Thrill of the Fall

Why he had agreed to go to the party with Evie, he had no idea. He wasn’t even sure what he was thinking at the time. But when he bumped into her and set her drink flying, it seemed as though the appropriate thing to do would be to ask her to the party that evening as a way of making up for spilling the drink that probably cost her at least five dollars.

The idea seemed even more ridiculous when Astin showed up with Alex. And it just kind of all spiraled right downhill when Evie smirked horribly at Astin before looking up innocently at John right before she literally dragged him out of the building. He could have slit his own throat with a dull blade at that very moment.

“What was that, Evie?” He asked as he opened the car door for her. Despite not even really like Evie all that much, his parents had still brought him p to be a gentleman and at least open doors for ladies and be courteous and respectful to them.

“What was what, babe? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” She said, fluttering her eyelashes as though she was innocent as the day she was born. It was so ridiculous for them to be in the same car together. Evie was a god damn maneater, and if she had her eyes on him, John was in for a world of trouble. But he had a feeling that it was probably just a ploy to get back at her best friend for…something. Everyone knew that Evie was jealous of her best friend, but few rarely saw it in action. John had just witnessed it firsthand and had been a pawn in a game for her. That’s all any boy ever was to Evie. She had no emotional attachment to anything, ever. It was crazy to think that Astin had such a bad reputation but Evie, the senior class whore, got away with everything. She had friends everywhere, in high and low places, while Astin could barely take a step outside her own house without some sort of insult being thrown her way. John just didn’t get it.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. I’ll be damned if I’m going to be a pawn to make Astin jealous of you for something,” He said and got into the car, wondering to himself when he got a backbone and why he was even bothering to get in the car with the girl who had probably just crushed any dream he had of being with Astin.

“Why does it even matter, John? It’s not as though you’ve ever even exchanged words with Astin so why does it bug you so much?” Evie said, pulling down the visor in John’s car to check out what her makeup looked like.

There was no way in hell that John was going to say that the reason he was so pissed about the whole situation was because he had been head over heels in love with Astin for so long that he didn’t even remember when it started. That would be the worst idea he could ever have had. The only thing that would do was egg on Evie, considering whatever she wanted she got.

“No one enjoys being used, Evie. Especially not me and I definitely don’t appreciate being played as the fool. I have no idea what your problem is with your best friend, but don’t throw me into the middle of it. I don’t want to be there, I have more important things to worry about other than all of your friends hating me,” He said as he finally made it to the house where all of his friends would be partying and assuming that he and Evie were going to end up sleeping together. And since he really didn’t want to be on that bed post, he was going to do everything he could so as to get out of ending up in her bed, even if it included staying sober for the night.

“Well look who finally decided to become a man and grow some balls,” She said and got out of the car, walking up the path to the house and leaving him to take a few deep breaths in the car. Evie was something else entirely. But he couldn’t help but feel like she had done something to help make her best friend’s life the living hell that it had to be for Astin. He needed a drink and quick before he had a mild panic attack in his own car.

When he finally got a beer and made his way back to the packed living room, Evie was already making out with someone else. Thank god. The last thing he wanted to worry about was ending up so drunk that his mouth made his way to hers. He found his spot on the arm of the couch beside Garrett, it was a prime place to watch and see if Astin would actually show up. He had to figure out how to apologize and make sure that she knew he had and wanted no part in Evie’s psychotic issues with her. How anyone could ever have an issue with Astin was beyond him, she was downright perfect in his eyes. So he found himself a spot where he could see the people coming and going out the front door and hoped for the best, but was more than expecting the worst.

Somehow, in his lonesome wait, Garrett had showed up and was sitting next to him, both of them talking but neither really listening. So when John immediately stood at the sight of Alex walking in the front door, hoping that there was a perfect girl following closely behind her best friend, Garrett was more than a little confused.

“What in hells name were you even thinking, John?” Alex asked after he made a beeline straight towards the lanky boy. Beside him stood his best friend, who was completely clueless and more than a little confused, but John knew exactly what he was talking about and didn’t have an answer for Alex at all.

“I have no idea, Alex. If I did, I don’t think we would be in this situation,” John said, fessing up immediately to the unspoken words that were asking him if he was the one who had left his best friend all the notes, which was quite obviously a huge yes.

“Woah, bro. What are we talking about?” Garrett asked as Kennedy appeared to his left, looking equally as confused.

“We’re talking about the fact that John has been hopelessly in love with Astin since she was like, thirteen and, more recently, has been leaving her anonymous love letters. Pretty sure she figured out it was him tonight, but it doesn’t matter anyway! Because he decided to be socially sufficient enough to ask the crazy best friend out on a date to a party where she could rub it in Astin’s face that she got the boy, again,” Alex said, looking more and more angry by the minute. So much so that Kennedy took his unopened beer and pressed it into his hand, allowing Alex to drink it and then sigh in relief, nodding a thank you to the boy.

“Astin? Seriously?” Garrett asked, turning to his best friend, who simply shrugged, taking a sip of his own drink.

“Man, this has bad idea written all over it. What were you even thinking?” Kennedy said, his eyes wide.

“Bro, been asking myself the same thing for a few hours.”