Piano Girl ❊ {Paul Lahote}

Chapter Eleven - Prelude in G Minor (Op.23 No.5) - Rachmaninoff

Shaking my head and grinning at her enthusiasm, I pulled the top over my head and the jacket over my shoulders. Leaning over the small mirror that was stood on my desk, I did my best to organize the hair on my head and scrunched it up in my hands before letting fall. Giving myself a final once over, I nodded. That would have to do.

As I stepped from my room into the narrow, dark hallway, I bumped into my sister, who was travelling in the direction of her own room. She looked at me, briefly startled, but then her expression turned carefully emotionless.

"Have fun at your party." She spoke as she moved past me, clutching several papers to her chest.

I frowned. "Thanks. Are you just doing homework tonight?" I received only an unenthusiastic grunt in answer. With a shrug, I turned and made my way to the front door where Ora was hopping up and down eagerly.

"You look good! Now, let's gooo!" She bolted out the door towards my car. I laughed and followed, anxieties of the past day forgotten.

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When we arrived at Keenan's house, the party was already in full swing. Music could be heard pulsating from the house along with the sound of teens laughing and chatting loudly. Ora skipped up to the door and turned the knob. The door swung open to reveal exactly what you'd expect from hearing the noise outside.

Teens stood around, clutching beer cans full of alcohol they had brought (no one provided alcohol for parties around here, it was too expensive, plus there was the 'minor' problem of potential suing), while chatting with each other. Voices were raised to combat the music that was blaring from the living room, where a group of people were doing a form of dance that involved bobbing, weaving and occasionally dancing on each other.

The air was heavy with the smell of cigarette smoke, weed and alcohol. Even though the designated smoke pit was in Keenan's backyard, the smell definitely leaked back through the door and into the house every time it was opened.

Ora and I ducked and squeezed through the crowd until she let out a shout and raised her arm, waving it emphatically. I almost lost her in the crowd as she dashed across the living room to the kitchen, were we nearly ran straight into Ben and Jamie, who were talking to Keenan.

"Hey guys! So cool you could make it!!" Ora said cheerfully as she reached to put an arm around Jamie's shoulders.

"Ah." Keenan sighed dramatically as I reached Ora's side a second later. "Of course you're behind this, Ora."

"Behind what?" Ora fluttered her eyelashes innocently. "I merely invited these two fine gentleman to partake in the entertainment offered by your fine establishment!"

I snorted, covering my mouth with my hand and turning my head away. My eyes caught Ben's and he raised his eyebrows, his own lips twitching with a barely contained smile.

"Riiight." Keenan drawled. "Just make sure they don't do anything stupid." He directed the last statement at me.

Ora gasped, faking offense. "Stupid? Me? Really Keenan, you wound me. Come on girls." She spun on her heel and headed further into the kitchen, Jamie, Ben and I snickering after her.

Once we reached the fridge we all burst into laughter. "Really, Ora?" I gasped. "What?" She asked, giggling. "You wound me?" I smiled.

She shrugged, a playful smirk on her face. Swinging her bag off of her shoulder, she unzipped it to reveal several metallic cans shining from within. "Anyone want a beer?"

Ben and Jamie both eagerly grabbed one each from her leather purse. She looked up at me as I hesitated.

While I didn't have to drive home (we were close enough to Ora's house to walk), I wasn't too excited about leaving my car at Keenan's house.

"Hey, if you don't want any, it's cool Vi. More for us!" Ora winked at the other boys, who nodded excitedly.

I made up my mind. "Nah, it's cool. I'll have one. I'll just crash at your place?"

Ora reached into her bag and took out the shining silver cylinder, handing it to me. "Of course Vi. Let's have a good time tonight, huh?"

With a wink and a red-lipped smile, she hip-bumped me and grabbed Jamie's hand, sashaying towards the dance floor with him not-too-reluctantly trailing behind. In fact, he looked positively ecstatic.

I snorted at the look on his face, shaking my head and popping open the beer can. Ora sure knew how to play the game.

Ben sidled up alongside me as I watched the two start dancing in a way that would cause a nun to have a heart attack. "So..those two are getting pretty close already, huh?"

I laughed, taking a swig of my drink. "Literally." I tilted my head towards the pair, who had their arms around each other. He reciprocated the laugh, also bringing his can to his lips.

"So have you two been friends for long?" I asked him.

"Who, me and Jamie?"

I nodded.

"Oh, we're not like, super close friends or anything. We just kinda know each other from being in the same classes and stuff. I don't usually hang out with him though."

"Ah. Cool." I nodded in understanding. He shifted closer to try and make himself heard over the noise.

"What about you and Ora?"

I smiled. "Oh I've known her since we moved back here. We've been friends for a few years."

"Oh," He spoke again, leaning in. "Why did you move here? Where did you come from?"

I pressed my lips together tightly, and took another drink. "It's a long story.."

I didn't necessarily want to give my whole life story to someone who I had just met. It would definitely freak him out, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

His eyes widened as he took in the look on my face. "Oh, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm sorry."

I shook my head and smiled, my hair falling in front of my eyes. "It's fine. This just..isn't really the right place, ya'know?" He nodded.

There was a long pause. We both took a long drink from our respective cans.

The music pulsated though the building. People laughed and yelled at each other around us, and the noise just seemed to increase exponentially with every passing second. I tucked my hair behind my ears, and took another drink, trying not to make eye contact with the equally awkward boy next to me.

Suddenly, a song came on, and he perked up, turning to me with a nervous smile on his face. "Hey, you wanna dance? I like this song!"

I tilted my head and listened. It was a Nine Inch Nails song that had come out last year. He gently took my hand in his and started doing a silly little dance, moving in the direction of the dance floor, where Ora was beckoning us. He he was trying to make me laugh, and it was working.

"Okay, okay!" I giggled as we reached Ora and Jamie. Tilting my head back, I drained the rest of the can and tossed it into the trash can across from the living room. Ora and the others cheered, and the former handed me another can.

"How many do you have in there?" I asked, still laughing and slowly getting into the music.

"Oh darling," She winked, "I have enough to last all night."

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My apologies for being a week late, a lot of things came up that delayed the posting...but I won't waste your time with that! Guess what! Since you guys had to wait, there will be another chapter posted tomorrow. Technically it will be listed as a second chapter, but really it is more of a part two to this one.

As always, I hope you are enjoying the story!! Thank you for reading!