On a cheery Thursday morning, Sloane arrived at lunch with a plan. She flew through out of the school and down the steps like she always did, hair flying behind her, uniform looking like she'd slept in it, and sat down next to her brother. Throwing down her stuff, she faced the group. "Guys. I had the greatest idea during third period. it's going to be awesome."
Henry sighed and looked up. The thing about Sloane Beaumont was that she never walked into a room; she barged, and crashed, and exploded into it. If Sloane entered a room, you would know, because the door would slam open and she would burst through it looking like she'd been chased the whole way by a bear. Sloane was perfectly average sized, but her personality was so enormous that sometimes you just forgot. Everywhere she went she burned with the fire of her own confidence. From her odd, eclectic clothing to her overly loud way of speaking, Sloane Beaumont absolutely demanded to be noticed.
"So, big news," Sloane announced. "My mom's going to be out of town this weekend-"
"That's not news," Declan interrupted. "Mom's always out of town."
"I haven't seen my parents in a month," Wes added. "Last I heard they were in Tahiti, but that was like a week ago, so they could be anywhere."
"Yeah being home alone isn't news," Declan concluded.
Sloane rolled her eyes. "If you guys could shut it for a second, I could tell you that Mom being in the Caribbean with Carlos wasn't the news, dummy. What I was going to say is that my house it going to be empty this weekend, and we are totally throwing a party at my place."
"Wait you are?" Declan said, looking concerned. "But... 'your place' is also my place. So..."
"Gee," Sloane said sarcastically. "You could almost say 'we are throwing a party'."
"Aw man, I was planning on watching TV and getting takeout for the whole weekend," Declan complained.
Henry, on the other hand, was excited. Nobody'd thrown a party in ages, not a fun one anyways. If Sloane could actually pull something together it could be the best event in a long time. She actually knew a lot of people, mostly because she talked all the time to anyone at all. Most everyone thought she was strange, but you could tell by looking at her she'd throw a good party. She'd need music, a killer guest list, and a shit ton of alcohol, but honestly, it could be fun.
"Sounds fun right?" Sloane said, grinning. "I need you guys to tell people about it. Invite everyone who's anyone and tell them to bring all of their friends. Our apartment's pretty big, so whoever wants to come can. I realize it's a little short notice, but I doubt anyone's got any important plans. It should be a rager."
"Who's bringing the booze?" Wes asked. "No offence, but if you throw a party without alcohol, it's gonna suck."
"Please, we have loads of alcohol," Declan said with a hand wave. "When you get divorced as much as Mom does, you keep the bar well stocked."
Sloane nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much covered."
"What about music?" Henry prompted. "Can you get a DJ by Saturday."
Sloane waved her hand dismissively. "I think that's one of those problems you can solve by throwing money at it. All we really need is an awesome guest list. Which, as stated previously, I'm leaving up to you guys. Could you round up some people?"
"On it," Wes answered, typing furiously into his phone. "Aaaaand send. Group message sent out to all my contacts telling them to come. Sound like a pretty good time."
"Good work, Wes," Sloane said. "Do you think you could come over early to help set up and stuff? You were coming over on Saturday anyways, so really it's just a change of activity."
"Sounds good," Wes agreed.
"Oh Dec, come with me to ask Paige and Laurel to come." Sloane turned to Henry and Wes. "You guys stay here, cause they kind of hate you. Alright be right back."
"So, you were going over on Saturday?" Henry asked Wes. "Why?"
"Well, um, I'm doing a history project with Sloane, so we were gonna go, uh, work on it," Wes stammered.
"You sure are going over there a lot these days," Henry said casually, taking note of his best friend's distress.
Wes laughed nervously. "Oh, am I? I don't think I'm going over to the, um, Beaumont Residence all that much. Just being friendly to some new students."
"It's November, Wesley. They aren't that new anymore."
"Lovely weather we're having for November," Wes said. "No rain or snow or anything, you know."
Henry and Wes had been friends for a very long time; they were as close as most brothers. In their friendship, Wes was the honest one; as honest and as open as a book. It was Henry who had always been the liar. But now more than ever, Henry was absolutely positive Wes was hiding something from him. Something big. And he was starting to suspect that something, was Sloane Beaumont.
Dear sweet Henry. Not so fun being on the receiving end of the deception is it? But while we've all come to expect it from Bass, Wes has always played the good guy. Gandhi once said "There is no God higher than truth", so I guess this is Golden Boy's fall from grace. At least in Henry's eyes. Or maybe he's just jealous? Hold onto your hats Upper East Siders, there might be a love triangle blossoming.
