As Oliver approached his friend’s house he paused on the sidewalk. Music poured out of Giorgio’s open front door and Oliver could see a few people dancing. He contemplated turning around and going home, mostly because no one at the party - with the exception of Giorgio - was really his friend.

There was nothing for Oliver at home, though. He’d agreed to come to the party because his friend - and the girl he was hopelessly crushing on - had canceled their plans for that night because she had some sort of family obligation. Oliver could have stayed home, ordered pizza, watched a terrible movie and masturbated to thoughts of Megan, but going to Giorgio’s party seemed like the less sad option, so there he was.

As soon as he stepped inside Oliver was greeted by an unpleasant look from Kenzie, one of Megan’s good friends.

“What are you doing here?” she asked in a tone that made him feel like he was deeply unwelcome.

“Giorgio invited me,” he said.

“Really? Why?”

“You’d have to ask him,” Oliver replied before walking away.

To his dismay, he received similar looks from some of Giorgio’s friends. Some were even bold enough to ask why he was there, though Oliver had the feeling - for reasons he couldn’t quite discern - that people seemed to be purposefully getting in his way as he headed towards the kitchen, where he assumed he’d find a drink.

There were, it turned out, lots of drinks in the kitchen. To Oliver’s dismay - and delight - Megan was also in the kitchen. She was not, as it turned out, spending the night with her family. Oliver immediately told himself that she hadn’t blown him off and come to Giorgio’s party instead, that her family obligation had simply fallen through and she’d figured that Oliver would be coming to the party so there was no need to tell him that she was going too.

Megan was sipping a drink in a red cup and chatting with Giorgio as Oliver entered the kitchen. He took note - and probably stared for far too long - of the fact that her shorts clearly showed off the bottom of her ass. When she turned to set her drink on the counter Oliver also took note of her remarkably revealing tank top and he had a good long stare at her breasts.

Then she looked right at him. “Oliver, what are you doing here?” she asked, though her tone was absent most of the indignation that Kenzie had directed his way.

“I had nothing to do,” he said.

Megan looked embarrassed and Oliver knew that she’d lied about having a family obligation that night. He was tempted to ask her about it, to see if she would dedicate herself to the lie. He wasn’t willing to embark on such an awkward journey, though.

“It’s good to see you,” he said.

Megan offered a half-hearted smile. “Yeah, you too.”

Oliver yearned for his beautiful friend even though he knew she wasn’t especially happy to see him. He couldn’t cure himself of his crush, even in the face of knowing that she’d tried to avoid him that night.

Megan turned back to Giorgio and Oliver tried to step closer. That’s when Alex - another of Megan’s beautiful friends - stepped in front of him.

“Oh, hey, Alex,” he said.

She didn’t bother offering a smile. “What are you doing here?”

“Giorgio invited me.”

“Why?” she asked.

Oliver watched Megan walk out of the room. He heard the door to the backyard open. He made an effort to follow but Alex stepped in front of him and he wasn’t very well going to push past her.

“Because he’s my friend,” he said.

“Really? He’s like the opposite of you.”

Oliver tilted his head. “Opposite?”

Alex smiled for the first time and stepped closer. She reached out and ran her fingers over Oliver’s forearm, sending an unexpected wave of pleasure through his body.

Then she stepped back, looked him up and down, frowned a little, and said, “Yeah. He’s, you know, like a man. A real man. The kind of guy that girls are actually into. You know, the opposite of you.”

Oliver was tempted to tell her to go fuck herself, but instead he turned away, poured himself a drink, and downed almost all of it in one gulp. He refilled his cup and looked out the kitchen window into the backyard. He saw Megan talking with someone. Giorgio was sitting on one of the couches around the fire pit. He was talking to a friend but he kept stealing glances at Megan. Oliver couldn’t see her face, but he saw head turn repeatedly and he was fairly certain that Megan was stealing glances at Giorgio.

Oliver felt a deep sense of jealousy. He could see that Megan was into Giorgio. He could hear Alex’s words playing in his head, that Giorgio was the kind of guy that girls were actually into. That he was strong and masculine and athletic. That he was the kind of guy that didn’t really struggle with girls, unlike Oliver.