I’d honestly forgotten how retarded I was. Well, not literally retarded but I’d forgotten just how different I was from everyone else. It was beyond hot, everyone was dressed in singlets and shorts and here I am chilling in the corner of this weird pool party type thing wearing my black skinnies and a Christmas sweater.

The amount of strange looks I am getting is ridiculous but I got used to it a long time ago, I mean I was like this when I lived in Australia too and when I visited. It really didn’t matter where I was, even if it was really hot, perfect beach weather, melt your tits off hot I’d still wear a jumper.

Like I said: retarded.

But in my own way.

Vic stood on the left of me leaning against the wall as he sipped at the beer in his left hand. I guess I wasn’t that odd for wearing a jumper, he was wearing his tie dye Thrasher hoodie, granted with a pair of tan shorts but still.

“This party sucks.”

As one Vic and I turned to the right to look at Mike who was standing on my other side, slumped against the wall so low he was almost level with Vic and still taller than me. He looked like he was ready to stab someone in the face with one of those stupid plastic sporks that had been supplied for the finger food just for some entertainment.

To be honest I was fully prepared to do this if he didn’t.

Vic and I nodded and once again looked forward to watch as people ran around laughing and splashing each other as girls squealed pathetically. I couldn’t help the groan that escaped me when a girl lightly slapped a guy’s shoulder and said “Stop it, I like it.” Her actual fucking words.

“Why the hell are we even here?” I asked while watching as the same girl was grabbed in a fireman hold and thrown into the pool.

“Because Tony said we needed to meet some of Kate’s friends,” Vic said with the most disgusted tone I’d ever heard come from him.

“Well that worked well didn’t it?” Mike asked as he reached into his pocket to pull out his pack of cigarettes.

“I feel like I’m at the school dance all over again,” I muttered as I reached for one of Mike’s fags, lifting it to my lips and patting down my pockets until I found my lighter.

“You didn’t go to the school dance, we went to a concert remember?”

“Not the final formal or whatever; that one in year eleven that we had to go to where I rocked up in your Pantera shirt and my mum’s beat up red tartan skirt and sat in the corner reading my book.”

Vic laughed at that, clearly remembering the night well. “You made me pick you half an hour after I dropped you off because you were ready to break one of the punch spoons and stab someone with the pointy end.”

“Not really all that far from doing the same thing now.”

“This sucks,” Mike said as he exhaled smoke. “Kate isn’t even here; she and Tony ducked off like ten minutes ago. It’s just us and them and I don’t see them approaching us any time soon.”

How true that was.

I sighed and slumped lower into the wall, raising my smoke to my lips I inhaled deeply and left it pursed between my lips as I exhaled out my nose. “I wish I’d made up an excuse like Jaime did.”

“What that your cousin was going into labour and you were needed at the hospital for moral support?” Mike asked in amusement.

Vic leaned forward slightly to look around me at Mike. “I thought he said he was helping his mum around the house today.”

I smirked and pulled my phone out of my pocket, inhaling lightly from the fag dangling from my lips as I unlocked it and opened up my instagram. “I heard he was helping Bones with the base.” Raising my phone up I pressed the picture button before stepping away from the wall and grabbing the arm of a random person who was walking past us. “Take our picture?”

The guy looked at me like I was nuts but nodded anyway. I handed him my phone and turned to look at the brothers. “Shall we show our appreciation to Jaime on this delightful day?”

Vic and Mike smiled at me and nodded. I stepped back so I was in between the two of them and the random raised my phone up. “Count of three; one, two three. Bam, done.” He handed me back my phone and walked off to go join the other losers who were still squealing and shrieking.

I looked down at the picture and smiled. All three of us were frowning and flipping the camera off, me and Mike with our cigarettes in between our lips while Vic was sipping his beer. I showed the guys before selecting a filter and uploading it.

“Fuck you, @ptvjaime we’re having a killer time.”

As soon as it was uploaded I turned to the guys. “Wanna go to the movies?”

“And see what?” Vic asked as he pushed away from the wall and we three began walking towards the nearest exit of this godforsaken “party”.

“I’ve heard great things about Frozen. Let’s go see that.”

Mike grinned and fist pumped the air. “Alright! Disney! When we get there we’re taking a picture in front of the Frozen display and then we’ll send it to Jaime. I know he wants to go see it.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed happily as I took the butt of my smoke from between my lips and put it out on the side of the house as we walked.

“Well,” Vic said with said with a clap of his hand drawing mine and Mike’s attention. “At least we know now that if Kate ever invites us to one of her parties to make up an excuse. This party was just sad. It was like the watered down version of a ten year olds party.”

I snorted as we walked out onto the main street and made our way over to the car. “At least a ten year olds party would have been fun. This was like what I imagine one of Professor Binn’s history of magic lessons have been.”

Mike nodded. “Even that would’ve been more fun. At least the class is taught by a ghost.”

---

“What the hell happened to you guys? I leave, you’re by the wall, I come back and you’re nowhere to be seen.”

I rolled my eyes as I settled back into my chair at the coffee shop outside by the cinema. Tony had been trying to call me for the past five hours or so my call history claimed. I reached out to snag a piece of Mike’s chocolate muffin before replying to the temperamental turtle.

“It was a fucking boring party so we decided to go to the movies to watch Frozen.”

“I know, I saw your instagram picture. If you only went to see Frozen then why did it take you so long to fucking call me back?”

“Calm down, man, you had your girlfriend with you so it’s not like you were alone. After we saw Frozen we figured we’d go watch the Desolation Of Smaug as well. Let me tell you, totally worth the pain I felt with the intense need to pee.”

“Why didn’t you go pee?”

“Are you kidding? Go to pee during The Hobbit? And miss something? No way! I made the need to pee my bitch and ignored it until the movie was over. Then I got some sweet relief and now we’re having coffee.”

Tony was quiet on the other end of the line for a moment. “We were supposed to go see that together.”

I frowned and reached for my cup, slowly taking a sip of the caramel latté before setting it back down. “I don’t know if you realised or not, but you and I had made plans to see it today. Instead, you made me, Mike and Vic go to a party we had no interest in, left us surrounded by people we didn’t know to go have sex with your girlfriend and now you’re angry at me for leaving?”

“Don’t be like that, if you didn’t want to go all you had to do was say no.”

“We did say no. And you still took us anyway; we just left a situation we didn’t feel comfortable in before we did something we’d regret. I don’t understand why you’re acting like this, Tone, you’ve never been like this before. What’s changed?”

“I found someone who made me happy, Alice, maybe you should do the same.”

I winced at the sound of dial tone. He’d hung up on me.

Mike and Vic looked over at me with identical looks of sympathy. They were the only two who knew how I felt about Tony and were always there to soften the blow when Tony was an arse or when one of his girlfriends were particularly vindictive. I sighed and shook my head.

I did find someone who made me happy. They just don’t know I exist.

Notes

It's short and it's lame and I'm really sorry about that. I think the story should start moving along now, slowly but surely. I blame being sick, it's congested my thought process. Argh.