters.

“Astin, I’d like you to meet a friend of mine,” Alex said with a smug look on his face. “Astin, this is John--John O’Callaghan.”

Astin offered her hand, which was trembling terribly, for him to shake. When he took it, his trembling equally as bad, it was impossible to ignore the jolts of electricity that ran through her body. But they didn’t last long, for she heard a voice in the background that was determined to ruin the moment. She knew who it belonged to, and she knew what it was doing.

“John, babe, are you ready to go to the party?” Evie asked in a sickly sweet voice from where she stood. Astin and Alex stared at her in shock. They knew she was vicious, but they didn’t know she’d ever stoop so low as to steal away her best friend’s only hope at a normal, decent relationship.

John ripped his hand away from Astin and nodded, mumbling a barely audible apology before following his date out of the venue.