Float

Original Edition: Chapter Fourteen

Figures. Ethan would play Katy Perry at his parties.

The douchebag.

It was another minute or so before Blake pulled the car onto a very crowded street. I blinked in surprise at the abnormal number of cars parked along the sidewalks. Then, after a moment, I spotted what I could only guess was Ethan's house.

At the end of the street sat a large, white, two-story, Victorian-style mansion with a rose garden in the front. Not that the rose garden was gorgeous, or anything. I just noticed it because there seemed to be an unusual number of kids hovering in the yard, most of whom were wearing board shorts and bikinis despite being several blocks inland from the beach.

I watched them as Blake pulled Rachel's car into what appeared to be the only empty parking space on the street. He quickly pulled the keys out of the ignition and hopped out of the car, slamming his door closed behind him.

Isabel's eyes fluttered open.

I rolled down my window and stuck my head out.

"This is Ethan's house?" I asked, praying that by some miracle we had arrived at the wrong destination, and there was someone else in Holden throwing a giant party.

"Yup," Blake replied, clicking his tongue.

"So we'll just wait here," I said, jabbing my thumb at Isabel (who seemed totally chill with waking up somewhere other than where she'd fallen asleep) and reaching out the window to smack the outside of Rachel's car, which I could now see was illegally parked against a red curb. 

Great. Add that to the list of laws I had broken tonight.

"No," Blake said, his dark eyebrows pulling together and his lips curling down in a small scowl, "I need your help finding Alissa."

"I can't bring a baby into a party," I pointed out.

Blake rolled his eyes.

"She'll be fine. Chloe has dinner parties all the time. Isabel loves crowds."

"But what if..." I trailed off, searching for a scenario in which me staying in the car would be useful. "What if a robber comes and breaks into the car?"

"Then I'd rather the two of you were inside. You know, so the robber doesn't kill you or anything."

Damn. He had a point.

"But, what if some of those kids," I pointed at the teens loitering in the rose garden, "come over here and... um... throw up on the car?"

"I'll wash it."

"What if they key it?"

"I'll say I did it and pay for the touch-ups."

"What if they set it on fire?"

The corner of Blake's mouth pulled upward in a small smile.

"I have faith in our dear friends down at the Holden fire department," he said.

"How are they even going to get the fire truck in here when you're parked in the freaking red zone?" I demanded furiously, pointing at the red curb Blake had parked Rachel's car up against.

"They'll park in the middle of the street," Blake replied, seemingly oblivious to my growing insanity. "I've seen them do it a million times before. Besides, this'll be convenient for them."

"Convenient?" I repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, we parked next to a fire hydrant. I figure that'll be easier for them, in case anyone sets the car on fire."