The next morning I told my mom I would be going to Molly to bring her the promised dress and shoes. I saw her looked quite disappointed as if she thought I wouldn’t be leaving at all, as if I was going to stay with her for good. I pitied her in a way.
“What time is it?” She turned to look at the clock on the wall. “Nine? This early?” King is still sleeping in my bed, I knew she wanted to add.
My mom’s house was small compared to the house where I lived with my dad, which was a two-story house with three bedrooms, one guestroom, four bathrooms, a library, a study and two garages. Hers only has a bathroom, living room, kitchen and dining room downstairs, and two rooms upstairs. It was a rented townhouse. So every Friday King has to sleep at my mom’s room so I could sleep in his room.
I gave her a nod of my head.
Slowly, she looked back at me. “Oh, okay. See you next Friday then,” she said with a forced smile.
I wanted to reach out to her. I wanted to tell her that it was okay. I wanted to comfort her. At the main door, I hugged her. She looked surprised at first, but soon she was hugging me back. Then, I left. Even without seeing it, I knew she would cry as soon as I was gone.
~O~
Twenty minutes after seven, and it was party time. Martin Santiago’s house was lit up like Christmas. The street surrounding it was parked with so many cars that it was already impossible for another car to go by it. I had to step down the taxi a couple of houses away and walk, just so I could reach the center of the fuss without squeezing the taxi and myself to death.
Well, it was impossible. I had to walk with my four-inch heels on potholed grasses. It was just like walking straight to the gates of hell.
I was lucky when Molly saw me first when I was about to put my foot on the front steps. She went to the party ahead of me, because I had to go back home to my dad’s house to get my own dress, because someone else wore the dress I was supposed to wear.
“Queen! Not there! This way!” she screamed, waving a hand at the direction leading to the backyard.
“An outdoor party?”
“Oh, Queen. You’d be surprised!” The excitement was so obvious in her face.
I didn’t have a choice, but to follow her.
Indeed, I was surprised. It was just a regular party, of course—or that was what I knew—with barbecue on the side. Nobody talked about a pool party, but Martin clearly thought it was. He was at the center of them all, wearing Hawaiian shorts, topless. And he was the only one dressed up for a swim. And balloons? Okay, that was beyond my comprehension. The last time I saw balloons at a party was when King had his seventh birthday.
“Oh, jeez-us,” I couldn’t stop myself from saying.
Molly rolled her eyes at me. “Come on. Don’t be hard on him now. It’s his first time. He didn’t know a lot about high school parties.”
His former school is nothing but clueless, I thought. “I can’t believe it. Well, don’t go too close to him. He might rub you of his naivety.”
I started walking, but I realized she wasn’t following me.
“What?” I mouthed at her
“Just go! Mar—comfort room,” she mouthed back.
Really. Fine. I frowned, gave her a two thumbs-down, and continued to walk where the party was in full swing.
I was right. I spotted Noah and the others at the living room. He was wearing a coat on top of his v-neck shirt, holding a glass of what looked like beer. He was laughing at what someone had probably said. Then, he saw me. His laughter stopped. I heard him excusing himself as he stood up. In only a matter of seconds, he was standing beside me, a faint smell of alcohol emanating from him.
I noticed everyone turned to look at us. It helped that I was looking only at Noah, even though I admit I felt like my ribcage was about to explode.
“Hello, Queen. That’s a nice dress you’ve got there,” he said, giving me his infamous smile.
His words weren’t slurred—a good sign.
“Thanks. Nice coat, too,” I answered, giving him my charming smile in return.
He fiddled with his glass, looking only at me, and I knew because he was staring at my eyes. I couldn’t help but think if I had put on the right shade of Estée Lauder Pure Color EyeShadow as the girl on the magazine named Hilary had, and if the Définicils Precious Cells by Lancôme had really regenerated the condition of my lashes the exact same way Julia Roberts’ had been.
Noah was supposed to be a senior already. Like I said, he had to stop a year to establish his career. Then after what seemed like a gazillion interviews on several magazines and on TV, he went back to school. It was when I first noticed him.
He entered the Junior Section A classroom with an air of confidence like he was doing it all his life. I could still remember how the entire class stopped whatever it was they were doing to stare at the newcomer. Of course, most of he girls knew him. I couldn’t deny I did know him, also, because I had been hearing his name since I started studying at Luna East, but I haven’t really seen him face to face until that day. And I admit it was like love at first sight.
“It’s nice you can come to this party,” he said, putting my train of thoughts into a halt.
I raised one eyebrow at him. “You mean I never liked going to parties.”
“Oh, I mean, I never saw you at parties, that’s all.”
“My best friend thought this party is different. I don’t know really.”
He nodded his head. “Of course. Well, if you like to give it a good start, I know a better place than here.”
I was about to laugh, but I looked at him and saw a glow in his eyes that I haven’t seen before.
“A better place, huh?” I said, a little seductively, instead. And when I said seductive, I was making my voice sound husky and I was batting my eyelashes. I knew how to seduce a guy, too, okay?
But the next thing that happened was something I would never have imagined happening in my entire life in high school.
He . . . kissed . . . me. Yes! Noah de Mateo was kissing me, just a distance away from others, in Martin Santiago’s party. Oh-my-frigging-posh sleeveless dress in blue charmeuse with jabot and lace overlay!
Then, our lips parted. It was only a short one, but a kiss, all right that I had to wonder if he got a taste of the strawberry lipgloss I put on. It probably took him only two seconds to do it, but for me it seemed like my enter life in high school flashing right before my eyes.
“What was that?” I asked, a little breathless. I was so sure that all the color in my face had left me and that I looked like a vampire under the bright lights of the party.
Slowly, Noah’s lips formed into a letter o.
Duh. I looked beautiful, but it didn’t mean I could just let anyone kiss me. I wasn’t the least stupid. I strained myself to talk in a whisper despite the distinct throbbing of my heart. “What was that?” I repeated.
He just raised his eyebrows at me, looking bewildered as if he, himself, didn’t know what had happened.
If Noah weren’t so good looking, I swear, I would have slapped him in the face right there and then. But instead, I said, “You know what, let’s just talk when you’re not drunk.”
I admit he was in no way drunk. I shouldn’t have said what I said. A picture of Noah with his lips curled, out of embarrassment or amusement I really didn’t know, and his eyes glowing were the last of him that I saw as I retreated from his side.
Noah wouldn’t just kiss me. He had to have his reasons. Yes, I looked pretty. I had a slim figure that most girls my age envy. I wasn’t a complete moron, except in topics when I chose to act like one. But I wasn’t someone whom boys like Noah would just kiss in a party without a reason.
My parents separated when I was in ninth grade and it brought me to a completely different world that I never knew existed. I met the so-called outcasts slash pariahs in Luna East. They were the problematic ones, those who didn’t fit, those who couldn’t accept the norms, those who were bullied, those who preferred being alone, those who would rather die than join the pep squad and those who didn’t belong and never would. I was one of them.
I joined them. I hangout with them. I practically spent half the year with them, roaming restricted premises just for the hang of it. But maybe that was for me, because for them it would be always like that—escaping the crowd so they could gather in a less conspicuous place, where they wouldn’t be judged and they would be the ruler of their actions.
And of course it was when and where I met the one person that caused my heart permanent breakage. Henry.
It was only when I stumbled on Molly, chatting with Martin in the kitchen did I let out a sigh that had been meaning to escape my throat since I left Noah.
“Molly! Oh, my God. You wouldn’t believe what just happened.”
Molly looked at me with contempt like she couldn’t believe I was there, probably about to ruin her night.
“I want to go home now,” I said as slowly and as pointedly as I could.
Molly only looked at me, obviously confused. I looked back at her, and I intended it to be a warning.
“Oh, yes, of course!” she said all of a sudden, like I didn’t just give her my eyemalistic move, which included my eyeballs and my animalistic side.
I strained my face to smile at Martin. I wanted to ask what they were whispering about to each other, but I didn’t have the energy to do so. He looked as confused as Molly.
“Hi,” Martin decided to say, looking dumb.
I ignored him, grasping for Molly’s hand instead.
Almost everybody looked at Molly and I as we traipsed out of the house from the kitchen to the living room, and to the front door. I caught Noah looking astounded, but I just ignored him. By then, everybody who was at the party knew what had happened.
My mind wouldn’t rest, and Molly was so confused she wouldn’t stop fidgeting in her seat. Several times she asked me what had happened, but I just continued to stare in void, ignoring her.
“Queen, will you please tell me what really happened back there?” she asked, not being able to get hold of her natural curiosity anymore.
“Nothing,” I said, at last.
“Nothing?” she repeated shrilly, her voice reaching a gratifying ten notches higher than the usual.
The tone she was using, with all its loudness, like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, turned my bratty side on. I looked at her with piercing eyes, and slowly, I said, “Noah kissed me.”
The look of surprise on her face told me she didn’t expect it. She turned her body, completely facing my side of the car. “For real? Omigosh! Why did you just tell me now?” she cried out.
“I don’t know. I was unsure.”
“And you left Noah after he kissed you? Are you nuts?” she said incredulously, words traveling from the small distance between us to my ears with infuriating effect.
“I didn’t know, okay? I was so lost. It happened all of a sudden. I didn’t know what to do, for crying out loud!”
“Oh, yes. For crying out loud, you are nuts!”
I tried to look offended though in truth I knew my best friend was right. I had been waiting, dreaming, for this to happen. For Noah to kiss me, I mean. And when it finally did happen, I acted like I had never been kissed at all.
I perked up in my seat to stare at her. “Forget it, okay?”
“Forget it?” she repeated in a shrill voice. “Babe, you’re acting like it was just your night you ruined! You totally forgot about me!”
Again, she was right. Whatever it was that she and Martin were doing at the kitchen had been put to a stop because of me. Through the mirror I saw our driver wincing. He moved in his seat once in a while. He must have been experiencing a heart attack, already, as Molly and I was having this exchange, for all I knew.
“I’m sorry,” I finally said, and meant it.
She slumped her body back on her seat, resting her head so it was facing the back of our driver’s head and I wouldn’t be able to see her reaction anymore. The case was closed. It felt like I needed to stop the driver at the nearest convenience store to buy a beer for myself. I should have drunk one at the party before we left.
Then, I told the driver to stop for real, because I had just seen my street. I stepped down the taxi holding my four-inch heels and purse. Then, without looking at my best friend, I said, “All right, see you Monday!”
I didn’t get a chance to hear her reply anymore.