LOUD ROCK MUSIC was blaring through the car speakers; the discretion of the volume being Luca's. She was shrieking along to the lyrics at the top of her lungs —and on the outside, it appeared as though I too had entered into the spirit of things. My car was stuffed with her, a few of our other friends and me; all dressed up and ready for a night out. I had not realised that driving with a whole lot of screaming in one's ears was that difficult. I sang along politely, hitting all the notes, but my voice was drowned out by the off-pitch hysteria.
So, I gave up after a while and just concentrated on getting to Twilight in Saratoga Springs —where the party was supposed to be held. Francesca had sent directions on the group chat, so I could rule out the possibility of this all being an elaborate prank. Unfortunately, the unironic Homer Simpson voice on my GPS could not be heard over my ironically annoying passengers.
"Guys! I'm trying to drive here," I whined, finally snagging their attention —but only momentarily.
"Are we being too loud?" Luca asked.
"But it fits the occasion, doesn't it?" Samantha Gordon scoffed. Out of all of the cheerleaders I knew, she was the most down to Earth —the most genuinely invested in her craft, and not for the popularity. She tossed her wavy golden hair over her shoulder and grinned stupidly, showing off her dimples, before daring to stick out her tongue at me.
"Do you want us to arrive in one piece or not?" I responded, coming to a stop at a traffic light.
"It all depends," Olive Buhrnam —the self-proclaimed vegan witch and cynic of the group —stuck her freckled nose in the air. "Is it wise to get into a cat fight before, or after you die?"
"Ha ha," I scoffed.
"It's literally around the block now, Sav," Lauren Miller then sighed heavily. Lauren was an honour student and aspiring prima ballerina —she was the one who reined us all in and aimed to instil good moral values and habits —yet she knew full well that if she could not beat them, join them.
Everyone laughed at my written-off worry, while I was obligated to chuckle. It was then not even a minute before they started shrieking again. I gave up trying to reason with them —and by some damn miracle, we arrived at Twilight unscathed. It was a relief to spill out of the car after nearly an hour, and head for the entrance. We could hear the pop music and see the colourful flashing lights from outside, which got my friends squealing in anticipation again. I only added to their impatience by having to give our names and waiting for the bouncer to check them on the list.
"...The birthday girl, huh?" he grunted, tapping the clipboard with a pencil. "Happy twenty-first," he smiled in a sly, knowing way.
So, Francesca had lied about my age...not that it surprised me.
"That's me," I said unenthusiastically.
The bouncer unhooked the rope from the stand and gestured for us to be his guest. We scuttled through the entrance, before beholding the interior. I had snuck into a club before, but it now seemed mellow compared to that by which we were now surrounded. The ultraviolet lights shone through the hazy darkness from the ceiling and walls, bathing the atmosphere in neon purple. Everyone was wearing white, as was customary here, which made them and the whole room glow. It was all very overwhelming and immediately made me want to go back outside.
"She's here!" someone shouted before I could make my escape and grabbed me by the arm to pull me to one of the standing platforms in the middle of the room, before catapulting me upwards. I stumbled to halt before standing there awkwardly and giving a small wave, causing an eruption of cheers. I supposed that was what came with popularity. My gaze narrowed as I scanned the faces; I could not care less about who was who so long as I vaguely recognised them from my grade, but my eyes searched for one person in particular.
"Happy birthday, Savannah!" the distinct voice of Francesca Minetti trilled, and I turned to find her standing on the platform next to me, before she hooked an arm around my neck. "This is all for you, babes, now that you're officially an adult. Though let's not kid ourselves —little Savannah has been a woman for a while now."
"Slut shaming is a bit of a low blow," I growled in annoyance while trying to pry her long, manicured matte black nails away from my throat.
"Right. Everybody enjoy yourselves," she then went on addressing the crowd, "The drinks on offer are already paid for, so go crazy!"
She suddenly raised her glass of God-knows-what and it splashed a little over my chest. I growled but she did not take any notice. She was then about to turn and climb down to the floor, when she dug her fingers into my shoulder and brought her lips to my ear. "...Enjoy this party, but never forget where you came from. You know very well why you're so popular —you wouldn't be here without Aaron Carter. Keep him close. We both know that this is a much more preferable rung on the social ladder," she whispered, before adding a soft chuckle. I frowned as she let me go and flittered her fingers in my face. "Ta ta, then!"
I shivered and watched her model-walk away. I wanted to believe that Francesca's words did not faze me. Unfortunately they rung with unsaid truth. She was not wrong about Aaron being my ticket to a greater social circle —but I had never once imposed myself on Francesca and her minions. I had never tried to rival her. I did not ever want to be like her, yet she saw me as nothing but a threat to her title. Even today, when it was supposedly about me, she had not resisted to tear me down further than I already felt. That was how she controlled people, I realised. She never hesitated to upstage; to remind those elevated in status by association that they would be nothing without the school's so called 'noble born'. I wrote it off as teenage and capitalistic nonsense, though it was difficult to ignore how awkward it felt being around Aaron's friends. Like I was a corner puzzle piece from a finger painting that defiled their Mona Lisa.
I then blinked dejectedly, thrown off by Francesca's best attempt at the equivalent of a happy birthday wish, before turning around to see Aaron standing by my platform. My irritation melted away. None of what Francesca had told me mattered now that I was with him. He loved me just as I was —just as I had been. I smiled and crouched down as he held his arms out. He wrapped them around my waist before gently lifting me up and putting me down on the floor. Just him and me —that was what mattered.
He did not understand why I then clung to him more than usual; why I wanted to hold him close for just another moment longer. But he returned my smile, and he let me suggestively wrap my arms around his neck. That must have set him off, because he took hold of them and laced our fingers together, before leaning in to give me what I wanted —right there in the middle of the nightclub and in front of fifty other people.
I did not care. Let them think what they want.
"You want to dance?!" Aaron then raised his voice above the music when we pulled apart. Our audience immediately scattered, fearing his glare.
"Let's get some drinks first!" I replied, tugging him towards the bar. If Francesca was rich enough to bypass the law just for this, then I might as well enjoy it. We settled down on the stools before ordering cocktails, happy to see familiar and friendly faces as Luca and the girls waltzed over.
"Francesca is definitely already drunk," Luca sighed as she sat on the other stool beside me. I was inclined to believe her. She fluffed up her halo of dark frizzy curls, before slumping in frustration as the volume flattened out to its usual size.
"She has pre-drinks before everything," Sam scoffed.
"Let's not be so quick to judge," Aaron frowned at us, in complete seriousness. "You guys arrived an hour late."
"He's got a point," Lauren pouted.
"I hate it when people have a point," Olive muttered, sipping her cocktail.
"I can't help it if I'm always right," Aaron smirked. I gently shoved him.
"You are not," I laughed. "I'm the one who's always right."
Luca raised her glass triumphantly. "I'll drink to that."
"You'd drink to anything," Aaron quipped, swiftly sipping on his own cocktail that then arrived.
"Hey." Luca reached over to smack his leathered arm. "What I put in my mouth is none of your —"
It was at that point that I zoned out and glanced around the room. I saw the general scenery of sweating grinding teenagers; nothing out of the ordinary. But as my gaze shifted towards the bathrooms, I locked eyes with a familiar set of grey irises. Though in the dark and under ultraviolet lights, the eyes glowed a luminescent silver. The male from the diner was leaning against the wall, swinging his crossbow, and not looking as tough as he had earlier: I could see that he was wearing a navy blue turtleneck sweater underneath the leather jacket. But the same sinister feeling returned and increased the longer his eyes stayed on me. My fists clenched. I decided that I needed to confront him, and demand to know why he was stalking me.
"I'm going to the bathroom," I announced, still eyeing the stranger. My friends waved me off absentmindedly and did not seem all too concerned.
I made a beeline for him, marching purposefully through the crowd of people. His eyebrows raised slightly in what appeared to be acknowledgment of my plans, and all of a sudden; I blinked, and he disappeared.
Just...gone.
I shook my head in confusion, before actually heading to the bathroom to splash some water in my face. Whatever tricks my mind and or eyes were playing on me, I was not particularly amused.
Breathe, Savannah. Relax. You are not crazy. This is obviously some kind of prank for your birthday.
I calmly breathed out. It was either that, or someone thought that April Fools lasted all month. As I then re-emerged from the bathroom, wringing my hands, Luca popped up out of nowhere and caused me to jump. She blinked, before I sighed in relief and raked a damp hand through my hair. "Don't sneak up on me like that, Luc."
"What's got you all jumpy?" she laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Come on, you're missing out."
She then linked arms with me, before dragging me to the dance floor, where we started dancing along to the beat. Aaron decided to join us and wrap his arms around me, pulling me closer. And when I kissed him, he murmured that he loved me against my lips. I grinned, knowing exactly what was coming when we eventually made it out of here.
For a second, I forgot about the letters in my pillow. I forgot about my father. For a second, I forgot who Savannah Ivy Green really was —her real sense of self was clouded by alcohol and the lack of paranoia about the future. The Savannah in Twilight on this twelfth of April did not know the meaning of responsibility and completely embraced that you only live once.
✠
"Give it to me," I commanded the bartender, "—vodka. Straight."
A tray of six shots slid in front of me, and I eagerly reached out for the first shot glass. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Francesca, cackling with laughter in my direction with her cellphone poised. The girls beside her pointed and whispered. Damn nosy busybodies.
I snorted and waved my middle finger in their direction.
"Savannah!" Olive snatched my vodka out of my hand. "You've had enough. Leave some for the rest of us."
She then downed the shot herself, much to my dismay.
"No!" I cried, before pouting. I grabbed her abandoned cocktail and started gulping that. It burned all the way down, but I liked the pain. "...Woo!" I shook my head and waved my arms in the air.
"Savannah," Aaron put a hand on my shoulder. "Steady on."
"Who's Savannah?" I frowned.
"She's too far gone," Lauren muttered, sipping a margarita.
"No, I'm Too-Good-For-You," I slurred, poking Aaron in the ribs. He agreed and chuckled as he affectionately ruffled my hair.
I grumbled lazily, nuzzling against his chest before a strange heaviness began to lull me under and I closed my eyes.
"She might pass out soon," Luca said worriedly, noticing. "Maybe you should take her to my house, Aar."
"That, I should," Aaron seized me by the shoulders and pulled me off of my stool. I protested but my friends just waved me off sweetly and watched my boyfriend drag me away towards the exit.
We stumbled onto the sidewalk and the cold air jarred me awake, alert. I clutched my midsection, feeling a growling complaint of digesting alcohol, and its putrid stench rising up my throat. I trembled, and managed to make my way to the gutter, before upping the contents of my stomach. Aaron parted my hair as I straightened up and looked into my eyes with concern.
"...Okay?" he asked in a gentle voice.
I frowned and tucked my hair behind my ears, before wriggling out of his grasp. "I'm perfectly capable of walking by myself," I scoffed, and walked forward in a wobbly line. My shoe then caught a loose stone and I tripped, but I landed in Aaron's swift moving arms instead of cutting my forehead on the sidewalk. After the sound of my heartbeat in my ears grew louder as I breathed shallowly, I reluctantly let him lead me to his car.
He buckled me in and adjusted my seat so that I could lay back. I closed my eyes and sighed as he turned on the ignition, before reversing out of the parking spot. "Hey, how come you're driving?" I asked, playfully glaring at him. "You drank too," I added childishly.
Aaron simply chuckled and turned on the car's GPS. "I'm the designated driver for me and the guys," he explained.
Luca was ours, and I suddenly began to wonder if I had given her the keys to my car before leaving. Then I shrugged, realising that the consequences did not really bother me. I leaned against the window as Aaron drove, vaguely listening to the female GPS voice and mouthing inappropriate responses to her commands.
"Hey Sav, you mind checking what the estimated time of arrival is? The guys weren't planning to stay too long. I might have time to make a pit stop at a gas station after I drop you off," Aaron inquired, patting me on the shoulder to get my attention. I grumbled but squinted at the central console.
"Half past..." I groaned.
"Half past what?"
"Ugh..." I glanced at the screen, but the little white figures just danced around in a blur. Remembering that I had my cellphone, I slipped it out of my pocket and unlocked it. "...It's midnight thirty-nine," I giggled. "So, we'll get there at half past...uh...that number after zero." There was a pause. "...I think," I added uncertainly.
"Let me see." Aaron suddenly turned towards me to lean over and look at my screen.
"What, don't you trust me?" I snapped, shrinking away from him.
"Just give me the phone, Green," he sighed.
"No," I pouted. "I licked it —it's mine."
"Wha —that doesn't even make sense. It's the wrong context."
"Your face doesn't even make sense."
We bickered on for a few more seconds, before a loud hoot grabbed our attention. My eyes widened as a bright pair of lights shone right at us, before I let out a scream and everything was engulfed by white light.
✠
It was a jarring cacophony of metal and shattering glass. The overturning momentum ensnared us on a horrifying, deadly carnival ride; crushing everything beneath a force like hydraulic pressure. My throat burned and ripped apart but all sound from it was silent. There was pain —unfathomable and searing, and with no end. But then suddenly...nothing.
Everything turned quiet and still; no longer disturbed —like the quiet after the storm. And eerily so, until the smell of gasoline filled my nostrils and I gasped, as though I had just jolted awake from a nightmare. I opened my eyes. Blurry images of smoke and glass filled my vision. Numbness was the only sensation which I could feel.
We had crashed. I could see the other car smoking across from us through the windshield. A body lay draped over through the broken glass, mostly dry and not drenched; likely not impaled. I then turned —and saw Aaron, unconscious against the steering wheel. And on his lap...was me. I frowned in confusion and sat up slowly. Sure enough, there my body was, embedded with giant shards of glass and bleeding out. I had admittedly never seen my own blood in such a quantity —and there was something strange about the colour.
I was bleeding red and silver; the colours dripping and marbling. I started and rubbed my eyes, wondering if they were being deceived.
They were not.
The blood that had initially bled out was as red as normal blood —but the more it seeped the more metallic the red became, until it was all a stark silvery liquid that resembled mercury.
I glanced downwards. I was perfectly fine —except my clothes had changed. I had put on my favourite white jeans; white tucked-in t-shirt and sneakers that afternoon. Now, I was sporting a short tan leather jacket; a black tank top; black skinny jeans and shiny black combat boots. I started even more violently, before feeling disoriented and having to wince at the dull ache of a concussion.
"...Carter?" I whispered uncertainly.
He did not respond. He still lay there, motionless. "Aaron. Oh God."
The silence was deafening. Cursing, I scrambled to my haunches and tried to hit out at him. But it did not make contact —my hand went right through his shoulder. I gasped and sat up completely, expecting to hit the roof of the car. But my head went up and through that too, causing me to scream.
I then scrambled to get out of the car through my side where the door had completely come off from the hinge, before the sound of sirens filled my ears. I looked to the left and spotted red and blue lights in the distance.
Perfect. Maybe emergency services could tell me what was going on. I stood a little distance from the wreckage, still bewildered at the fact that I was in two places at once, before the rustle of leaves caught my attention.
My gaze shifted to my right —the direction from which the noise was coming. But then it came from the left; and then from behind me. I was glancing all around me; fear and panic filling my senses, even though I could not feel an acceleration of a heartbeat.
"...Uh...who's there?" I stammered, whipping around sharply as I thought that the sound of rustling was growing closer.
Still nothing materialised, and I stumbled backwards, tripping over a rock. I squealed and landed on my backside, before letting out a groan. I winced and sympathised with myself for a few moments, before I heard the sound of a click. Jumping to conclusions and thinking the worst, I scrambled to my feet and held my hands up in the air, surrendering.
"Please don't shoot me!" I wailed in a terrified rush. Then I blinked, surprised, when nothing happened. One eye opened cautiously.
I came face to face with an arrow. It never fired though.
The arrow lowered, and my wide eyes met a familiar set of silver ones, glaring into mine begrudgingly. I gasped and lowered my arms to my sides. My jaw dropped in disbelief.
"...You."
▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂
that's it —you've reached the end of the excerpt! i hope that you enjoyed reading.
you can read on about savannah and her story in hardcover, paperback and ebook —available worldwide.
✠