After school on a Friday afternoon, Henry drove up in the usual limo just as I saw my brothers and his teammates walking towards us. And then I also saw two other limos pull up right behind Henry. I groaned loudly. I had forgotten about today.
About once a month, my brothers throw a sleepover-ish-party thing where they invite all of their teammates from their soccer, football, baseball, and basketball teams. Yes, my brothers are doing all those sports, and yes, that is a lot of people. And it was peculiar how half way through the day, there were always girls joining in on the party. I had no idea how they could have possibly gotten inside.
But anyhow, that always meant I had to sit next to a whole bunch of sweaty guys in the car. And the guys hated sitting next to me more than I hated to sit with them.
I'm that weird little sister of the Heywood brothers.
I climbed into the limo after saying hi to Henry and sat in the back corner. At least then I only had to sit next to one person. And this was where I would have to sit and wait for ten minutes just so that the guys could arrange their seats. Who sits next to Cassandra, who has to sit on the other two limos, blah, blah, blah.
But today was a bit different.
Zayden climbed in before anyone spoke a word about where to sit and sat himself next to me. I was more than a little surprised. But none of the guys thought it strange and piled in one after the other. Usually, if one of my brothers' friends sat next to an 'anomaly' like me, they would be glared at, shunned, or worse.
Forget a bit, today was completely different.
Once the wheels of the limo started moving though, I forgot about the complexity of popularity at our school. Because, hello, there was a super hot guy squished next to me in a car right now.
And he was totally sweaty.
"Ew," I said, crunching my nose, "you're all sweaty."
Zayden barked out a laugh over the loud talking of everyone else.
"Don't I smell wonderful?"
I rolled my eyes playfully. "You're disgusting."
"Oh, come on, don't say that. I know you like having me pushed up against you."
I could feel my cheeks warm as I tried to stay cool. "You wish."
"You're being so stubborn. I know I like it." Zayden said, winking at me.
I cleared my throat. "Good for you."
I felt like I was going to faint. It was kind of obvious he was flirting with me, but, why? And even though I wasn't used to flirting at all, it felt amazing to be flirted to, especially if the guy was absoloutely gorgeous.
Time ticked slowly, but finally the limo pulled up by my house. I couldn't have gotten out quick enough, and I ran upstairs to my room. I crashed into my bed, my face still red as a tomato. And the faint smell of Zayden's cologne lingered on my clothes, not helping my racing heart slow down.
I quickly changed into shorts and my favorite dark blue tank top, pulling my hair up into a messy bun. The guys would probably be loud the entire time, but they never disrupt me, and I never see them until dinner, so I should get at least three hours to myself.
I grabbed my notebook and scrambled onto my bed. I started writing a sentence when someone knocked on my door.
I groaned. What did my brothers want from me?
"Look, if you think you need something from me-" I stopped talking when I opened the door to see Zayden and not one of my brothers. My mouth fell into a small o shape as I didn't know how to react.
Zayden smiled. "If I think I need something from you....?"
I quickly shook my head. "I, uh, thought you were, Alec or Auden."
Zayden chuckled. "Yeah, I guessed as much. So, we're at the pool, and if you want to join us, there's always space."
My eyes almost jumped out of their sockets. "You want me to join you guys?"
"Only if you want to." He said, shrugging nonchalantly.
"Uh, yeah, I'll be right there."
I closed my door, completely shocked. My brothers' friends never wanted me to hang out with them, and they never, ever invite me. I was worried they would be annoying to me, but I also couldn't turn down this once-in-a-lifetime sort of invitation.
I digged around for my swim suit when I noticed how I was dressed. My hair and clothes were lazy at-home style, which no one outside my family should ever have to see. And I had half-shouted at a cute boy who actually seemed interested in me.
God, could I do anything without screwing it up?
I changed into my swim suit, which was a pale blue bikini with Aztec-style drawings of birds. I put it on and looked myself in the mirror. My body shape wasn't particularly unattractive. I was tall and lean, with small curves. My legs were long but I wish my thighs were a bit thinner. I also wished my body wasn't lacking as much in the boobular area.
But I shrugged, knowing I had what I got and I couldn't ask for anything different. The thing I was most nervous about was showing so much of my skin to my brother's friends-and Zayden.
I put on a white coverup dress, slipped into my sandals, and walked outside to my pool. Pool chairs were laid out already, and my brother's friends were laughing and yelling around as they jumped and pushed each other into the pool. Some girls were giggling to each other as guys flirted conspicuously to them.
I didn't want to just sit down on a chair, but I didn't want to go into the pool (especially because that would mean taking off my dress), so I stood awkwardly not knowing what to do. That was when I noticed the jug of fruit punch on the counter of the small bar at the edge of my pool. I walked over to it and took a plastic cup, filling it with the dark red liquid.
I sipped it, and immediately a burning feeling coursed down my throat and warmed up the pit of my stomach.
Crap.
How much alcohol was in this thing?
And who put it in there?
I tried coughing discreetly by covering my mouth with my hand. I didn't want anyone here to know that I was weak with alcohol and I honestly despised it.
I remember when last year my parents threw me a small party for getting into high school, and I drank a small glass of champagne and almost fainted. Not to forget the huge hangover I had the next day.
I walked to a pool chair and sat down slowly. I wondered if I could tip the entire contents of my plastic cup into one of the plants without anyone noticing. Or kicking my cup away and say that it "spilled."
But I couldn't do any of that because Zayden walked over and sat next to me.
"Hey." He said, smiling at me.
"Hi." I smiled, feeling my heart stutter slightly whenever he came to close proximity of me.
"So...are you going into the water?"
"Uh...yeah. I will."
Zayden raised an inviting eyebrow. "Well...?"
I smiled, feeling a little dizzy and knwoing my cheeks were starting to flush. "I'll join you soon. I promise."
Zayden nodded, tapping me on my shoulder and jumping in the water to join his friends. I sipped my drink, looking for an excuse not to join Zayden. Just then Alec passed by, and he raised his eyebrows at me. I thought he was going to start barking out how I should leave, but instead all he said was, "you're drinking? Never thought that would happen." And he stalked off without another word.
And for a moment, I felt like I could join the "popular" crowd if I wanted. My family had a squeaky-clean reputation, and everyone would want to keep members of the Heywood family close to them. And I suppose, maybe I was trying too hard to fit in. Maybe, if I was myself, I could naturally be a part of the crowd. And maybe Zayden could see that.
So I thought, what the hell, and dunked down the drink in one gulp. I ignored the firey feeling it gave my throat and stripped off my white dress. I walked to the pool, and met with a Zayden who seemed a bit surprised to see me. I didn't know if he was surprised to see me come to the pool without another invitation, or he was surprised to see me in a bikini. But either way, he seemed pleased as I jumped into the pool.
The water was cold as it wrapped around my body. I swam lazily, only kicking enough to keep me afloat. My arms were wrapped around my chest, trying to keep warm. Zayden was leaning on a floaty, with a drink in his hand. He swam over to me, and I leaned on the the part of the floaty which wasn't being occupied.
"You cold?" He asked, and I nodded, shivering slightly.
Zayden grinned wickedly and splashed water all over me. For an instant I was paralyzed with shock and cold, but then I gained my composure and splashed him right back. Then we were in a full-on splash flight, which resulted in his drink getting knocked away somewhere, and we were both drenched with the cold pool water. When we finally stopped, I couldn't help myself from laughing at how ridiculous we were. Zayden grinned, looking victorious and satisfied.
I smiled, feeling truly happy for the first time in a long while. I looked around, and saw Alec with three girls, who were all googly-eyed on him. Then suddenly all three girls glanced at me, only to notice I was looking right back. One of the girls laughed and the other two waved, looking back at Alec with amused expressions. I was confused, but didn't give it much thought.
I saw Auden and Rebecca making out pretty intensely in the corner behind a tree, and I immediately wished I hadn't seen that. Everywhere there were teenagers, mainly juniors and seniors, but there were also some people from my grade here and there.
I still didn't understand how and when all these people came in, and how my brothers could possibly know all these people.
I swam over to the side of the pool and pushed myself out, Zayden following right after me. He smiled at me, and I grinned back. I followed him to the bar (I almost tripped as I tried weaving through all the people) where some senior guy was making cocktails for a few girls. The drink guy nodded his head towards Zayden, and Zayden leaned on the counter.
Zayden turned to me, "do you want a drink?"
I didn't know what to do. I should just ask for a coke or something, or just say no. But I felt like I should get an alcoholic drink -a cool drink- if I didn't want Zayden to think I was weird or something. Besides, I drank an entire cup already and I was feeling pretty good. One more cup couldn't hurt right?
"Can I get one mojito please?" I requested.
The drink guy nodded and started mixing the ingredients. He tilted the bottle of Bacardi into the glass, and once he finished he gave the glass to me.
"And one rum punch for me, Chris." Zayden told the drink guy (or apparently Chris). Once we got our drinks Zayden and I walked out towards the pool side where a lot of people were crowding over to dance. I drank my mojito, and it tasted sweet and refreshing and really good. I drank a large gulp and immediately felt a warm, fuzzy feeling bloom in the pit of my stomach.
I laughed for no reason. I just really felt like laughing. Zayden seemed happy, and I started swaying to the rythmic pop song that was bursting from the speakers. I finished my drink and threw my cup away. I raised my hands to the sky and put my head back. I let my wet hair fall free as the vibration of the bass traveled from my toes to the core of my body.
I danced and laughed, and I felt really good. Suddenly Zayden's hand was around my waist and we were dancing together.
As I looked into Zayden's eyes, he looked very handsome and I wanted him close.
"You're so hot." I told him, giggling to myself.
He grinned. "And so are you."
I traced a finger along his finely ripped six pack. "No, but you're like, really hot."
Zayden laughed loudly. It was such a nice sound. Like birds, or cold ice clanking inside a glass cup. "You're so drunk," he said.
I thought about it. I felt good and happy, and I've heard that's how you feel when you're drunk. "I am, aren't I?" I said, feeling excited.
"Everyone, I, Cassandra Heywood, am drunk!" I exclaimed, loud enough for the crowd to hear. I heard some people cheer and others laugh, and I laughed with them. Zayden and I continued dancing, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and swayed my hips close to his.
I took many dancing classes as a kid (my mom had forced me) so I actually wasn't a complete embarrassment when it came to dancing. Just like...a minor embarrassment.
We were dancing for what felt like hours, but was probably only about ten minutes, because there had only been about three different songs. But suddenly I couldn't think straight at all, and it was all I could do to keep standing. I stopped dancing, trying to gain composure.
"Cass, are you alright?" Zayden asked, but I couldn't reply because it felt like my world was tipping upside down. I felt nauseous, and I thought, uh-oh.
And that was when I fainted.
**************
Thanks for reading! This chapter was really fun to write to be honest. Now I feel like going to a party :D But not drink anything alcoholic, of course.
SHAME ON CASS FOR DRINKING UNDERAGE!!!
lol anyway, please vote, comment, and fan!
Thank you, love you guys :*