the 'brook action threads

Benson looked around his living room where his former SHS classmates had started showing up over an hour before.  So far everything was staying relatively clean--no spills anyway--but he wasn't too worried about it getting rowdier.  Cary had taught him a long time ago that if he wanted to throw a party, he needed to hide certain things and make sure that everything was exactly where it had been when their parents left.  And when he cleaned up after, he shouldn't clean things too well because it'd be a dead giveaway.

Presently, Elise was getting some guys to help her set up the beer pong table in the kitchen and he'd noticed his ex...well...ex-hook up buddy, Evangeline Sullivan, sitting on the lap of a former baseball teammate of his.  Yeah, everything seemed to be completely normal for an SHS party, even three years after graduation.

Although generally Laura didn't appreciate being told that one of her best friends would rather spend time with a boy, she had managed to be understanding for Mallory's birthday. Partly because she wasn't going to ruin Mallory's day, and partly because on her birthday, Laura preferred just spending it with her boyfriend. So rather than argue, she'd pushed back the birthday dinner a day.

So now she was in JJ's bar and grill, irritated at being around a crowd, but trying to be happy and enthusiastic for Mallory. Who wasn't there yet. Trying not to frown, Laura leaned back into her seat. It was probably Brian's fault. "I bet Brian's being a dick," she muttered to Matt.

Sitting next to her, his arm resting on the back of her seat, he shrugged. "Probably," Matt agreed, tapping his fingers on the table. He didn't really like Brian too much either, but they'd only met once, and unlike Laura, he wasn't quick to dislike people. "What d'ya think?" he asked Josh. Josh usually seemed a lot less biased than Laura.

Laura interrupted. "That he's a dick," she said in exasperation, before looking at Josh, expecting him to agree. "A total dick, right?"