"Saturday was his slowest day yet, and that was saying something. The sound of his ringing phone woke him up at three p.m, sharp and he groggily answered the call.
"What?" He groaned, hoping that it was someone he knew, but he hadn't thought to ask. On the other side of the line, Felicia cleared her throat.
"Dylan, are you still sleeping?" She asked, sounding baffled. Dylan huffed.
"Yeah, I'm still asleep," he replied, slowly sitting up in the bed. "It's only... three."
"There's nothing 'only' with three p.m, Dylan. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Chris and I had a fight and I'm totally overreacting but I'm tired so I can do what I want. And don't tell me to talk to him, because I will. Today- tonight at Tyler's."
"That's good at least," she said and Dylan hummed. "Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to grab a coffee again, but you are apparently occupied by sleep."
"Weren't you going to hang out with Maddie today?"
"Well, I'm hanging out with her right now and to be honest, I was hoping that you would say no. She just suggested that I should call because she feels like she's stealing me from you," he could almost hear the shrug, just by hearing her voice.
"Don't say it like that!" A new voice, that of Madison, exclaimed on the other line, making Dylan smile.
"Well, it's the truth," Felicia laughed, "anyway, I'll see you tonight, Dylan."
"I'll see you," Dylan replied, hearing the sharp beep of her having hung up the call. He took a moment, laying back down on the bed but not for too long because he didn't want to fall asleep again.
He got out of bed a few minutes later, immediately heading for the bathroom to take a shower.
"Dylan, are you awake now?" His dad called from downstairs, the smile evident by only his voice.
"Yeah, dad," he called back, his own voice hoarse with sleep. He sighed at the laughter that came from downstairs and returned to his room, resisting the urge to jump back into the warm and cozy bed.
"There's lunch if you want any," his mom called from what he presumed to be the kitchen, though he wasn't sure.
"No thanks, I'll eat later," he yelled back, grabbing a pair of jeans from a pile of newly washed clothes, pairing them with a simple camo-green tee.
__
He and Felicia got to the party at ten-fifteen. There were quite a few cars outside, but not nearly as many as on the last few parties they'd been to. As he parked the car, two of his classmates, who, mind you, he'd never seen talking to each other in all of the four years he'd gone in the same class as, fervently making out, not seeming to mind the cold at all.
He got out of the car, Felicia following close behind. She had actually gotten her car fixed the day prior, which she'd said last night, but they'd decided that it was better that they went together. 'For the environment' Felicia had smiled toward her parents, though both they and Dylan had understood the real reason; alcohol consumption.
"Dylan! Felicia!" The host of the party, Tyler, exclaimed the second they had gotten inside the house, walking quickly in their direction. He seemed to already have had a few drinks because he swayed a little bit in his walk, which wasn't surprising, seeing that they were quite late. "Good to see you, guys. Help yourselves to some beer, or punch, if that's more your style, and just let loose."
Felicia smiled. "Thanks, Ty."
Tyler grinned brightly at them, then continued toward the door, greeting someone that came in behind them.
"He was tipsy," Felicia stated when he was out of hearing range. Dylan nodded.
"Definitely, but then again, you're going to be that soon, too," he declared.
"Touché."
"Alright, well, I'm going to see if I can find Landon and Shawn," he looked around the room, which was already half-full, "I think they were going to get here early."
"Okay, I'll see you later," Felicia nodded, "I'm going to get a drink."
With that, Dylan left his friend to her own devices and walked farther into the house. As he pushed his way through the crowd, he started planning how he was going to approach Chris. He'd come to the conclusion that their little fallout was completely irrational and as soon as he could just reach him, it would be good again.
Sure, his opinions hadn't changed, but Chris was free to do what he wished. And if that was to follow in his dad's footsteps, then that would be fine and Dylan would support him.
It didn't take too long to find Landon's tall frame in the ocean of people.
"Hey," he greeted, gently slapping the soccer captain on the shoulder, "how are you guys?"
Landon grinned. "Dylan! It's all good, all good."
Shawn was standing a bit farther away, leaning one shoulder against the wall, holding a beer-cup in one hand. "You seem to be in a better mood today, nice to see that you and your mom worked things out."
Dylan clenched his jaw. He couldn't say that he hadn't, or even that it was never his mom, although he wished he could. If he wasn't a fucking pussy, he would have. These were his best friends, after all. But he stayed quiet, only giving Shawn a smile and a small nod.
"How long have you been here?" Dylan asked, seeing Cole come his way, he, too, swaying.
"' Bout an hour, maybe," Shawn shrugged. "We had nothing better to do."
A moment later, an arm was swung around Dylan's neck, an intoxicated Cole smiling at him.
"Dylan, you beast, look at your neck," he burst out laughing and Dylan cringed.
"How much have you had to drink, Cole?" Landon cut in, untangling his drunk friend from Dylan's neck and leading him over to an empty chair.
"Not that much, Labrador," Cole huffed, "and you can't deny that Dylan's new chick, whoever she is, is bold with her mouth."
"Cole, man, you should take it easy on the drinks," Landon smiled softly.
"Okay, mom," Cole sighed in defeat, leaning back against the chair. Dylan gave Landon a grateful smile, to which Landon responded with a nod. "But Dylan, someday you have to tell me who your lover is."
"I promise," Dylan said, turning to his drunk friend, "someday I will tell you who my lover is."
Cole hummed and stood up from the chair. "I'm going to get some water."
"Good," Shawn smiled, "be responsible."
"Yeah, but I'm only doing it so that mom will let me drink more," Cole laughed, hurrying toward the kitchen.
"Alright, well I heard that Francis and Ty have started a poker game in the living room, do you want to join?" Shawn pushed himself from the wall and looked questionably at Dylan and Landon. The former took a look around himself. There was still no trace of Chris, so he might as well join the game.
"Sure," he answered, "I'm just going to get a cup of water." Shawn nodded.
"Yeah, I'll join," Landon agreed, "we'll wait for you in the living room."
Dylan smiled and turned around, walking toward the kitchen. In there, it was even more crowded than in the hallway, as it was where the beer was kept.
"Hey, Dylan," a voice behind him made him turn around, turning the tap off. Jenny, the cheerleader that he'd helped at Chris's Halloween party, stood in front of him, twirling her hair.
"Uh, hi Jenny," he smiled back, taking a sip of his water.
"You played really well at the game last weekend," she took a step closer and Dylan's eyes widened. That was not what he was expecting at all. "I was thinking that maybe you and I could go upstairs for a bit?"
She took another step closer again, making Dylan take one back.
"Jenny, I'm kind of not available."
Her smile faltered. "Oh, I- sorry." In an instant, she'd scurried off, back into the hallway. That was... weird. He shrugged it off, pushing himself from the counter where he'd been cornered and aimed toward the living room.
"There you are, we've been waiting for ages," Shawn exclaimed from his seat on the couch. He took a seat on an ottoman by the table.
"Sorry, I got cornered by a cheerleader," he frowned to himself, whilst the rest of the guys around the table cheered and wolf-whistled. "Calm down, not like that," he laughed.
"Sure it's not," Francis grinned, "anyway, let's start the game."
"Let's," Shawn agreed.
An hour later, Dylan stood from his seat. He'd lost five dollars and didn't plan on losing any more. "It's been real guys, but I'm going to see if I can find Felicia."
"Yeah, you do that," Tyler nodded with a smile. "Hey, Francis, do you know if Chris was coming?"
That caught Dylan's attention. They still had to talk, but he hadn't seen him all night.
"Yeah, he'll be here. He texted me at eleven saying that he was on his way."
Dylan got his phone out, walking out of the room without another word. It was eleven-ten. Then he couldn't be that far away. He continued down the hallway into what seemed to be a large dining room.
Felicia was chatting with a cheerleader in a corner, and Dylan walked up to the two of them. "Hey, Felicia," he greeted with a smile.
"Dylan," she said, giving the cheerleader a look and then the other turned on her heel and walked away. "You've talked to Jen?"
Dylan frowned. "Uh, yeah, I walked to her very briefly."
"I heard. You couldn't have let her down gentler?"
"I- what?"
"Apparently she's had a crush on you for a while, and you just told her off?" Felicia sipped from her cup.
"No! I-I just said that I wasn't available," Dylan exclaimed, "how else should I have done it?"
Felicia shrugged. "I don't know. What have you been up to 'till now, then?"
"I've lost five bucks playing poker," Dylan laughed, then sighed, "and I'm gonna find Chris so that we can talk."
"Good, do that. I'm going to see if I can find some more snacks."
Dylan gave her a short nod and leaned against the wall, watching her walk back toward the kitchen. He looked around at all the people dancing to the pounding music. It was calming in a way, being part of the mindless dancing, even though he was doing nothing of the sort, just standing to the side.
Even with the loud music pumping in the background, he found himself relaxing against the wall, peacefully sipping his water. All the sound was shut out from his mind, and he just existed. He stood there for a good ten minutes, barely moving a muscle, which was for the better since they'd had practice the day before.
His eyes drifted to the stairs, and in a split-second, the calm and peace and all of his reality were shattered.
Chris was there, had probably been there for a while, but he wasn't alone. Megan from the cheer-squad was on him like a monkey, clinging to his shoulder. Time seemed to slow as Dylan watched as the football player shoved her lightly into the wall and stared at her. Though he couldn't see his face, Dylan could bet what smirk he was making. One that he had looked at Dylan with a hundred times over.
Or faked, more like. All of the words that Chris had ever said came crashing down on him like a tidal wave, and he choked on his spit. Was it all fake? It seemed like it.
Now Chris moved, pushing through the crowd toward the kitchen, with Meg following closely behind, a smile plastered on her lips. They- he- hadn't even seen him on their way. Not even noticed.
It wasn't even hurt that Dylan felt, as he pushed himself off the wall and made his way toward the exit. There was nothing, no sadness, no disappointment, none of anything. He turned in the doorway, though, and for the briefest moment, he thought he'd made eye contact with Chris between the moving bodies.
Then, he turned back to the door and got outside. The cold winter air bit at his skin, but he couldn't care less.
///