Illusion: Destiny Awaits (In Editing)

12 - Sabrina

"So, it's a pool party. It must be pretty exciting for you!" Mom says, trying to get me pumped up, for a birthday party for a girl that I have been a nemesis to for four years. Good try, Mom.

"Yeah, sure," I say, not really in the mood to talk. I need to ponder things over. With Lupo, and Skifter, and Zaraho. So much stuff! Ugh. Lupo hasn't even really told me who Zaroho is yet. And does Adelaide have a motive? If so, what? It's all so very confusing.

"Here we are!" Mom exclaims falsely happy voice. Yay? As much as I love swimming, this is not my idea of absolute fun. Plus, I've never really been a party person, and I'm pretty sure that she invited at least half the grade so...

We approach the dreaded door of doom.

"Sabrina..." Mom warns. Oops, must have said that out loud.

"Fine fine, I just... don't really like her that much. That's all." I sigh. She frowns, but leans forward and rings the doorbell. It sounds inside. A woman, who is dressed very posh, opens the door.

"Hello hello! You must be Sabrina! I am Jacqueline!" She exclaims. She's wearing a bright red dress, with high heels, and a lot of makeup. Yup, this is Adelaide's mom. She holds out her hand, and I take it. Her flowery perfume clouds around me, and I try to stifle a cough. It smells so artificial, that it's practically like one of those energy bars, that are supposed to taste like chocolate mint, but really taste so fake it's hard to find the chocolate and mint. Like that, except in smell.

"Come in, come in!" She invites, sweeping her hand in gesture. I give an 'I told you so' look to my mom, and step inside.

I practically gasp at what's inside. It's huge. Lavish curtains and rugs line the room, and the furniture matches so perfectly, it looks like it took a few years to find the correct pattern! The coffee table has a glass top with a marble bowl of assorted candies. The whole thing screams; 'I'm rich, and I like everyone to know because I'm stuck up!'

"My, this is a lovely place!" Mom exclaims. I nod.

"Lovely," I echo. Mom glares.

"Now, Sabrina, behave yourself." I sigh.

"Yeah, fine." I grump. She gives me another warning glance, and turns back to Jacqueline.

"Where should we set the present?" she asks.

"Actually, the party is fully outside, why don't I show you? Adelaide is still showing some other guests," she offers.

"Sure! That would be wonderful!" Mom exclaims. So she brings us outside. As we pass through the kitchen I notice something that seems kinda odd. The fridge has pictures that Adelaide's little sister, Cicele drew. Like, little kid scribbles. Huh. Maybe they do have heart after all.

"Here we are!" Jacqueline chirps. We stop and I gaze around at my surroundings. Again, very lavish. A large crystal pool stands before us, the water shimmering in the sunlight. About eight lounge chairs are spread out around the pool, along with three tables. And then of course, an actual yard, with swings and a trampoline as well. Jealousy bubbles up inside me. She has all this?! That's so not fair.

Suddenly, my phone beeps. It's a text. From Christi.

Christi: Saaaaaaaaave meeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!😩 I'm stuck with Adelaide!!!!!!!!! My nightmare! 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

Me: I'm coming! I'm coming! Just wait!

Christi: Wait?! WAIT!? You expect me to WAIT?!

Me: Uuuuh...yeah.

Christi: Fine. Just...hurry!

I turn off my phone at a nudge from mom.

"Umm, is Christi here yet?" I ask hesitantly.

"Yes! She is just on a little tour with Adelaide!" She informs me.

"Can I go find her?" I ask both of them.

"Sure! I don't see why not!" Jacqueline says. My mom nods, and returns to talking with Jacqueline. I hurry off to find poor Christi. Stuck with Adelaide. That's like the worst thing that could happen! Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating, but still. It's pretty awful!

"Christi!" I call out, as loud as I dare. I don't want to sound desperate or anything. Or like, needy or—I'm gonna shut up now, and focus on finding her. Thinking these absolutely weird thoughts is not going to help.

I round a corner, to find Christi and Adelaide by a koi pond. It looks as if Adelaide is talking Christi's ear off, with stupid words.

"Oh, hi Sabrina!" Christi greets, mouthing, 'what took you so long?' after. I shrug.

"Hi," I say.

"Oh! Sabrina!" Adelaide turns around. Her voice. It's weirdly cheerful. And fake-sounding.

"Uh, hi," I respond. The three of us just stand there, like three fish out of water.

"So! Um, who else is invited?" I ask, breaking through the ice.

"Well, basically the entire grade. Including, Marissa, Ava, Charlotte, Britteny..." She goes off about how many people she invited. Christi sends a look, that's screaming: What did you DO?!?! Again, I shrug, not knowing what else to do.

"Oh, and Alexies," Adelaide finishes.

"When does the party start?" Christi asks, a bit impatient to get this over with.

"Uuh, at four. In four minutes," She says, checking her watch. So we all hurry to the front door. Though Christi and I are not in that much of a hurry, let me tell you. Soon, guests start pouring into the household. And it really does look like over half the grade. After almost everybody has arrived, and a loud chatter has erupted, (kind of like at the lunchroom) Adelaide and her mom address everyone.

"Hello and welcome everyone!" Jacqueline shouts above the noise. They do all this boring speech stuff, yak, yak, yak. Just get it over with!

But now, finally, we are free. I immediately go for the pool, because you know, swimming. Christi sticks with me, because we don't know a lot of people, because Lani and Garcia are lucky enough to be busy. Oddly enough, most people aren't swimming. Wackos. It's a pool party! And swimming is amazing! The nice cool water rushing past you, seeing the edge of the pool, and turning back, and—yeah, you get the point.

"What should we do?" I ask Christi, who is currently rummaging through her pool bag, trying to find her purple goggles. She shrugs.

"I dunno. How about get out of here?" She suggests grumpily.

"Good one. But no. Plus, aren't you a bit curious about what Adelaide is doing? I mean really, why would she invite us?" I reply, swishing my legs in the pool impatiently. She shrugs again, and finally extracts her goggles.

"Aha! Found them!" She exclaims triumphantly.

"Great! Let's swim," I say, about to plunge in.

"Wait!! Our necklaces!" Christi stops me. Oh right. They can't get wet! So we both tuck them safely away in our bags, and start a game of two-way Marco Polo. It's as fun as it gets, going to a party of your nemesis. Plus, I get to swim. That's a bonus!

"Marco!" I shout, my eyes tightly closed. I hear a faint 'Polo!' to the left, and lunge that way.

"Got you!" I announce, as my hand brushes her arm.

"Let's rest for a bit," Christi suggests. I nod, even though we were in the pool for like two seconds. Why not? Plus, then we can get snacks! Oh so yummy snacks. Like pretzels. Love pretzels. And Cheetos. Cheetos are good too. So we hop out, and dry ourselves off. I sit back and watch everyone, scattered across Adelaide's yard.

"Sabrina!" Christi calls, interrupting my peace coma. There's panic in her voice.

"What?" I hurry over.

"Our necklaces..."

"What about them? Did something happen?" I ask, impulsive.

"Yes... Sabrina... they're gone."