Justin slammed his back again, Wade copying. This time Wren drank a bit faster and felt a little light-headed. Wade got them each one more beer when Wren would have preferred to stop for the moment. Wren held his in his hand as he went looking for Olivia. Eventually he found her, sitting on a log by herself on the edge of the party, since she only really knew a couple of people here and they were off with their own group of friends. Wren studied her for a moment. Beautiful, desirable, an enigma. She wore a short skirt and a singlet top. She looked better than any girl at the party, any girl he’d ever seen. Casual yet elegant, as if she wasn’t even trying to be that gorgeous.

He went and sat beside her. ‘Hey, babe,’ he said as she turned to face him.

‘Hi,’ she said over the thumping music that reached her log. She was people watching. ‘Ever wonder what’s going on in people’s minds, especially at a party? Am I pretty enough? Did I put on deodorant this morning? Why doesn’t he like me?’

Wren laughed. ‘You think of the weirdest things. Love it. Love you.’ He kissed her and she wrapped her arms around him.

The thing with growing up in a small town was that everyone knew your business. Everyone knew that Colin the postman and Barbara, the married owner of the local grocery store, were having an affair; and they all knew that Mark used to beat his mom and Maggie, yet nobody put a stop to it. It was like living in a fishbowl: everyone could see your business, and everyone remembered everything. Wren wished he could start again, and he had plans to do so when school was over. Everyone knew his embarrassing stories, and nothing was ever lived down. He wished to be free, and he’d finally found a way to do it.

Olivia Holmes.