The Midnight Boys

Chapter 8

"Sorry about him," Briella said, threading her arm through mine and leading me away from the kegs.

I shrugged. "I didn't mind. Patrick seems nice."

"That's the Miller boys for you. Nicest guys you'll ever meet, but they're also major flirts and you're fresh meat."

In other words, they were players. I knew the type well. A good portion of Elliot's teammates fell into the same category, so I had experience handling guys like that. "Don't worry," I told Briella. "I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, I don't doubt it. Something tells me you're not as innocent as you look." She shot me a smirk. "Anyway, I don't want you to get the wrong idea about Patrick. He's a really decent guy..."

"But?" I asked when she trailed off.

She chose her next words carefully. "Let's just say he doesn't always keep the best company."

Did she mean those guys he was playing football with? Or did this have something to do with that Dash guy Patrick had mentioned? I wanted to question her further, but we'd reached the edge of the bonfire.

"Look who I found!" Briella said, presenting me to her friends like she was Vanna White.

The midnight boys all turned to look at me. An immediate ear to ear grin stretched across Zuke's face, revealing a row of nearly straight, blindingly white teeth. God, his smile. When he aimed that thing at me, it was impossible to ignore how attractive he was.

"Heeey, you're that lasagna girl," Turtle said in his impossibly slow, high as a kite way of speaking.

"Her name is Evelyn," Henry corrected him.

"Right." Turtle nodded his head as if he'd known that all along. "Mind if I call you Evie? It's easy to remember because there's a Pokemon called that, but I think it's spelled differently. You guys know what I'm talking about, right?" he asked, glancing around at his friends. "That little fox-like creature with the bushy tail?"

Zuke laughed. "It's spelled e-e-v-e-e."

"Those things are so adorable," Briella gushed. "When I was a kid, I wanted one as a pet."

"Of all the Pokemon out there, you wanted an Eevee?" Henry asked her incredulously.

"Your point?"

"They're so... cutesy."

She arched a brow. "What's wrong with that?"

Henry chewed on the inside of his cheek and the silver ring in his lip glinted in the fire light.  "Nothing, I guess, but I'd want something cooler than that."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Maybe a Charizard?"

Briella scoffed. "Oh, yeah. Great idea. Because a fire breathing pet would be completely practical, not to mention safe."

This made Henry grin. "I said cool, not practical."

"Oh, whatever," Briella replied with a dismissive wave, but I could tell she was struggling to hold back a smile.

Turtle turned to me again, eagerness painted on his features. "So, whaddya think?"

I startled at the sudden change in conversation. "About what?"

"Evie, the most awesomeness of nicknames. Not including mine, of course."

"Oh." I paused as a pang of grief sliced though my heart. The only person who'd ever called me Evie was Elliot. "Um, I'd be more comfortable if you called me Evelyn."