Lust

“Bonjour Olivier, joyeux anniversaire! Comment ça va?” Erin’s best friend, Sofie, hugged me and kissed my cheek. She was born in France, moved to Canada when she was three, and somehow ended up in America. Even though I’m not French, she insists I am because of my name. In fact, most people can’t pronounce my name the “French way” which is why I prefer Oli. But not Sofie. She refuses to call me by anything else.

I knew a little conversational French; Sofie taught me some phrases too, so I knew how to respond. “Comme-ci, comme ça. Et toi?” She just told me ‘happy birthday’ and asked how I am. I responded with ‘so-so. And you?’ It was only eight AM. How excited could I possibly be?

“Très bien. Merci,” she said with a laugh, switching to English. “Your accent is improving. Why didn’t you take French instead of music class? We could’ve conjugated verbs together.” Sofie smiled, but there was a hint of remorse in her eyes. I shrugged, taking my binder for music and U.S. government book out of my locker. Sofie sorted through sheets of paper, biting her lip anxiously as students rushed past us to beat the tardy bell for first period. She was probably going to be late to Trigonometry because it was downstairs, on the first floor of the school.

Erin slammed her locker door shut and leaned on it. “Are you ready yet, Sof? This is the second time we’re going to be late. Kessler probably thinks we’re the dumbasses who have been tagging the girls’ bathroom stalls.” Mrs. Kessler, the Trigonometry teacher, is a grade-A prude. She doesn’t like nonconformists and rants about ‘what’s wrong with society these days.’ Nobody knows why she’s even a high school teacher if she hates teenagers so much. It’s irony at its finest.

“Oh, merde,” Sofie muttered under her breath, shutting her locker door and making sure her combination lock was in place. “What excuse are you going to use today?” Her eyebrows rose simultaneously.

“I’ll figure something out,” Erin replied breezily, “We’ll see you at lunch, bro. And for fuck’s sake, would it be the end of world if you smiled? At least act like you don’t want to kill someone.” Her last comment made me grin because I felt that way a lot during school. But who didn’t?

She nodded, satisfied. “That’s better. Go to class.”

After a few classes it was lunch period. Thankfully, all my friends had lunch period the same time as I did. I entered the cafeteria to the sound of half of the room singing ‘Happy Birthday’ in unison. I glanced at Erin questioningly but she only shrugged, pointing at something else. I shook my head in disbelief as I saw two girls approaching me with a large chocolate sheet cake. I stood there awkwardly as they held it up, the candles burning brightly and illuminating the message in icing. Congratulations! It’s a boy? I had a feeling that this was Addison’s idea and Erin had agreed to it as well. Addison was my best guy friend; he was like a brother to me in the same way Erin was my sister.

“Happy birthday, Oli. Make a wish!” one of the girls holding the cake squealed, enthused. I cleared my throat, still utterly confused but not showing it. I managed a smile and blew out the candles, which extinguished instantly. They weren’t trick candles. Another close call.

“We’re going to eat this now, thanks,” Addison said brusquely, the cake now in his hands, “Oli will see you at Dougherty’s party later. Maybe he’ll be drunk enough to hook up with either of you.” A smirk appeared on my best friend’s lips as the two girls giggled, one playfully shoving Addison.

As they walked away, I eyed the cake warily. “What the fuck, Ad. There’s a party at Quentin Dougherty’s tonight?” Dougherty, as he was known by the general school population, was well-known for his parties. His parents’ house was located in the mountains, secluded from the city, specifically at the outskirts of the urban area.

“Of course there is.” Addison rolled his eyes, carrying the cake to our lunch table. “Didn’t you hear me the first time? Dougherty said it’s gonna be crazy. He said, and I quote, ‘Oli better get his ass over my house tonight or else.’ Don’t give me that look, bro.” He took the knife that someone gave him, cutting the cake into proportional pieces. “QD really wants you to live it up tonight.”

All I want to do for my birthday is to watch a bunch of shitty horror flicks with Erin and Sofie. This is what I should’ve said to Addison. But that wasn’t an acceptable answer. After all, it was my birthday, and Dougherty would most likely question my absence. So, I took a bite of cake, licked my lips and asked what time would the party start. As Addison filled me in on the details, I tried to think of ways to prevent myself from going. But everything I thought of sounded lame or arguable. With a sigh, I wiped the icing off my fingers and nodded. “Right. I’ll be there.”

“You’re going to the party alone? Well, fine, I see how it is.” Addison’s hand rested over his heart, feigning shock. He was trying to appear wounded and vulnerable but ended up looking just plain stupid. He dropped the act as I smiled then fake coughed. “Anyway, be there whenever you can. Don’t expect me to save you when girls ask you for body shots.”

“Because that’s at the top of my list of priorities right now, Ad. It really is.” You know what they say: sarcasm is the body’s defense against stupidity. The rest of the day was uneventful, to put it mildly, and it didn’t make me any more excited for the party. I still wanted my damn movie night.

*

A home cooked feast meal lightened his mood a little, making it bearable to even think of going out. Erin had gotten a ride with Sofie and her boyfriend, whose name he could never remember. That meant Olivier was still driving to the party solo, the directions to Quentin Dougherty’s house fresh in his mind. He drove for a solid two hours before he realized he was lost. He contemplated calling Quentin but lost his train of thought as something caught his attention. It was a star, luminous and almost blinding to look at, far off in the distance. As if by a gravitational force, he was compelled to see it up close. No longer was he preoccupied with the party or his desires; all he was focused on was the star. He parked the car at a rest stop and began walking towards it, closing the distance between him and destiny.