Chapter 84 - A Little Better Again

Awkward was an understatement.

Everyone was probably expecting things not to go smoothly after months of avoiding each other and splitting into groups, but the reality was a bit worse.

No one knew what to start talking about and everyone sort of intuited that there were topics that would be better avoided. No one commented on Evan's new relationship, no one commented on Kieran's hickey, and everyone tried not to look at the two of them as if they were going to ruin their fragile friendship that had barely begun anew with one look.

Aiden looked like he'd rather be anywhere than here. Evan remembered precisely that one awkward lunch when he'd sat at the table with him and the girls and he was afraid that whatever he said, Aiden would find a way to make him feel guilty. And so he preferred to keep his mouth shut.

Angie obviously also suspected that something like this might happen, as she pierced Aiden with her gaze, and he kept eye contact with her as if on purpose.

The only one who kind of looked relaxed was Lola.

"I adore you all, but if you don't start talking, I'll make new friends." She too, however, had only one set of nerves, and she decided not to let them get ruined.

"No need for new friends," Kieran replied immediately. After all, this whole meeting had been his idea. "We can start small. Who's got anything new to share?"

Evan knew exactly what to answer but of course, he wouldn't dare. It wouldn't be a good idea, especially if Aiden (and maybe Josh) latched onto it right away and turned it against him.

"I desperately want to draw attention to myself and tell you something shocking, but I don't have anything," Angie admitted, and her plan sort of worked as all pairs of eyes turned on her.

"Me neither," Josh joined in, looking bored, and even though he had his phone in his hand, it looked like he was trying to pay attention to his friends and this attempt, whatever it was.

"No date with Clara?" Angie asked and he rolled his eyes in response.

"No date with Clara," he repeated her question, but this time as a statement.

"Shame," the brunette said, and silence reigned again.

Josh then lowered his head back to his phone for a moment and unlocked it, but suddenly changed his mind. "What about you, Evan?"

All eyes shifted to Evan.

He cleared his throat and opened his mouth, at first blankly, wondering what to say. He didn't want the first thing Kieran would hear from him to be that he was in a new relationship, so he decided to improvise. "I've been thinking I want to learn how to drive, but Michael doesn't want to teach me."

"Who's Michael?" Josh looked confused, and Evan only now realized that he'd never mentioned the Saunders family in front of him and Kieran.

"Their friend from North Hallson," Lola and Aiden answered at the same time, each in a different tone.

"You have friends in North Hallson?" This time Kieran joined the conversation and seemed genuinely intrigued by the information.

"Two friends," Evan answered immediately before Angie could do so, holding up two fingers to amplify his words.

"They're really cool," Lola asserted. "Although I don't know how long Michael will stick with them with their comments on his mom." She laughed, and a chuckle escaped Evan's lips as well.

"I'm telling you, if you knew her, you'd have a crush on her too," Angie stated in a serious tone, raising her hands in the air in a gesture that no one should blame her.

"You got a crush on your friend's mom?" Josh seemed troubled by the information, but Angie didn't make anything of it and just nodded with a big smile.

"So you introduced them to Lola?" Aiden asked, his tone somehow accusatory. However, they all pretended not to notice his tone and decided to take it as an innocent question.

"Michael was taking us to school since we were sleeping over at his house. We had a spot in the car, so we took Lola," Angie immediately seized on the explanation.

"So does he live in your neighbourhood?" Kieran asked, and only he and Evan knew there was more behind his question.

"He does," Evan answered this time, and for a moment their gazes met. Kieran could see the seriousness in his eyes, and Evan couldn't imagine what he must be thinking after what he'd once revealed to him.

Silence fell again. However, Evan didn't dare point out that it was embarrassing or tell everyone to pull together since he knew it was really all his fault.

"This is really embarrassing," Angie assessed, leaning back comfortably against the tree, as satisfied as she could be that she'd said it out loud.

"We didn't have to do this," Aiden muttered. Despite his reluctance to be there, he was still here, and apparently, that meant he hadn't completely abandoned his friends, no matter how hard he tried to pretend otherwise.

"We didn't have to," Kieran confirmed. "But I don't know about you, but I've missed our crew quite a lot."

"Our little pack," Angie remarked quietly, a small smile appearing on her face. Despite the fact that everyone had heard her, and everyone knew it wasn't a typical way to call a bunch of friends, no one protested the designation.

"It was weird not hearing anyone complain about Social Studies," Josh remarked with a smirk, and Evan immediately made eye contact with an expression that said he knew exactly what he was trying to do.

"Social Studies are useless," was his short reply. But even that was enough to put a small nostalgic smile on everyone's face. Even Aiden looked less tense.

"Not as useless as your bickering over everything." Josh's gaze flicked from Evan to Angie, making it clear to everyone to whom his comment was directed.

"Just so you know," Angie caught on right away, "we're not arguing at all anymore."

"That's pretty hard to believe," Kieran interjected.

"What can I say, we've grown up," Angie replied dramatically, grabbing her hand to her chest.

"That's a joke, right?" Aiden raised an eyebrow critically, and it was hard to tell from his tone if he meant it as a joke, but everyone decided to take it that way.

"It is. You should've seen what she did when she lost at UNO," Evan teased, and Angie glared at him in return.

"Please tell me you didn't overreact when you lost at UNO," Lola interjected, looking at her best friend, who managed to cross her arms over her chest in offence.

"She lost every single game," Evan added the important information with a wry grin.

"It was just a coincidence," she said in her defence, making everyone laugh.

This was obviously the turning point that made the atmosphere between them finally relax. They were all still hesitant about what to say next, but their shoulders dropped, and the initial tension was gone.

"We should play a game too," Lola suddenly suggested, and although she looked confident in her declaration, the others appeared confused.

"What game?" Angie asked at once.

"I don't know, something like Never Have I Ever or Truth or Dare." She shrugged. "Something that makes us talk about ourselves."

"I don't know if those are the games you play sober and in school, LoLo," Josh told her, amused.

"I'm definitely not going to admit any secrets sober." Evan decided to take a gamble and be himself. Using the words "I" and "secrets" was really risky in his case and could have ended up unsavoury. Outwardly, however, he didn't let anything show and kept his face relaxed.

"Likewise," Kieran joined in, quickly shifting the attention from him. Evan had no idea if he'd done it on purpose, but decided he'd rather not think about it too much.

"I'm an open book anytime," Angie asserted boldly, lifting her chin in a confident manner as a sign of the sincerity of her words.

"You're just a good liar," Aiden corrected her immediately.

"How dare you," the brunette huffed theatrically, placing a hand on her chest. Again, this elicited a chuckle from the other members of their group, and Evan gave her a grateful smile that he hoped the others hadn't noticed.

"Oh, and just for the record, both of these games can be played in a sober and mellow version as well," Angie added after a moment.

"How?" Josh asked, and the others looked sceptical as well. Well, everyone except Evan, who suspected the answer.

"When we were kids and Evan's cousin used to babysit us, he adjusted all the games that existed so we could try them out," Angie explained to start, and at the word cousin both Kieran and Josh immediately turned their gaze to Evan. It took the latter a moment to remember how he'd told them the family secret without further explanation. When neither moved their gaze, Evan nodded slightly to confirm to them that it was indeed the same cousin.

"We played Never Have I Ever with candy. We each had candy in front of us and we named cool things we wanted to do or had done and if we agreed we hadn't done something but definitely wanted to try it, Riley wrote it down on a list for future adventures," Angie continued to explain and a smile appeared on Evan's face at the memory without him even realizing it.

"Riley sounds cool," Lola assessed with a smile and turned to Evan with those words. Though he returned her smile, he hesitated, and she noticed immediately, quirking an eyebrow.

"When he was 19, he found a boyfriend. My family gave him an ultimatum - them or him, and Riley made his choice. I haven't seen him since," he explained curtly as the other gazes turned to him.

"How old were you?" Kieran asked cautiously, and Evan was surprised by his question, as he hadn't exactly expected him to ask anything more. Kieran rarely asked when he considered something a sensitive subject.

"13," he gave him a short answer.

"I know we've told you this many times, but I have to say it again. Your parents suck and apparently, they're not the only ones," Lola said in a tone that said she didn't have to think twice about her statement.

"I never said they didn't." Evan shrugged as if it was no big deal, pretending it didn't bother him. The subject of his parents was honestly the hardest one in his life, and he liked to avoid it. He knew full well that he had a toxic relationship with his parents, but he couldn't imagine life without them, even though he sometimes doubted if they cared about him.

"Riley was the best member of his family," Angie declared, then frowned. "Still is. Evan likes to think he's cool, but he can't hold a candle to him."

Evan knew it was her way of changing the subject and dissolving the sombre atmosphere, and he was grateful for it, even though she'd practically insulted him by doing so.

"I think I'm pretty cool," Evan contradicted her, though he didn't mean it. In his eyes, Riley was still the coolest person ever, even though he hadn't seen him in years.

"I don't want to spoil your fantasies, but..." Aiden didn't finish that sentence, leaving it for the others to interpret. Evan opened his mouth blankly and squinted his eyes as if he was insulted, but in reality, he was glad Aiden was talking to him at all.

"Here's the bickering I've missed so much," Josh declared.

"The useless one?" Evan's expression turned into a smirk.

"Exactly," Josh affirmed, not letting himself be deterred.

Evan's eyes moved to Kieran for a small moment, and though he was a little worried about what he would see, it was completely unnecessary. Kieran looked not only relaxed but genuinely happy, and only now did Evan fully realize the truth of his words. Kieran had made the bold move of reaching out to Evan and getting the old gang back together, and Evan decided at this point that he wasn't going to let him down at any cost.

Before they could continue their conversation, they heard the school bell ring and were surprised that the meeting everyone had been dreading had turned into a meeting that was now going to make everyone late for class.

Something changed between them during that break. Suddenly everything was a little better again and all Evan could do was hope it would last.