The Magician's Assistant

[9] Untameable Party

          Jess’s voice came screaming on the other line so loudly that I had to hold it at least a foot away from my ear. When she seemed to calm down, I made it short. “See you there,” I said and hung up.

          After the phone call, I straightened my hair. It was an extensive process, considering the amount of hair I possessed. When I was satisfied, I put in black dangly earrings and tucked my phone in my jean’s pocket.

          I whistled loudly with my fingers in my mouth, “summoning” James.

          “Ready?” James appeared suddenly.

          “Jess is coming along too,” I informed him.

          His eyes immediately brightened. I knew that look. He was hatching a plan.

          “What’s going on in that mind of yours?” I asked suspiciously.

          He snapped his eyes to mine and gave me a childlike expression. “Nothing much,” he shrugged nonchalantly. That’s right, I forgot about his ‘If questioned, I go mute’ policy. “Let’s go.”

          On our way out, I didn’t miss out on the undeniable crash of my dresser. Furrowing my eyebrows, I spun around and poked my head into my bedroom. It was snapped in half. As if someone had karate chopped it right down the middle.

          I stood in the doorway for a good couple of minutes, my mouth opening and closing like a fish.

          Deciding to clean it up when I got back, I walked down the stairs feeling disoriented. How the heck had the dresser cracked in half? It was perfectly fine the hour before.

          When I arrived downstairs, I ran right into my dad. “Lookin’ good, Rae Rae,” he smiled, and then it faded, “Are you going on a date? Lauren!” He called for my mother.

          “No, dad. I’m going to a party,” I laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “You can stop thinking about your shotgun now.”

          “Did you ask my permission?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at me. He looked down at me disapprovingly.

          “Can I go to a party?” I smiled hopefully, and then tacked on at the end, “Jess is coming, too.”

          Though, I’d be the responsible one in that situation.

          “Yes,” he nodded, giving me the dad look. It was a mix of ‘If you get pregnant, I will lock you in your room for the rest of your life’ and ‘Come back drunk and I will make sure all you drink for the rest of your life is prune juice’.

          “Thanks, daddy,” I pecked him on the cheek and opened the front door. I walked out and waved good-bye, telling him to give mom and hug for me. She was in the attic, working on developing some film on her photographs.

          I picked up my keys and drove my way to the party, thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong. James smiled reassuringly at me, giving me just an ounce of confidence. Hopefully it was enough.

~* *~

          I had arrived a little before Jessica because I had gotten ready a little earlier than she had. The street I had driven onto was packed with cars lined along the lawns of peoples’ houses. It was easy to tell which house was hosting the party, considering the front lawn already had beer cans crushed everywhere. Music was blaring and pulsing against the ground I was parked on.