Vi Presento a Athea (Introducing Athea)

IX

Athea followed Jason back inside as he led her across the tables until they reached the food & beverages one. In front of it, with her back towards them, serving punch into a few cups, stood a girl with jet black hair that hung loose, covering a bit of her back, which her low-cut dress revealed. Athea, noticing the beautiful iridescent colors, could only imagine what the short navy-blue gown she was wearing looked like from the front.

"Hey, B.?" Jason poked her on the shoulder, making her flinch slightly. When she turned around, a pair of vivid blue eyes illuminated them.

"Ugh, it's just you, Jay." She complained, rolling her eyes at him. The intimacy with which they treated each other surprised Athea. Suddenly, the girl seemed to notice her – probably because she kept admiring the beautifully draped dress she was wearing. "New toy?"

"Very funny." He squinted his eyes at her. He hesitated a bit before introducing his pair, feeling almost embarrassed to call her by her first name. He cleaned his throat. "Athea, this is Bianca." He indicated the confused girl with his hand. "My twin sister."

Athea couldn't help her mouth to gape. Glancing repeatedly from one to the other she began to notice the resemblance, even though they were not identical. However, she was, indeed, a little taken aback; Jason would probably be the last person she would expect to have a twin.

"Oh, I do see the similarity." She thought aloud. "She just has darker hair." She examined her carefully, likely scaring the girl a bit. "Oh!" She snapped back to reality, struck with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, I'm Athea." She introduced herself awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah... I remember you. "The new girl"." She smiled at her. "And I just dye my hair." She shrugged her shoulders, answering the sheepish Athea.

"So, long story short," Jason clasped his hands together, directing himself to his sister. "I was kind of a jerk to her on her first day decided to make it up and be her date here as an apology however the guy's girlfriends are making her feel uncomfortable and I have no one else to turn to." He spoke fast and without punctuation enunciation and Athea almost didn't understand anything he said. Bianca, however, got everything perfectly fine – almost as if she was used to it.

"So, you screwed up again and I gotta clean up for ya? Again?" She put a hand on her hip, focusing her body weight on only one leg.

"No, don't think of it as "cleaning up for me", B., for Christ's sake, this is a person!" Jason apprehended her, both of them completely forgetting that Athea was standing right next to them. He took a deep breath. "I just think she'll get along with you and your friends better than with mine." Bianca also took a deep breath, staring intently at Jason's eyes. "If anything, only for tonight. Please?" He held his sister's hand, pedant.

"Geez, no need to beg, Jason!" She stripped her hand off his grab. "I'm not like you, okay? We can always use someone else." She smiled at Athea. "Plus, she seems pretty cool. I think the one who's going to be at a loss here is you, buddy." Bianca then took the girl by the wrist, bringing her closer to the table, where 4 cups of punch were lined side by side. "C'mon, help me out here." She served an extra cup for the newcomer, completely ignoring that Jason was still there. Athea quickly glanced at him but he just smiled encouragingly. They took the cups in both hands (Bianca juggling 3 at once) and cut through the sea of tables over to one by the back. Jason shouted a "thanks!" but he was pretty sure his sister couldn't hear him. He had a sense of accomplishment anyway, feeling as if he had helped the girl make some friends – because, knowing Bianca, she probably wouldn't let that one go so easily.

Arriving at the table, Athea met with two girls and a boy: Bianca's friends. She introduced them one by one. The wide-eyed, pixie-cut blonde was Lisa, the beautiful, orange-haired one was Natalie, and the light brown-haired, slim and oddly attractive boy was Eric. As she greeted one by one, Athea's eyes widened and sparkled as she took a glance at Eric's face, her mouth unwillingly gaping in awe.