Invisible String

Chapter 3

"Okay" she says as she hangs up.

I grab my things and head outside locking the door behind me. I would have said bye to mom, but she's been sleeping a lot lately and I don't want to interrupt her.

I get into her car and we listen to her music while we go to her house.

Pulling up into Neveahs driveway is always refreshing. The long freshly grated dirt road is surrounded on both sides by gorgeous tall trees. The branches leaning low almost like they're bowing down welcoming you. She parks by her two story ranch style home and helps me unload me makeup tote and overnight bag. We walk up her stone stairway and reach the large dark oak front door. It opens before we can grab the handle.

"Elise!" her mom shouts as she embraces me. Jennette has always treated me like her own child even though she already has 2 daughters and 3 sons, Neveah being the youngest.

"Hi mom!" I return the embrace, wrapping my arms around her small petite body. She stands around 5'5" tall, she has golden skin, golden hair, deep brown eyes and she's incredibly healthy for her age. She's spent her life eating the healthiest foods advocating against the junk food ive grown up with.

"It's so nice to see you, sweetie. Come in! Are you staying over? Are you hungry? I made some pasta with vegetables from the garden, would you like some?" She asks excitedly.

"I would love a plate. I think I'm staying over if that's okay."

"Oh absolutely!" She shouts.

"Mom." Neveah says annoyed.

"What?" Jennette asks innocently.

"We're going to a party tonight so we won't be home til late."

"Oh. Well that's okay I'll have breakfast prepared for you both in the morning." She smiles and pinches my cheek, something she's done since I've met her. "Have fun, girls" she finishes saying before she heads to the kitchen.

Neveah walks me up to her room. The staircase inside is beautiful and wide, leading up to the bedrooms. Her home has always been so elegant and rich. We used to dress up as princesses and walk down these stairs pretending to met by some prince. We enter her bedroom and set down my belongings by her bed. I climb up on her king size mattress that feels like a cloud.

"Should we start getting dressed now?" I ask

"Yes, I usually take an hour or two on my makeup and hair." She answers

"Okay, will you help me with my hair, you know I can never figure out how to do that."

She looks over my long hair that I threw up in to a claw clip. Then she looks at me with a grin.

"Trust me, I would not let you go to a party with your hair like that. I'll be more than happy to do something with that mess." She teases. I laugh and push her shoulder, "Hey!" I shout defensively. "It's true! You know it is!" She argues and we laugh together for a short moment.

"Alright come on" she says as she grabs my arm and pulls me off the bed.

We spend the next hour doing makeup, hers a light natural look with dark red lipstick. Mine more dark and smokey with a gloss coat on my lips. We change into our sundresses, mine the one she's bought for me, hers a short black dress with spaghetti straps and a deep neck exposing her chest. She does her hair first while I play on my phone and chat with her about her life. She finishes by putting her hair half up half down leaving out strands of her bangs, the ends of her hair curled and bouncy. I sit in her chair and she starts curling my hair, this takes her only 25 minutes and we decide to keep my hair down and let the curls be the look.

"Shit!" She shouts

"What?" I ask worried

"It's 7:10!"

"Okay?"

"I told dawson we'd be there at 7 to help set up! People will start getting there at 8!"

"Okay call him real quick and I'll grab our purses let's go" I say knowing she panics when she's in a rush.

We run down the stairs and out the door when he answers the phone, they go back and forth for a few minutes before she hangs up. He doesn't live too far from her so I don't bother putting on music. After about 5 minutes of her speeding we're pulling up to his parents mansion. I've only been here a few times, but his parents always seem kind.

"Are his parents here?" I ask suspiciously

"No, they're on vacation in Italy for the rest of the summer."

"Ah okay, so they don't know about this." I assume

"Nope and they won't find out" she looks over at me with her evil smile.

He's outside waiting when we park, he walks around and opens her door greeting her with a kiss.

"Hello, angel" he says

She giggles against his lips and kisses him more

"Hey where's my kiss im starting to feel left out" i joke

"If you're that desperate-" he starts to tease back

"I was talking to Neveah" I laugh

"Even better" he adds

"Shut up!" Neveah and I both shout at the same time following with a loud laugh.

He leads us inside and shows us the food, drinks, decorations and games he has. We come up with a game plan and each take on tasks to do.

After a short while we finish setting things up when the first person knocks.

"Bro!" Dawson shouts.

"What's up, bro! How you been?" His friend shouts back

"Oh great, we walked right into a frat boy trap." I tease to Neveah

"Hey, he's my frat boy" she laughs

It doesn't take long for people to pool into the large house. The music is blasting, being DJ'd by some friend of Dawsons. Everyone is drinking and shouting, some dancing, others sitting and talking.

I go outside where it's still loud, but the music isn't as deafening. I walk around his pool and sit on a lounge chair. Neveah is still inside glued to her boyfriends side. I don't mind though, I like to wander off alone sometimes. My social battery drains fast and it doesn't help being surrounded by drunk rich kids and loud music I don't listen to.

I sit back and look at the sky, Dawson lives in the country so the stars shine brighter here than the city. I love looking at the stars and thinking of how insignificant we all are on this rock twirling through the universe. I softly smile to myself and look around to see if I know anyone here.

I scan over the crowd of people and no one looks familiar, until I see his face. What's even worse is that he's looking right back at me.

"Shit." I say under my breath.