We Will Be Together For Never

[25] Arriving at the Party

On Saturday, in the hours leading up to the party, I hid in my room, stomach churning with nervousness. I sketched, mainly, but to avoid thoughts of anything related to the party, I refrained from drawing my friends. Instead, I reverted back to my former sketch subjects - my biological family.

As I traced my little brother's cheekbones, I wondered how much he had grown. It had been two years, after all.

Tears sprang to my eyes and I forced myself to put the sketchbook down until I had regained sufficient control over my emotions.

For the rest of the day, though, I just wasted time on my phone. It was safer.

Finally, I checked the time and saw that I had to be at the strange girl's house in half an hour. I quickly texted Sasha for the address and tugged on my dress. To my pleasant surprise, it actually had a pocket in the side, so I could take my phone, but nothing else as I didn't have a purse to match.

I walked hesitantly out of my bedroom. If Roger has any reservations at all about this party, they're going to be with this outfit.

Sure enough, when Roger saw me, he froze, looking me up and down with shocked eyes. Then he met my gaze and smiled softly. "You look beautiful, dear."

I nodded, unsure of how to respond. Even though I had been living with Roger for nearly two years, it still felt odd to have a grown man compliment me, although I knew it was completely platonic and not at all invasive.

"Can you drive me over as soon as Sasha texts me the address?" I asked.

"When's this party?" Roger asked, glancing at the clock.

"Seven."

He snorted. "You're going to be fashionably late, I expect."

I sighed, too nervous to be amused with his weak jokes. "Can you drive me or not?"

He nodded. "Of course."

And then we waited.

When Sasha finally texted me the address what felt like hours (but was only minutes) later, we hurried to Roger's car and took off.

I was silent on the ride there, wishing I was anywhere else. Why had I agreed to this?

"Hey," Roger said sternly, noticing my nervousness, "you have to enjoy yourself. That's a command." He had a light, joking tone in his voice with the last sentence.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. He didn't try to comfort me again.

Roger pulled over to the curb across the street from the house. It was very obvious which one was hosting the party: the lights were all on behind closed curtains and I could faintly hear thumping music.

What am I doing?

"Go have fun," Roger urged me. "I mean it."

I nodded. Suddenly, on impulse, I turned back to him and embraced him tightly. He returned the hug without hesitating.

"Thank you," I murmured. "For everything." Then, before I could start crying, I hopped out of the car, checked to make sure my phone was secure in my pocket, and crossed the street toward the house, only glancing back at the car once.

Roger lifted his hand in a solemn farewell and I did the same, not caring who saw. I owed him that.

I was about to knock on the front door of the house when I realized there was no way it would be heard over the loud music. Instead, I tried the doorknob gently, and sure enough, it swung open. I stepped inside and was instantly transported to another world.

In a room to my left, teenagers writhed against one another to the beat of the music. Nobody looked too disheveled or drunk - yet. I did notice practically everyone already carrying a classic red cup.

Beer. I hadn't even thought about the fact that there would be underage drinking at this party. Almost every part of me rebelled against this - almost. A small portion of my brain reveled in this new opportunity. After all, I distinctly remembered Roger explaining early on that vampires couldn't get drunk. I wove my way through the house until I found the kitchen. There, I grabbed one of the open cups of beer, grinning giddily at the remembered fact that vampires were also incredibly difficult to drug, so if anything was slipped into my drink, I was completely safe.

I would make an awesome designated driver, I thought with a wry grin as I scanned the crowds of kids for my friends. I didn't see any of them.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to find Sasha smiling at me, leaning against Sapphire slightly.

"You're here!" she exclaimed. Her words were clear enough, but she still seemed a little tipsy.

"Are you already drunk?" I asked incredulously, laughing slightly despite my discomfort.

Sasha shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"She's crashing at my place for the night and my parents aren't home," Sapphire explained, "so my only task is to keep her from getting blackout drunk."

I nodded understandingly. "Is anyone else here?"

"Bea and her boyfriend pulled an emo and called this...what were their exact words? 'A pile of prep bullshit,' I believe."

I chuckled. "Sounds about right."

"Bea does not at all feel comfortable at these types of events," Sapphire continued, "but Derek and Christian are here. I don't know where but I saw them when we first got here."

"Okay."

"Is your boyfriend coming?" Sasha asked loudly.

"Boyfriend?" I asked, baffled. Sasha raised her eyebrows at me and I realized with a sharp intake of breath what she meant. "First of all, Jordan and I aren't dating, and yeah, he said he would try to stop by."

Sasha giggled.

"What?" I demanded irritably.

"Nothing," she stage-whispered back, grinning.

I sighed, rolling my eyes, but feeling a slight flash of amusement. "You two go have fun. I'm going to give myself a tour of the house."

"Sure thing," Sapphire replied, taking her girlfriend's arm gently and leading her into the living room, where the stereo was located.

I wandered through the house - well, it was more of a mansion - as I nursed my bitter beer. Eventually, I found myself back in the kitchen, which was directly by the door leading into the backyard. The party was beginning to become a bit much for me, so this was where I headed.

I sat down on the step and sighed as the commotion faded slightly. It was strangely peaceful outside, even though I could still clearly hear the party inside the house behind me.

The door slid open and I glanced over my shoulder. A slow smile spread over my face at the sight of Jordan.

"Hey," he greeted me with a grin.