Scene 1.

 I usually am awful at titling my own works. If someone comes up with a title. I will Gladly change it, but for now we'll settle on this.
I forgot this place existed. But this will be the year I bring it back. (I always say that)
Word of warning, this is only word vomit and not edited. This is not a finished project but just a mere exercise. To what point? Good question. Enjoy

~~

"Are you doing okay?" he asked softly.
"Yeah." she nodded, bracing against the cold. 
Another lie, he knew.
The sun hid behind dauntless grey clouds, as the fire crackled before them. She sat unusually close, eyes transfixed on the dancing flames. Lost in her own world.
The tension radiating from her was thick, almost suffocating, but her eyes gave nothing away.
He sighed and sat down, talking to the rest of the group. If she said she was fine, then she was fine. He knew the apprehension she held when he asked her to come along. He promised she wouldn't be the only new person there. 
She thinks he lied to her.
She was the only new person there, which caused the tension, and the steel wall in her mind. 
He knew she was half listening, her eyes transfixed on the flames of the fire pit. Nothing interested her.

She showed up, like she promised. He hoped that wasn't all that mattered to her, but all he could read from her was 'Uncomfortable'. 
"So where is everyone else?" He asked the group, trying to counteract the tension that was eminating from his date.
"Oh mine canceled last minute." a tall woman said, rolling her eyes. "He said he was too anxious to meet a group he didn't know." 
The group nodded. 
The mood altered, sharply. By the time he looked at his date, it was diffused. The tension was almost suffocating him. What was going on in her mind?
"Mine too." a man laughed, running his hand through his hair before checking on his food in the fire. "She is pretty shy and needs to warm up to people." another nod, another chill of the change, another wave of tension.
"I'm glad that people know their limits." the hostess said, "Nobody should be put into a terribly uncomfortable position if they don't want to." 
He caught the change in her eyes, the diffused tension erased in a moment. A flash of insight into her mind, anger. Before they became cool and emotionless again. She only nodded still seemingly mesmerized by the flames.

The anger was stifled instantly. She was uncomfortable, she was guarded. He wanted her to go out and have fun.
He held a bottle of alcohol and offered it to her. Her eyes softened. "No thanks, I said I'd do this sober. You have it." she smiled, it was all fake. Each word had an edge to them. He could practically see her teeth clamping into the inside of her cheek. She reached down, instead, for a sip of hot coffee. 
The group talked, he wanted to join in but kept feeling the uncomfortable tension to his right. 
Her eyes only lifted from the fire if someone spoke something that her ears picked up. Almost like a dog, she'd look up, decide it wasn't worth her time, and go back to staring. What was going on inside her head?

The sun dipped below the house, and the chill set in for everyone. She had said very little to the group. The hostess had given up in drawing her out in conversation. There was a chill in her eyes. She'd make eye contact with whomever was trying to chat her up and they'd slink away. The lively eyes he fell for, so full of color and warmth, were pale and icy.
"So, how are things going for you?" The hostess asked.
"Hmm?" She replied pulling away her gaze from the fire, "How so do you mean?"
"You know, with your boys?" 
The lightning change in her eyes happened again, "Which ones?"
The hostess stammered, seeing the anger flash for just a split second. This girl was barely containing everything in, and the resentment was starting to show, just a simmer waiting for enough heat to boil over. 
"I don't have any boys." A challenge. He had told the hostess everything, and now realized he shouldn't have.
"Oh I heard you went out with some."
"Hmm" 
The conversation died. The discomfort and suffocating feeling was just added to heat. He saw her bite her tongue and cheek at the same time while returning to the fire gazing.
A man was laughing loudly, inviting himself over for another party. Handing out party treats to the group, who mostly graciously accepted. All Except her. 

She hadn't eaten much, and only sipped her coffee. He wondered, was it still hot? She had it in a giant insulated mug, but it's been hours.
Then he saw it, a crack in her defenses. She was getting tired. Her eyes were vibrant green, but that didn't take away the ice.
Her discomfort, made him uncomfortable, and guilty. He promised she wouldn't be the only one here alone, and here she was, alone.
He'd brought the alcohol because he knew it would make her feel comfortable, why wasn't she taking it? She usually never turns down a free drink. Instead he watched her sip her coffee. Never a gulp, never less. 
The fire kept crackling. 
He'd get closer, but the discomfort radiating from her was like a cement wall he'd have to break through. Her mind was a steel trap, and around her was a thick wall, for her to hide behind and watch.
Others had decided it was getting to cold and started to say their goodbyes.
"It's about time I get this one home too." he chuckled, he looked down. She hadn't moved much all night. Except to sip her coffee and set the mug down on the ground. He stood, she didn't move. 
Was she ignoring him too?
Her eyes were watching everyone else. Not the fire, that was slowly dying, but the group of friends, as they hugged, kissed, and started to clean up the mess.
"Ready to go home?" He asked closer to her now.
"Whenever you are."
It's his reply, she has been waiting on him, all night. He said that when he felt unjustly left waiting for her to make up her mind, or be ready to leave.
The ice in her voice cut him.

~

"We'll never do that again." He said as she drove away from the gathering. 
She shrugged, "I met them, next time won't be so hard for me." 
It was another lie, she hated it, and he didn't want to do that again. Her mood soured his, and it wasn't fair to his group of friends to see him on edge.
"I promise, I won't put you through that again."
"Okay." the finality in her tone stabbed him, she didn't believe him.
"Are you hungry?"
"A bit." 
He still couldn't read her, the discomfort was dissipating slowly, but was still there.
What was going on in her mind?