I slide on some simple ear rings to go with the teal blue dress I'll be wearing this evening. Everything in wear is simple- just the way I like it. Tonight is the last night that Thalia will be single, and she wants to go live it up, get drunk, and dirty dance with random guys before she's committed. Because that makes a lot of sense.
Next to me, Thalia Thalia puts on some pinkish lip gloss to go with her pale pink dress. That girl really does have style. She's the kind of girl who looks good in floral patters and some patters you think old ladies would wear, but she can totally rock them. She always dresses nice, and it goes with her quiet confident air.
She looks at me in the mirror, "Tonight's going to be fun. I promise. I know this whole bar scene isn't really your thing, but it'll be good. You'll loosen up, get a great hangover, regret half the things you did in the morning. It'll be nice."
I chuckle, "Yeah, you make it sound awesome."
She laughs, turning to me and grabbing my arms, "It will be. You've just got to accept that sometimes in life you'll do stupid stuff. And it's best to be able to say you were under the influence of liquor. Have a drink! Or two. Or ten. The more you drink the less accountable you'll be for your actions."
Laughing, I say, "Wow, Thalia, thanks for the advice."
"No problem." She grins.
She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, "Ready?"
I look at myself in the mirror one more time, "Yeah."
We walk down the stairs and find Juliette bouncing up and down near the breakfast bar, shouting, "TOO MUCH ENERGY, TOO MUCH ENERGY!"
Iris sits on the couch, covering her ears with the palms of her hands. Our good friend, Kit, stands in the corner, looking slightly afraid.
I cringe as Thalia shouts over Juliette, "What is going on!?"
Iris looks over at us, "Apparently, Juliette has a lot of energy!"
Juliette bounces over to us, "I'm just a little energizer bunny!"
I pat her head, "Yep, we can see that, dearest."
"Well, quick, make your batteries run out while I get a drink of water." Thalia says, walking over to the kitchen.
"Okay!" Juliette says, struting over to the breakfast bar, "OUT AND ABOUT IN TOWN, READY TO SHOW THE WORLD WHAT I'M MADE OF! GOT MY SASS, GOT MY CLASS AND GIRL YOU CAN KEEP THAT FREAKING TRASH!"
I wince at her off key singing and look at her, "Juli, calm down, you're going to scare Thalia out of the family."
Juliette grins, "I don't think I will. Percy should've scared her out of the family YEARS ago! But she's still here!"
I shadow my eyes, "Then you'll scare Kit."
Juliette just grins and continues bounding around through the house.
Iris looks over at Thalia, "Where are we going again?"
Thalia grins, "Clubbing."
Iris and Juliette share a look I know very well. Neither of them drink and they both feel very uncomfortable around drinking. I don't think Iris has ever had liquor in her life. Much less Juliette.
Thalia rolls her eyes, "I know, you guys don't drink. I don't expect you to. You'll make sure I get home in one piece tonight. But humor me. My last night single. Goodness."
Juliette runs over to the couch and falls in it next to Iris, "My, gosh! Can we leave yet? We're not getting any younger here!"
I lean against the banister, "You realize, that right now is the youngest we'll ever be again."
A look of realization passes over Juliette's face. She looks at me confused and afraid, then mutters, "This is why I'm not in Harvard."
I continue, "But really, five minutes ago, we were so much younger! Based on the-"
Juliette jumps up, "THALIA! We need to leave now! Sidney is scaring me with her superior knowledge!"
: : : : :
I sit at a small table with Thalia across from me. Kit, Iris, and Juliette are in the bathroom, freshening up. She downs another shot and shudders. I haven't had much to drink tonight, but I believe Thalia is cleaning out every bar in a fifty mile radius tonight. Thalia blinks and sways and orders another drink.
I look at her, "How are you holding up?"
She looks at me, confused, "Fine. How about you?"
I smirk, "I'm fine. But i'm not the one who's been drinking tequila all night."
"Tequila." Thalia mutters, "Is that what i'm drinking?"
"Yeah." I nod.
"Oh." She says, grabbing her refilled shot glass, "I like tequila."
I chuckle, "I noticed."
She knocks back the shot and looks at me, "You know what? Tequila is like love."
I furrow my eyebrows, "How is that?"
She shakes her head, "I don't know." She looks at her empty shot glass and slurs her words, "It's strong and.....fluid. And it makes you feel funny. Tell me, do I have cotton sticking out of my ears? I feel like there's cotton in my ears."
The corners of my mouth twitch up, "No cotton."
She takes a deep breath, "Oh." She pushes her drink to the tender, getting a refill, "You know, I love Percy a lot."
I nod, "Well, yeah. You are marrying him."
"It only took me two weeks." She mutters.
I furrow my eyebrows, "What?"
"Two weeks." She reapeats, grabbing her glass again.
"For what?" I ask.
She sighs, "For me to fall in love with him."
I stare at her as she downs the drink. She continues, "I knew he was the one. I knew it from the start. He was so pretty and funny. And I just knew. I knew I was falling in live. Love. I mean. Love."
She pushes her glass away and rests her head on her hand, "When I saw him I couldn't see anyone else. I started listening to slow songs. He was all I thought about. He always smelled nice. And I always smiled when I thought of him. I fell in love with a million little things he never realized he was doing."
She sighs and looks at me, "It's a nice feeling, falling in love. You'll know when you are. And you'll like it."
I bite my lip and look at her, feeling awkward, "Good to know."
She looks around, spotting the dance floor, "I'm going to go dance."
"Okay." I say, watching her wander off into the sea of sweaty bodies.
: : : : :
Will POV:
"Why are we doing this again?" Dylan asks me as our group walks down the street.
Boys night out right now. It was difficult getting Thomas and Dylan to agree to come, seeing as they had a bit of a falling out a few days ago. But now, Dylan, Thomas, Ki, Chris and I walk down the street on the way to a nearby pub. Hopefully, Dylan and Tom will get so drunk they'll forget they're mad at each other and make up.
"Because, you and Thomas are mad at each other right now, and it sucks when best friends are mad at each other. Plus, Chris is here and we're all friends with Chris, and we hardly ever see Chris, so both you AND Tom can suck it up for one evening and pretend like the whole horse incident never happened." I respond cooly, "And besides, we're strapping young men! Seeking adventure! And, my good lad, we shall find it!"
"I didn't mean for it to happen." Dylan mumbles for the millionth time, "I would NEVER do anything to hurt Iris. Everyone knows that. Everyone knows that, right?"
I sigh, "Yeah, Dylan. Everyone knows that. Thomas is just over reacting, and he's awesome at it. He'll get over it. And the first step of getting over it, is for the two of you to be able to walk on the same sidewalk without either of you freaking out, so shut up."
"What's got your kickers in a knot?" Dylan asks, eyeing Chris, Thomas and Ki up ahead of us.
I sigh heavily, "Nothing."
False.
It's not nothing at all.
Nothing would be I accidentally spilled milk on my favorite shirt.
Nothing would be they canceled my favorite TV program and now I have to watch re-runs.
Nothing is not having the girl I've fallen in love with, have ANOTHER guy fall in love with her and worrying she'll choose him over me.
I want her to choose me SO very badly.
But why the heck would she choose me?
She's got this guy there at Harvard, who's going to become an engineer, just like her. He's good looking (yes, I stalked him on Facebook.....but only a little bit!), he's a lot closer, and he just seems like a more interesting person than I am. He's much smarter anyway.
So why would she give me a second thought?
Maybe she's just letting me down easy.
I probably scared her with my coffee addiction.
I have a problem.
I should stop drinking coffee.
Actually, no.
Bad idea.
There is no need to resort to no coffee drinking.
Maybe I should just start a new hobby.
Maybe -
BANG!
An explosion goes off and I hear the squealing of tires.
I see Thomas and Dylan hit the ground and something in my brain goes, "Hey, that's a good idea."
I hit the dirt, waiting to see if any other shots are fired. At least I think that was a gun. I see Dylan pull himself to his feet.
I think it was a gun.
It sounded like one.
I guess no one got-
"AGGGGGH!"
I look up, my head snapping to the sound. On the ground, a few feet away, Thomas lays, writhing in a pool of gathering blood.
: : : : :
Sidney POV:
We're walking to the car to head to the next bar when Iris' phone rings. Iris pauses and pulls the phone out of her pocket. Juliette peers over her shoulder, "Who's calling?"
Iris studies her phone, "Dylan. You think I should answer?"
Juliette chuckles, "Nah. He's probably just calling to be stupid. Or apologize for the horse thing. AGAIN."
Iris nods and shoves the phone back in her pocket. Our group starts heading to the car again, when Iris' phone begins ringing, yet again.
Iris grunts, reaching for her phone, "What now?"
She looks at the ID, Juliette and Kit looking too.
"Really?" Juliette frowns.
Kit looks at Iris, "Maybe you should answer it."
Based from the looks on their faces, I'm guessing it's Dylan.
Iris looks at her phone concerned, "Probably."
She slides it to talk, "Dylan, what's up? I'm in the middle of a girls night, so make it quick."
I hear his voice on the other end, although I can't tell what he's saying.
Iris furrows her eyebrows, "Dylan?"
More voices on the other end. Not just Dylan. Growing concern plants itself in Iris' features.
"Dylan!" She repeats, panicked.
There's more voices on the other end, and all of a sudden, there's a very audible scream. We all share worried looks as Iris yells into the phone, "Dylan!"
He responds.
"Dylan, tell me. What happened?"
He says something else.
"Tell me, Dylan."
He says something else, and it's almost like the life in Iris shuts off. She freezes, tensing up. She doesn't breath. She doesn't look at anything in particular, she just stands.
And then she doesn't.
She falls to the ground, laying face up at the sky. She remains there with a shocked look on her face. It takes only a split second for the rest of us to respond.
Juliette falls to her knees next to Iris, "IRIS!"
I kneel on the other side of her, staring at her. I quickly check her pulse and her heartbeat. Still breathing, but her heart rate is extremely fast.
"Oh, my gosh." I mutter.
Juliette grabs the phone off the ground, where Iris dropped it, "Dylan!?"
I hear his voice, but I continue trying to wake Iris, shaking her shoulders and calling her name.
"What?" Juliette says sharply into the phone.
I watch Juliette as her face pales and she says, "What do you mean?"
He says something quickly.
Juliette shakes her head, "No. No! No, he wasn't! You're not being serious! He wasn't!"
I look at Juliette, tears rim her eyes.
"NO!" She screams into the phone.
I look at Iris, helpless on the ground. Juliette on the verge of tears and something snaps in me. I reach over, grabbing her shoulders, "Juliette, what happened!?"
She looks at me, ashen, "He was shot. Thomas was shot."
: : : : :
Iris slams the car door shut and runs into the house. She's so stubborn. She won't even sit down to talk about it. She's just going to up and leave. When I tried to stop her she just yelled at me and continued on her way.
"Get Thalia." Juliette says, getting out of the drivers seat.
I look back at Thalia, passed out in the backseat.
I shake her, "Thalia. Thalia, wake up."
Her eyes flutter open. She's still wasted, "Wha?"
I grab her arm and drag her out of the car, "Come on."
"Where are we going." She says, staggering.
"Inside the house."
"Wait," she stops, "My house? Do I have a house?"
"Yes, you do." I say, trying to drag her along.
"Wait," she says again, "What's my name?"
I sigh, "Your name is Thalia."
"Okay. That's a pretty name."
"Yes, it is." I tug her into the house.
At the foot of the stairs, Juliette calls, "Iris! Iris, come on! We should talk!"
I sigh, pulling Thalia towards her bedroom to lay her down. She'll just get in the way.
"Is it time for bed?" Thalia asks.
"Yeah." I say, making her sit on the bed, "Lay down."
She sighs, "Okay."
She gets under the covers. As I turn to leave she says, "Sidney!"
I look back, "Yeah, Thalia?"
"Tuck me in."
I lick my lips, taking a deep breath, "Okay."
I quickly tuck her in and then say, "Go to sleep."
She closes her eyes and I walk out of the room quietly.
When I've gotten into the family room, Kit has already left and Iris sits on
the couch. Juliette sits next to her, an arm wrapped around her as she crys. I look at her sadly. I can't imagine what it would be like to have your husband shot. They haven't been married that long anyway. Two or three months, I think? And now someone has threatened to take away Iris' happiness, and it just ticks me off.
When Iris notices me in the doorway, she looks at me with tears on her face, but apologetically, "I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier, Sidney."
I try for a smile, "It's okay."
She shakes her head, distress coming back, "No, it's not. Nothing's okay. Thomas is going to die and....."
Her shoulders shake as she begins to sob again.
It KILLS me to see her like this. Iris has always been so strong. So independent. In her mind, EVERYTHING would work out thew way it would and she'd try her hardest and if it didnt work out, that was okay. But not this time. This time the thing she loves very most in the world would be taken from her. This time, she couldn't try her hardest. This time, she couldn't do anything. She just had to hope. And hope is not in her nature. She's a doer. Not a wisher.
I quickly walk over and wrap my arms around her. She she can't find her own hope, I'll share mine.
"Thomas is NOT going to die." I say firmly.
She sniffs, "How do you know?"
"I just do." I nod, "I have faith. Will, Dylan and Ki will take care of him. They won't let anything happen to him."
Iris nods, looking away, embarrassed of crying.
Juliette takes her hand, "You need to talk."
"I don't feel like talking." She mutters.
I pipe up, "It'll make you feel better. Just talk about whatever you want. It doesn't even have to be about Tom. It can be about anything. Talk us up!"
She chuckles darkly, "How could it not be about Tom?"
Juliette trys to lighten the mood, "Hey, at least you aren't on your period! That would make it so much worse!"
Iris smirks, "Yeah, but I'll be on my period in a few days."
I gasp cheesily, "Me too! Period twins!"
I give her a quick high five and she laughs.
We talk for several hours. Mostly small talk. But there's a lot to be said for small talk. Finally, around one o' clock in the morning, we find our eyelids in growing heavy, and I fall into a deep sleep.
Author:
OOOOO, DRAMA.
Lol.
Thanks for the votes, comments and follows!
KEEP DOING IT SLAUSONATORS!
-MK