Chasing Butterflies Chapter 43: Social Butterfly (Patreon)

They rejoined the crowd of partygoers, mingling and chatting as they went. Just like with the homecoming dance, Trisha proved to be right in her element. The sheer number of people they found themselves interacting with was dizzying. Apparently, Olivia's estimation of the cheerleader's social circle hadn't been nearly generous enough.

"Stella! Oh my gosh, girl, your hair!" Trisha smoothly inserted herself into yet another group, Olivia stepping up beside her. "Are those highlights?"

A suntanned athlete tossed her auburn curls behind her with a satisfied smile. "Of course. I got them done yesterday before the game. What do you think?"

"They're fabulous!" Trisha cooed. "Livi, take notes. That look would totally work for you."

Olivia waggled her head back and forth. "Maybe. But I think I'm a few shades too pale to pull it off that well. It is really well done, though, and the fact that you're so tan makes it look natural."

The group swung their attention to the newcomer, and Stella glowed at the praise. "Thanks! My cousin runs a salon, she does my hair all the time."

Olivia nodded sagely. "My mom has a friend like that, too. She's not allowed to let any other stylist touch it, or else."

Stella rolled her eyes. "Oh my gosh, yes! She gets so possessive, I swear. Like, when she heard we were going over to Riley's house for homecoming prep, she all but demanded her address. She said she didn't want some clumsy teenager ruining her hard work! Can you believe it?"

The group laughed at the absurdity. Beside her, Olivia saw Trisha smiling, pleased at Olivia's successful first impression. She jumped in as the laughter began to die off. "Oh! That's right, you haven't met! Olivia, this is Stella, she's one of my besties from middle school, and that's Christina, Claire, and Riley. They're all on the soccer team. Everyone, this is Olivia!"

She greeted the group, doing her best to file even more names away in her already overflowing dictionary. "It's nice to meet you all. Though I have to ask..." She turned to Trisha. "Is there anyone here you don't know? It seems like you've been able to put a name to every single person we've come across."

"I mean, I haven't met everyone here." Her smile turned mischievous. "Not yet. But I know of pretty much everyone. I gotta know the who's who of RHS, right?"

"The fact that you haven't actually met them all makes it almost more unbelievable. Surely there's one person you don't recognize?"

"Hmmm..." The blonde tapped her chin thoughtfully, scanning the crowd around them. One finger lifted to point at a distant figure. "I don't know her. Not yet, at least. We'll have to introduce ourselves later. Maybe she's from a different school?"

Olivia shook her head. "Of course. That's the only possible explanation."

"That's just Trisha," Stella explained. "It's how she is. We had her over once for a party, and some of my family were there? To this day, she’ll just ask about how my cousin Irwin is doing in college or whether my aunt Stella has gotten married yet."

"No way," One of the other girls said.

"It's true! I even got a Christmas card from your Grandma Marjorie!" Trisha chimed in. "She's such a sweet woman."

"See? See? Who does that?" Stella rolled her eyes, though her smile was good-natured. "I swear she knows what’s going on with them better than I do. It's actually unreal."

Olivia's eyebrows rose. "I'm honestly not sure whether I should be terrified or impressed. Probably a bit of both."

Trisha shot her a wolfish smile. "Definitely a bit of both."

The night continued on like that, with the conversations and music steadily becoming louder as the students surrounding Olivia became ever-increasingly inebriated. She found herself intervening more than once to put a cup of water in someone's hand before someone else could slip them another drink. Thankfully, Trisha didn't object to her sticking her nose in such things. In fact, she seemed more than happy to run interference when necessary.

It really was reminiscent of a college kickback. Really, she'd kind of expected a high school party to be a complete shitshow of dumb teenagers getting wasted. But plenty of the more senior kids seemed to have adopted a similar role of watching out for their juniors. Olivia exchanged a few nods of mutual understanding with them as she helped out the more extreme partiers.

Things were going better than expected. Everyone here had friends, and aside from a few of the usual loudmouths who relentlessly insisted on making everyone take shots with them, people were handling themselves fairly well. Though that didn’t mean they weren’t having fun. Plenty of dumb stunts and boisterous demonstrations filled the house, drawing crowds of amused onlookers to watch.

Olivia did notice way more upperclassmen compared to the relatively even age spread of the homecoming dance—something that should have made her own presence stick out at least a bit. Trisha didn't have that issue, since she took to the environment like a fish to water, but Olivia herself kept getting mistaken as older than she actually was. It was quite unnerving.

The realization was only reinforced as they talked to more and more people. At the dance, Olivia had continuously encountered surprise at her existence. A nobody like her—well, someone who was trying very hard to be a nobody—suddenly showing up with Trisha beside her was bound to raise eyebrows. But now? Here at the house party, where conversations flowed more casually and she allowed herself more opportunities to interact, things were different. There was a different sentiment that seemed to underlie every joke, every conversation, every exclamation of surprise at her existence. People liked her. The her that wasn’t trying to curl up and remain unseen.

It wasn’t that surprising. Twenty years had seen leaps and bounds in her ability to socialize, especially with Jason prying her out of her shell. Still, most of that had been among other adults and the far younger friends of her kids, not high schoolers. The fact they didn’t see her as such was helping, clearly, but it still felt so incongruous with her last life. More and more, they left conversations with promises to hang out in the future. Not completely superficial ones, either. Invitations to specific events, lunch hangout locations, other parties. Things that no one would offer unless they were ok with being taken up on it.

Trisha I can see, given her confidence and how she's already so mired in all of this. But me... Maybe this is just more evidence that I'm not slipping back into my old shell quite as snugly as I'd hoped.

"I mean it," one of the boys from the cross country team was saying. "Next home game, you gotta come out to Burger Bob's after. 'Swhere goes. Even Rod over there, 'n he hates the place."

"Their burgers are shit!" A flushed youth shouted from a nearby couch.

"S'not about the food!" The boy shouted back. "Issabout hangin' out!"

"Sounds an awful lot like this party," she pointed out, gesturing to the can of beer in his hand. He groaned. 

"I know. Thought I was drunk enough that I wouldn’t care, but it’s still shit. I can't go wastin' it, either, or Dom'll be pissed. Seriously."

"I'll trade you," Olivia held out a cup. "It's just water. You could probably use some."

"Thanks." The boy accepted and gratefully gulped it down, still eyeing the beer. "Can you believe he actually likes that shit?"

"He's lying," Olivia deadpanned. "The only person I've ever met who likes Olympus was my uncle, and smoking rendered his tastebuds nonexistent."

"Best ad for smoking I've ever heard..." The boy grumbled. He swished another swig of water around his mouth with a grimace.

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "You want everything you eat or drink to taste indistinguishable from that?"

The runner shuddered. "Guh. No thanks. But yeah, come on out. Some senior brought his car last time, n' the whole trunk's one big speaker. Issabout the coolest shit I ever seen."

Olivia couldn't help but laugh. "I'll do my best to make it over. Thanks for the invite. It does sound pretty fun."

She excused herself shortly after to toss the mostly full can. Trisha remained, chatting with some friends nearby enough that Olivia could keep an eye on her. She moved to rejoin the blonde after disposing of the rancid beer.

This is fun.

The realization hit her unexpectedly. She was enjoying herself. Even with the underlying tension of keeping a keen eye on her surroundings. Even though she didn't belong here in the slightest and couldn't help but feel her lips thin at some of the more questionable antics going on. She actually was having fun.

Despite the age gap, these kids were honestly fun to talk to. The fact that they didn't see her as an adult undoubtedly helped, and their growing inebriation also lubricated most interactions. And true, she did sometimes feel the distinct differences in their priorities and focuses form a slight wedge between them. But they also shared a social confidence that Olivia simply didn't expect. Not from teenagers.

Maybe that confidence is what makes them popular. I mean, being able to talk to people is kind of an overpowered skill for a high schooler.

It wasn’t just them, though. The fact was, she hadn't talked this much since going back in time. And it felt nice. She felt like a dry sponge being plunged into warm water, soaking the experience up with every fiber of her being.

It was yet another nail in the coffin of her old self. There really was no way she would have survived trying to walk in her old shoes, was there? Not without becoming a husk. It had seemed like a good idea in theory, but...

I... don't think I quite realized how lonely I was back then.

"Yo! We're gonna start Rage Cage!"

A call carried across the room as people began to gather near a folding table. Trisha brightened as Olivia stepped up beside her. "Oh my gosh! Come on, we gotta go!"

"Sure. I'll watch." Olivia laughed as the girl dragged her along.

"Watch? Girl, c'mon! You gotta play!”

“No thanks. I’m not drinking, remember?”

Trisha pouted cutely. "Ugh. Fine. I'll find someone to drink for you, then. Give me one second!"

The blonde disappeared into the crowd. Olivia sighed, moving to follow until a voice stopped her.

"Olivia?"

She turned to look, eyes widening. The crowd parted to reveal a bronze, broad-shouldered boy with staring at her open-mouthed. His appearance was slightly more disheveled than usual, his brown hair slightly mussed and the top button of his dress shirt undone.

She smiled and gave a slight wave. "Hey, Bryce. Fancy seeing you here."

It shouldn't have been a surprise. Not with how many football players they'd already seen at the party. But still, it was easy to forget the connections between these seemingly disparate areas of school life.

He didn't respond at first. Instead, he just looked at Olivia and swallowed. She half expected him to say something about her dress like everyone else. But he settled for something far simple. "You... look good."

"Thanks," She looked him over. "You do, too. Very ‘just rolled out of bed,’ but in a good way. It's a look that works for you."

His lips twitched. "That's—"

"You know this chick, Bryce?"

Bryce startled as he was elbowed in the side. A handsome blonde boy grinned over at him, similarly athletic but more trim than Bryce's wall of muscle. He looked strangely familiar, but Olivia couldn't quite place him.

Bryce cleared his throat. "Erm, yeah. She sits in front of me in math."

"And you never told me? What the hell, man?" The blonde boy gave Bryce a playful push. "I thought we were friends."

Bryce just rolled his eyes and refocused on Olivia. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged. "I got a last-minute invite from Dom, thought I might as well come. But mostly I'm looking out for my friend. She should be..."

Olivia was about to scan the crowd in search of Trisha as the cheerleader popped into existence next to her. "Ok, Cory is already drinking for Missy this game, but the next one—"

She stopped mid-sentence as she registered Olivia's companions. At first, Olivia assumed she was staring at Bryce. But she wasn't. Her gaze was fixed on the other boy—the handsome blonde.

He was frozen in place as well. They simply stared at each other, as though everything around them had simply ceased to exist. A look that she recognized.

Oh, boy.