The Price of Popularity (BoyxBoy)

{8}

Asher looked back around into the house but in the mess of people he knew that there was no way that he would be able to find his boyfriend. He hoped that he would just blink and Danny would be right there, smiling that gorgeous smile that told him that it was all going to be alright. He felt like the air was thick and sort of hard to breathe even though he was outside now.

He told himself to calm down, he had been at too many parties to act like this. This was his domain, his playground. There was no one who partied like he did, well other than Chad and Leon. This was just like any other party, he told himself, and yet that sinking feeling in his gut didn’t dissipate. He wondered where Danny was, who he was with. He was almost sure that Damien probably had him somewhere where he wouldn’t find him.

‘Are you a friend of Damien’s?’ someone asked him. Asher hadn’t noticed that a girl had walked up to him. She smiled politely when he turned his confused gaze on her. She repeated her question.

He was about to say ‘my boyfriend is’ but his practiced mind stopped the words from forming. ‘Yeah,’ he nodded, lying. He didn’t consider Damien a friend at all, but if he told this random girl that then it would lead to other questions that his practiced mind was great at avoiding. ‘Are you?’ he asked her.

‘I’m his next-door neighbour,’ she told him. The girl smiled brightly, ‘Do you want to come sit with my friends?’

‘Yeah, sure,’ he told her truthfully but he used his tone to make it sound like he was casually agreeing instead of jumping at the opportunity.  

He followed her over to the largest table on the deck. The girl was dressed in a short black dress, her bright red hair standing out against the dark fabric as it fell in delicate waves down her back. She turned back with a smile as they took the final steps towards the table and Asher wanted to hug her, he was so grateful for her kindness. Five people sat at the table, each one of their gazes lifting towards the two as they reached the side of it.

‘This is my new friend,’ she started but she then seemed to realise that she didn’t actually know Asher’s name. She looked at him expectantly.

‘Asher,’ he told her and the group simultaneously.

They sat down. There were two other girls and three guys at the table who all looked at him with polite smiles.

One of the girls, a short girl with big brown eyes and mousey coloured hair said; ‘Welcome, new friend.’

He smiled at her. The conversation at the table started up again. The red headed girl kept him in the loop of the conversation, including him and laughing when he joked even if it wasn’t all that funny. He found out after a few minutes that her name was Amanda and that she lived next door in the large white house. She seemed nice and unlike the usual girls that he met at parties, this one didn’t put her hands anywhere on him. She didn’t lean into him when he talked. She didn’t flip her hair back when she spoke. She wasn’t interested in him like that and Asher felt like writing a poem on how grateful he was for her presence.

Amanda left the table for a few moments coming back with two beers in her hands. She handed one to Asher and he took it with a smile, bringing his lips to the opening. He paused in his movements. He had never drunk anything with Danny. He had never had the opportunity to, he guessed. He wondered what Danny would think. Then he remembered that Danny had been to Damien’s parties before, he had probably had a few drinks at one, Asher rationalised. It wasn’t like he had to drive.

His lips sealed around the neck and he drank the beer quicker than he usually would. Just one drink, he told himself. He was offered another. He accepted. Two drinks never hurt anybody.