SUCKERS ;; DANIEL ATLAS (NYSM)

[06] PARTY GIRLS, SHY BOYS, NEW TOYS

The Perspective of J. Daniel Atlas

I rested my back against the wall as I watched the others. I kept thinking, I could never stop thinking. I thought about Angel and I thought about the situation, then I would think more about Angel. It got to the point where she was all I thought about yet I still wasn't sure how to feel about it. I cleared my throat as Merritt sat down next to me.

"Clearly you have been taking advantage of the refreshments..." I looked down at my cup. I shrugged.

"Eh. What else am I supposed to do?" he shrugged back as I slowly raised the cup to my lips. I drenched my mouth with some more of the alcoholic substance, trying not to spill as he sighed and spoke.

"Well...You could try talking to people." I rolled my eyes.

"Ha ha, very funny." he looked at me.

"Oh no, I'm serious Atlas. One of these days I think you'll be attached to this wall here..." I looked away.

"Oh. How cute, what a nice metaphor. What will you do next? I never know."

"Play nice Danny, please." Lula laughed, looking back at me for a second. She kept chuckling while she turned away again. I gripped the solo cup in my hand. Angel was helping Jack cook spaghetti and meatballs as Lula watched. Dylan wasn't anywhere around, after all this was his free time too. Yet I wondered how he could get out of watching Angel smile at somebody else's jokes while I couldn't.

"Pass me that." Jack asked. Angel quickly nodded and held something out to him.

"Is this it?" he nodded and grinned at her.

"Yup, that's it. Thank you. You know, you should come over more often. You could help me cook...After all, I'm the only person here who does cook. Apparently it's a one man job, but, the more the better." I narrowed my eyes while watching them. Even Jack was getting to have some time with Angel, yet there was still clearly not enough for me. Angel would never cook for me...Before this she would never cook for anybody...I was the always the one that cooked. Angel smiled a little more and chuckled.

"Well, I guess. I've never really been much of a cook but I would love to learn." she smiled. I smiled also. At least she was honest.

"Really? I'm surprised. You're a natural." he laughed, continuing to stir the pot. Lula laughed again as she walked into the kitchen to pour herself a bottle of red wine. She looked to Angel and grinned.

"Yeah, he's right, babe. You really are a natural." Angel smiled a little more as Lula leaned over and kissed her cheek. I watched as Jack's smile twitched. I started to watch him more closely as he laughed nervously and spoke again.

"You guys sure seem to be kissing a lot..." Lula looked at him and smiled.

"Well...I'll be honest to all of you." she grabbed Angel's hand. She looked at me while she said the words. "Her and I are officially in a relationship." I narrowed my eyes as she smirked. Merritt laughed and nodded.

"Yeah! There you go! Good for you two, really." Jack nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, really...I'm happy for you two."

"Thank you, Jack and Merritt." they all looked to me. I nodded.

"Yeah. What he said." I spat slightly, starting to drink from my cup again. Angel rolled her eyes.

"Thank you too, Danny." I opened my mouth to speak yet I was interrupted as the door bell rang. I raised a eyebrow as Lula let go of Angel, rushing towards the door.

"I got it!" she shouted. I looked over to Angel again. It was all real now...They really were together now. It wasn't just a one night stand...I then looked to Lula as she gasped loudly.

"...Henley?" my eyes widened. I quickly walked over to see if it was true. And...it was. Standing on the front porch step, there she was. Henley Reeves.

Her hair was cut differently, that was the first thing I noticed. Her hair was still long and red, yet now it was at least five inches longer and it was now a much more vibrant color. She had never dyed her hair before but she spoke of doing it, so I assumed that's what she did. She was dressed similarly to how she always did yet something seemed...Different about her. Maybe it was because that I had pushed her so far back into my memory that I thought she wasn't real anymore...But she was real now that she was standing a few feet in front of me. She chuckled as Jack and Merritt came over to investigate.

Jack seemed confused while Merritt seemed impressed.

"Do I not get a welcome back hug?"

"Aw man, you're back!" Jack laughed and walked towards her. He hugged her tightly and she hugged him back before pulling away quickly. Merritt opened up his arms also.

"Glad to see you, I thought you'd never return."

"Yeah, what are you doing here?" Jack asked. As they both started to question her, I remained utterly silent. I didn't know what to say or do. Henley smiled a little more and shrugged.

"Did Dylan not tell you?"

"...Tell us what?" Lula laughed a little as she finally caught Henley's attention. Henley raised a eyebrow.

"...Who are you?"

"It seems you all are starting to catch up?" I looked over as suddenly, Dylan came in. I arched a eyebrow.

"Dylan, why is she here?" I looked to Angel, then I looked at Dylan, and then I looked at Angel again. I bit my lip. Angel seemed much more scared and unsure now that Dylan was here. The worst part was that I knew I couldn't do much to stop it. I went to lean over and whisper to her yet she shook her head.

"Well. She's back in." my eyes darted at Dylan.

"...Are you serious?"

"It's nice to see you too, Danny." she laughed and folded her arms while I looked at her. I looked to Dylan again.

"She ditched us."

"Well, she came back."

"You gave her no consequences for leaving us when we had nothing to do, now that we have something to do she's now magically a part of the plan. Is that right?"

"Well. Yeah. We can use a sixth horsemen."

"I was about to say this...isn't going to change anything right?" Lula laughed nervously. Henley turned towards her again.

"Yeah I'm sorry, again...Who are you?"

"Oh." Lula stepped toward her and held out her hand. "My name's Lula May. I'm the newbie."

"She was your replacement." I blurted, causing all of them to look at me at the same time. I looked to Angel. She was disgusted with me.

"Danny." she spoke in a strict tone while attempting to remind me to play nice. I sighed and nodded. I looked to Henley again. "Sorry. It's good to have you back." I coughed and cleared my throat before walking out of the room.