Caleb parked in the long driveway that led up to TJ’s small home, and by the looks up it, quite a few people had already arrived. Before getting out, he rested his forehead on the steering wheel and sighed. “I hate parties.” He grabbed the flask again from his pocket and took a swig, but before he could get out of the truck, he saw Jimmy’s younger sister standing in the doorway of the house.

“Oh, [i]shit[/i],” he mumbled as he rubbed his forehead. “Okay. You can’t be his cousin. She’ll know. You’re gonna have to be my girlfriend.” He looked to her as he took off his sunglasses. “Watch out for her, though. She’s feisty.” 

“Blue!” the girl called out from the door as she waved her hand at him. He sheepishly waved back and held up a finger to signal he’d come in a minute. “So,” he began quietly, “that’s Jimmy’s sister, Sarah. About a year ago, her and I were hookin’ up regularly. Nothing as serious as she wanted. I never told Jimmy ‘cause I knew he’d flip. But, uh, he showed up at my house one night and we were uh… [i]you know.[/i]” 

Caleb sighed as he forced himself to continue.

“Anyway, everyone was freaking out. It took Jimmy a week to cool down. He told me my friendship with him or Sarah, and I chose him. I haven’t talked to her since.”

“Blue?” the girl called out again. 

“I’m comin’!” he yelled out of the window before looking to Lola. “Well, come on, babe,” he laughed as he stepped out of the truck. “Let’s get this shit over with.” 

He and Lola walked towards the door where the girl nearly shrieked with excitement and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around his torso. “I’ve miss you so much, Blue. I’m sor – “ She paused as she looked to Lola with squinted eyes. She was tall and slender, with olive skin and dark features.

He hugged her back much more politely than she had, then pulled away and looked to Lola. “Uh, Lola, this is Sarah. Sarah, this is Lola, my girlfriend,” It felt so weird to say, but he remained confident as he spoke. He'd have to pull this off to not raise any suspicion.