Betray

Grey

"Have you seen Brodie?" I ask Reg, desperate to know if anyone has seen her anywhere.

If I don't find her soon, I might have to start handing out lost girlfriend; please call if found posters.

He thinks to himself for a moment before answering, "not for a while, I saw her earlier with Allie, but that was long before the party even began."

I frown, his face softens a bit watching me as he is lifting one of his two beers to his mouth.

I study the ground, choosing not to let it be known or seen that I'm annoyed, maybe even a little upset right now.

Credit when credit is due, Brodie is doing a great job of hiding tonight, but hiding from what? Who fucking knows.

When I was with her earlier, nothing seemed off; she was being her usual happy, flirtatious self, promising me all these dirty things for later tonight when we are alone.

Honestly, though, I just hope she's okay.

He hands me a beer before reaching into the back pocket of his jeans, producing a new one for himself.

"Ta-da!" he holds the beer high, dangling it in front of my face like a trophy.

"Why do you have a beer in your back pocket?" I question, hiding my amusement the best I can by taking a sip of my drink.

"Why the hell not?" he shrugs.

"You mean to tell me I'm drinking a beer that you literally pulled out of your ass?" I ask.

He chuckles, "no, it's not ass beer, its magic beer because I'm a mother fucking magician baby!"

I laugh, I can't help it.

Reggie is always the life of every party, and I hope he never changes.

Since the first day we met when we were just kids; I don't think I've ever seen him unhappy.

I had to question him a few times over the years to find out what kind of drugs he was on, but he insists he is clean, and I believe him, he's never given me any reasons to doubt.

He starts cheering for himself starting his own chant, "Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!" thrusting his beers high into the air with his long arms, cheers echo through the house, and I swear I feel the walls shaking.

The idiot even starts doing power poses, cheering himself on while chanting low enough just for the people close enough to hear, "I'm a mother fucking magician baby!"

Random people scattered around the room join in with him encouraging his behavior, cheering for him each time he changes up his pose.

Once he's had enough ego-boosting cheers for a while, he adjusts his beer, placing both bottles back into one hand.

Reggie has this weird thing he does when he's out drinking anywhere; he always holds two beers in the one hand.

Why he does it, no one knows, but that's Reggie's indicator on how much he has had to drink. As soon as you see two beers grasped in the one hand, it's almost time to cut him off for the night.

My laughter doesn't last long before my face drops again, I try my best to hide it, but Reggie notices the change.

"Man, don't be like that, it's a party, so party!" he dances, throwing his hands up into the air waving them around, sloshing beer all over the group of girls standing directly behind him.

My mouth falls open when I see the mess he has created, the shrieks from the girls cause him to still, his eyes wide in mock horror but the smile never leaves.

I laugh, again.

"Ha!" he exclaims, pointing at me beer flying in my direction now, "I knew I could make you laugh."

Shooting me a wink he grabs my shirt in his free hand, pulling me into him and under his arm until we are both facing the circle of angry girls he just drenched in beer.

"Ladies, ladies, I am so sincerely sorry for that," I knew as soon as he started talking, he was going to get slapped by at least two out of the five girls.

He gives them his signature smirk, and to my surprise, four of them soften and return the gesture.

It comes down to one girl, still glaring, her arms crossed so tight across her chest. I think she might be trying to crush herself in anger.

I peer over at Reggie, his eyes locked onto her, he loves a pretty girl with attitude, his type through and through.

Reggie's arm drops from my shoulder, freeing me to escape if need be, but this is the most entertainment I've had all night, no way am I leaving now when it's about to get good.

"What's wrong, doll face?" he directs his question to the frowning girl, her friends now standing back watching the show unfold, as am I.

Where's the popcorn when you need it.

I've witnessed Reggie charm his way out of many situations before, let's see if this girl can beat him at his own game.

"My new dress is now covered in your disgusting beer." She growls, Reggie gasps, pretending to fear her.

"Well, lucky, I found you."

Here it comes.

"I'm here to announce that you, my attractive new friend, are the winner of tonight's wet t-shirt competition, beer edition," he winks, and I notice her lip twitching fighting the grin.

He reaches out, brushing the loose strand of hair from her face, "A pretty girl like you shouldn't be frowning," he says, tilting his head, watching his hand caress the girl's cheek. Her eyes are watching his lips.

I chuckle knowing precisely what his next move is going to be.

"Let me fix your dress for you," he announces, "come to my room, and I'll give you some clothes to wear for the rest of the night."

Her frown drops, replaced by a flirtatious smile, that's all it took, and she was his, for the night at least.

I am amazed sometimes at how easy it is for Reg to get girls like this.

He acts like an annoying asshole, and they fall at his feet.

To be fair, he doesn't pretend to be someone he isn't; he is Reggie 100% all the time.

He throws his arm around the girl leading her towards the stairs and to his bedroom, I assume.

That's my cue to leave before her friends get the wrong idea of my intentions if I continue standing here.

I walk over and lean against the only free wall space in sight, relaxing my weight into it for support.

Music permeates the packed house, the pounding of the bass thrashing on my head in the worst possible way.

The sound is rushing in and around every single person in the what now seems too small room; some react to the beat dancing with the rhythm, others remain in chit-chat.

I stand here alone, neither the music or the people surrounding me can break down my walls tonight.

The only person who can affect me seems to have vanished.

She's nowhere to be found, and I'm getting sick of these disappearing acts.

Groaning with annoyance, I can't stand still. I'm too irritated to be in one place for too long.

I need to get out of here; I need fresh air.

I reach into my jeans in search of my phone, pulling it out to see the time lighting up my screen, 11:50 pm.

No missed calls.

No missed texts.

Absolutely nothing.

Where the fuck is, she?

There's nothing else for me to do except for bending into the temptation of the night, taking another swig of my drink.

The beer turns down the volume on my thoughts running through me.

It brings with its memories of good times past, and I let myself dwell in them rather than think about where Brodie could be instead of here with me.

At that moment, I am here and not, existing in two perfect moments.

Fuck this; I complain to myself as I move quickly across the crowded room, pushing my way through the sea of bodies and out onto the back deck.

The night's cold air hits me as soon as I get outside, I sigh in relief, releasing the deepest breath I hadn't realized I was holding in.

Staring down, I study my phone with a frown, watching as the clock ticks over into midnight, dragging me into the day I had been anticipating for weeks.

Happy fucking birthday, I mutter to myself.

I just needed to get through the rest of this night. That's the real challenge I didn't anticipate.

As soon as everyone leaves, I can relax, and try to figure out why my so-called girlfriend isn't with me right now, kissing me, wishing me a happy birthday, you know the usual things girlfriends do for you.

Walking out to the edge of the yard, I gaze up at the night sky, freeing my thoughts to the star-speckled darkness above.

At least I can always rely on the sky for some peace and comfort.