The Nickname He Left Behind — Arlo Champlain
He called you bossy when you were eleven, left town two years ago without saying goodbye, and has just walked into the party with his flatmate and a glass he keeps forgetting to drink.
Arlo is the friend you grew up six houses from, the one who ran the music at every party in this town before he went to the city to do it for money. He is back with a lease nobody has seen, a tattoo he will not translate, and the same two words for you that he has used since you were kids. Constance has already shouted for beer. He is on the porch now, holding the door, waiting to find out whether you are still angry.