I'm smoothing my dress out when Mom comes in my room.
"Nice job with the napkins, sweetheart. They look really nice on the plates," she compliments.
"Thank you. I only learned from the best." I turn away from the mirror. "Do I look okay?"
She takes a quick glance at me. I was in the mood for something simple but pretty, so I decided to wear a cute little black dress. It reaches down to my knees and has a boat neckline. It's daring, too, with the dress fitting the frame of my body and it has a low back.
"Of course you do, Ali. You look beau—oh, hold on one second..." Mom walks over to where I'm standing and grabs my black pearl necklace from my nightstand, putting it around my neck. "...there. Now you look beautiful."
I pile my hair on top of my head. "Mm, up or down?"
"Uh, put it up. You always leave your hair down. It'd be nice to see it in a different 'do for a change." She then narrows her eyes at me. "You got a date or something?"
"No."
"You sure? Why are you getting all gussied up, then? Is it your friend?"
"Mom, it's a dinner party. I'm supposed to look nice," I answer, ignoring her last question.
There's a look on her face that says she doesn't believe me. "That wasn't what I—"
"Hey, girls. Our guests are already here. If one of you want to come out and get the door, that'd be fantastic," Dad says suddenly, appearing in my doorway.
"I'll get the door," I offer.
After checking to make sure everything's fine, I leave my room and walk down the hall. Für Elise is playing from my parents' laptop, which is sitting on top of the mantle by the fireplace. The music travels throughout the dining and living room, the melody bouncing off the walls.
The doorbell rings over and over as people arrive. I stand in the foyer, greeting them as they enter our house. Most of the people I come in contact with I know from our last party, but there are also a few new faces. I try to be as warm and welcoming to them as best as I can while keeping an eye out for Nathan.
Twenty minutes soon pass by and there's no sign of him yet. I wonder what's taking him so long. Hopefully he hasn't forgotten about coming over.
I continue to stand by the front door, saying hello as more of the teachers come in. But after a while, I feel kind of bored being in one place and start to feel antsy. I find myself veering into the kitchen.
"Ali, where are you going?" Dad calls after me.
"I'll be right back."
I step inside, closing my eyes as I breathe in the dinner Mom made.
"Need some help?" I ask her, who's bent over the oven.
She straightens, a pan of scalloped potatoes in her oven-mitted hands.
"Would you mind dabbing the tart with whipped cream?" She nods at the fruit dessert that's on the counter, the whole pie sliced into little wedges.
Grabbing the whipped cream from the fridge, I reach for a spoon to scoop some and go to town.
The repetition of the movement is calming, and from where I'm standing I have a good view of the side of the foyer. No Nathan.
"Isn't James here yet?"
"No, not yet."
I finish with dabbing the whipped cream on the tart and place the container back in the refrigerator. Looking back at my masterpiece, I'm tempted to eat one now. And I almost do when Mom catches me picking at it. She slaps my hand.
"Why don't you go keep your father company? I can wrap it up here."
"It's okay, I don't mind helping."
"No, sweetie, I insist. Go and help Dad out. I'll be out in a couple minutes, anyway."
She gives me a kiss on the cheek and pushes me out back into the crowd. Even though I'm wearing heels, they're not quite high enough for me to see through the sea of people in our living room. I get on my tiptoes to find Dad, which takes me about a good two minutes to finally see him.
The front door opens all of a sudden with a harsh gust of wind that swirls around me. I lean forward to see who came in, at first thinking it's Nathan. But it's James and his parents. A small part of me grows a little worried. Did he forget about the party? Or did he decide not to come? What if he got into an accident or something instead?
Or maybe you're just being paranoid, I tell myself. It's only been twenty-five minutes.
Despite these thoughts buzzing in my head, I force a smile on my face as I greet James and his parents.
"Hi, guys."
"Alexis!" Karen booms out. "It's great to see you again, hon! My, don't you look dazzling tonight?"
She wraps her arms around me to give me a tight hug.
"Thank you. Hey, James. How's Georgia Tech?"
"Pretty good, although I'm glad it's Friday," he answers, flashing me one of his goofy smiles. "Say, where's the food at?"
"It's not ready yet, goofball. But you can make yourself comfortable in the meantime. You know, mingle," I say jokingly.
He sighs dramatically. "I suppose I can do that. You coming?"
"I'll be there in a second. I'm waiting for someone."
"All right." James disappears into the living room.
"Dylan!" My father charges into the hall, a wineglass in one hand, the other extended to James' father. "Great to see you!"
"You too, Tim."
"How long has it been since you've been here?"
"Not since the Super Bowl," Dylan laughs.
Dad whistles. "Time flies, doesn't it? In that case, let me get you and the lovely lady a drink."
Karen and Dylan follow him to the dining room and soon they're out of sight, leaving me by myself. I look over at the front door. I really don't feel like being here right now. I can sit with James and wait until Nathan does arrive. I leave the foyer, ducking around the people gathered by the living room, and squeeze in next to James in the armchair. Back when we were seven, we used to fit perfectly side by side in this chair. Now our backsides are crammed up against the armrests.
"I thought you were waiting for somebody," he says.
I shimmy my shoulder a little to make myself comfortable. "I am. I don't feel like standing around while waiting, though."
"Makes sense. Well, what have you been up to lately? Haven't heard from you in ages."
"What do you mean 'ages?' It hasn't been that long."
"It's certainly felt like it. It's been a few weeks since we've hung out. You didn't reply to the last message I sent you the other day."
"Yes, I did. I said I'd hang out during the weekend," I say.
"It never happened. I shot you a message last Saturday but you never replied," James points out.
"Oh, no. I'm sorry, man, I thought I did."
"Are you avoiding me or something?"
"Huh? Don't be ridiculous, of course I'm not. I've been busy."
"Right."
There's a pause. "How about this? You can come over this weekend. I don't have anything planned."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"Okay. I'll let you know when I drop by."
"Sounds perfect to me."
We both give each other a fist-bump, making us laugh at the same time.
"Ali!" Mom's voice rises over the noise but I don't need her to tell me. The tone in her voice gives it away. Nathan's here. I scramble out of the chair and push my way through the crowd. It's thicker now, wall-to-wall people with half-drunk wineglasses in their hands.
When I get to the hallway, Mom catches sight of me. "You invited Nathan?"
"Uh, yeah. Just to be nice."
I tuck my arm into hers and grin widely up into her face. I know I have a lot of explaining to do after this.
"Oh! Got it," she says with a wink. Her cheeks are tinged red; I can tell she's a little tipsy. "Well, enjoy yourself, Nathan."
With that, she twirls off into the living room.
He and I look at each other. I see the way he's dressed and I have to admit the light blue button-down shirt and denim jeans he's wearing makes his body look good. I catch myself staring at him for a second too long. My eyes cast down to the floor.
"Sorry I'm late. I got caught up in traffic," he says.
I look back up at him. "No worries. I know how bad it can get. I mean, it's Friday, so..."
"I hope I didn't miss anything."
"No, dinner hasn't started yet. You're fine."
"Good."
Both of us glance away briefly, then back again at each other.
"Can I get you anything?" I ask.
"I can wait until later." He looks at my dress, then my face, checking me out. "You look beautiful, by the way."
"Uh, thanks. So do you." He raises an eyebrow, appearing amused. Then I realize why he gives me such a look. "Oh! Not beautiful. I meant...er, you know...great in that...outfit. Ugh, dammit." Why do I have to turn red now? Why?
He laughs. "It's okay, I know what you meant."
I roll my eyes, mad at myself. But I quickly set that feeling aside and step in close to Nathan, speaking in a hushed tone. "Listen, I hope you don't mind but I actually invited you here because I want to talk to you."
"I kinda figured that. What did you want to tell me?"
"I went to Faith's place on Tuesday. And I found what you said to keep an eye for."
"What was it?"
"Well..." I start but close my mouth. I look at where we are again.
We're still alone in the foyer but there are people laughing and talking at a nearby range. I don't feel comfortable sharing this kind of information out in public, especially if my parents are around.
"...do you mind if we step outside? This isn't the right place to talk."
"Sure," Nathan shrugs.
I take his hand and lead him away from everybody. The music gradually begins to dwindle as both of us go outside. We walk across the deck, passing by a few people, and into the backyard. I guide Nathan to the gazebo since there isn't anybody inside. When we come in, he gives my hand a little squeeze.
"You know, I always thought you had the cutest hands. They look delicate but they have a firm grip, too."
That's when I become fully aware of us holding hands. I quickly drop his hand and take mine away. He looks at me with a playful smile on his face.
"It's clean, I promise."
"I know that, I—"
"Relax, Alexis. I'm giving you hard time. Anyway, about Faith's place. What'd you find there?"
"Right. I went inside Erika's old room to look around for something to show Adrian he lied. Well, I came across love letters he sent her. I decided to take a few of them with me and the next day was when I went to Marlsgate to see him."
"What happened then?"
"I confronted Adrian about it and he finally confessed, telling me that he and Erika were seeing each other. They had to keep it quiet, of course, because they didn't want the university to find out. Adrian told me he was very much in love with her, explaining how much they had in common with some things. After she died, he said he was crestfallen and felt his world shattered."
"That's terrible," Nathan says.
"I know, I felt bad for him. He actually has the same suspicion Reuben does. About Ben having something to do with Erika's death. He and I got around to talking about that. Then, something Adrian said afterward clicked in my brain," I say.
"What was it?"
"He thinks Ben probably killed Erika because he felt if he couldn't have her, no one else could. The funny thing is, I remember hearing those precise words in the dream about her murder. It made sense to me when I tried piecing it together. It would seem that'd be his motive for taking her out. But...that's why I wanted to talk to you, to hear your thoughts about it." I look over at Nathan.
"I think it makes sense, the bits of information you said fit. Sounds like we might have something here."
"Hopefully. So, what's going on? I haven't heard from you."
"Well, I've actually looked through the database of Fulton County for Ben Reed these past few days and found his record there. That's why I haven't called yet because I wasn't sure if I'd find anything on him. But he definitely has a history."
I shift my hips to face him and lean on my elbow. "On what?"
"Turns out he's been in trouble with the law before. He's committed a few crimes. Theft, vandalism, trespassing on private property. Things a troublemaker such as himself would do. Though with the people we've talked to, I'm really beginning to think Ben is our prime suspect. After what you told me, it all makes sense. His motive for killing Erika would, in fact, be jealousy. I don't see any other reason behind that."
"That's what I thought when I connected all the pieces. I oughta give Ben a piece of my mind when we find him. I don't know how he can sleep at night."
"Same here. The only other thing I need to do now is find his current location. I haven't been able to get around to doing that yet because of my shift. I'll see if I can find where he lives and bring him in for questioning."
"That's good thinking." With not much else to say, we turn our heads to look away.
We're only one step away from getting to Ben. All Nathan needs to do is find where he's located and we will have found Erika's murderer. She'll get the justice she deserves and I'll have my life back. I'll finally be able to sleep normally again nightmare-free, see things without someone else's memories invading my mind all the time, and not feel like I have another person living inside me. And no more hunting down killers. I'll be myself again, the old Alexis Morgan. Thinking about it makes me smile.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Nathan looking over at me.
"What?"
"Uh-uh," he says.
"What?" I prod.
"You...it's just..." He examines the ground. "...you look beautiful when you smile, that's all."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. I haven't seen you smile like that in a long time."
"Of course you have. I've smiled plenty of times."
"No, I mean...a real, sincere one. I haven't seen that smile since we stopped seeing each other."
I roll my eyes playfully. "Thanks."
"I'm not just saying that, either. I mean it."
I turn my head to face Nathan. He grins back at me and I return it. Then he lays a hand on top of mine, my heart giving a little flutter at the touch. For a second, I think about removing my hand from his but, looking into his eyes, I don't. I let it linger.
All of a sudden, footsteps pound on the grass right outside the gazebo and someone pants. Nathan and I look away to see James run up to us.
"Ali, your Mom wanted me to come get you. Everybody's getting ready to sit down at the table."
I nod. "I'm coming."
His eyes fall on me and then dart to my hand, which, I realize too late, is still on Nathan's. I quickly remove it and place my arm firmly by my side. After getting himself together, Nathan makes his way out of the gazebo, me following behind him. When his back is towards me, James shoots me a questioning look, one eyebrow raised. I make a face, shaking my head. I know what he's thinking but it wasn't what it looked like.
Before I can even say anything, he turns around and goes straight to the deck. I run to catch up to them. All of us walk back inside my house, taking our seats once we're in the dining room to have dinner with our guests.