I Wish You All the Best(41)

I tuck my hands under the table. “I don’t even know any of these people.”

“Well, Todd’s a douche-canoe, so count yourself lucky. And you’ve already had the pleasure of meeting Stephanie.” Meleika laughs a little too loudly. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“It’s one night,” Sophie keeps going.

“Just come with us. We’ll hang out for half an hour, and then if you want to, we’ll leave?” Nathan tries his best to reassure me.

“I’ve never been to a party before,” I say.

“It’s basically a cheap and easy way for us to get drunk and make fun of white people who think they have rhythm.” Meleika chuckles.

Nathan rolls his eyes before he adds, “She’s right though. It’s the sort of secondhand embarrassment you only get from watching people drunkenly grind against one another.”

“Remember when Megan and Adam started dancing, and he puked all over her?” Sophie starts laughing so hard that I hardly catch the end of what she’s trying to say.

“Oh God, yes.” Meleika covers her mouth. “Ben, you have to come, at least to see what sort of embarrassing shit goes on.”

“Come on.” Nathan nudges me. “Half an hour, that’s it.”

“Fine,” I finally say, knowing there’s really no way I’m going to get out of this one. I’ll have to lie to Hannah, I guess. I doubt she’ll want me going to a party where there’s a bunch of underage drinking going on.

“Excellent.” Meleika rubs her hands together. “We’ll corrupt you yet.”





Part of me sort of hopes Nathan, Sophie, and Meleika will have forgotten about me agreeing to go to the party by Friday, since they’ve pretty much spent the last week discussing their spring break plans.

Sophie actually sounds like she’s going to have the most fun. She and her parents are going to visit her grandparents in Busan, South Korea. Meleika’s going up to the mountains with her family, and Nathan isn’t really doing anything apparently.

But they definitely don’t forget about the party. Clearly, I’m not that lucky. Fortunately it’s a half day at school, so I have plenty of time to work myself into a ball of anxiety. And I’m at a total loss when it comes to picking out what to wear.

I mean, the shirt’s easy, but all my jeans feel too baggy, my shoes feel too dirty, and I don’t even know what’s appropriate for this kind of party anyway. What would Nathan wear? Probably tight pants and a button-up shirt or something.

Of course, there isn’t much he doesn’t look good in. He’s totally one of those kinds of people. Who could wear the absolute ugliest thing in the world and make it some fashion statement.

I really need to talk to Hannah about new clothes. For now, I’ll have to settle with the usual; at least I still have a few shirts that don’t have dried paint on them.

“Do you need my debit card?” Hannah asks. I almost blow my cover before I remember I told her I’m hanging out with Nathan tonight. So not a total lie.

“No, we’re just going over to his house.” I scratch at my nose, bending over to pick up my shoes.

“Okay.” Hannah leans against the doorframe. “Where are you really going?”

“What?” There’s no way she can tell I’m lying.

“Please, I’m your sister. Now, where are you really going?”

“I told you—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Trust me, I lied enough to Mom and Dad to know.” She takes a seat next to me on the bed. “So spill.”

“There’s a party.”

“Alcohol? Don’t lie to me.”

“Yes.” I stare at the floor.

“Oh, Ben.”

“I’m sorry. Don’t be mad.”

Hannah lets out this low laugh, which seems weird for her. “Please, I’m not mad. I’m your sister. I did a lot worse shit when I was your age.”

I stop myself from saying I know.

“Are you actually going to drink anything?” she asks.

“Don’t know. I hadn’t really planned on it.”

“Is Nathan?”

“I don’t think so, he’s supposed to drive us.”

Hannah looks me over from head to toe. “Oh, hon. I’m not letting you go to a party dressed like that, come on.” She grabs my hand and leads me down the hall to her room. “I know you’re taller than I am, but my pants should fit you better than whatever those are.” She points to my jeans.

“You bought them,” I argue.

“Well, if I’d known you’d be going to parties we would’ve gone shopping sooner. You have to look good tonight!” Hannah leaves me standing at the foot of her bed and opens the sliding doors of her closet. “I remember my first party.”

“How do you know this is my first?” I ask.

Then Hannah gives me a look. The raised eyebrow, sideways smile sort. And I can’t help but feel insulted. Don’t get me wrong, this is my first party. But her lack of confidence feels sort of like a slap to the face.

“The shirt’s fine, but yeah, the pants need to go.” She turns on her heels and digs around in her closet for a few seconds. “Haven’t worn these in years.” She tosses a pair of dark black jeans onto the bed. “Or these.” Another pair on the bed.