The Friend
Feet padded along the deck. Young voices shouted and screamed and laughed. Generic, non-offensive music played in the background. Water splashed and chips crunched and straws slurped. All about were gleeful, energetic sounds of summer.
And yet, Beth found herself hovering just along the periphery of it all, not completely immersed but not able to get away from it either. Somehow, she'd slipped back into that awkward, teenage wallflower she thought she'd matured from a long time ago. Trying to stand out of the way. Not sure what to do with her hands. Pretending to be part of a few conversations with the other parents, but not really contributing more than a few nods and smiles....
Gosh, this was embarrassing. Did she really forget how to interact with other adults? She supposed she probably had, now that she thought about it. She didn't exactly have friends. The few she'd managed to keep past college had slowly, one-by-one, dropped off contact after she'd gotten the boys. She didn't blame them. It's not like she could've afforded a babysitter for a girl's night, and ultimately they'd just stopped having anything in common over time anyway.
Outside of that, she talked to her mom about once a week, there were some coworkers she made idle chit-chat with on slower work days, maybe a neighbor or two she'd wave at when getting the mail... So yeah, not a lot of meaningful adult interaction at all.
Not to mention the initial efforts from these other moms to converse with her when she'd first arrived had all been very... well, annoying. Wow, five boys! What a handful! How do you do it? How do you afford it? How have you not gone insane? You should get married so you can get some help.
Those were the usual comments she'd heard since day one. Normally they wouldn't bother her, coming from a stranger in a store, or even from her mom. But she'd brought her boys to this pool party to socialize and make friends outside of their own family, so certainly she ought to be doing the same? How could she possible start making connections with such uninspired and tasteless remarks?
Beth went to drink from her little plastic tumbler of lemonade, forgetting that she'd downed it long ago and having to play off tilting an empty cup into her mouth in case anyone happened to have noticed. Well, maybe she could kill some time wandering inside to get a refill. Maybe pretend to admire some photos on the wall or get lost going to the bathroom or something. That'd at least buy another 20 minutes before she'd have to come back outside and think of other ways to not be miserable until this party was over.
She wandered inside to the kitchen, bemoaning the emptiness of the lemonade pitcher on the counter. She awkwardly set her cup to the side and looked over the almost-as-depleted spread of cheeses and fruits, debating if she could stomach eating any more just to give herself something to do. Maybe she could just carry around a napkin of strawberries and not eat them. At least it solve the problem of what to do with her hands....
"Oh gosh, we're out already?"
Beth turned to the woman who'd just entered the kitchen. The hostess. Padme Skywalker.
Padme was on the city council and involved with various other community projects, too numerous to keep track of. She had a nice home and a nice car and was always dressed well; "upper middle class" she might be called. Her kids were a few grades older than Beth's, but had friends of all ages, as evidenced by the turnout at today's pool party. Beth was honestly surprised her boys had gotten the invite, until they arrived and she noted the various ages, genders, and even parts of town represented amongst the guests. Then she felt quite honored to have her rag-tag crew included.
Padme was the sort of person you wanted to hate. She was too put-together and too affluent and too actively involved with too many things. She was the model most moms strived to be but often failed to achieve quite as perfectly.
But of course she was also the sort of person you couldn't help but love anyway, as Beth would soon learn.
"I might have a few stray Capri-Suns in the fridge," Padme said as she glided across the room to her large, fancy fridge. The kind with a touch-screen on the door so you could look inside without opening it and letting out any cool air. Beth briefly wondered how much energy her fridge lost with her boys perpetually standing in front of it looking for snacks that would never be there.
"Hmm, there's some water bottles... Gatorade..." Padme scanned her offerings through the door. Then her eyes landed on something and she looked over at Beth with a conspiratorial squint. "Wine coolers?"
Beth snorted in surprise, and then had to check there was no one else in the kitchen that Padme could be talking to instead. Like one of her actual friends.
"Um, that's okay--"
But Padme had already opened the door and brought out two glass bottles with tropical colored labels. "I know the kids these days are into the White Claws or whatever, but I say nothing beats a classic wine cooler in the summer."
She started scooping ice into fresh Solo cups and pouring the drinks in. Beth stood awkwardly on the other side of the counter, not sure what to say. She was still feeling like a shy teenager, like the new kid being saved by the pretty, popular girl who took pity on her.
"Speaking of kids," said Padme, shoving the empty bottles to the bottom of the trashcan, underneath all the paper plates and discarded watermelon rinds. "We best stay in here until we finish. My luck, it'd be Satine's kid who'd accidentally think it's his cup, and I'd never hear the end of it from her."
She handed over Beth's cup and clinked her own against it in a salute. Beth couldn't help but smile along with the woman as they took their first sips.
"Here, we can sit down." Padme led the way to the little half-octagonal nook with a modest kitchen table. There were additional platters of mostly-eaten food that Padme only moved to another surface to make room. "I'd tidy this more, but that's Luke and Leia's job. Any party they want, they have to clean up."
Beth nodded, impressed. She'd figured this was the sort of household that would have a maid or something. "I make mine clean, too. Not that we have parties like this. But after dinner, couch fort camping adventures, you know."
Padme chuckled as she sat across from her. Maybe it was the drink already kicking in, but Beth was starting to feel more at ease.
"Maybe a white sock turns pink along the way," she continued on, "but I haven't had to fold a towel or pick up a sponge in years, so I'm not complaining."
Padme nodded in agreement. "See? That's how you do it. These other parents whine about not being able to keep up, never having time for anything. But they're the ones chasing their kids around with a mop, doing all these things that a young person is perfectly capable of doing themselves."
"They'll probably be filing their kids' taxes one day, too," Beth said through sips of her drink. "And arranging their marriages."
Padme laughed. "Exactly! And the poor things will grow up not knowing how to take care of themselves or how to navigate the world or anything. Ugh, it's so frustrating."
They spent a few moments in comfortable silence, continuing to drink and ruminate on different parenting styles. Through the window, they watched all the children running around and splashing about in the pool. Beth could easily spot each of her boys, clearly having the time of their lives. Hunter and Wrecker were in some kind of a cannon-ball contest with a few other boys, Tech presumably being the judge as he made tally marks with some chalk on the sidewalk. Crosshair and Echo were sitting with a few kids in the shallow end eating popsicles, but then suddenly sprung into action pretending to be monsters or dinosaurs or something.
Beth chided herself for being so miserable earlier. This was why she had allowed them to come. They rarely got invited to parties anyway, and she knew they were at the age where they needed to have friendships outside of their own brothers. And clearly they were having such a good time. She decided she would suffer through as many pool parties as it took this summer to keep the momentum going.
"What's on your mind?"
Oops, she'd almost forgotten she was still sitting with Padme. The woman looked at her softly but knowingly over her drink, making Beth feel just comfortable enough to actually answer honestly.
"The only thing that's ever on my mind," she said with a sheepish sigh. "I'm really grateful you invited us. My boys really needed this."
Padme nodded slowly, seeming to consider something. She followed Beth's gaze back out the window for a moment and then set down her drink. "I think you needed this, too."
Beth blinked at her. "What do you mean?"
"When was the last time you took a moment for yourself? Or talked to someone other than your kids?"
The questions stung, though not in a patronizing way. They simply hit a part of herself she knew had been starving for care for a long time.
"I've been there," Padme said, reaching across the table to place a gentle hand across Beth's. "Thinking I couldn't be anything other than a mother. Feeling guilty for every second I wasn't thinking about my twins. But that only wore me out until I wasn't doing anybody any good. Thankfully I had my husband to pull me back. I don't know what I would've done without him."
When Beth only gave a half-hearted smile, Padme quickly continued.
"But it doesn't have to be a husband or partner... I heard that comment Satine made to you earlier. Such a hypocrite. Oh it made my blood boil! But I couldn't exactly snap at her in front of everyone, especially when I only invited her because we're on the city council together."
Padme had to shake herself to move past the thought.
"But my point is, you need someone. Friends of your own. Reasons to get away or focus on something else every once in a while."
Beth opened her mouth to add a little defensive comment about how she worked every day and could focus on that, but Padme seemed to expect it.
"And work doesn't count. I'm talking about getting lost among the shelves at the library once a month. Or keeping a casual text conversation with someone, just one or two texts a day when you can, that's it. Or... oh! I'm getting my nails done on Thursday. You should come with."
"I don't--"
Padme waved a dismissive hand at her, her mind made up on this new plan and ready to defend it at every protest. "It'll be my treat. A one time thing. We'll think of other ways to hang out next time.
Hang out? Next time? Was this lady really wanting - expecting - to be friends?
"But--"
"And we're going at 5, right when that parent-teacher conference is supposed to start, so I know you're free and already have childcare arranged."
"Yeah, because I'm supposed to be at a parent-teacher conference."
"Oh, the first hour is just an awkward mixer in the gym anyway. We'll be there by the time they start the actual classroom meetings."
Beth chewed her lip. Here she was, drinking alcohol at a children's party and plotting to skip half of a mandatory school check-in later that week. This was certainly not how she'd expected this afternoon to go.
But Padme was right. Her boys needed to get out of the house more, and so did she. And Padme seemed genuine and fun enough. Maybe she'd be a good friend after all. Her first actual friend as an adult.
"I'm not forcing you into anything." Padme was relenting a little at Beth's silence. She held her hands up innocently. "It's just an idea."
"No." Beth set her cup down to show her resolve. "I would love that. Thank you."
Padme grinned. "Perfect! It's a date!"
Beth followed the trails of water along the sidewalk to the car. Most of the boys had ran ahead, swim trunks still dripping as they waited for her to unlock the doors, which she of course didn't plan to do until she could get some towels laid down on the seats. Only Echo waddled beside her, drying himself off as best he could.
"Did you have fun?" she asked, running a hand through his short strands of damp hair.
He nodded. "I beat all the other sharks."
Beth wasn't sure what that meant, but it sounded like a good thing. "How about your arm? You tired?"
Echo shook his head with a smile. "Nope! I swam from one side to the other without any help! Well, Hunter did help me turn around. But I did the actual swimming all by myself."
"That's good, I'm so proud of you." She brought him into her side, giving him a kiss on the head. "Looks like you made some new friends, too."
"Yeah we want to invite Rex over for a sleepover tomorrow. Can we?"
They pulled up to the car, the other boys doing an antsy dance as they shook themselves dry in the sun. Beth laughed as she bent over her tote bag to pull out some towels. "We'll see. Probably not tomorrow, but some time soon."
All the boys cheered, but through their excited chatter, Beth could still hear her name being called. She turned to see Padme on the front porch waving at her.
"4:50 sharp! If you're not waiting at the curb, I'm going to keep driving!" she called teasingly.
"Just have the window rolled down, I'll jump in!" Beth teased back.
"Looks like you made a new friend, too," Echo commented.
Beth smiled. "Yeah... I guess I did."