SEVEN
The music was thumping. Loud bass echoed down the street, a sure sign that the cops would be out later to bust up the party. This alone made Brooklyn want to ditch, but Austin insisted they make an appearance. Always concerned with making appearances. In Seattle, Brooklyn had been popular. She’d had friends everywhere, from different high schools and even at the University of Washington. It had not been unusual for her to have an invite to the hottest frat party or to come sit in the student section during the Apple Cup. Things were different in Cape Harbor. Austin wasn’t just popular; he was the most sought-after guy she had ever met. If the girls weren’t chasing him for dates, the guys were chasing him to hang out. Everyone wanted to be Austin’s friend, and sometimes Brooklyn couldn’t understand why. To her, he was just Austin, the guy she fell in love with shortly after she moved here. But to everyone else, he was a god. The community worshiped him . . . it wasn’t like he was a star athlete or anything—he was just Austin Woods, the guy who made everyone smile. He was charismatic, sweet, and loving, and he volunteered for everything. He was someone you could count on. People adored him. They wanted to be in his presence. But dating him had its challenges. They couldn’t go out without someone bothering them. And everyone referred to her as “Austin’s girl,” as if she didn’t have her own identity, or she was a piece of property he’d acquired in a trade deal. Still, Brooklyn was so head over heels in love with him she brushed most of her complaints under the rug or confided in the one other person who understood what it was like to be in Austin’s shadow, Bowie.
The group of friends walked down the street, huddled together. Bowie and Austin led the pack, talking animatedly about their trucks and how they couldn’t wait to have enough money saved so they could buy a lift kit. The girls were in the middle of the group. Brooklyn, Monroe, and Mila, all dressed up as if they were heading out for a night in the city. Behind them were Grady and Graham Chamberlain, twin brothers whose parents owned the local watering hole, the Whale Spout. Graham had big plans to leave town after graduation. He wanted to travel, explore the world until he decided on a place to live. Of course, he had yet to choose a career that would allow this and figured he’d pick up odd jobs in each city, state, and country he visited and hitchhike to save money. Grady, on the other hand, wanted to own a fleet of fishing vessels. That was Austin’s intent as well. The two of them had created a business plan and even thought of a name: the Chamberwoods Fishing Company. Brooklyn had other ideas. She wanted to head back to Seattle, even Portland, and become a labor and delivery nurse. Her roots weren’t in Cape Harbor, and she couldn’t see herself staying here. That was something Austin couldn’t understand.
After arriving at the house party, Austin walked right in, and the room parted as if he were Moses and this were the Red Sea. Everyone stopped what they were doing, just to say hello to him, and he ate up every bit of the attention. If the group thought they could follow Austin through the room, they were mistaken, as a mass of people closed in around their favorite person. Within seconds, there was a beer in his hand and introductions made to the people he didn’t know . . . all while his girlfriend looked on.
She hated these parties. She hated everything they represented. She hated that they would fight later. She hated how insecure they made her feel. She hated how he flirted, how no one cared that she was in the room. Most of all, she hated that Austin ignored her. Even though she came with him, she wanted to be home. However, staying home meant a night of pacing and waiting for the phone to ring, even though he wouldn’t leave the party to call her. One time she was late to a party, and when she walked in, Austin was in the corner with another girl. He said nothing happened. She believed him. It wasn’t like she could prove otherwise, and no one would ever come forward to say anything ill against him. Her only choice for her peace of mind was to put herself through the agony of being at the party. It was the only way to know if he was faithful. This wasn’t how she expected their relationship to be, though, because when it was just them, he was the perfect boyfriend.