Float

Original Edition: Chapter Fourteen

He was mocking me now.

I could tell.

"But..." I spluttered out, getting increasingly desperate, "What if—oh! I know! What if these guys come and bust the party? You know, like some secret government agents or something? What if they come bust the party and they're looking for you? Don't you want me to be here," I gestured towards Rachel's car, "so I can start the car and be your getaway driver?"

Blake stared at me for a moment.

Then he blinked.

Then he spun around and started walking towards Ethan's house.

I let out a feeble moan and turned to Isabel.

"Your brother sucks," I muttered as I unbuckled her from her carseat. 

"Wave-ree!" she exclaimed, delighted at the attention.

"Yeah, that's me," I huffed. "C'mon, kid."

I balanced Isabel on my hip and kicked the car door closed behind us, then followed after her idiot stepbrother. 

As we grew closer to Ethan's Victorian-style mansion, I found it increasingly hard to ignore the fact that his house was lit up like an over-decorated Christmas tree. Every light inside had been turned on. I almost felt like Blake and I were walking down a long tunnel, and Ethan's house was a white light at the end. 

The house was blinding, especially in contrast with the night sky above and all the other houses on the block, which appeared to be inhabited by a series of people with great talent for falling asleep to loud, overplayed pop music.

By the time the three of us made it up to the front door of Ethan's house, the song had switched to one of Justin Bieber's newer anthems.

"Okay," Blake shouted over the music. He turned back to face me, his hand resting on the front doorknob. "Here's the plan. We need to go find Jesse and Lena, then split up and try to find Alissa. Do you have your phone with you?"

"Phone!" Isabel cried, extending one chubby thumb and pinky finger in demonstration.

Oh, dear God.

"I don't have a phone," I admitted.

"You what?" Blake demanded, looking at me like I'd told him I only showered once a year.

"I left it in Alaska," I explained.

I decided not to tell him the reasons why I had left it, which were that I had very few friends back in Alaska, assumed I would never make any friends in Holden, and did not want to have to settle arguments between my parents over three-way calls. Thus, I decided I did not need, nor want, to have my phone with me.

"Fine," Blake huffed, "then we'll do this like they did in the Middle Ages."

"I'm pretty sure no one had to go on missions into wild teenage parties to rescue their drunk ex-girlfriends back then," I pointed out, even though I knew he was just making fun of me for not having a phone.

Blake narrowed his eyes at me.

"Watch it, Alaska," he warned.

"Oh, no!" I said in mock-terror. "An unoriginal nickname! I'm shaking."

Isabel giggled, and I decided that I wanted her to be my new honorary baby sister.

Blake scowled at me for another second.

"Come on," he grumbled, turning around and pushing open the front door.

I smirked to myself and hurried in after him.