Friday night came upon them swiftly. Grace ran around all day Friday, making sure everything was set. Her older sister had been gracious enough to order a keg for the party, and the word was out. No guest list was needed, kegger's were always popular things, and she'd promised Chris that no one they didn't know would be let in and that she'd help clean the next morning, along with whoever else slept over, and he knew she was good to her word, so he allowed it.
She bit her lip as she looked in her closet at her fancier clothes, then glared, slammed the door, and pulled on her usual jeans and a t-shirt. "It's not like I've got anyone to impress anyways." Without thinking about it she changed shirts again, putting on her Adicts shirt, forcing herself not to think of why she all of a sudden had the urge to wear it. "This one is more comfortable anyways. . ."
She stared at herself in the mirror, a melancholy look on her face. "Cheer up, you're going to a party, who cares if you're going alone. Besides, maybe some hot new girls will come for you to fuck and leave, just to make sure they know how it feels." Grace glared at herself, wondering where the thoughts came from. She also knew that she'd never actually fuck anyone and leave. She'd feel too bad afterwards. To make herself feel better, she spiked the longer top part of her hair into a faux hawk and straightened the two strands of hair that actually went all the way down to her chin, making her look like she had cute sideburns. She added eyeliner and grinned, forcing angry thoughts and sad looks from herself as she grabbed her back pack and strode down the stairs.
"I'm going to sleep over Nina's house tonight. I'll see you in the morning." She announced as she gave her dad a peck, he smiled and nodded. Nina, like John, was a high school senior as well but Grace's best girl friend and Grace's dad liked her, so he had no worries and needed no explanation.
Nina drove up and beeped a few minutes later. Grace ran out the door and hopped into the car as Nina hit the gas-peddle and they made their get away. Nina knew about Todd and she, Chris, and John had a plan for the night, so as Grace talked about how fun it was going to be to surprise John, Nina couldn't help smiling about how fun it was going to be to play match maker, and maybe see her friend get her groove back.
They strolled into Chris' house, the first to get there. Grace immediately got the cake out of the fridge that she had baked the day before, and Nina went to work blowing up balloons. Chris taped up the gigantic poster he and Grace had painted for John, just a simple happy birthday one, but they knew it would be appreciated, especially since none of them really had money to spend on real presents. Grace's sister arrived soon with the keg. Grace hugged her tight, and paid her back for it right away, it had been expensive, but everyone had chipped in to get it. People that hadn't were expected to pay before they were allowed to drink. If enough people came that she didn't know, hopefully they'd make money, but usually, they just gave it away for free, or people just wouldn't pay.
Soon people started to collect, so far, only there closest of friends had showed up, and Grace calmed down and allowed herself a drink. By the time John and his gang of closest males showed up, she was buzzed. Todd was among them. Grace went and got John's cake, and everyone sang.
Grace didn't stick around long after the song. She only allowed John to hug her before she fled back to the kitchen. She clung to the counter, allowing herself to panic. Her breathing escalated and her eyes darted around the room wildly, finally landing on the doorway. "Alright, you're being ridiculous, he's not even going to talk to you again." Her thoughts reeled and all of a sudden she calmed down, her last beer kicked in and allowed a determined expression to cross her face. "Fuck that, I'm going to talk to him, who says I have to wait for him to talk to me, fuck, maybe I'll fuck a guy and ditch him, he probably won't give a fuck anyways." As the hair on the back of her neck settled and her grip loosened on the counter her usual confidant air came swirling around her, where it hadn't been for some time. She strode out of the kitchen, green eyes scanning the crowd carefully for him. A hunter, looking for just the right prey.
New people streamed into the house as the minutes passed, and when she didn't see him immediately, her confidence started to wane, but then, there! Over on the keg line he stood, his hands in his pockets, his head down. She strode over to Chris, who was pouring drinks.
"I'll take over here, you go have fun." She said in his ear. "It's your house you're letting us use it, you shouldn't have to do anything."
Chris was quick to notice Todd was on the line and just grinned at his friend, realizing she wasn't asking if he wanted her to take over, she was telling him. "Thanks." He handed her the nozzle and strode off towards where Nina was standing, getting ready to set there plan into motion.
The line moved forward, and all of sudden it was Todd's turn to get a drink. He looked up and was startled. He stared wide eyed at Grace as she pumped the keg for him. She smiled at him and he forced his face to curve upwards, in what he hoped was a smile. "Fuck, this girl again, I knew I shouldn't have come, now I'm just going to stare at her the whole time and she's going to think I'm creepy and she'll hate me and it doesn't even matter because it's not like I've got a chance with her anyways." His heart pounded as she handed him his drink and there finger tips touched, sending shockwaves of electricity through both of them. He tried to take his cup, ready to flee, but she didn't let go right away.
"So, are you going to actually talk to me tonight?" She questioned, raising her eyebrows and smiling again, slipping into a flirtatious stance with an ease she hadn't realized she possessed anymore.
It was Todd's throat's turn to go dry. But he kept his features nonchalant and shrugged, took his drink from her, and walked away, showing no emotion, no ounce of interest. In his mind, he was determined to get shit faced and forget about her, no matter how fucking cute she looked.
Todd chugged his beer, but Grace was still running the keg so he set his cup down and waited patiently for her to get bored and let someone else take over before he went over to get another one. John wandered towards him, and noticed where his eyes were gazing.
"You know she's single right? She's damn cute too." John commented, watching Todd, hoping for some sort of reaction. He'd been friends with Todd for a few months, and he still had no idea why, the kid barely talked. Sometimes, an amazing person would all of a sudden pop out of him and he'd show the world his spirit, especially when he was drunk, but most of the time he just watched and laughed, and never joined in. John hoped tonight would be a night that Todd came out of his shell, especially since he desperately needed to get laid or something. The boy had never even kissed a girl for Christ sakes. Chris had given him the heads up that Grace was interested, and once Grace was interested, if you added a little alcohol to the mix she was pretty outgoing with what she wanted.
"Yea you told me she was single already, but she's definitely not interested in me or anything." Todd replied, a slight frown creasing his brow.