TW: this episode contains homophobia.

“Kayden Gray, it’s been a while eh?” Zack says, flashing me an arrogant smile while pouring me a cup of beer from the pitcher. I somehow ended up sitting next to Zack, who is in the middle of the circular booth, next to him is a brown curly-haired woman, Stacy. Next to Stacy sat Mackenzie and next to me was Evelyn.

“Yeah. Ten years is a while.” I said sarcastically, taking a sip of the beer. 

“You still like kissing boys, Gray?” Zack leaned back and put his arm around Stacy. 

“Yeah, I do. Why do you ask? Interested?” I scoffed. This earned me a hard glare.

“In your dreams dumbass. I’m no faggot.” Zack seethed.

“Shit is that Kayden?” A deep voice sounded behind me followed by an even deeper laugh.

“Welcome back, Griff. Our table gained a few more friends while you were gone,” Zack said. I turned around to see Griffin Hayes, the guy Zack had passed my inhaler to while I happen to be dying of an allergic reaction. Zack was always surrounded by friends in high school but he only had two really close ones throughout the years. All three of them used to torment me. And now I’ve been reunited with two of them within the last fifteen minutes of being here. 

“Good to see you, Gray. Hope Zack wasn’t being too much of an asshole,” he joked, pouring himself a beer.

I gave a weak smile in return and took a few more sips of my own beer. I looked over to Evelyn who was already staring at me with a worried look. Silently asking my permission to do something about this situation. I quickly shook my head no, scared of what might happen. Things were staying relatively peaceful. She sighed. “It was nice chatting with you all but Kayden and I have to go.”

“Whaaat? But you just got here.” Mackenzie pouted. 

“Yeah? Well, you should know why. These assholes weren’t exactly friendly to ‘Kay Bear’.” Evelyn remarked. I squirmed in my seat a bit, taking a few more sips of my drink to busy myself.

“Come on. I was just joking. No need to get your panties in a twist,” Zack scoffed.

“If that’s what you call a joke, I hope you’re not looking to be a comedian anytime soon.” And with that Evelyn stood up and scooted out of the booth, thankfully dragging me with her. As we walked away I heard Zack and Griffin laughing. Short pieces of memories from high school kept flashing in my mind. Zack beating me up, Griffin getting some of the football team to chase me around the school, and then Damien…

Coming here was a terrible idea. Evelyn and I could have ordered in food and had a movie night or- 

“Kayden sit down already,” Evelyn interrupted my thoughts. Remembering where I was I pulled out the chair from a table made for two and sat down. “Listen. Who cares what those guys say? Despite being in this small town, you haven’t run into them for ten years. There’s a good chance you won’t see them again after tonight. So, let’s get drunk and eat tons of free expensive food.” She winked and gave me a reassuring smile. I don’t know what I would have done without Evelyn here. “Excuse me sir!” She called for a nearby waiter, “my friend and I would like…” she proceeded to point to different items on the menu. By the time she was finished, she had ordered a little over half of the menu. Someone had already brought over a pitcher of beer. We dove into a few conversations and laughed together. Nothing else mattered. It was just our little bubble just like how it was in high school. Maybe this night wasn’t such a bad idea. What could go wrong?

~~~

Evelyn slammed her empty cup on the table. “You know what FUCK those guys! Who the fuck do they think they are,” she slurred pouring herself another cup. “The audacity men have. God!” She paused, looking at me. “Not you though,” she clarified, taking sips of her beer.

“They’re so mean for no reason,” my voice cracked a bit.

“Hey hey! No crying. Those assholes don’t deserve you crying over them.”

“Yeah,” I wiped my eyes, “you’re a good person Eve. I’m glad you're my best friend.” I sniffed and smiled at her.

“Of course Kady. I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else. Now watch as your best friend goes and kicks some homophobic ass.”

“Okay,” I said without thinking. When it finally registered what she said  I sprung up, stumbling over slightly and grabbing her arm to pull her back down to her seat. “You can’t beat up Cromwell and Hayes!” 

“Yeah, I can! Watch me!” Evelyn said, standing up again.

“Wait-“ before she could take a step the door opened on the other side of the restaurant. The man who walked in left both of me and Evelyn frozen.

Damien Sawyer stood at the entrance of the restaurant. He was taller than he was in high school and he gained some more muscle. His brown hair rested messily on his head and he had a bit of scruff on his face. If I didn’t know him as the Damien Sawyer who made my high school years hell, he would have been exactly my type. I watched as his head lifted slightly and then all of a sudden his green eyes snapped to my amber ones as if he sensed me staring at him. It sent a shiver down my spine making me want to cave into myself. 

“Shit. I thought he skipped town. Why is he here?” Evelyn breathed. 

I should learn to stop asking myself “what could go wrong?” Because every time I do, something almost always goes wrong.