After a while Jamal and Kevin take off. They have dates with some “lovely concertgoers,” as Jamal puts it. X fist-bumps them both goodbye. I watch the two of them disappear into the arms of a group of outrageously hip people.
None of us wants the night to end, so we end up back at Cassidy’s house. As usual, her parents are away, on location for a movie shoot. She takes us out to their “outdoor entertaining area.” It’s more like a miniature country club than a backyard, and it’s beautiful. My favorite part is the blue-green lazy river that bubbles and meanders up and through the sloping lawn. Café lights flicker overhead, strung between tall, wide palm trees. There’s a full bar, couches, love seats and even a gas fireplace filled with bright-blue glass and lava rocks.
Cassidy turns on the fireplace and gets us all drinks from the bar. Something about a fire makes you want to stare into it. For a few minutes we sit there watching the flames while listening to the bubbling of the pool and the rush of the Santa Ana winds through the palm trees.
“My parents never, ever come out here,” Cassidy confesses into our silence.
Sophie tips her head onto Cassidy’s shoulder, and Cassidy takes a sip of whatever she’s drinking.
“Thanks for inviting us,” X says. “Hands down the nicest damn house party I’ve ever been to.”
She laughs. “It is fabulous, right? I’m glad you guys came.”
Martin’s sitting in the single armchair across from me and X. He nudges me with his foot. “Did you really write that ‘Black Box’ song?” he asks.
Right before the band launched into it at the show earlier, X told the audience that I’d written the lyrics.
“That one was my favorite,” Sophie says.
“I only helped a little,” I say.
X shakes his head. “She means a lot.”
Everyone’s eyes are on us, and I’m more than a little self-conscious.
Cassidy gets a mischievous gleam in her eye that tells me she’s going to embarrass me. “Aww, you guys are so cute,” she teases.
“Aren’t we, though?” X says back, refusing to be embarrassed.
Martin stands up suddenly. “I have a declaration to make.” He clears his throat. “The next time Danica is single, I’m going to ask her out.”
“Good for you, man,” X says, clapping. “I hope she says yes.”
I feel a pang of worry, but I force it aside. After all, here I am with X, risking an unknown future.
“I hope she says yes too,” I say.
I’ve surprised Martin. “I thought you’d try to talk me out of it,” he says.
“Evie’s growing,” Cassidy says, laughing and raising her glass into the air.
“Can I make a declaration too?” Sophie asks.
“Of course, babe! Declarations all around.”
“I declare that one day I’ll be on the International Space Station.”
Then it’s Cassidy’s turn. “I declare…a thumb war,” she says. We all laugh and try to get her to be serious and actually declare something, but she’s not having it.
Now it’s my turn. “Do I have to stand?”
Both Martin and X say yes at the same time.
“Fine,” I say, getting up. “I declare that I’m going to my dad’s wedding.”
“No. Way,” says Martin.
“Yes way,” I say, nodding.
“That’s too much growth,” says Cassidy.
“I’m proud of you, Eves,” Sophie says.
X just smiles at me. “Guess it’s my turn,” he says, standing up. “I declare that one day I’ll be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I also declare that I’m going to finish high school. Someday soon. Ish.”
We all laugh.
“Speaking of high school,” Martin says, “I can’t believe it’s almost all over.”
“Don’t you dare get sentimental!” Cassidy yells. She’s more than a little tipsy now. “Besides, we still have our summer road trip.”
My vision of Sophie and Cassidy and their breakup and what it means for our road trip rises in my head, but I push it back down. Martin gives me a quick look to see how I’m doing. I flash him a smile that says I’m fine. I press my shoulder into X and remind myself that I’m living in the moment.
Cassidy pours herself another glass of wine. “You know what this party needs? Music,” she says. She does something on her phone and suddenly music is coming out of speakers I can’t see. She springs up. “Come on, show us some of that fancy ballroom dancing.”