“So, Carmen’s coming.” She winked, slipping an arm through Carmen’s as if they’d been close friends for a handful of years rather than having met just minutes ago.
Asa frowned. “The party?”
“Yeah.” It was Carmen who spoke this time. “I remember going to one, like, last year or something. I kind of liked it, actually. Dancing is always so liberating.” She smiled wide at that last part, her eyes creasing at the corners—a sign that she was genuinely happy about the idea of going out tonight and letting loose.
For one wild second, Carson’s words resonated through Asa’s mind, but he pushed it down, reminding himself of what Wyatt had told him earlier today.
Carmen wasn’t just the girl he was in love with; she was also someone who mattered to the seemingly heartless Hunter. So there was no way Carson was going to incur the wrath of two boys who were infamous for the notorious brawls they got into.
“Cool,” Asa said nonchalantly. “Guess I’ll be coming too.”
Carmen’s answering smile almost stole his breath away. “That’d be perfect.”
“Don’t you trust us to be good company?” Hayden asked, looking genuinely curious.
“No,” Asa deadpanned. It was a lie, though. Hayden, Wyatt and Lyra were three of the most laid-back people he knew, but there was no way he could not attend that party and be at peace.
Even if Wyatt had done a pretty good job of ripping apart Carson’s threat with logic and reason, Asa couldn’t completely shake it off. It was always better to be safe than sorry, though, and going to that party wasn’t going to cost him anything now, did it?
“Carmen can ride with us then.” Willa offered, shooting her a smile. “And you too.” She nodded towards Lyra.
Lyra grinned in response, “Thanks, girl. The name’s Lyra, by the way.”
“Wait, how far is the party from my place?” Carmen asked Asa, pressing her lips together.
“Not that fa—What? Wait a minute. No! You’re not walking to the party that late in the evening— you’ll freeze.” Asa shook his head vehemently, wondering if Carmen deliberately wanted to fall sick sometimes.
“I’m a winter baby.” She shrugged innocently. “The cold is my friend.”
“Yeah, Asa.” Wyatt grinned devilishly. “Let the girl do what she wants.”
Asa shot his friend a dirty look. “Don’t you go encouraging her. You’re just as reckless as she is.”
“Excuse me?” Carmen raised her brows. “You’re talking about being reckless?”
“I agree with Carmen here.” Wyatt nodded vigorously.
“Amen,” both Hayden and Lyra chorused.
“You’re all traitors, the entire lot of you,” Asa muttered.
“Come now, Asa.” Carmen smiled cheekily. “It’s not their fault they like me better.”
Joyce snorted before erupting into laughter and then covering her mouth in embarrassment.
“You, with the purple highlight.” Wyatt nodded towards Joyce. “You’re allowed to laugh for heaven’s sake. I know we look rough around the edges, but I promise we don’t bite.”
Joyce’s cheeks were on flames by now, mumbling something incoherent in an offended manner.
“Guys, we shouldn’t be loitering around here now that school’s over,” Hayden said, interrupting the conversations they were having amongst themselves. “Besides, if we’re all going to the party, shouldn’t we be heading back home now?”
“Dude.” Wyatt looked at him incredulously. “School let out only a few minutes back. We have a few hours before we need to even start getting ready for the party. Your sense of timing is insane.”
Hayden only scowled at him in return. “But we have homework, don’t we? Don’t you guys want to get it over with before you leave for the night?”
“Are you shitting me right now?” Lyra muttered, sounding like she wanted to smack her own forehead.
Both Wyatt and Asa groaned in unison, “Come on, man.” Then Asa threw his hands in the air. “It’s Friday!”
“Yeah.” Wyatt nodded. “Plus it’s the last day of school for Thanksgiving. We have holidays for a week and a half before we need to hand in those assignments anyway.”
“Life—especially the academic aspect of it—is much easier when you’re not procrastinating, you know,” Hayden pointed out, completely serious.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Hayden Burrows, your resident fun police,” Wyatt drawled, rolling his eyes.
Asa chuckled, pushing himself off the wall as he realised there were only a handful of students remaining apart from them.
“Guys, we should probably get going, though.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Guess we’ll all see each other in a couple of hours, then.”
There were murmurs of agreement, a few exchanges of goodbye thrown into the mix, and before he knew it, Asa was walking beside Carmen across the parking lot.
•••
“Hey, Carmen?” Asa asked after a while, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove.
“Yeah?” She was looking down at her art journal opened on her lap as she furiously sketched something in it—Asa was dying to know what it was, but he forced himself to not even dare sneak a peek.
“This party tonight.” He casually brought it up, keeping his entire demeanour relaxed and nonchalant. “You really wanna go? Or was it Lyra just being her persuasive self again?”
He heard the scratch of the pencil against paper stop then felt Carmen’s eyes on the side of his face. “Lyra wasn’t pushy,” she said, sounding somewhat surprised at the topic. “I actually don’t mind a good party once in a while.”
He nodded slowly. “All right then, as long as you want this.”
He heard a sigh leave her mouth and then a soft thud as she placed her journal on the dashboard.
“Come on, Asa,” she mumbled. “You think I didn’t notice you frowning when Lyra mentioned I wanted to go?”
“Why can’t you notice the other stuff?” Asa grumbled good-naturedly. “Like how sometimes I reach for your hand on instinct, but quickly pull away before I can hold it?”
That earned him a playful smack
