"Where's Nicky and... Tracy!?" Lisa asked- she seemed to have trouble remembering names.
"They're not really the party type." Anita explained with a smile that said 'but I am!'.
"So I guess it'll just be us and you... guys." Alex said feeling more uncomfortable by the moment- her ever present migraine was making it hard to enjoy anything.
Lisa tossed her perfect hair aside, "Not quite- I invited a few others from school. Come on in- and careful; some threats have been made that some people will end up in the pool before long." She laughed and lead the way around the corner from the back yard gate to a large patio lit up with tiki torches. Blow up floaties drifted in the decent sized ground pool and music poured out from the house's open back door. It had been a warm November- but not warm enough to go swimming in Alex's opinion.
Lisa's mom could be seen arranging pop on a table on the deck- it relieved Alex slightly, I mean she had told her parents that the party would be adult supervised, but until now she hadn't been certain. More people then Alex had expected stood about in groups on the deck, more could be seen inside, while even more splashed their feet in the pool.
"Pop's on the deck, and there's chip and dip inside." Lisa said before melting into one of the groups.
"Muum! I'm starved! Coming?" Anita asked as she bounding up the deck stairs.
"Nah." Alex mumbled, but Anita hadn't really waited for her answer. Alex stood awkwardly on the outskirts feeling totally out of place, the kind of the feeling you get when you go to a dress up party- and you're the only one in costume. Anita seemed to fit in just fine here- she was just that kind of girl... not Alex though.
'I shouldn't have let Anita talk me into coming' she thought as a lump formed in her throat. Looking around she recognized the other members of the new team. They had done two quiz practices together now- and each one was awkward. Lisa was the team captain of the other team- making Alex feel very small! Claudia was the top quizzer- on the same level as Amanda and Mike, she was native American- and beautiful! But oh so snotty! She had hardly spoken to Alex and the others.
Alex could see Spencer and Jackson talking across the pool from her, Spencer was Pilipino, short and pretty. Alex hadn't figured out if she was snotty too- or if she was just quiet. She was on the same quizzing level as Alex. Jackson was tricky- that was the curly haired boy, he seemed quiet and... secretive. Alex still hadn't figured out if it was him in the Zorro costume at Halloween, he certainly fit; he was tall, thin and went to their school! She had tried asking him if he went to the Halloween haunt- but had gotten no where, he wasn't exactly snotty like the others, more like... distant. He often wore his head phones- sometimes not even listening to music!
The garbage girl wasn't there (her name was Jen) but that didn't surprise Alex, she didn't think Lisa would invite that kind of girl to a party.
With a sigh, Alex sat down on bench by the pool and pulled out her phone. She had kept up near constant texting with Amanda and Mike for the past month, counting down the days to when they would come home. Apparently, they weren't having much fun visiting their Grandmother.
Looking up Alex spotted Chick... now that was a girl that Lisa would most definitely invite to a party. It was like someone had stuffed cotton candy into her soul and then dowsed her in helium... seriously, that girl was like a non stop pitchy music box, the sort you kind of like at first, but then you know, you drop it off a bridge after it's played four thousand times.
Alex was all for Chick joining the other team- but Nick wouldn't hear of it, he had given several speech's about putting differences aside and coming together... but it just wasn't happening, it didn't mater how many parties Lisa threw- it just wasn't happening.
Alex looked up in surprise when an unknown boy sat down beside her and sighed heavily.
"You know that feeling when you have girl troubles and just wish you had kept your mouth-" he made a motion with his hand like a puppet snapping their mouth shut. From the boy's looks and accent he was clearly Latino- and clearly run down!
Alex managed a smile, "Nope, can't say as I've been in your shoes before."
He sighed again in a dramatic way, "Too bad- I was about to ask for advice!"
Before Alex could respond, someone called out for the boy to join them, and he left the bench with only a smile at Alex.
Alex sat for long minuets watching the party go on around her, it was like she was watching a movie, or was frozen in her own timeline, forced to observe- but never to participate. The longer she sat the higher her anxiety got- and her migraine became near unbearable!
'calm down Alex..." she pressed her finger tips to her temples and tried breathing slowly. Then she thought she'd try something she had seen in a movie once. Holding out her right hand slightly, she imagined all her anxiety and head pain down her arm and into her hand. Then... she forced it out.
Her eyes flew open as several popping noises went off inside the house, then over head a spark traveled down the power line that went from the back yard to a pole on the street, fizzing and throwing sparks as it went, till it reached the pole, then it exploded with a heart stopping POP!
There were screams and people swearing, then silence...
"Whao! Alex did you see that!?" Anita asked as she came running from the house, it seemed everyone was asking the same question. "The power's out in the house- someone got a zap from a light switch when they tried it!" Anita sounded like she had just seen a phenomenon of the natural world instead of a weird power outage.
"Yeah, that was weird!" Alex agreed, already the power was back in gear, it was only after the excitement died down when Alex realized that her migraine... was gone.
Two words people.... Super Powers. Also have you ever been at a party were you felt like Alex?