I rushed down the street in tears. I was clutching my new heels in hand, my bare feet racing on the cool night pavement. The wind soared against my red cheeks, my eyes burning with tears. My throat felt dusty and dry. I couldn't speak, but if I could, I would scream. Scream and scream until I couldn't feel anything anymore but the cool wind. But nothing could soothe me.
I ran and ran until my feet blistered and began to bleed, and then I stopped to catch my breath under a tree. I rested on the roots and let my hair fall behind me. I felt at rest, free and able to breathe finally. My head spun with (you guessed it) memories. Everything spun out of control tonight, but I couldn't remember everything. I felt dizzy, maybe from the stupid drinks that Darius had convinced me to guzzle down before everything happened. Darius. The name stung. God I hated him. I hated everything about him. His stupid smile, his stupid eyes, his stupid laugh. Everything came flashing back at me, and I had no choice but to just lay there and let all the memories and tears from the night flood back.
He picked me up after school. To be honest, I was still kind of upset about Ollie, but being with Darius changed all of that. I had picked out a super sexy, short black dress with matching heels, and I really outdid my makeup. I barely ever wore it, so I needed my mom to help me figure out what was what and where to apply and how much to put on and all that good stuff. When I asked her, I had expected her to just blankly ignore me, or mumble something incoherent about how she was busy, but to my surprise, she jumped to her feet and rushed over with me to the bathroom. She made me look gorgeous. She made my eyes pop, my lips look fuller, and gave me the presence of cheekbones. It was actually really amazing how we talked and laughed, it was like old times. I thought she had finally changed for the better, was finally getting back into step with how a real mother was supposed to act. I wanted her good mood to last forever. But as she curled my hair, and was in the middle of telling a story, I heard the doorbell ring. "Holy crap! Darius isn't supposed to be here yet!" The doorbell rang again. I flashed to my mom with sad eyes, as only half my hair was curled. She pondered for a moment, then hastily grabbed a clip and put my hair up almost Amy Winehouse style. I beamed at my reflection. Hearing the doorbell ring again, I gave my mom a kiss on the cheek and rushed off.
I could tell he was impressed. I guess he wasn't expecting to see me, little old Kathy, looking like...well, a prostitute. But a high class prostitute! His features visibly perked up when he saw me, and he even opened the passenger side door for me! I was actually starting to think that Darius had changed. But people don't change. Ever.
At the party, commotion was all around. Music was blasting, drinks were being passed around, smoke clouded the air, and people were everywhere. Darius grabbed my hand and led me past all the masses of what smelled like alcohol and sweat, until we got to a more secluded part of the party. I recognized some people from school and waved. They waved back confused, until they realized it was me. "Kat! We barely knew it was you! You look amazing!" I beamed at their praise and spoke with them for a few minutes, discussing stupid things that I knew they probably wouldn’t have talked to be about if I hadn’t been all dressed up. No one cares unless you’re beautiful or dying. When I turned around, Darius was nowhere to be seen. I scanned the crowd for him, but no luck. I wandered aimlessly back into the crazy party zone, deciding to find some other people while I looked interesting or something. That's when I saw him.
"Ollie." I breathed. I don't know how he heard me over the thumping bass of the music, but he did. His dancing eyes widened when he saw me, but realizing who I was, he turned away. I rushed over to him. "Ollie, look I-" He held a finger to my lips. I looked at him oddly and he laughed, and anticipating what I would say, he responded to the apology I didn't even get out. "Kathy, I'm over it." He seemed loose and his words were sorta slurred. Holy shit. "Ollie! Are you drunk?"
