Chapter 3: I Never Learn

Running up the steps reminded her of running away from Jake upon confronting the truth—that there were no such things as "happily ever after" or fate, that her first love was a horrible liar with a crooked smile.

She nearly tripped on her way up, but she was numb, wondering how that mocking Ladyhawke song made it onto the party's playlist in the first place, playing while she danced with Alejandro of all times.

She was grateful there were no people acting inappropriately upstairs, at least.

She slammed her bedroom door and sat on her bed, blinking fast in an attempt not to cry. She had to come back downstairs and give Alejandro an explanation eventually; it'd be better for her to do it without red eyes. (Like how Jude's eyes appeared.)

As much as she desperately sought to ignore it, she could hear and feel the thumping bass from the music downstairs. She bit her lip. The song began to fade out, being replaced with some Calvin Harris song, but the welling tears in her eyes remained.

She didn't even flinch or jump when she heard three raps against her door. She knew it couldn't be her mother and her crazy door-knocking rhythm. Her mind said, Please go away, but her heart said, Please come in.

"Come in." Please.

The door slowly opened to reveal Jen, Caitlin, and Nikki. The trio walked into the room, facing Sydni.

Jen spoke first. "Are you okay? Nikki saw you running up here."

She shook her head, her eyes not meeting theirs.

"Need to talk about it?" Nikki asked.

She nodded.

Caitlin asked, "Is it about a boy?"

She nodded again with a sigh. "You guys can sit on my bed if you want to. You don't have to stand there."

She felt the bed move when the three plopped onto it—Nikki on one side of Sydni, and Jen and Caitlin on the other.

"His name is Jake," she started. "We'd been super close friends for a while. At least we had before I fell for him. It's so romantic and cliché, isn't it? Being friends, then more than friends." She fought a smile. "That song that played earlier—'Back of the Van' by Ladyhawke—played when we first kissed. He was my first real boyfriend." Hot tears ran down her cheek. "Then he cheated on me with some senior bitch. I didn't know why he did it. To be honest I still don't know why." She wept. "When we broke up, I realized I invested so much time with him. I poured my heart out to him. I'm ashamed that I almost slept with him."

Jen let her cry on her shoulder.

"I didn't want to be an echo of him. I wanted to be my own person again, so when my mom told me about the chance to leave Baltimore behind and start a law firm in Toronto, I thought why not?"

Caitlin gasped, her hand hovering over her mouth. She whispered, "So you moved here to start over."

"Mmhmm."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Caitlin threw her arms around Jen and Sydni.

Laughing, she asked, "What's there to be sorry about?"

"Everything! That boy, you moving up here—"

"But if I didn't get my heart broken, I wouldn't have met you guys." She smiled. "My dad tells me everything happens for a reason. I think I'm starting to believe him again."

"Sorry about forcing you to talk to Alejandro."

"Caitlin, it's okay. I'm fine. I just need some time."

"Okay."

Observing the group hug that was going on, Nikki decided to join it. She wrapped her arms around the three girls. They sat together in serenity and comfort, even if the commotion of the party was one floor below.

"Aw, I love you guys," said Caitlin.

Nikki chuckled at her, never failing to throw her own emotions into a situation. Regardless, Nikki smiled and said, "We love you, too, Caitlin." After they rested on the bed for another minute, she said, "Okay, we should go back downstairs. Besides, my lunkhead of a boyfriend is acting suspicious."

Once they ended their group hug, Sydni placed a hand on her chin. "I bet he snuck alcohol into the party."

"He claims he didn't, but I take that with a grain of salt."

"I'll deal with that later. I just have one thing to do."

"Marlowe, do you have a minute?" Wyatt asked.

She glanced at Connie, asking with her eyes if it was fine that she left. Connie nodded, and Marlowe walked with Wyatt to the patio, where they now danced. (While they did so, he couldn't help but feel the burn of some of his friends' eyes on them.)

"Sorry about the other day, Wyatt. I guess I cared too much about what my friends thought. I wanted them to believe we've moved on—because we have—and I ended up being seriously cold towards you."

"No, I understand, and I forgive you. Sometimes my friends have their doubts about us, too."

"I still want you to know that we're the best of exes. We've just been on… interesting grounds."

"But now that we're off those 'interesting grounds,' where do we stand now?"

"We're better now."

He smiled. "So… since we're better, and since the mall's talent contest is coming up, maybe we can reunite the band?"

"That's a nice possibility."

"Yeah. Hopefully it'll get Connie to stop hating me."

"She doesn't hate you, Wyatt. She acts that way towards almost everyone."

His nose crinkled. "Even if she's been that way times one hundred since we broke up and 'coincidentally' put the band on hiatus afterwards."

She laughed. "I still love your sense of humor."

Sydni found Alejandro near the privacy fence, away from the patio. Slowly, she approached him.

"I know I started acting weird earlier, and I'm really sorry about that."

He glanced at her. "You don't have to apologize. Clearly, something must've upset you."

"And it wasn't you at all, by the way."

He smirked, reaching for her hand. "I understand. So, are we going to pick up where we left off?"

As much as she wanted to, she decline. "No thanks. I think I need to dance alone for a while."

"Maybe some other time."

Her eyes filled with hope instead of tears. She pulled her hand away from his. "Definitely."

"Bye. Thanks for coming," Sydni said to the last group leaving the party.

It was a quarter after eleven when she realized people needed to leave the premises. She had switched the music to smooth jazz and most people got the hint, but when some groups had extended their stay, Nikki had been the one to handle them.

("Get your ass out or get your ass handed to you by the cops. Either way, you're leaving," she'd said.

The remaining groups of people had run out. Even Jude ran until Nikki pulled him back in.

"Jude, I didn't mean you had to leave."

"Oh." He'd chuckled. "Sweeeet.")

The gang now focused on cleanup efforts, wanting the house to look decent before Sydni's parents arrived.

Caitlin grimaced at a few pizza crusts on the carpet. Letting the others dispose of them, she said, "I wish we got to use the confetti cannon. It would've been so magical."

"Maybe some other time," Sydni said. Heat rose in her cheeks, her words exactly like Alejandro's earlier ones. He was a possibility, someone to consider. But, for now, he would be unknown territory. Hopefully he would be there when she was ready to even re-explore the idea of infatuation. Her palms clammy while disposing of some cups, she thought of how he took her by the hand. The unknown taking her hand…

While throwing cups and plates of chicken bones into garbage bags, Nikki glanced at Jonesy, who sat on the living room couch with his hands in his pockets. As she looked him over, she asked Jen to hold her garbage bag for a moment.

She stormed over to Jonesy, asking him, "Okay, what have you been up to?"

He knitted his brow. "Nothing. Trust me, Nik."

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm the Jonesmeister. You have my word."

Wyatt, observing this scene with the rest of the gang, tugged on the collar of his shirt, growing hot. He grew especially flustered when Nikki's eyes met his.

"Wyatt, do you know something?" she asked.

"Of c-course not."

Sydni approached him. "You don't have to lie, Wyatt."

He gulped. The pressure mounted. Their eyes were on him. He flung his arms into the air, blurting, "Fine—I found Jonesy charging people admission to get into the party and I think he managed to get a case of beer."

Jonesy whipped his head around. He was mortified. "How'd you know about the beer?"

Wyatt exhaled. "I saw you sneaking off to that Levi guy's car and leaving with it."

Nikki slapped Jonesy's arm, causing him to wince. "Nice one, Casanova."

"Not cool, dude," Jude said.

Sydni faced Jonesy. "You're going to refund everyone's money."

"Come on! I just wanted to make a little coin!"

"But you did it at my party, where people were supposed to get in for free."

After a tense moment, he said, "I think I know how we can settle this."

She raised an eyebrow, which was hidden by her bangs. "How?"

He never replied, instead running through the front door.

She ran after him. "Jonesy, I know where you live!"

Jen, throwing more trash away, said, "That boy never learns, does he?"

Nikki sighed. "Never."