My bed was cluttered with possible outfits for that night. The sun was already setting, so that meant I only had a couple of hours until I should head to the party. I didn’t want to wear a dress, mainly because all I owned were summer dresses. I’d look like a innocent little school girl.
I stretched my hand to the back of my drawer and grinned at what I pulled out. A blank tank, equipped with gray and white hanging beads around the neckline. I paired it with gray jeans and some ballet flats. Flats were definitely my comfort shoes.
I’d finished in record time, so I decided to take up the task of cleaning up the mess I made. I folded the clothes and neatly placed them back where they belonged. I suppose I had a tiny bit of OCD, so I had to arrange them properly. I got confused and frustrated when I put things in drawers in which they did not belong.
I closed the last drawer, letting a satisfied grin spread over my face. Checking the clock, it was only seven o’clock. A puff of air escaped my lungs and I looked in the mirror for anything else I could add.
“You should straighten your hair,” James offered.
I jumped to the side a bit when he appeared next to me. Placing a hand over my pounding heart, I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, really?”
“Not that I don’t like your hair the way it is,” he fumbled over his words quickly, “It’s just, why not?” James scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.
Feeling bad, I patted his shoulder soothingly. “Calm down, I was thinking the same thing.”
My feet made their way underneath my bed, searching for the Chi box I hid underneath their somewhere. When my hands locked around it, I slid the box out and muttered, “Finally.”
Using the remnants of my fourth wind, I plugged in the straightener and waited for it to heat up. I spent the time between thinking about the party. I’d probably stick out like a sore thumb there. How many parties had I been to in my life? One. And that was a birthday trip to a petting zoo.
My fingers hovered over my cell phone. Deciding to go through with it, I dialed the phone number and waited for her to pick up.
“Hey, Rach.”
“Jess, hey. Um, I was wondering if you’d like to go to a party with me tonight.”
“Yeah, sure,” she replied, “I just finished painting my nails, too. Perfect. Where’s it at?”
I gave her quick directions to the place, describing the house in the same way that Ruth had to me. My instructions weren’t completely precise, I don’t think, but that was because I couldn’t remember by heart where this party was being held. I knew the general vicinity, though.
“Oh, I know who you’re talking about! Matt Walter’s place, right?”
“I really don’t know…” I trailed off.
“How do you know about the party, then?” Jess asked me.
“Well, I was —“ I had to cut myself off. I couldn’t exactly say that Ruth wanted me to watch over William Larkin, the eighteen year old magician. He was legally an adult. I did, however, say something that would cause Jess to really want to tag along.
“William Larkin will be there,” I said, smiling to myself.
That’s when I realized that Jess didn’t know about my job. Silently, I prayed that she wouldn’t ask about it.
Jess’s voice came screaming on the other line so loudly that I had to hold it at least a foot away from my ear. When she seemed to calm down, I made it short. “See you there,” I said and hung up.
After the phone call, I straightened my hair. It was an extensive process, considering the amount of hair I possessed. When I was satisfied, I put in black dangly earrings and tucked my phone in my jean’s pocket.
I whistled loudly with my fingers in my mouth, “summoning” James.
“Ready?” James appeared suddenly.
“Jess is coming along too,” I informed him.
His eyes immediately brightened. I knew that look. He was hatching a plan.
“What’s going on in that mind of yours?” I asked suspiciously.
He snapped his eyes to mine and gave me a childlike expression. “Nothing much,” he shrugged nonchalantly. That’s right, I forgot about his ‘If questioned, I go mute’ policy. “Let’s go.”
On our way out, I didn’t miss out on the undeniable crash of my dresser. Furrowing my eyebrows, I spun around and poked my head into my bedroom. It was snapped in half. As if someone had karate chopped it right down the middle.
I stood in the doorway for a good couple of minutes, my mouth opening and closing like a fish.
Deciding to clean it up when I got back, I walked down the stairs feeling disoriented. How the heck had the dresser cracked in half? It was perfectly fine the hour before.
When I arrived downstairs, I ran right into my dad. “Lookin’ good, Rae Rae,” he smiled, and then it faded, “Are you going on a date? Lauren!” He called for my mother.
“No, dad. I’m going to a party,” I laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “You can stop thinking about your shotgun now.”
“Did you ask my permission?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at me. He looked down at me disapprovingly.
“Can I go to a party?” I smiled hopefully, and then tacked on at the end, “Jess is coming, too.”
Though, I’d be the responsible one in that situation.
“Yes,” he nodded, giving me the dad look. It was a mix of ‘If you get pregnant, I will lock you in your room for the rest of your life’ and ‘Come back drunk and I will make sure all you drink for the rest of your life is prune juice’.
“Thanks, daddy,” I pecked him on the cheek and opened the front door. I walked out and waved good-bye, telling him to give mom and hug for me. She was in the attic, working on developing some film on her photographs.
I picked up my keys and drove my way to the party, thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong. James smiled reassuringly at me, giving me just an ounce of confidence. Hopefully it was enough.
~* *~
I had arrived a little before Jessica because I had gotten ready a little earlier than she had. The street I had driven onto was packed with cars lined along the lawns of peoples’ houses. It was easy to tell which house was hosting the party, considering the front lawn already had beer cans crushed everywhere. Music was blaring and pulsing against the ground I was parked on.
There were people loitering around the front door, probably harassing people that entered and exited the house. One of the girls standing fell over from where she stood, bursting into a fit of giggles.
I could only imagine what the inside of the house would look like. The party only started two hours ago.
Whipping out my cell phone, I sent a quick text to Ruth.
@ party. I’ll keep you updated.
I’m one of those people that always send grammatically correct text messages. I just think that it’s annoying trying to figure out what all of the letters and numbers mean rather than just reading completely written out words.
My phone vibrated and I flipped it open.
TY.
Deciding to be brave, I walked up the driveway with my head held high. Though, I could already feel my eyelids drooping. My day was catching up with me, and not being very pleasant about it either.
My feet climbed up the concrete steps outside and I brushed past the girls that were harassing people entering the home. James was right behind me and I didn’t miss that he poked them and they went flying backwards. My lips twitched in amusement, but I turned around and gave him a cold glare. He merely shrugged, tilting his head around the place to see what it was like.
Since James was always with a boring girl like myself, he hadn’t been to many parties. At least, that I knew of.
The rooms were brightly lit, flashing with throbbing lights. Whoever owned the home was very wealthy, considering there was a DJ, strobe lights, fancy leather furniture and plenty of alcohol. The wood floors were no doubt mahogany, which I smiled ruefully to myself about. Hopefully no one spilled their drink on the expensive flooring. Though, from all the old looking stains already present, I’m sure the family was used to it.
“Hey, Rachel!” a voice yelled from across the room. My eyes snapped up, wondering how I could already see someone I knew. The hint of a smile on my face vanished when I realized who it was. I watched as Jared from the jewelry place earlier that day waved at me.
I really disliked him for some reason.
Almost attached to his hip was Diane, the girl who’d I grown to already dislike. What was with my judgments lately? They hadn’t done anything to upset me, so why was I so sensitive?
Sighing quietly, I waved at the couple. There was no reason to be rude to them.
Jared started weaving his way through the crowd, but was pulled back by Diane. She whispered something in his ear and he grudgingly stepped backwards and headed to the bar. She must’ve asked him to get her a drink. Her head turned in my direction, and the poisonous look she sent my way was enough to kill puppies.
Beside me, someone grabbed my hand. Just from the feel of the hand, I knew it was James. “Jonathan’s over there,” James pointed in a certain direction.
“Where’s William?” I asked him in a hushed tone. That’s really what I needed to know.
James shrugged, pressing his lips tightly together. “Jeez, what is your problem with him?” I hissed underneath my breath.
He looked taken aback with my outburst, but didn’t respond. James looked at the ground and clicked his jaw back and forth.
“Who you talking to?” a voice asked from behind me. I spun around, greeted by the suspicious face of Jared.
I was momentarily surprised by his comment, unsure how he had heard me. My voice was relatively quiet. “Myself,” I shot him what I hoped was an embarrassed smile. It was a good lie too, because the words I said could’ve worked if I was yelling at myself.
Jared nodded, but was completely unconvinced. He held up his hand that had the red cup of alcohol in it and gestured towards the pulsating music. “Want to dance?”
In my mind, I scowled. Could he take a hint? As if he could sense my hesitation, he added, “Come on, just for a little bit. Just friends.”
“No offense Jared, but I’m positive that your girlfriend wouldn’t approve of that,” I blushed as the words tumbled out of my mouth.
“I… uh, yeah. Right,” Jared frowned, as if he were thinking about something very hard.
James snickered next to me, flicking the drink in Jared’s hand. It flew out of his hands and splashed onto the floor. The alcohol splattered lightly against my shoes.
Instead of looking at the ground like a normal person, Jared looked up straight into James’s eyes. James looked surprised at first, but then Jared snapped out of it and looked me in the eye. “Oops.”
“Dude! Not on the carpet!” a guy screamed, close to ripping his hair out. He fell to his knees in front of the mess, looking close to passing out. When he started giggling like a girl, that’s when I realized he was severely drunk. I couldn’t help but think of Will’s state at the moment.
“Sorry Matt,” Jared apologized off-handedly, shooting me one last glance. Matt was the owner, I assumed, judging by the information Jess had relayed to me earlier.
“Look, I’ve got to go meet up with someone,” I told Jared, “I’m really sorry. I don’t want you to take things the wrong way.”
If there’s anything I didn’t want, it was an enemy.
Jared nodded and managed a smile. “I think I’ll go find Diane,” he said dryly. Her name came out like venom, and my eyes widened slightly. If he disliked her so much, why would he be with her?
“Have fun,” I nodded my head in her direction. She was searching for him in the sea of people. Luckily she hadn’t seen him with me; otherwise I might’ve been involved in an attempted homicide. Me, being the target.
I weaved through the crowd, feeling James’s gaze burning through my back. An internal debate was infiltrating my thoughts, wondering whether or not I should approach Johnny and his friends. They seemed engaged in a engrossing conversation.
Deciding that it was the only way to figure out where William was, I stepped forward smoothly and put on a large smile. Tapping Johnny on the shoulder, I let out a nervous greeting.
“Rachel! What’re you doing here?” Johnny seemed genuinely surprised, grinning from ear to ear. He was his normal cheery self, but didn’t seem drunk. That was a good sign. I wasn’t sure if he hung out with William outside of rehearsal or not, but if he did, there was a good chance William wasn’t drinking either.
“My friend and I just wanted to check out the party,” I lied shyly.
“Where’s your friend?”
“Not here yet,” I said, “So I’m feeling like a bit of a loner,” I laughed quietly.
“Not your scene, huh?” he guessed, brushing his hair back with his fingers.
I shook my head ‘no’ instantly, causing him to roll his eyes. “Hey, why don’t you go hang out with William?” His eyes glinted mischievously.
“Why would I want to do that?” I tried to play his silly little game and then added, “Trying to get rid of me so fast?”
“Hey, dude, can you open this damn thing?” Someone passed Johnny a beer bottle. Johnny easily opened it up and passed it back to his buddy.
“I swear, for such a skinny kid, you’re ridiculously strong,” the guy said, eyeing Johnny’s arms. Out of curiosity, I glanced at his arms. They weren’t on the bulky side at all, but you could see the definition of muscle through his skin. He wasn’t necessarily skinny, just lean. He really wasn’t an unattractive kid. Jess would definitely have eyes for him.
Johnny merely shrugged. Deciding to introduce me, he swept his arms up in a dramatic manner and grinned at his friends, “Meet Rachel Cooper,” he hooked his thumb in my direction.
Johnny’s friends uttered polite hellos to me and I immediately took a liking to them. We settled into easy conversation, and I found that it was really easy to talk with them. They seemed more reserved, but definitely not nerds. Or quiet. Johnny seemed to be in the middle group in the social latter. He stayed out of people’s ways, but was well liked by others. He was probably the guy pretty much everyone wanted to have signed their yearbook. Outside of the show, Johnny cleaned up well. I think that he made himself up to be a nerd just for the act.
By chance, I had ended up looking at the front door. In came Jess, strutting like she owned the place. I would’ve laughed at her ridiculousness, but she’s always been like that. I lifted my hand up in the air and tried to gain her attention.
When I caught her eye, she immediately walked over. Her chocolate brown hair was clipped back, but straightened to perfection. Her eye make-up was gray and glittery, going well with her outfit. I smiled in approval.
“That’s my friend Jess,” I whispered to Johnny, who had given me a curious look when I waved her over.
“Hey!” Jess chirped, whirling into a wordy explanation of why it took so longer for her to arrive. Apologizing to Johnny and his friends, I excused us. Johnny replied with a comment about not being a stranger. I had rolled my eyes.
Before I could leave, Johnny caught my arm. “Seriously, go find Will,” he whispered. “He’s probably surrounded by girls.”
“Then why would I want to go find him?” I raised my eyebrows.
“Just do it,” he rolled his eyes and then added, “I know you want to.”
Before I could respond something snippy, he shooed me away and went back to talking with his friends.
“He was cute,” Jess commented, smiling flirtily in Johnny’s direction. Luckily he wasn’t looking; otherwise he’d be in for a rude awakening with Jess’s boy craziness. I laughed to myself, mostly because she didn’t even recognize him as the “nerdy” guy from the show. Or in her case, she called him superman.
“That’s Johnny,” I told her, very aware of James’s presence close by.
“Where’s Will?” Jess’s eyes brightened at the thought of the renowned magician.
I could get whiplash from her whirling interests in guys.
“Go look for him?” I offered, hatching a plan in my mind. If Jessica found him, I’d have an excuse to join them. Then I could supervise William and possibly convince him out of drinking. That wouldn’t be an easy task, though, and I knew it. He’d pin me down as a control freak or a goodie-two-shoe and embarrass me in front of everyone. At least, that’s what I was expecting.
“Good idea,” she grinned. “How’d you even know he was here?” She raised an eyebrow at me. Was I the only one that couldn’t raise one eyebrow, or what?
“Uh, word of mouth?” I tried.
Good thing Jess was oblivious to the world around her when boys were involved. She didn’t notice my weak lying, fortunately.
Jess shot me a ‘wish me luck’ look and crossed her fingers in the air as she left, causing me to laugh to myself. When Jess left, I realized I was back to square one. I was by myself, standing in the middle of the room like a loner with no friends. If I weren’t on the job, I’d sprawl on the floor and lull myself asleep. Of course, the music blaring through the speakers wasn’t the same as a relaxing lullaby.
James popped out of nowhere next to me, signaling me with his finger to be quiet and follow him. It was strange for him to not say something out loud, considering no one else could hear him. I gave him a curious look, but followed without saying a word.
“You know that Jared kid?” James whispered once we were in an empty area. His eyes were darting around nervously.
I nodded, unsure if I was allowed to speak.
“Stay away from him. I’m getting a strange vibe from him,” James frowned.
I wouldn’t argue with the ‘strange vibe’ thing, but I couldn’t help but blurt defensively, “Like with William?”
After the words escaped my mouth, I immediately felt bad. My fingers went to my mouth in shock. James’s face fell, as if being reminded of something. He held up his hands to the ceiling, almost in an ‘I give up’ mannerism.
“I – I’m sorry James. I didn’t mean –“
He closed his eyes, tilting his head to the ceiling. “If you only knew the half of things, you might understand why I’m being like this.”
“Then tell me!” I whispered, feeling my eyebrows bunch together with my words.
“I. Can’t,” he bit out, looking so utterly upset that I wanted to give him a hug. I didn’t, though, because I wasn’t positive whether or not he was upset with me or something else.
“Why?”
I didn’t understand.
“Let’s drop it. Stay away from that Jared guy, until I can figure out what the scoop is,” he bit his lip nervously.
“And what about William?” I asked, just to clarify.
“I’d rather you stayed away from him for the rest of eternity,” James replied. I searched for any sign of kidding or humor. There were none. He was dead serious.
I wasn’t sure what to reply to his stony answer. James beat me to the chase, uttering something about doing detective’s work. He disappeared from sight, leaving me standing there alone in the hall.
~* *~
Minutes, maybe even hours, passed before I decided to give in and search for Jess throughout the crowd. To be honest, I was afraid of what I would find. My feet padded along the wood floored area of the house and I squished my body between partiers dancing.
“Excuse me,” I repeated over and over, repeatedly bumping into different people.
By the fifth person, I was growing tired of this game. Deciding to be my own version of a construction vehicle, I plowed right through the crowd. I made it through successfully, but not without falling flat on my face on my way out of the bodies. To top it off, someone accidentally doused their drink all over my horizontal body.
At least I’d hoped that it was an accident. When I glanced up at Diane who looked oh-so-sorry, my suspicions raised. Accident my derriere. Ignoring whatever apology she decided to throw my way, I got up and irritably dusted myself off. I scowled at the disgusting stench of beer on my tank top.
“You okay, blondie?” A silky voice asked to my side.
I knew that voice and nickname all too well. “Hello, William,” I narrowed my eyes, daring him to make a comment on what he had probably just witnessed.
My eyes scanned over his body. He wasn’t staggering, which was a good sign. He was dressed in dark wash jeans, and a deep purple tee-shirt. Purple seemed to be his signature, considering he wore black and purple for his shows as well.
I’d wondered what he’d look like in white.
William was alone against the wall, but if he hadn’t been glaring at anyone that stepped within two feet of him, he might’ve been surrounded.
He grinned slyly at me and reached behind his back. After a few confusing seconds, he offered me a fresh dish towel. “Try and dry it off,” he told me.
I looked behind him only to see a flat wall. There were no possible places where he could get a dish towel from. “Oh, wait,” he exclaimed, snatching it out of my hands quickly. I pressed my lips together in a circle and stared at my empty hands. He studied my shirt for a moment and then suddenly a replica appeared in his hands. “That’s better,” he winked.
I stared at him dumbfounded.
“Are you going to take it or what?” he demanded, thrusting the tank at me.
“You still do magic tricks outside of the shows?” I raised my eyebrows, stroking the material of the shirt he had thrown at me. It was exactly the same as the one I wore, minus the alcohol stains.
Smiling devilishly, he crooked a finger forward, signaling me to lean in closer for a secret. I did, and shook my head at his words.
“I was born with a talent with magic. Why not abuse it?” His eyes sparkled in amusement.
I shrugged, surreptitiously scanning the vicinity for any alcoholic beverages that might be in possession of him. There were none that I spotted.
“How much you had to drink, blondie?” He suddenly asked me, reaching back and taking a sip of his own cup. “Don’t look so surprised I said that,” he chuckled, “I knew you were searching for any drinks.”
By this rate, my secretive plans would go to crap.
“Nothing. I don’t like it,” I said, wondering what his reaction would be.
“I don’t either,” he replied, taking another chug of the beverage, “But it’s a good solution to forgetting problems.”
He downed the rest of the drink, bottoms up.
I nodded slowly, deliberately. “So, you like partying?” I tried changing the subject.
William’s eyebrows raised, a slow but mesmerizing smile shaping his lips. “Not gonna ask me what my problems are?” he questioned.
“I don’t want to pry,” I answered, shyly pushing my hair behind my ears. I could feel my cheeks growing warm. Hopefully they weren’t too red.
He considered this, giving me a strange look. I frowned in response. “I think the question is: Do you like partying?”
It took me a second to realize he was responding to my earlier comment about his opinion on partying. “No, not really,” I shrugged.
“Then why come?” William asked me, leaning against the wall casually. He took a sip out of his cup.
“Figured my friend Jessica would like it,” I lied, sounding convincing to even my own ears.
William whisked out another can of beer.
“I think maybe you should slow down,” I said quietly, pressing my lips tightly together. How was I supposed to convince him not to drink? I didn’t want to seem like an idiot.
William chuckled lowly, shaking his head. “I’ve only just started, Miss. Cooper.”
Then he downed the entire can, taking large and deliberate gulps. William winked, probably aware that it was beginning to worry me.
“You’re going to get drunk,” I stated.
“The best part,” he replied slowly.
I gave him a hesitant look, not understanding his logic. Nothing was fun about getting drunk. You get crazy, do stupid things, and don’t have any control over your actions.
“That’s stupid,” I blurted and then felt my eyes go wide.
William didn’t look offended by my words. Instead, he shrugged. “Doesn’t have to make sense.”
Before I could think up a witty response, hands circled around my waist and hugged me from behind. My body stiffened, and I whipped my head around to see who it was.
Only Jess.
“Who’s your friend?” she asked ‘innocently’, eyeing William up and down. The bright sparkle in her eye told me that she knew very well who it was.
“This is Will,” I said simply, holding in the urge to roll my eyes.
Jess smiled that million watt grin of hers. While she was boy crazy, the guys were equally crazy about her. It wasn’t surprising either, because even though she came on strong, she was gorgeous.
William glanced at me, shaking his head in ruffling amusement. Then he looked at Jess and waved his fingers slightly. “Hello.”
Jess gave me a look that said ‘Give me a minute alone’, so I bit my lip and told them I’d be back in a little while once I’d gotten something to drink.
“Try some alcohol!” William shouted after me, holding up his own drink. I sighed, knowing that Ruth was going to kill me.
The thought of Ruth caused me to almost slap myself in the face. Whipping out my phone, I scrolled to her contact name and punched in a text message.
Me: Will & lots of beer = IDK what to do!
Ruth: Uh, I don’t suppose I could tell him his car was on fire?
Me: …
Ruth: Guess not.
Me: So what do I do?
I was really helpful. Note the sarcasm.
Ruth: Drink, party, and have fun. Just try and keep an eye on him & report back.
Shaking my head, I exhaled noisily. I was beginning to hate this job, just because I had no idea how to handle it.
Taking me my surprise, someone shoved an unopened can of beer in my hand. They left without a word, but it wasn’t suspicious because it seemed like the person was passing them out to everyone.
Curiously tipping it on its side, I examined the can. I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, but it had to be a pretty long time, because William was already drunk when I snapped out of it.
When I moved my eyes up again, I watched in horror as William stood up on the kitchen table. People were loitering around, laughing at his insanity. In the highest note possible, he began belting the Spice Girls to the top of his lungs. To add to the ridiculousness, he started doing the Charlie Brown.
Without hesitation, I cracked open the can of beer and chugged.
Read this:
Ok, so I wrote like 17 pages last week, and then EVERYTHING ERASED. I was SO mad. SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO MAD. It didn't turn out as good the second time, and I changed it a lot. It's not as exciting as I planned. At all. But, I really do hope you enjoyed. This was like 14 - 15 pages on word. ;D
& my uploads are super delayed. I've been working on this other piece of writing, which is only like two chapters, but I've tweaked it so much, it's taken up a lot of time. Maybe, if I feel confident in it enough, I'll post it on here. Or I'll lost interest. I need to figure out how to NOT do that.
<3