Life of the Party (21 page)

“What?”

“Go now. Go
with him.” She nodded her head up at Brad. “Mackenzie, it’s like a
graveyard in here. I can totally handle it. Go, have fun.”

“What? No. I’ll
stay and help you close up.” I insisted.

“Don’t be
stubborn. Just go.”

“… Are you
sure?”

“Mackenzie.”

“Yeah?”

“Take your food
out.” She grinned.

“Oh, right.” I
shook my head sheepishly, sliding steak knives under the meat and
then grabbing the plates from beneath the warmer. I took the food
out to my table and gathered up their dirty salad bowls. On my way
back to the dish pit, I stopped briefly at Brad’s table again.

“Hey, Charlie
says I can leave work early tonight.” I informed him.

“Really?” His
amber eyes lit up. “That’s great. Do you think you could make my
order to go then? I’ll eat it on the way.”

“Yeah, sure.
I’ll be like, five minutes, okay?”

“Okay.” He
grinned. “Mackenzie, I’m really glad you’re coming with me
tonight.”

I thought about
that a moment, and my answer was sincere. “I am too.”

We smiled at
each other and I made my way back to the station, excited for our
evening to begin, eager to get as wasted as I could.

Grey was
staring at me as I approached the order window, almost like he was
impatient, like he’d been waiting for me. It took me by surprise;
normally he kept his head down so it was impossible for us to talk.
Hesitantly I leaned against the counter. After the weeks of nothing
but silence from him, this sudden attention made me wary.

“Can I get that
order to go?” I broached cautiously, aware of his eyes on my face,
the heat of his stare.

“That’s not
what it said on the slip.”

“I know. He …
he changed his mind.”

“Fine.”

“Thanks.” I
backed off, figuring our conversation to be over.

“Who is this
guy anyway?” Grey asked suddenly, surprising me again. He must have
overheard my conversation with Charlie. His eyes were narrowed,
glittering angrily. “Some cowboy? Why the hell are you going out
with him?”

I blinked at
him a moment, stupefied. The look on Grey’s face told me he was
used to having women fall all over him all the time, no matter how
badly he treated them, no matter how hurt and rejected they’d been.
I could tell he expected the same from me—and I’d felt that way
once too, before—like it didn’t matter what he said or what he did
or how he behaved, I’d take whatever I could get. And though my
stupid, foolish heart couldn’t seem to stop loving Grey … I had
enough pride, enough confidence to realize that I did deserve
better. That he couldn’t treat me like total garbage and just get
away with it.

I met his gaze
evenly, my dark eyes daring him to disagree. “That’s none of your
fucking business.” I retorted.

Grey’s face
lost its hardness. He seemed struck, startled into amazement by my
words, staring at me with … wonder, almost. He dropped his head
briefly to put Brad’s burger into a Styrofoam container, and then
placed the package on the order counter. “Here.” He mumbled.

I took the
order and grabbed Brad’s bill, stalking out of the station without
another look back, like I was totally confident, totally in
control. Luckily Grey couldn’t hear my heart pounding a mile a
minute. My hands were still shaking when Brad came and met me at
the till, but I managed to smile.

“I’m just going
to grab my coat and stuff.” I handed him his change.

“No problem.
I’ll just be out in the truck. It’s the one with—”

“I know which
one it is.” I stopped him wryly. The one with like, six tires on
the back axle. I shook my head and grinned. “I’ll be out in a
minute.”

I was nervous
heading back into the station, afraid that Grey would still be
there, wanting to talk or something. I wasn’t sure how long I could
keep up the whole “so-over-you routine.” Thankfully he was nowhere
to be seen. With a sigh of relief, I grabbed my purse and my light
jacket from the hooks on the wall.

“Hey, I have
something for you.” Charlie stopped me with a whisper. She rummaged
through her bag for a quick second and then put a small package in
my hand. “Here, take this, you know, just in case. Don’t look at
it; just put it in your purse.”

I did as I was
told, and though I didn’t know exactly what she’d given me, I had a
pretty good idea. I smiled excitedly, buoyed by the thought.

“Charlie,
you’re the best. Seriously.” I gave her a slight hug.

“Have fun
tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow and you can tell me all about
it.”

“Okay.” I
nodded. “I will.” Donning my jacket, I waved elatedly and headed
for the entrance of the restaurant. I grabbed the silver door
handle and pulled, but a sudden hand over the jamb prevented the
door from opening. I looked up in curious surprise.

It was Grey. He
stood beside me, his arm above my shoulder so his palm could hold
the door shut. I was amazed to find him standing there, in his
white-checked kitchen attire, a black hat upon his head, his blue
eyes steady and intense upon me. We stared at each other a moment
before he spoke.

“Don’t go,
Mackenzie.”

“What?” I
blinked in disbelief. “Why not?”

“Just …
because. Why are you doing this?”

No one could
answer that question better than Grey. I looked up at him, baffled,
lowering my voice so we wouldn’t attract any attention from the few
tables present.

“Why am I … are
you kidding me?” It was because of him that I was searching for
someone else, because he didn’t want me. And now he was staring at
me with such sincerity my poor confused emotions were roiling. He
didn’t care about me. So why did he suddenly care what I did? Who I
went out with?

“You actually
want to go out with this guy?” He demanded.

“Yeah, I do.
He’s a nice guy … and he’s actually
interested
in me. He
wants
to spend time with me.” I said pointedly.

Grey frowned.
“I don’t trust him.” He decided.

“You don’t
trust him … okay ….” I sighed and shook my head, rubbing my
forehead in total bewilderment. “Grey … what the hell do you want
from me?”

He hesitated a
moment. “I just … I don’t want you to go out with that guy.”

I didn’t
understand it. I couldn’t. Why now? Why? A week ago, this kind of
concern would have made my whole day … but now I was just confused,
frustrated … saddened even, by his sudden interest.

“Get out of my
way.” I uttered quietly, avoiding his gaze.

“Please,
Mackenzie.”

“No.” I shook
my head.

Grey dropped
his hand from the door. “Fine. Go. Have fun.” He muttered.

I didn’t waste
a second. I whipped the door open and stepped into the warm summer
night, welcoming the fresh air on my heated cheeks, leaving Grey
behind.

“Ready?”

“Ready!”

“Go!”

Hurriedly I
opened my beer, putting the can to my lips and trying furiously to
keep up with the onslaught of liquid as it slammed down my throat.
Beer dribbled down my chin and onto my sweater as I gulped it down,
trying not to laugh, watching in near hysterics as Brad did the
exact same thing.

When I was
finished, I leaned back and laughed uproariously, enjoying the
sound of the cheering around us. Brad wiped his lips on his hand
and smiled at me, his grin spreading wide over his face.

“Dammit. You
beat me again!” He was forced to admit. I could do nothing but
laugh at him, already drunk and getting drunker by the minute as my
system tried to deal with the four or five beers we’d already
shot-gunned. I sat cross-legged on the hay bale next to a roaring
fire, facing Brad, thoroughly enjoying myself.

He was easier
to get along with than I ever could have imagined. We cruised the
town for a bit before heading out to the party, going to the liquor
store for some booze, heading to my house so I could change. Brad
was surprisingly fun to be around, laid back and easygoing and just
… funny. He really made me laugh. And though certain things would
force me into moments of clarity where I realized that we were very
wrong together … things like the chew ring faded into his back
pocket or the Garth Brooks in his CD player, I had to admit that I
was having a great time. If nothing else, I knew that Brad would
make a really great friend. I was glad to have met him.

The crowd
around us slowly dissipated now that the contest was over and I was
declared the winner. A few of them waved at Brad as they moved on,
but pointedly ignored me. Jocks, cowboys, popular girls, brainiacs
… they were all there. The small percentage of the student body
that actually partied—like my definition of party—were nowhere to
be found in this crowd, but this group was still having fun. The
girls were drinking beer and giggling; the boys dispersed in
between them were talking loudly and comparing partying stories. It
was lively and carefree, but it wasn’t a hard party by any
means.

It was funny,
I’d gone to school with most these people my entire life, but I
didn’t know them any better than just a name to “popcorn” to when
we were reading in class. Most of them had given me a look when I
arrived—like, what is she doing here all of a sudden—but no one was
mean or hostile or even unfriendly. It was still a little
uncomfortable though. They all had their little cliques and I
wasn’t a part of them, which was totally fine with me. I wished I
could’ve been there with my friends. We would have taken over a hay
bale or two and smoked a bunch of weed and secretly made fun of all
the people around us. In short, we would’ve had fun. Just like we
used to.

I sighed and
shook my head, trying to rid myself of the sudden nostalgia. The
campfire was roaring, I could feel the heat on the skin of my shins
even through my jeans.

“Seriously
girl, how’d you learn to drink so much?” Brad demanded. “You had a
whole mickey of rye in the truck before we even got here.”

“Practice.” I
shrugged. “And, you know what they say. Liquor before beer, you’re
in the clear.”

“Really?” Brad
laughed. “I hadn’t heard that one.”

“What? That’s
not one of your cowboy mottos?” I teased.

“No.
Unfortunately.”

“You know what
my favourite cowboy motto is? It’s … oh, how does it go? I saw it
on a shirt once. Oh, okay … If you can’t ride it or rope it, take
it out behind the barn and shoot it ….”

“… Get the
cowboy attitude … and pass the ammo.” Brad finished with a
grin.

I laughed out
loud. “You know that one!”

“Oh yeah. It’s
practically famous.” He laughed sheepishly. “I used to have that
shirt, actually.”

“Wow.” I blew
my smoke out in a giggle.

“How about this
one? Cowboy motto: party ‘till she’s pretty.”

“Oh, ouch.” I
laughed. “Does that really work?”

“Don’t ask me,”
Brad grinned. “You were pretty before I started.”

I laughed. I’m
not sure if that’s the reaction he was looking for, but I couldn’t
help myself. I was too drunk. I swayed unsteadily on the hay bale,
setting my hands down on the stubble in an effort to sit straight.
I grinned stupidly up at him as he leaned closer to me. The light
from the fire danced over his face. Before I knew it we were
kissing, and his arms were wrapped around me, and he was pulling me
to him and pressing me tightly against his chest.

It wasn’t
terrible. Under different circumstances, I might have liked it. But
even through my booze-befuddled thoughts, I knew that Brad wasn’t
the one I wanted. Even with his lips on mine, my thoughts were
still with Grey. So when the cell phone in my purse suddenly began
to ring, it was with near perfect timing, loudly creating a welcome
interruption and startling us apart.

“Sorry.” I
pulled away from Brad so I could answer my phone. I could tell he
regretted the intrusion, but he let me go and sat back on the bale,
waiting.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mac.”

“Oh hey,
Charlie. How’s it going?” I felt like my mom all of a sudden, like
I had to yell to be heard. The party was rowdy around us.

“Good, good.”
She answered. “Hey, where are you guys? There’s nothing going on
tonight … it’s all kind of lame. Do you think I could come crash
the party?”

“Are you
kidding me? That’d be great. We’re out at the Dam, have you ever
been there before?”

“No. I never
really went to my high school parties.”

“Well, until
tonight, that made two of us.” I chuckled. I gave her directions as
best as I could remember. “But the turn’s kind of hidden,” I
explained, “so I’ll meet you there at the entrance. Look for me,
okay? Don’t run me over or anything.”

“Okay Mac.”
Charlie laughed. “I’m leaving now, I’ll see you soon.”

“‘Kay, bye.” I
hung up the phone, relieved. Charlie had given me the perfect
excuse to get away for a moment.

I liked Brad, I
liked him a lot, but I only liked him as a friend. Somehow, I had
to figure out a way to explain that to him, and hopefully salvage
this new relationship in the process.

“Who was that?”
Brad wondered when I hung up the phone. Already he was leaning
closer to me.

“Oh, it was
Charlie. She’s going to come meet us, she just needed
directions.”

“That’s nice.”
He kissed my neck, slowly.

“Uh … I told
her I’d meet her at the entrance.” I continued. “So … I should
probably go … wait for her.”

“I’ll come with
you.” Brad offered quickly.

“No, it’s okay.
Stay; hang out with your friends. I’ll be right back, I promise.” I
gave him a smile and gently pushed him away. He stared up at me a
moment, his face falling with obvious disappointment. “Go shot-gun
some more beer.” I joked. “You need the practice. I’ll be back
before you know it.”