His drink felt fantasic as it slid down his throat and cooled him down after 30 minutes of dancing with his sister. Eric was still in shock from what just happened, but it seemed there was no rest for the weary. Right as he finally got a moment to sit down, Shannon walked up again with 3 of her friends.
"Everyone, this is my cousin, Michelle, from Houston. She's staying with me and Eric all next week so I thought I'd invite her up early for the party."
Eric was met with a smattering of greetings as he barely managed a wave and a "Hello" in return.
Eric had already gotten a chance to meet all of these girls before. They were all juniors when Shannon graduated, but had managed to stay close to her regardless. The brunette to the left was Andrea Miller, one of Shannon's oldest friends other than her best friend Jessica Morgan.
"Your costume is fantastic!" Andrea added, "It really shows off your curves."
Eric knew that she was pretty nice, but that she was a bit superficial at times. Whether or not that was the case, if he was a guy where it counted right now he'd be very happy to see her. Instead all he had was a strange feeling in his gut that he couldn't explain.
"You dance great! Where'd you learn how to move like that?" asked the blonde girl to Eric's right. Tammy Fox was the captain of the dance team now that Shannon no longer held the position. At 5'11" she was too tall to pursue her original love, gymnastics, yet she could really tear up the dance floor herself. Eric could never really get too interested in her as she had always towered over him in height.
Eric was most concerned though about the short, raven-haired girl in the back. Heather Overton had been almost as good of a friend to Eric as his sister over the years. Whenever Shannon had a group of friends over, it was always Heather who tried to include him and make him feel comfortable. That being the case, Heather was the only one who knew more about him than anyone else in the room besides his sister. To make matters worse, she was also the only one who picked up on the most obvious detail.
"Wasn't your cousin gonna wear a costume like that?" Heather inquired while eyeing Eric suspiciously.
Shannon answered before Eric had a chance to respond. "Oh ya, but I heard that Michelle was coming into town and didn't have a costume ready. I decided to let her use mine and dug this one out of the closet from last year."
Satisfied for now, Heather didn't press the conversation. Eric spent some time blending in on the dance floor with his new found "friends" after finishing his drink as it was an easier way to avoid any difficult conversations. Regardless of anything he said or did for the next half hour, though, Eric was sure that Heather was keeping an eye on him.
The DJ called the music to a stop as he started making a few quick annoucements. One announcement in particular mentioned that anyone who wanted to sign up for the next event should come to the DJ booth and register during the next 2 songs.
"Hey Michelle, you'd be perfect for the competition!" Shannon declared as she looked at her brother. "The next event is going to be awesome. It's going to be..."
