Leah crossed her arms. Her eyes itched, but she was determined not to pay any attention to them. If she did, she was positive that she would close them forever and run screaming from the room.
"So..." Simon tried. "How are you guys?"
It was the first meeting since they went to college. Well, their first meeting all together. Simon had been visiting Abby and Leah since Day Two, and practically lived on their dorm room floor. Bram had come along on the days that Simon rented a hotel room instead (who knows where he got the money). Garrett FaceTimed in, because he was Garrett. A particularly awful time was when he had a girl in his room.
But this was Nick's first time visiting. It was different than Garrett though. Nick had texted three times since they left Creekwood. Leah still looked at those texts sometimes, to remind her that maybe Nick was still trying.
But sitting across from him, she couldn't see a way that he was. Nick had his palm resting on his knee, his phone underneath it. Leah could see the occasional vibrate- a message from Taylor.
No, Simon was the only one trying here.
"Any big news, guys?" Simon asked again, his voice hinting at the hopelessness that he knew this situation encased.
"My cousin Molly got an internship at a big design company," Abby said, alternating looks between Nick and Leah. Leah met her eyes once before looking back down at her crossed arms.
"That's great," Bram said, reaching out to the conversation as a cling for hope. "My aunt's an interior designer."
"Nice," Abby said.
And there went the conversation.
Leah looked around the coffee shop. Abby had loved this place since she and Leah scouted it in their first week. But sitting at the couch area, Leah did not feel as "Caffeine Calm" as the sign suggested. On another note, Leah didn't understand that advertisement. No one was calm under caffeine.
Leah looked over at Nick again. He was looking at her, and a sort of heat passed between them.
Nick hadn't really extended an olive branch of friendship since Leah and Abby shared that fateful kiss at prom. To be fair, Leah hadn't either, but she had expected Nick to do it first. Maybe a sort of "Mutual Girlfriend/Ex". Leah wasn't expecting late nights of cookies and gossiping about Abby, but she hadn't really expected nearly complete silence.
Because there was Abby. And Leah knew that Abby's complete silence was worse than her three texts.
They were just wasting time in this coffee shop, and everyone knew it. Abby had suggested a party that she (not Leah and Abby, but just Abby) had been invited to. Garrett had been eager to accept for the group, and so Leah was now stuck going to a college party where she would be returned to the whole group's sober friend. Not just Abby's sober girlfriend.
Leah and Abby hadn't been to many parties in college. Abby had dragged her to a couple at the beginning, but took note of Leah's inability to 'party hearty'. After the first few, they had a silent agreement. On party nights, they would cuddle in Leah's bed, watching (or sometimes not watching) Netflix on a laptop.
Needless to say, this was Leah's first party in a while.
Leah's anxiety was right. As soon as they walked in, the smell hit her like a garbage truck.
Booze.
"Woohoo!" Garrett yelled, and disappeared into the throng of people around the beer keg.
Bram and Simon went off to the kitchen to make drinks. Nick followed haplessly,
nose buried in his phone. Leah had made the mistake of glancing over at it during the car ride. She could never look at Taylor Metternich the same way.
"Can I get you anything?" Abby teased Leah, wrapping her arms around Leah's neck from the side, leaning into her shoulder.
Nope. No matter how confident she felt in her galaxy dress, no matter how otherworldly her boobs were- Leah was not drinking.
"A coke," Leah replied, tilting her head to kiss Abby's cheek. Abby retaliated with a nose peck, and Leah had no other choice but to turn to face Abby properly, wrap her arms around Abby's waist, and give her a proper kiss.
"You got it," Abby murmured, spinning out of Leah's arms and into the kitchen giggling.
Leah smiled wistfully before finding the stairs. She could hear several sets of voices moaning upstairs, but she plopped down on the bottom step to survey the college madness. It was practically high school madness, just a tiny bit more legal.
"Hi," a boy said, sitting next to Leah, swaying ever so slightly. He smelled not so faintly of beer, and his glassy blue eyes and messy auburn hair attested to that fact.
"Hello," Leah said, pointedly not making eye contact with the boy. While she hadn't met this particular one yet, she knew frat boys. It was why she wore her combat boots instead of normal sneakers- the toes were plated with metal.
"I-I'm Jonass," he slurred, leaning forwards into his lap before sitting straight back up again. "Jo-Jonas. What's your name, pretty gurl?"
Yep. Leah was sure that he pronounced the girl with a U.
"I'm Prudence," Leah said. No matter how many times she said it, she couldn't quite veil the heavy sarcasm in her voice. She and Abby had come up with their names together- Prudence and Edna.
"Are you a prude, Prudence?" Jonas the extremely drunk frat boy laughed incredibly hard at his own joke. As he doubled over, his hand landed on Leah's thigh. It took all of her nerve not to kick him in the balls.
Jonas looked at her with a expression that can only be described as 'boozy sleaziness'. "Well, Prudence The Prude, how about we take this up to my room?"
Leah was preparing her perfect and burning comeback when a voice interrupted. "Actually, I would like to spend some time with my girlfriend instead."
Abby stood over Drunk Douche Jonas, looking mildly disgruntled.
"You're notaguy," Jonas slurred, standing shakily.
"Damn right I'm not," Abby said, throwing Leah a small smile. "I'm Wonder Woman."
Leah snorted as Jonas continued to stare at Abby. "But..."
"It's called bisexuality, idiot," Abby continued, sitting next to Leah on the step. "Educate yourself." And she turned to Leah, effectively ending the conversation.
"Very nice," Leah amended, accepting the Coke that Abby offered. "I had that though."
"I know," Abby agreed, resting her head on Leah's shoulder as Leah turned to kiss the nest of black curls. "But I like helping out my scary girlfriend once in a while."
"Sounds good," Leah said, feeling warmth seeping through her chest.
That warmth dissipated quickly, as soon as Leah left the bathroom and heard a familiar voice outside. She ran out the front for of the frat house, only to collide with Bram's back.
Bram swiveled around and caught her shoulders as Leah stumbled back. Leah started to thank him but stop, noticing his expression. "Bram, what's wrong?"
Bram bit his lip. "Um." But Leah slipped around him.
Garrett was laying on top of a car, passed out, but that wasn't what the commotion was about. Simon stood in between Nick and Abby, frantically waving his arms to no avail. The two kept on yelling.
"SILENCE FOR FIVE MONTHS, NICK!" Abby was screaming, shaking her fist furiously at Nick. Leah hadn't seen her so angry since junior year.
"DUMPING ME TWO WEEKS BEFORE PROM?" Nick retorted, hands hidden in his hair. "AND THEN HOOKING UP WITH ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS?"
"WE DIDN'T HOOK UP! WE KISSED AND IT'S NOT LIKE YOU TOOK ANY TIME BEFORE TAYLOR!"
"THAT'S TAYLOR METTERNICH, NOT LEAH BURKE! LEAH WAS OFF LIMITS! GROUP RULES!"
"SINCE WHEN HAVE GROUP RULES EXISTED, MORON?!" Abby shrieked, running towards Nick. Simon cowered as Bram dove towards her, holding her back. Leah couldn't move. She felt her feet were duct-taped to the sidewalk.
"GARRETT WAS GUNNING JUST AS HARD FOR HER!" Abby continued, gesturing at the unconscious Garrett. Simon, straightening up, set off towards him. "SIMON AND BRAM SINCE JUNIOR YEAR!"
"THOSE WERE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES!" Nick slammed back, and for once Leah had to agree with him.
"AND YOU AND ME!" Abby finished, seeming to knock Nick silent. "HUH? ORIGINAL FOUR!"
Nick stayed quiet for a moment. "But why right after our breakup?" His voice sounded broken.
"It wasn't working, Nick," Abby said, matching his tone and taking a step back from Bram. "You had to know that. Otherwise we would just be fooling ourselves."
Nick nodded silently.
And they both turned to look at Leah.
"Um." She took a step backwards. "Hey."
Simon, staggering with Garrett over his shoulder, joined the group. "Apologize to Leah for fighting, now."
Nick took a step towards Leah before ducking his head. "I'm sorry for not talking to you Leah. And for fighting."
Leah nodded slowly, before reaching out and pulling Nick into a hug. "Next time, we talk, okay?" She felt him nod. "Just no more drunk soccer."
Nick pulled away, a faint smile on his face. She turned to Abby, who ran straight into Leah's arms.
"I'm sorry for fighting," she exclaimed, her breath tickling Leah's neck. "I'm super sorry."
"It's okay," Leah said, pulling away slightly so she could look into Abby's face.
"I love you," Abby whispered, and it felt like they were alone on that street, just watching each other.
"I love you too," Leah whispered back, and Abby kissed her harder than she had ever kissed her.
Leah had to admit, no matter how cheesy it was- this was the best party she'd ever been to.