porter house party magnolia & anthony @antdesilvs
Dark eyes darted slowly around the room, maybe to see if anyone was looking on from the shadows, taking any keen interest. They had to be here; i'm everywhere Maggie, the words haunted her. Circled her mind and left her feeling foolishly paranoid. She'd been stalked before...her father had gone to extreme lengths and the memory was so stretched thin from time it was nothing but the blur of events and the vice crush of fear around her heart whenever she thought about it, dreamt about it. He was caught, put away and still with so much time, miles and more between them she never stopped looking over her shoulder for the day her father decided to come back. This was a new different sort of fear. One she spent half the time convincing herself was a harmless prank.
Repeated like a mantra, harmless prank, harmless prank, but after not long at all, the flash of Amelia all in white with that tell-tale bloom of red made her stomach lurch. Maybe she believed it more than she let on. The stakes are impossible to discern, leading her here, to this ridiculous party. Like a string pulling her along, a tug here and there so she doesn't forget her place. How would they know if she opened up to Sara? What did they ask the others to do? Did they ask them to do anything? Chewing her lip Maggie pushed suddenly off the wall and weaved through bodies of people, faces she recognized, smiling sweetly, making brief but warm eye contact to say passing hellos as she made her way to the kitchen.
Gripping the counter, she grabbed a solo cup and filled it...unfortunately, mostly with foam. Frowning, she took a drink. Her attention sated for a moment, she rose to another familiar face. A furrow of her brows, she blinks a few times, muttering a curse into the cup and licking remnants of foam from her lips. Maggie narrowed her gaze slightly. "The keg is tapped if that's what you're looking for," she bridged cautiously, giving her cup a little shake as if to say she'd gotten the last cup. It was cheap beer when they were in high school and cheap beer now, pulling her right back into that place she was all those years ago. An awkward silence lasted a beat as Maggie tapped her fingers on the red cup. Then, without much consideration, she found herself asking the one question on her mind. No matter who she saw here, the only thing she could think was, "Why are you here tonight?" She asked loud enough to be heard over the music, eyes darting momentarily around before landing back on him.