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Laney was nervous.

The house was a whirlwind of activity. Ma had pulled the house apart at least three times throughout the day in anticipation of the party, Laney trailing after her to put it back together. Every room was now stuffed with bodies.

Cary had been noticeably absent since Christmas day but had returned that morning. No way he’d be missing one of Ma’s parties. Nobody did.

Her arms ached from carrying dozens of boxes of two-fours up the stairs. The freezer had been emptied and filled entirely with bottles of vodka. And there were several candy dishes full of pills and powder littering the side tables throughout the house.

Ma hadn’t provided food, but Pizza Hut kept arriving in large quantities every few hours. She didn’t know who was paying for it. Ma had slapped a piece of pepperoni out of her hand, telling her to start the new year off right. Dustin had smuggled her a piece when Ma wasn’t looking.

Voices and laughter blurred together in an incessant buzz. C U When You Get There was blasting on the stereo. The constant phhhhhht sound of lighters being flicked set her teeth on edge. The house would stink of cigarettes and pot for months after this, long after Ma disappeared again.

But even Laney had to admit, Ma was in her element. Linette’s parties were notorious – she somehow always managed to keep everyone right on the edge of a fight or an orgasm. She could work a room like nobody else, magically preventing fisticuffs and dissolving tension while draped across the laps of men who spent the rest of the night with blue balls.

Laney was hiding in her room.

She missed Shane.

He’d called twice since her birthday, but Dustin answered both times. He hadn’t asked to speak to her.

She knew that he wasn’t mad, was just trying to give her some space. She’d instinctually protected them, Dustin and herself, wrapping a blanket of privacy and distance around the house to shield outsiders from Ma’s maniacal behaviour, save herself the embarrassment. But Shane wasn’t an outsider, and it was a mistake to cut him out.

Once again, she cast aside her pride, and picked up the cordless phone, dialing Jerry’s number.

“Hello?”

It was Shane.

“Hi,” she said.

The phone crackled.

“Hi,” he breathed.

“So, um, I’m really fucking stupid?”

He exhaled. “It’s okay Laney, you don’t have to explain.” There was rustling, and the sound of a door clicking shut. “I figured you’d call me, or something, when you wanted to talk.”

“I’ve wanted to talk for days, I was just being stubborn.”

“You? Stubborn? Never.”

She laughed and leaned back on her bed.

“What’s that noise?” he asked.

“Party,” she grumbled.

“Oh.” A pause. “Can I come?”

“Yes,” she said. “But… Cary is home.”

“Is he… preoccupied?”

“The last time I saw him he had his tongue down Sarita’s throat.”

“So… I’ll come then?”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

They stayed on the line for a while.

“Laney?”

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t wear leather.”

She barked a laugh, and they hung up.

I need to change.