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‘Adjectives that describe only my brother, and definitely not me at all, not even a little bit.’
‘You, Ava Monroe,’ he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, fingertips lingering for a fraction of a second at my neck, ‘evade description.’
There it is again, my heartbeat finding a home somewhere between my legs. I inhale deeply and ask, ‘What were you two talking about, anyway?’
‘Everywhere I’ve lived, the places we’ve both been, where we wanna travel to next. I’m pretty sure I watched some of his videos before I ever met you, actually.’ He watches me swirl ice around my glass. ‘Maybe that’s why I like him. I feel like I’m in the presence of a celebrity.’
‘What am I, a piece of dirt?’ He sighs at my petulance, but his smile is fond when I continue, ‘You’re right though. Max is something special.’
The party buzzes aroundus but here in this pocket of space, everything is still. He studies me, choosing his words carefully. ‘Did you know everything on this planet is made of stardust? You, me, this couch. All of it. But I think it’s often easy to forget that.’ His gaze sends static shocks tingling across my skin. ‘I never forget that you come from the stars, Ava.’
My voice is quiet. ‘You have to stop saying things like that.’
Max reappears and flops down into the space between us, jerking me backwards. ‘Saying things like what?’
‘Nothing,’ Finn and I say in unison.
‘Are you bullying my sister?’ For a split second, I can tell Finn thinks he’s serious, but then Max shrugs and adds, ‘Was hoping to join in. It’s one of my favourite pastimes.’
‘I think you probably already know who the bully is in this relationship,’ Finn says under his breath, taking a beer from Max, who barks out a laugh. A laugh threatens to escape me too, for an entirely different reason.
Max sits forward to talk to someone on the opposite side of the coffee table and I lean towards Finn behind him to whisper, ‘You don’t have to pretend to like beer around him. Just ask for something else if you want it.’
‘I like beer,’ he says unconvincingly, taking a swig from his bottle and just about hiding a grimace.
Max sits up straight before looking around the room like he’s searching for something. ‘Okay, I was told there’d be karaoke. Why is no one singing?’
Finn catches my eye again and says, ‘See? I knew I liked him.’
‘Before we do, I have a question.’ Max shoots me a grin, mischief in his eyes, and I can tell what he’s going to ask because we’ve been playing this game since we were old enough to drink. ‘My sweet, sweet sister, what time is it?’
I release a noise that’s probably a laugh but could easily be asob. ‘I think it’s shots o’clock.’
Josie does, of course, coax me into performing with her. And once Max’s shots are involved, I need even less persuasion.
I open my eyes as I release my hand from an air grab, successfully ending a particularly emotional ballad that really shows off my range. My range is, arguably, extremely small, but I’ve shown it off nonetheless. Someone whistles from the kitchen, Rory applauds from the sofa like he’s front row at the O2, and Finn lets out a choked sound from the dining table before dropping his head in his hands.
Alina and her friend get up to sing Dolly Parton and I pull out the chair next to Finn. After a couple of moments, he looks up at me, eyes watering, and I wonder if I should offer him a tissue.
‘Oh mygod,’ he says at last, the final word breaking the fragile remnants of his resolve and sending him into a fit of laughter. ‘That was life-changing. In entirely the worst way. Like, genuinely, I fully understand why you didn’t want me to come to the party now.’
I flip him off, which only makes him laugh harder. ‘Fuck off, I don’t see you hitting those notes either.’
‘Tell me,’ Finn looks at me again, laughter escaping from him in sharp bursts as he tries in vain to recover his composure, ‘when you encounter a melody, would you say that you typically consider it a concrete set of rules to follow, or more just a vague suggestion?’ Max passes us on his way to the bathroom and Finn asks him, ‘Did you hear that?’
‘That’s one of her better ones, unfortunately. You’re forgetting we were raised in the same household.’
‘This,’ I point between the two of them and shake my head, ‘isnot happening. You’re not allowed to gang up on me. I just bared my soul. Have some respect.’
‘Maybe you should have some respect for my eardrums,’ Max says, scooting away before I have the chance to deliver my scathing retort.
Finn watches me with a smile on his face and it sends my pulse skittering. But then the buzzer goes and I glance at the door to see who’s arrived.
‘It’s Dylan,’ I say, and the pair of us stand up, though neither of us steps away yet. ‘I invited her last minute. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to come because she had something with her boyfriend.’
‘Hey, after all that, you didn’t even need to make up a fake friend from work for this party.’ He points his thumb towards the door and starts to turn. ‘I guess I’ll see myself out.’
I rest my hand on his bicep instinctively, the muscle hard beneath the fabric. ‘I do need you. As a fake friend. Or a real friend. Or,’ I let go of his arm and shake the thought from my head, ‘something.’
