Arcadia [h.s.]

Chapter 8

Time and time again I can be feeling real sad, cause me sueño se ha hecho uno realidad

-
Arcadia

"I can't believe you dragged me to a party hosted by the friend of the guy you're fucking."

Caitlin wasn't exactly pleased when Noel forcibly dragged her to their usual pub last minute on a Friday night. Especially considering Caitlin had, what she liked to call, a "dick appointment." Luckily, Noel convinced her that Amari was hot and also a tattoo artist so she jumped at the prospect.

"This friend... of the guy I'm seeing, is a sweetheart. You'll love him, trust me," Noel spoke as she dragged her best friend through the crowded hallway that led to the outdoor patio where the party was being held.

When they entered the patio, not only was Noel in awe of the usual lighting pattern that hung over the ceiling of the wooden pergola but the rest of the decorum which seemed to be a more personal touch by whoever decorated the party for Amari. There was extra cream-colored lighting that made a zig-zagged pattern around the metal fence that wrapped around the entire 750 square footage of the patio section, making it look much more expensive than it really was.

Unlike the wooden flooring that was under the pergola where the dance floor and bar were, the grass section which was half of the outdoor space and had tall brown wooden bar tables also looked beautiful. Not only did the lights on the fencing accent the area, but the white table cloths and glass vases, each with a single rose in them, made it ten times prettier.

"Hey," Noel and Caitlin heard Amari's voice and Noel was 99.9 percent sure he was already drunk by the sound of his slurred voice. Caitlin took in his appearance and instantly perked up, dusting off nothing on her tight spandex black dress and smiling.

"Oh, who's this?" Amari smiled and reached out to shake Caitlin's hand. She gladly accepted and smiled.

"C-Caitlin," the girl stuttered and Noel looked at her friend in shock. She couldn't believe that this was the very first time she'd heard Caitlin stutter, and she'd known her for exactly 22 months. Noel just looked between the two who had some kind of obvious tension going on. Amari was smiling widely and Caitlin was just blushing ridiculously.

"Pretty name," was all he said and that's when Caitlin actually found the will to talk to him, but not in her usual confident way. Noel wanted to ease out of their way so that they could get to know each other better, so she lied to Caitlin and said she was gonna go get a drink.

As Noel made her way around the soon to be couple, she spotted Harry walking out of the hallway door to enter the patio, presumably because he was using the restroom. Beside him was his friend Reid who was wiping his nose almost violently and Harry just had his head tossed back briefly, hands in the pockets of these maroon corduroy pants with a black belt and a tucked-in white t-shirt. He brought his head back down and looked over at Reid to whisper something in his ear which made Reid laugh.