Extra Bonus #75: Homecoming Aftermath - Part Two (Patreon)

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RESOURCES:  Check out this narrative timeline graphic to visually see when this bonus scene takes place.

MUSIC: We listened to "Whole New Mess" by Angel Olsen while writing this bonus scene.

“WHAT HAPPENED TO his date?” Frog asks, observing the booth diagonal from ours.

Winona, Vada, and Audrey are scrunched in on one side and face Xander, Easton, and Kinney on the other. No room for me, Frog, or the rest of the bodyguard fleet to sit.

So Epsilon bodyguards, plus Gabe and Donnelly have claimed a booth against the decorated windowpanes. Pumpkin art reminds me that Halloween is on the horizon. My dad’s 50th birthday. A big deal, but these days, my dad isn’t bringing comforting fatherly feelings. My stomach just drops in a heavy, saddened way.

I wish things were different.

I wish I could peer over at Donnelly and imagine his hands skimming my cheeks and our lips nearing and know it could be a reality and not just fiction inside my head.

Xander wasn’t even too keen on the idea of me and his bodyguard too. Maybe it’s just not supposed to happen.

I wrap my hands around my mug of coffee. Frog and I share a booth together, the red vinyl old and cracked, and she’s swishing a straw in her iced latte. The entire diner is empty except for us, and it’s really all thanks to my mom. When I texted her our new plans, she called ahead and bought out the place for the night. I think to give Xander more reassurance in his decision to stay out late.

She wasn’t mad that I didn’t bring Kinney home at midnight. I texted, sorry for breaking her curfew.

She replied: All is well. Just be home before 2.

But I still kind of feel like a failure. If Moffy were the chaperone, I’m sure he would have convinced Kinney to do some sort of horror movie night at home. Make the safe option seem fun.

I catch my younger brother in a lighthearted but passionate debate with Easton about Rings of Power, audible from my spot. I’m trying my best not to eavesdrop too much.

What happened to his date?  “No clue,” I answer Frog. “He didn’t tell me.” And he rode here in Donnelly’s car while I drove the girl squad. There wasn’t time to catch up.

Frog stabs a syrupy pancake with her fork. “Good riddance, I say.”

I blow on my steaming coffee. “You don’t like Delilah?” From the gossip I heard at Homecoming, I’ve filed her away into the awful category. I really hope she’s not using Xander to get to Donnelly.

Frog chews her pancake. “She gave me bad vibes.”

I wonder if she overheard teenagers talking too. “Any evidence?”

“Just a feeling.” She slurps iced coffee. “She was giving off more sour than sweet in a Sour Patch Kid way, you know?”

I do know.

I’m about to agree when I look up and see Donnelly nearing us. Gabe is at his side, so my pulse isn’t catapulting too much. Still, my breath hitches just a little, and I watch both bodyguards carry Lucky’s Diner coffee mugs and leave the sanctuary of the bodyguard fleet behind.

They’re casual and cool. It feels impossible to pry my eyes off Donnelly as he strolls over to me. He casts glances from me to Xander, staying mostly on Xander.

He’s a good bodyguard.

That is known.

“Mind if we join?” Donnelly asks. “This is a better view of the little Elf.” His gaze hits mine, and I make note that he’s not coming over here just to hang out with me. Even if my imagination is starting to create that fantasy.

“Mmhmm,” I nod. “Plenty of room.” Even as I say it, Donnelly and Gabe squish in on Frog’s side of the booth. Donnelly in the middle. Gabe at the end.

Frog rolls her eyes as she scoots all the way to the wall.

I wonder if it’s a bodyguard thing. I don’t always understand seating arrangements when it comes to security, but I figure they have a reason for everything.

“We’re actually glad you’re here,” Frog says to Donnelly while cutting into another pancake.

I douse my side of bacon in syrup and try not to stiffen. Is she trying to wingwoman for me? In front of Gabe? I don’t know him that well, but at least he’s looking more interested in his radio.

“You are?” Donnelly asks, his blue gaze redirecting to me—as though my feelings on the matter are what count the most.

It bakes me in an overwhelming heat. We’re just friends. Just friends.

I repeat it in my head, even as Donnelly clings onto my expression. We’re also roommates now. We share a bathroom. But that doesn’t disqualify our friendship status.

“Yeah,” Frog says before I can. “We want to know what happened to Xander’s date.”

“Uh-huh,” I say into a nod of agreement, and I barely release a breath as I set the syrup bottle down. “Why isn’t Delilah here?”

Donnelly leans back and grabs a packet of sugar from the container. His eyes dance over me. “Why don’t you ask him?”

Glancing to my brother’s booth, I see them passing around syrup, butter, and ketchup for their breakfast spread: pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs.

“They’re not locker room cunts,” Vada curses, a word that her parents would not be happy about.

“How do you know?” Easton wields a fork and knife with proper etiquette like he’s spent years in cotillion. He cuts into an omelet. “You’re not allowed in the boys’ locker room.”

“They’re mathletes,” Audrey chimes in. “All their time is spent in extracurriculars. I think Vincent is even learning Dutch.”

“Cute,” Easton deadpans.

“What’s the problem?” Vada wonders.

“They’re pricks,” Easton says, biting into his slice of omelet.

Must be talking about the tuxedo boys. I’m not the only one eavesdropping now. Very clearly, Donnelly and Frog listen into the gossip too.

Winona butters her pancake and says, “They’re not friends with the T-bags, so I like them.”

“We don’t,” Xander shrugs.

Vada has sunken back in her seat.

“Hey?” Winona side-sways into her, trying to cheer her up.

Vada sighs. “There are literally so few cool people at school. I would never call Vincent and his friends dicks.”

“Technically,” Xander says after a swig of OJ, “he was called a prick.”

Vada tosses a balled napkin at him.

He laughs. It’s nice seeing my brother laugh. All the girls seem to smile too.

Don’t kill his happiness, Luna. Am I going to? Is that the end here?

Vada squirts ketchup on her hashbrowns. “I’m not classifying them as Guys to Avoid yet. The four of us aren't awful judges of character.” Kinney, Audrey, and Winona voice their agreements.

Xander says, “We're not trying to tell you what to do, Vada.”

“Do whatever you want,” Easton nods. “Befriend them. Date them. Marry them—”

“Marry them?” Audrey interjects with a teeny gasp. “My brothers would never approve of something so rushed.” She squints and wears a mischievous look.

“Long-lasting high school romances don’t happen like my parents anymore,” Vada says. “Have you seen most of the guys at Dalton? The quality isn’t there.” She looks up at Easton. “No offense.”

“None taken,” he says.

“We’re being watched,” Kinney warns them.

Just as their heads swerve to our booth, we pretend to be enamored with our coffees.

“So how about them Birds?” Donnelly says to me.

I know very little about football. “They’re doing good?”

“Only in my heart.”

Once the teenagers begin chatting away again, the three of us relax, but then Donnelly resurfaces his question. “Why haven’t you just asked your brother about his date?” About Delilah.

She hasn’t so much been on my mind as the mystery of why Xander invited Kinney out.

He doesn’t always love having our cousins tag along and that’s what happens when you invite my sister anywhere. Then again, Xander and Kinney have a close relationship that I’m not completely privy to.

It makes me miss Moffy.

I bite the inside of my mouth. “He seems to be having a good time. I don’t want to mess it up with a dumb question.”

Frog gazes at me with a boatload of sympathy, then turns her sights to Donnelly. “Yeah, let’s not ruin Xander’s mood. You should spill.”

Donnelly shrugs and rips open a sugar packet. “Nothin’ to spill. She dipped after the dance.”

“Rude,” Frog says and mouths, sour to me. Delilah might just be a rotten bean.

Gabe watches the teenagers. “Xander looks okay with it.”

Donnelly tips the sugar into his coffee. I go quieter, just listening to the three of them. Maybe I’m picturing what these three would be like in their security apartment. Before Donnelly moved into the penthouse’s guest room, he lived with Frog, Gabe, and Quinn.

Midway through their convo about funny comms chatter, I slide over my side of bacon to Donnelly. “Want some? Be warned, it’s sticky, but it’s the only way to eat bacon.”

“On your planet and on mine,” Donnelly says with a rising grin, already plucking a strip from the syrupy pile.

Warmth bathes me. “You eat your bacon with syrup?”

“Best way.” He crunches on one, and I’d like to think he’s struggling to look away from me like I’m struggling to depart from him.

After I eat a piece of bacon, he watches me lick my fingers, and I almost jump at the buzz of my phone on the table.

Shit. Blowing out a breath, I tap the screen and see a new text.

Mom and Dad said your all at Lucky’s Diner. Everyone doing okay? – Moffy

Of course, Big Brother Moffy would be checking in (with his improper texting grammar), and I’m now missing him even more. I know he has Farrow and Ripley and he’s probably already in bed but…I want to invite him anyway.

I reply: Yep yep. All is a-okay! But you can totally come here if you’re not asleep. We’ll probably be out for a bit longer. Xander and Kinney are soaking up the night.

He doesn’t immediately respond.

So I quickly text: I know it’s late. No pressure or anything.

A second later, he replies.

I’ll be there in ten. Save me a seat. – Moffy

Thank you so much for reading this extra bonus! It was really fun to have a little aftermath to the homecoming and get another glimpse at the girl squad and Xander! Again, this is a tad shorter than usual because we're finishing up Unlucky Like Us and don't want to delay the book. We hope you all understand! We will be back in action with our normal length bonuses next month!

xoxo Krista & Becca

"Homecoming Aftermath - Part Two," Copyright © 2023 by K.B. Ritchie