The Path Ahead

Part 6

I got to Prilla's house. Prilla had never been mean to me. I just didn't like her that much because of the things that she'd done to other people. I hoped I wasn't going to have to wait for Gavin. I decided to text him.

r u @ prillas yet?

I got the message back almost immediately.

yeah. just got here. r u?

I texted back quickly.

yeah. walkin in now.

I knocked on the door. It was answered by a guy I'd never seen before. I guessed he was a freshman. He was tall with deep blue eyes and dark brown hair. His hair lay flat and did a whoosh thing with his bangs. It was a cute style, but I knew he wouldn't be interested in me anyway.

He gave me a once-over and asked for my name. "I'm Leila. Leila Amour."

"Hey, cool last name, dude," he said in a smooth voice. He opened the door to me and showed me inside. The big room, which I assumed was the living room, was busy and loud. There was a huge flat-screen TV in the left corner of the room, which looked as though it had been sprayed with Silly String. The ceiling fan equiped with lights above me was bright and covered in unrecognizable substances. The coffee table in the center of two massive brown, leather couches was full of Coke cans, red plastic cups, and scattered bowls and pieces of popcorn and popcorn kernals. The couches were littered with teens chatting, yelling, gossiping, and the occasional make-out session that would soon be interrupted by another yelling teen with a can of Silly String or Coke to spray or spill on them.

The middle, well, all of the room was filled with people. I searched the crowd for Gavin. I glanced around everywhere but still, no Gavin. I thought he said he was here! I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders. "Looking for someone?" I smiled when I realized it was Gavin.

I turned around. My smile quickly faded when I saw it was the freshman that opened the door. "Yeah, actually," I said slowly. I searched his eyes and face for any signs of recognition.

He smirked sweetly. "And who might that be?" he asked.

"Gavin Thompson. Do you know him?"

"Oh, yeah! He's--uh--upstairs. I'm sure he'll be down in a bit. But in the meantime, how 'bout hangin' with me?" I was stunned by the offer. Where was this going? The little 'Danger' flag flashed in my mind. What was his plan?

"Um, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, first I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Luke Castlin. I'm a freshman. I figured that maybe me and you could get to know eachother a little better? But not in that way. Like a normal talking way. You know?" Luke smiled at me with white teeth. I'd thought I'd seen him before, but I wasn't sure where. But since he said he was a freshman, like me, I decided I must've seen him in school. But what did he say about Gavin? He was upstairs?

I immediately thought the worst. "Luke, uh, Gavin?" I asked, still thinking the worst.

"Uh, could we not talk about him? It's kind of...well, nevermind. He's upstairs with Prilla. I'm sorry. If you were going out with him, I don't think you will be anymore."

"We're not going out," I said hurriedly. "And what do you mean 'I don't think you will be anymore'?" I asked quickly.

"Hey, slow down! I mean, their up in her bedroom making out! I'm really sorry! I mean, I'd like to meet you on better terms. You seem nice. I'd like to take you to dinner sometime. But, I think I should ask later." He frowned.

"Luke, you're a really nice guy, from what I see now. And I'd love to go to dinner with you. I just have to figure things out for a bit." I grabbed a pen from a nearby table. "Here," I said as I wrote down my cell phone number on his palm. "I text. But please don't call...I don't like talking to people on the phone."

Luke smiled and nodded, then his expression faded as I walked up the stairs. It wasn't hard to figure out which room was Prilla's. She had big pink letters with yellow floral designs in them, spelling "PRILLA" on her light yellow door. She had an old key-hole door, which was an advantage to me. I didn't have to go in the room to see if Gavin was in there.

I got down on my knees. I hesitated. Come on, Leila! Just take a small peek. No one will know but you, I thought. I counted to three. One, two........three. I quickly looked into the small oval shaped hole under the doorknob. Oh my God.

I stood up straight, my eyes burning. My heart wrenched inside me. I couldn't breathe. I started crying, my freshley mascara-ed eyes dripping black tears. I ran down the stairs, trying fruitlessly to hold in my heavy sobs.

"Wait! Leila!" Luke yelled after me.

I reached the door and pulled it open. "Leila!" he called again.

"Luke, I'm sorry. I have to go," I choked out, turning around so he couldn't see my face. My hair blew around my face as the wind tore through the sky. I had to go to the church.