Through My Window

Original Edition: 20. The Party

CHAPTER TWENTY

I'm back in front of Ares' door in less than a week.

Oh, my dignity, where have you gone?

In my defense, if Mom realizes I don't have that necklace, she will kill me, but not before forcing me to watch all the soap operas at night with her. Pure torture, I know. Taking a deep breath, I ring the bell.

That familiar red-haired girl opens the door, looking a bit agitated, "Good evening," she greets cordially, adjusting her skirt.

I just smile at her, "Is Ares home?"

"Sure, the party is in the pool, come in." She steps aside and walks inside the house.

Party?

"No, wait..." I follow her, "Could you tell him that I'm here?"

She looks at me for a second before speaking, "He's in the pool, I don't think he can come out right now. If he gets the floor wet, I'll kill him."

I bite the inside of my lip, "It'll only take a second."

Apollo comes down the stairs and his small face lights up, "Rachel!"

He is wearing shorts and a blue t-shirt, his brown hair looks black because it's wet and it reminds me of his brother, "Hello," I wave at him and Apollo gives me a short hug.

"I didn't see you at school this week."

Because I avoided you.

I know it's not his fault, but he reminds me of Ares.

"Yes, I've been super busy," Apollo seems to believe it.

"I'm so glad that you came to the party, I was looking for you all week to invite you, so good that you got my message."

Your message?

"Actually, I—"

"I had to buy Carlos lunch so he could give me your number."

Ah, Apollo doesn't know that I no longer have a phone.

"It's great that you're here, I invited others from school, but nobody came." a trace of sadness crosses his face.

"They must be studying." I try to comfort him.

He takes my hand, "Well it doesn't matter, at least you're here. Come on, we're having a barbecue and the pool's temperature is great."

He looks like a kid at a birthday party, he looks so genuinely excited that I'm here that I don't dare let go of his hand. We travel down a long hallway where a glass door awaits at the end, "My parents are traveling, and I wanted to celebrate the first week of school so Fiesta!"

He releases my hand and opens the glass door, the first thing that surprises me is that there are not as many people as I expected. Most are inside the pool, a group of three boys are sitting at one of the tables around the pool, with beer bottles in front of them. Two girls are sitting on the edge of the pool, with their legs in the water and the others are in the water.

The pool is closed off and has a roof, I imagine because it is heated. As soon as I step foot in there, all eyes fall on me and I feel super uncomfortable. My eyes search for Ares, and I find him in the pool. He has a girl on his shoulders while another boy has another in front of him, they are doing a water battle. I can't help but feel jealous of the girl on top of him, she is very pretty and has a dazzling smile. Ares turns to see what everyone is looking at and our eyes meet, he doesn't look surprised, he looks satisfied. He looks so good all wet, no, focus, Rachel. He continues in his game as if nothing happened.