This is Awkward

The weekend came and the night fell; it was time for the party. I crossed my fingers and prayed that Daphne would also be there. Sam and I decided to dress up as vampires; I threw on a white shirt scattered with fake blood and a black cape. But Sam didn’t think that this was enough and proceeded to force me into putting fake blood on my face. It dropped from the corner of my mouth down to my chin. I was used to fake blood and make-up from the movie we had just filmed, so I didn’t even notice it was there.

When we got to the house, I felt out of place; most students had on elaborate costumes to cosplay as characters from films and books. Everyone seemed to know each other. While it wasn’t crazy crowded, there were still enough people there for me to struggle when looking for Daphne. I also struggled because of how dark it was inside the house.

Eventually, all the guys inside started cheering when more lacrosse players walked in. So when Jeremy came through the door dressed as a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit, accompanied by two girls in cop costumes, I wasn’t surprised when my eardrums shattered from all the guys jumping on him. Wendy and Daphne were laughing at Jeremy while walking inside; Daphne’s smile quickly fell when she saw me. I watched as her hand fell onto Wendy and she pushed her friend into the kitchen to grab drinks.

I knew that if I went after her, she would only reject me, so I had to warm up to her. I waited and talked with Sam until I sensed that Daphne might finally listen to me. I made my way over to her; she was watching her friends playing a card game.

“Hey.” I smiled, standing next to her.

She looked at me like she felt sorry for me. “Hi.”

“Can we talk?” I asked.

Her unsettled expression felt like a no. “It’s okay, I get it. You were working, and you couldn’t make it.”

“I did make it.” I insisted, trying not to sound like I was whining. “Daphne,” I spoke softly, holding her hand. “Trevor locked me out of the dance, and I didn’t have my phone on me.”

She slowly shifted her head from left to right, and a horrid expression took over her face: disgust. “Trevor would not lock you out of the homecoming dance.” She pulled her hand away from me and bit down on her lower lip, crunching her brows together.

“Daphne, I’m sorry but… Trevor– he sucks! And I’m not just saying that because he is your ex-boyfriend.” When I said that, her jaw dropped. “He told me that he–” I stopped myself. I was going to say that he told me how he didn’t want her to move on before him. I couldn’t tell her like this. I was already scared as it is.

“Told you what?” She asked, sounding concerned.

I had to come up with something. “He said that when you were alone, he was going to be there.”

Her eyes softened and her arms folded, her shoulders hunched up like she was trying to hide herself from being exposed. “He was there.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, tightening my jaw.

“When I was alone, he asked me to dance… and.”

“And what?”

She looked up at me, ashamed. “He kissed me.” I watched as soft tears lined her eyelids. I didn’t know what to say. “I’m so stupid.” She sniffed.

“No, you are not. He is just–”

“I know who he is. I know everything about that jerk, and I should have known what he was up to.” Daphne took a step back, and I wanted to comfort her.

“Let’s play a game!” I heard a voice call behind me.

We turned to see the small party all gathering in a circle, and one of the girls leading the crowd. She was standing next to Trevor. I couldn’t get away from this guy. “Okay! We are going to play Never Have I Ever! So, you say something that you haven’t done, and if you in the circle have done it then you put a finger down!” The girl spoke excitedly.

Daphne walked away from me and found a spot on the black couch in between her friends. I took a seat next to Sam.

“Okay! Let’s go around the circle!” The same girl cheered in a high-pitched voice. “Never have I ever… hmm… stolen from a store!”

The group all looked around to see who put their finger down and gave loud commentary about each person.

Next was Trevor. “Never have I ever cried to a teacher about a bad grade!” He spoke, looking straight at Daphne, who was now blushing as she put a finger down.

The girl next to Trevor had taken everyone’s attention away when she started droning on about not knowing what to say. Trevor leaned down and whispered something in her ear. “Oh! I can’t say that!” She laughed. But he nodded for her to say it. “Okay, never have I ever peed from laughing so hard while in line for a roller coaster.”

Everyone looked around, confused. Daphne’s already pink face was now turning red as she slowly put a finger down.

“What!” I heard one of the guys around me laugh.

“Okay! Me next.” Jeremy insisted. “Never have I ever been so annoying that my friends kicked me out of a sleepover and I had to go sleep in my car outside of my girlfriend’s house!”

Trevor was next to put his finger down.

“Jeremy,” Daphne whispered.

“No– it’s fine; it’s just a game!” Jeremy laughed.

“Never have I ever–” Before Daphne could finish, Trevor interrupted her.

“Walked out on stage during the school’s award ceremony, only to find out that they called the wrong name!” Everyone’s attention was now on Trevor as everyone slowly realized what he was doing. “Oh! Never have I ever fallen on dog poop while being introduced to my new neighbors!”

“Trevor!” Daphne’s voice called, but he didn't stop. Everyone was so shocked that no one knew what to do.

“Never have I ever lied about my test scores because I was so embarrassed and proceeded to hide in the bathroom for the rest of the day!” He continued.

“Trevor, shut up!” Jeremy started yelling.

“Oh! You think you’re all tough now! We used to be friends!” Trevor yelled.

“I didn’t even think before choosing Daphne over you!” Jeremy’s voice sounded across the room and beckoned so loudly that it freaked me out. I didn’t realize how tough Jeremy was. I thought about what he said and adjusted my seat. Jeremy was friends with Trevor first.

“Spare me the details! We were friends first! Until you made those New Year’s plans with Wendy and didn’t think to invite me or Daphne!”

“We were both tired of you two!” Jeremy spat.

I looked at Daphne and watched her try to speak. “What New Year’s plans?” Daphne asked in a quiet voice that could not be heard over Jeremy and Trevor fighting to be louder than one another. “Hey! What New Year’s plans?” Daphne asked again, only this time loud enough for everyone to hear and go silent.

“The plans that Daphne wasn’t supposed to know about,” Wendy grunted between her teeth. Wendy stood up and looked down at Daphne, who was still sitting on the couch. “Daph, I am so sorry.” I kept my eye on Daphne, who was looking so betrayed that my heart ached for her. “It was last year—”

Daphne cut her off, “Last year, when I asked you both if you guys wanted to hang out but everyone was busy! Why didn’t you just tell me?” She questioned. I could hear her voice start to quiver.

“You were always with Trevor, and we were so annoyed that we just wanted some time without you guys being all over each other!” Wendy cried back, her voice breaking and matching Daphne’s sad tone. “You were never supposed to find out!”

Jeremy came to Wendy’s defense, “We are sorry that we lied to you.”

Daphne shook her head and reached into her pocket, grabbing a pair of keys. “You know what! I don’t need this. I drove by myself, and I have had enough.”

Daphne stormed out of the house with all her friends following her, including Sam and me. We watched on the lawn as she got in her car and drove away.