☽ Voices
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"I THINK WE should set up the table there, place the drinks and finger foods there." Lydia points. I helped Lydia carry the table into a corner and we let it down, Lydia grabbing the table cover and spreading it out.
"I'm gonna go and get the drinks." I inform. Lydia simply nods her head and continued to focus on the table cover. I make my way to the kitchen and begin grabbing the bottled drinks. Immediately, I drop two bottles to the floor, the glass shattering into pieces and the pink liquid spreading all over the floor. I froze in place when suddenly I heard voices filling my ears. The voices are low and over each other, making it hard for me to understand them. I held my breath, trying to convince myself I was just hearing random noises, that it was all in my head and it's just a weird thing going on. But I don't think it was something so...random.
"...Lea." I let out a gasp and turn around and see Lydia standing behind me, giving me a confused, yet irritated look.
"I've been calling you for two minutes. Where's your head?" She scoffs. "And you broke two bottles? That wasn't exactly cheap."
"Sorry. I thought I..." I trail off, staring at the mess on the kitchen floor.
"You thought what?" Lydia frowns. "It doesn't matter. Just help me finish setting up. People might start to show soon." She scoffs. She approaches the counter and grabs the bottles before turning away and heads back outside. I was left standing in the kitchen confused and wondering why I was hearing voices in the first place. More importantly, I wanted to know what they were saying. I wondered if they were actually saying something or if it was just a bunch of gibberish.
The guests finally arrive, Lydia mostly greeting everyone who walked in. I didn't do anything except for smile with every person I made eye contact with. My eyes caught a familiar girl and my face lights up.
"Hey! You made it." I smile at Allison. My eyes follows her arm and I noticed she was holding hands with the familiar boy on the lacrosse team. He turns his head and looks at me, showing a small smile.
"Scott." He greets.
"Lea." I greet back.
"Uh...I'll catch you around?" Allison smiles.
"Oh! Yeah, yeah. I'll see you around." I chuckle. My eyes trail after Allison and Scott before they disappeared into the crowd. The music blasted, the chatter grew louder and the backyard filled quick. Everyone seemed to be enjoying their time at the party. Everyone except me, who sat in a chair near the pool, drink in hand, but I wasn't drinking anything. Lydia was off with Jackson probably sucking his face or something. I didn't seem to care too much as I didn't exactly want to go and find her making out with Jackson.
"Hey." I look up from my cup and meet eyes with brown ones. A buzzed cut haired boy and freckles spotted perfectly on his face. "You're Lydia's sister, right? You're Lea, her adopted sister?" He asks. I grow confused and it showed. The boy lets out a chuckle and holds his hand out. "Sorry, sorry. I'm Stiles. I've known your sister since we were kids." He says.
"Are you friends with Lydia?" I ask. Stiles' mouth falls ajar for a moment and he stutters over his words.
"Well...n-not exactly, but, uh...I know her. I mean, we grew up together. Y'know, i-in the same grade..."He trails off.
"Oh." I nod.
"Yeah! So..." Stiles chuckles nervously. We remain silent. The music continued and we both awkwardly look around, unsure how to continue on with the conversation. I took a deep breath and look up at Stiles.
"Did you want a drink?" I ask, more meaning to offer to get him one. Stiles smiles and he holds the unnoticed cup in his hand, showing me. "Oh...right." I blush.
"Did you wanna dance?" He asks. I stand up and she scrunch my face.
"Not really the best dancer." I sigh, shaking my head.
"Oh, great! Neither am I!" He chuckles. "We can both look like idiots then." He says. I let out a nervous chuckle and found my hand resting on my forehead.
"Uh...sure." I shrug. "Why not."
"Cool!" Stiles exclaims. He reaches out and snatched my wrist into his hand. He guides me through the crowd and we both began dancing along with the party goers. Stiles did most of the dancing as I was more nervous about what people would think of my dancing. But after looking around, some of the party goers cheered Stiles on, others didn't seem to care to give him their attention.
"Come on! Just move your body! Let loose!" Stiles encourages. I roll my eyes and show a small smile, finally dancing along with him.
"Yeah! That's it!" He cheers me on. After a little while of dancing, we trail off together and stood on the side, starting another conversation with each other.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, how long were you in foster care for?" Stiles asks. My eyebrows raise and I'm taken aback by Stiles' intriguing question.
"Oh...uh, since I was born I guess." I shrug. Stiles' face drops and he clears his throat.
"Was that a bad question to ask?" He asks. I furrow my brows and shake my head.
"No, no. You ask. No harm in that." I say. I always found it hard for me to tell people off or tell them whether a question was too personal for me or not. I always thought it was a way for people wanting to get to know me, but the more people asked, it turned out they just wanted to get in my business.
"Okay, okay. Let's change the subject." Stiles suggests. "What's your favorite color?" He asks.
"Pastel purple." I answer.
"Sky blue." Stiles smiles. "I like it 'cause it reminds me of the ocean."
"But...isn't the ocean more of a deep blue? Or...an ocean blue?" I ask.
"Well, yeah! But you know, the ocean can reflect the sky. Y'know, way out in the horizon, sometimes can't tell the difference between ocean and the sky. That's why I love the ocean." He smiles.
"I've never been." I shrug.
"Wait, seriously?" He asks.
"I was in and out of foster homes, never been on any family vacations." I shake my head.
"You've lived with Lydia and her family for two years now, right? Surely you've gone on trips with them over the summers." He chuckles.
"Not the last two years. I guess Natalie adopting me put a dent in her bank." I say.
"No, way. Maybe she's just looking for the right time is all." Stiles says.
"Maybe." I shrug.
"Don't worry. Maybe one day you and I could go. It'll be fun. Just...make sure your bathing suit strings are tied tightly or you'll be giving a free show to everyone around you." He says.
"Has that happened to you?" I ask.
"No! No, never." Stiles denies. His eyes slowly closes and he lets out a sigh. "There was a family eating ice cream, their daughter screamed and cried." I found myself letting out a laugh and I hide behind my hands. It usually takes a lot for me to smile, let alone laugh. Unless it was Lydia. Lydia always has me laughing hysterically, around new people, I was always shy and had more of smile than a laugh.
"Hey, watch it!" We turn our heads and see Scott stumbling through the crowd, approaching Stiles and I.
"Hey, Scott. You okay?" Stiles asks. The boy pulls away and stumbles off. Stiles turns to me and points back at Scott.
"I, uh, I should probably go and check on him." He says and quickly disappears. I look around and see Allison walking through the crowd, looking for Scott. Her eyes turn to me.
"Hey, have you seen Scott?" She asks.
"Yeah, he just passed by. Stiles went after him." I point to the front door. Allison frowns and she disappears into the crowd. I found myself alone again and I sit down in the nearest chair. For the rest of the party time, I never saw Stiles again. Which kinda sucked. Stiles is pretty cool and fun to talk to and hang out with. Once everyone finally went home, Lydia and I cleaned the mess left behind by everyone.
"I was thinking we should get with Allison tomorrow and go shopping." Lydia suggests.
"Am I allowed to pick my outfits this time?" I tease. Anytime we would go shopping, Lydia would always pick my clothes. Anything I picked up, Lydia would think I could do better. Yet again, without Lydia, I'd probably still be wearing baggy clothes and hoodies. Walking in heels for the first time was...interesting.
"If you want to go back to wearing baggy clothes and hoodies, be my guest." Lydia waves me off.
"Who said I wanted to go back to living in the past?" I question. "I never said you couldn't help out." I smirk. Lydia smirks back and nods.
"Of course I will help you." She says. We chuckle and continued to pick up the trash. Once the house was cleaned and tidied up, we head upstairs and went to bed for the night.
I could hear the night bugs and animals singing their routine songs. I could see the moon shining bright above my head. My body jerks lightly at the chill running down my spine. My eyes blink and I found my mind finally waking up. I took a deep breath and finally realized where I was. The woods. I huffed out, spinning in circles, trying to figure out how the hell I got here in the first place.
"Lydia? Lydia!" I call. I run my hands over my exposed arms, waking myself up as I searched around. "Lydia!" I shout again. I furrow my brows in confusion, wondering where I was, how I got here, where Lydia was, what was going on. I huffed out and saw my breath leaving my body. Fear strikes down my spine when suddenly a low growl fills my ears. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I turn my eyes to the left before finally moving my body. I turn my body and froze in place when I saw a pair of red glowing eyes in the dark. Whatever it was, it lets out a low growl. I lift my foot up and took a step back. I watch the eyes move forward and it steps out into the moonlight. It was a large, black, odd, looking dog with glowing red eyes. The creature bares its teeth and lets out a louder growl. I jump back and continued walking backwards until my back hits a tree.
The creature suddenly jumps up and it disappears. I let out a huff, looking around frantically for the creature. Once I realize it was actually gone, I throw my head back, closing my eyes, feeling relieved. Who the hell knows what could've happened.
A loud thud causes my body to jump and I open my eyes to see the creature standing in front of me. It creeps its way close to me. I couldn't move. I couldn't run. I couldn't think. All I could do was watch it come inches from my face. It lets out a loud roar and I squeeze my eyes shut. I finally took a deep breath and let out the loudest scream I've ever let out, hearing it echo through the woods.
The large creature drops its head, lets out whimpers and it runs off back into the darkness.