Walking up the porch stairs, I saw them.
"Hey, guys," I introduce. Allister, Della, Makai, and Hanzo sit on white rocking benches and chairs. On the white fence that borders the porch, Makai sits and keeps the crowd laughing.
"Rey!" Makai cheers, Hawaiian skin offering a great contrast to the white area."Welcome to the party."
"I've been at the party for hours," I argue, sitting next to Makai and kicking my sandals off, crossing my feet at the ankles.
"Well, you are now entering the twilight zone," Makai teases, tipping a bottle of beer my way and taking a sip.
"So," Allister speaks up. "Are you actually enjoying yourself for once?"
I chuckle and shake my head, hair falling in my face again. "Not a chance."
"Well, you're here with us," Hanzo protests.
"Yeah," I shrug.
"Where's your freak friend?" Della questions, bright green eyes judgmental and ready for a debate.
"Maren isn't a freak," I plaintively dismiss. "But she's inside."
"I bet I could climb onto the roof from here," Makai challenges, chocolate eyes wanting me to tell him he can't so he can prove me wrong.
"From here?" I question, looking up, caught in the stars that brilliantly shine down on us. "How about from..." I push him back and he falls to the ground. "There?"
"Ouch!" Makai calls, sitting up and rubbing his head.
"Oh, please!" I respond. "You fell on your back, not your head."
Hanzo pipes up. "But if you did, there wouldn't be a difference."
"Ha-ha!" Makai mocks with a frown, climbing back up. "How do I look?" he asks, straightening his clothes.
I pluck a twig from his hair and flatten it out. "As good as you can," I reply.
Childishly, he grins. "Thanks, Mom."
Rolling my eyes, I groan, "Whatever."
That night, I hadn't found myself yet. I was the floater who acted how my friends wanted me to. No one knew who I really was – I didn't even know who I really was. Della had called me out on it.
"I love you to death," Allister adds, granting me an apologetic smile.
I get up from the railing. "I'll catch up with you guys later tonight, or at school," I bid.
Now, I frown, staring at the visual imagination of my dead friends. I wish I would see them later tonight or at school. So much has changed. Too much, really.
"Awh, c'mon, Rain," Makai pleads. "Della's always bitch, you know that." Little did Makai know was that he was in love with Adelina. Little did any of us know, only Makai and I would be the ones left standing at the party.
"Hey!" she responds, getting up to punch him in the arm. "You wonder why."
Entering the house, I venture to the backyard for memory's sake. There's a grand pool with lights on the bottom and glow-in-the-dark floats bouncing against the bobbing swimmers. Around this time, I would've met Aero.
Where is he?
Ah, there! His ghost watches me from afar.
"What, you're going to swim there?" a deep voice asks from behind me. I whirl around to the source, stepping backwards when the stranger's arm – Aero's arm - shoots out and pulls me towards him. "Careful," he advises. "There's broken glass. Some idiot threw a bottle, and you're not wearing any shoes." I recognize this guy from inside – the one Maren said was looking at me.
"Thanks," I wearily gratify, feeling odd. "I left them behind."
Aero nods. "What brings you to a party this fine midnight?"
"Drugs and alcohol," I tease sarcastically.
He laughs a warm, smoky sound. "You don't seem the type," his honey voice tells me.
"And what type do I seem like?" I challenge, looking up at him. In the darkness, I can't tell what colour his eyes are.
"Well..." he places a hand on my arm and guides me towards the lake. Once I start walking, the warmth of his hand disappears. We reach the edge of the lawn, and the man sits down. I remain standing. "You seem like the apprehensive type."
"Care to explain?"
"Care to explain why they took you away from the world?" I ask about the memories of Aero and me. Both of us from that night are gone, now. Aero; physically. Myself; metaphorically. He's been shot in the chest and I've been emotionally beaten into a new person. I miss both of us. I miss all of us.
I miss the angry Della. I miss the perky Allister. I miss the steady Hanzo. I miss thejokester Makai. I miss my quiet little self. If you think about it long enough, you'll realize the tragedy of this all. Someone's ended the bright lives of beautiful people. And whoever is left is not the same person they were before.
Makai will never laugh like he used to, or smile with the brightness he once exuded. Allister will never cheer up a depressed classmate. Della will never sass the man who fell in love with her expectantly. Hanzo will never be able to tell us that we're being irresponsible. Aero will never be there for me to confide in my plans again. Maren won't ever be the comfortable outcast she was.
Everyone who is alive will only be a shell of how we used to be. All of our souls have been stained with grotesque images we can't un-see, holes where we held our friends and family, and things we've done that we can't take back. On the outside, we look the same. But on the inside, we've altered at levels that others can never understand.
Okay, Reyna. Back to the mission.
From the outside, I look at the house. There's a balcony that oversees the pool deck through French doors. The windows are all shut, but the curtains are open to see kids from the second story pouring beer into the mouths of those on the first. Unlike Destiny'sparty, there isn't a mysterious lake past Adriano's lawn. Instead, there's the grass that has been scorched by relentless heat. Hopefully, that isn't a bad omen.
"There's a fight downstairs, guys!" a teenager who seems like a freshman exclaims. "It's two against one, and the one is kicking ass."
Oh, great.
Huffing, I walk around the pool, mumbling to myself. "We're here for one hour. Just one, and Enzo's already gotten himself into a fight. Why am I not surprised?"
"Woah," a girl with dreads says, stopping me. "Cool, man. What drug are you on?"
"Stress," I curtly responded, brushing past the girl.
Behind me, I hear her repeating, "Stress...stress...stressssss..."