"Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides." André Malraux
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Chapter X – Tattoos
I didn't know that Providence had gated communities, but it did. Cece drove us into an exclusive looking estate that contained enormous mansions concealed by large trees and concrete walls.
We hadn't even driven a hundred feet into the estate before I could hear the party.
"Zoey and her brother, Kyle, pay off the neighbours," Cece explained.
"Don't Zoey's parents care that they have a hundred teenagers at their house?" I wondered out loud.
Cece laughed. "No. Zoey's parents love that their house hosts all the gatherings. It makes them feel important. They're obsessed with status. It's sickening. But they were close with my parents, so I suppose we've always got to put up with them."
That just seemed weird. How could throwing a house party give people status?
"But at the end of the day, we get the free beer and a cool party house." Cece parked Shea's truck behind another expensive looking car on the street. "And I didn't have to kiss anyone's ass to get it." She smirked.
We both climbed out of the truck and started the walk up to the house. I felt like we were parked a half mile away, what with the dozens of cars lining the street. I was now extra grateful for my sneakers.
Each house seemed to get bigger than the last. When we finally came to the source of the music, my jaw dropped. Through the large, wrought iron gates, was a three-storey white plantation house. But while the façade of the plantation was kept, that being the traditional columns and large windows, I could see through the windows and open doors that the interior was entirely modernised.
Cece pulled me by the hand through the front door of the mansion and my astonishment only grew. Everything was open and huge. I could see through the entire house, right to the open louvre doors that led out onto a large deck. The house was all timber, metallics, and glass. Everything looked new and expensive, yet every surface was filled with bowls of snacks, red plastic cups, and bottles of who knows what.
There were people everywhere. I only recognised a handful. The music was blaring through a speaker system, and there were gyrating bodies all around me. Cece still had hold of my hand as she pulled me through the crowd to the kitchen.
The modern kitchen boasted a mammoth marble island, and there were currently half-naked girls covering nearly every inch and guys did body shots off of them. Cece merely leaned over a few to grab some new cups and a bottle of vodka.
"I don't want any!" I cried over the noise. "My mom will kill me!"
"Are you sure?" Cece shouted back.
I nodded. Cece poured a few shots worth of vodka into her cup and then filled the rest of soda. She poured me just the soda. Once we had our drinks, we made our way outside onto the deck. I was grateful for the temperature change. All those bodies made it unbearably hot in there. Not that the deck was any less empty.
Deck was really a poor description of the impeccably landscaped outdoors of Zoey's house. There was a huge, sprawling timber deck that was littered with expensive lounges, tables, and bench seats. In the centre of the deck was a gorgeous looking infinity edge pool that just seemed to drop off into the rest of the extensive garden.
We heard the sound of a smack, and we both realised that someone had just slapped Cece's ass. Cece turned around to punch the asshole when she realised it was Jamie. She still hit him, only playfully. Then she proceeded to stick her tongue down his throat and I knew that my companion was no longer going to hold my hand during this party.
I felt shorter than anyone. I wasn't wearing heels, and every guy here seemed to be over six foot. I tried to crane my neck to see if I could find Shea, but I just kept getting bumped and then bumping into people. I managed to make my way to a balcony, fenced by glass which gave the appearance of being invisible. I was standing next to a large pot plant and hiding in the corner.
"I am so lame," I cursed myself.
"I don't think you're lame," came a male voice from behind me.
I jumped and turned around. I immediately knew that I didn't recognise him. I hadn't seen him at school. He looked a little too old to be a high school student anyway.
Everything about him looked expensive and designer, down to his perfect fade haircut. He was tall and lean, and his blue eyes were appraising me hungrily. "In fact, I think you're pretty hot." He stepped towards me with an air of territory about him. I stepped backwards but I couldn't go anywhere. My back was touching the glass of the balcony.
He extended his hand and ran his knuckles down my bare arm. I flinched away.
"Aw, come on. Don't be like that. You can't walk into my house looking like that and not expect a little attention. What's your name?"
I could have vomited. This parasite, who could only be Zoey's brother, thought it was okay to encroach on a girl's personal space because of how she was dressed? Had he not been watching TV lately? That was not okay.
Adrenaline coursed through my body as I brought my knee up and into his groin. Kyle doubled over in pain and fell backwards into a table, knocking over several drinks that were subsequently dumped on him.
"My name is Come Near Me Again and I'll Cut It Off," I hissed. I turned around to get as far away from the letch as I could, but I walked directly into the hard chest of another guy. My reaction was to immediately throw him off me, but I recognised his scent a second later. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around him for comfort.
"I was about to throw him off the balcony but I could see that you had yourself covered. Remind me never to cross you," Shea murmured into my hair. "However, there are just some things that I need to be made clear." Shea positioned me behind his body before he stood over Kyle. Kyle looked up and gasped when he saw Shea. "You even look at Sara again and we are going to have a serious problem," he spat.
"I didn't know she was Sara," stammered Kyle. "I wouldn't have tried if I knew it was her."
Kyle was genuinely afraid. Good, I thought. What a pig. I hope Shea scared him straight.
"Let me rephrase that," Shea said intensely. "You approach any girl like that again and we are going to have a serious problem. You're on the borderline of sexual assault, you absolute asshole."
Shea turned away from Kyle and took my hand, pulling me back into the crowd. When we found a pocket of space, he turned back to look at me, cupping my face with his hands.
Amongst all the noise, the people, and the chaos, my world stopped when Shea looked at me like he was. I saw such tenderness, concern, and ... well ... love in his eyes. My heart swelled at the thought.
"Are you okay?" he asked me.
I nodded. "Cece made me wear the dress."
"Not an excuse for him to behave like a freaking predator," Shea said firmly.
I smiled. "I'm glad you feel that way. I hope he won't be attacking anyone else tonight."
Shea smirked. "I think he'll be sitting his balls on some ice for the rest of the night, don't you worry." He laughed to himself. "By the way," he added, ducking his head down to my ear. "I love the dress." He practically purred the words, and a shiver went down my spine.
I found myself wrapping my arms over my stomach self-consciously. "Cece said you would. I think it is awful tight. I feel a bit exposed." Silly, really, to feel exposed in this dress when I had a tiny bikini on underneath it.
Shea could see the insecurity on my face. "Sara, I've said it once, and I'll keep saying it until you believe it. You are not of this world. I don't think you have any idea of how beautiful you are to me. Now, please, have a little fun."
And whenever he said those words, I believed them. I relaxed a little and tried to let myself enjoy the party. We moved around the different sections of the house together. There were games of beer pong, there was a keg stand on the other side of the deck, alcohol was flowing, and the music was loud. Shea didn't drink anything, though, and when I asked him why, he told me that he was driving me home before curfew. He wasn't putting me at risk by drinking.
We danced together on the dance floor that had formed in Zoey's living room, and I found myself feeling flushed, hot and bothered moving so closely with Shea to the beat of the music. He didn't take his eyes off of me, and I found it difficult to look away from him.
I wanted to kiss him. I wanted him to kiss me. But not here. Not in front of everyone.
At around nine forty-five, we found Cece and Jamie out by the pool. They had both changed out of their clothes and were wearing their bathing suits. It was then that I noticed Jamie had a matching tattoo on his chest, in the same script as Cece's, though this time it said "Cecelia".
I found it sweet, yet peculiar, that two people as young as them would gamble on their relationship like that. But, I supposed, when you know you know.
I wondered, if everything worked out, sometime down the road, if Shea would get a tattoo of my name.
As we talked, I started to notice a lot of the other party-goers. Guys who were shirtless, girls who were wearing bikinis. A lot of them, not all, but a lot, had tattoos on their chests. Not large, intricate designs of tribal ink or anything, but simple, fine, white line tattoos that simply read a name.
I remembered Cece telling me that she couldn't remember the name of the tattoo parlour where she had hers done. But wasn't it weird that so many people would have the same tattoo? Or at least, done by the same person. Why would so many of them tattoo their girlfriend's or boyfriend's name on their bodies? Was it like a mass dare or something?
"Why do so many of you have the same tattoo?" I asked the group, interrupting whatever conversation they were having.
Cece giggled, clearly drunk. "Because when you've got a hot piece, you need to mark your territory!"
Shea suddenly scooped me up and jumped in the pool. I didn't have time to scream before we hit the warm water. He took me under for only a few seconds before we resurfaced again.
I forgot my questions and proceeded to jokingly berate him for ruining my makeup. Shea and I couldn't keep our hands off of each other. He stripped off his shirt straight away, and I loved to hold onto him, to feel the warmth and the strength in his body as he held me. His hands, never roaming so far as to push me, but still made me feel butterflies in my stomach.
We were so close, our foreheads touching, our lips only an inch or too apart. I could feel his breath on my face. He was breathing quickly, just as quickly as I was. My heart was racing. I'm sure he could feel it. We were staring at each other so intensely, so deeply that we could easily see into each other's souls.
Holy shit, this was some real, intense stuff. My heart was pounding in my chest. I felt like I was going to throw myself at him right here in this pool, in and amongst the twenty other people frolicking about.
"I need to pee," I suddenly said.
Shea, taken aback, said, "What?"
I immediately scrambled out of his arms and he let me go immediately. "I've got to pee. I'll be right back." I swam to the edge of the pool and pushed myself out. I didn't dare look back at Shea, though I wagered I could pick his expression. "You're such a coward, Sara." I was running from what I was feeling. I was running because, Goddammit, this was frighteningly intense.
I was dripping all over the floor, though I'm sure water was better than the beer and other liquids that were currently present on Mr and Mrs Eckhart's floors. I didn't actually have to pee, so I decided to run out the front of the house for a few minutes to catch my breath, before going back inside and finding Shea again.
There were still people around in the front yard, so I went outside the iron gates and out onto the street. It was finally quiet. Or at least the music was slightly quieter here. I placed my hands on my hips as I paced back and forth for a bit. I concentrated on my breathing, slowing it down, and subsequently my heart.
Shea wasn't going to hurt me. He wasn't going to pressure me. I wanted him to kiss me, didn't I? Of course, I did. Just because it would be my first kiss, I didn't need to be a big chicken about it.
"Big night?"
I practically jumped out of my skin. I hadn't heard anyone approach, and yet all of a sudden, a large, intimidating man was standing before me, leaning against Zoey's gate. He wore only a pair of cargo shorts, showing off his muscular, tattooed chest. This man was covered in tattoos and piercings. He didn't look to have a clean piece of skin left. The largest piercing I saw was the spacer in his right ear, making his ear lobe appear as though it was the size of a golf ball.
"Um, yeah," I replied. "Just needed some air."
"Me, too," he replied. Had he been at the party? I hadn't seen him. But then, I hadn't recognised a lot of people, and there were easily a couple of hundred here. "I'm Lex," he introduced himself.
"Sara," I replied.
Lex came off of the gate and approached me, though not with the predatory prowl of Kyle, but one of ... curiosity. As he walked, he looked me up and down, appraising me. As he came closer, the light of the street lamp showed me his features properly. He was a lot older than me. He looked to be at least thirty, and he really had no business at this party.
"You're not what I expected," he commented.
My heart, which I had all but controlled a minute ago, took off again. I didn't feel safe. This man was a stranger, and he had just said something completely strange. I wanted to scream for Shea. I had my knee ready to take down my second attacker of the night.
"I don't know you," I told him firmly. "You must have me confused with someone else."
Lex laughed lightly. "I know you don't know me, Sara." He shook his head. "But I –"
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
I practically got whiplash as Shea pulled me away from Lex and positioned me behind him once more. I placed my hands on his back and exhaled the breath I had been holding. I was safe. But Shea wasn't, I worried. Who the hell was this guy?
"Be seeing you, Braverman," Lex taunted. "Be seeing you both." His cool eyes flicked to me.
Who the hell was this guy? Did I know him? I was certain I had never seen him before. He had the sort of unique appearance that you didn't forget. But he knew Shea. Is that how he knew me? Or knew of me?
Wait, did he just threaten me? Threaten us?
Lex disappeared down the dark street and Shea immediately took me in his arms, pulling me close. I was pressed up tightly against his chest, so tightly that I could feel his rapid pulse against my cheek. His face was pressed into the top of my head. He was matching his breaths to mine, though mine were erratic as it was.
"Shea, who was that guy?" I asked fearfully.
"I'm so sorry you had to see that," he apologised quietly. "You don't belong in the middle of my family drama."
"Family drama?" I repeated back to him.
I felt Shea nod against my head. "It's bullshit, really," he promised me. "Lex's dad and my dad, well, let's just say he's taken up the family tradition of hating my guts."
The way he had taunted Shea was just creepy. He had taunted me, too. "Did he threaten you?" I asked, pulling my head away slightly so that I could look up into his eyes to see the truth. "Did he threaten me?"
"Sara, Lex is a jackass with daddy issues and a chip on his shoulder. I'm honestly too young to remember what went on back then. But the feud of our parents has become my problem for some reason. I don't want you to worry. Nothing is ever going to happen to you, not while I'm around." He pressed his lips to my forehead and I relaxed a little.
And then I felt even more sympathy for Shea's burdens than I already did. It wasn't just his mom and his sister that he had to take care of. Shea was left with his father's problems, too. I wondered if maybe they could sort it out. If they both sat down to talk, they could agree that the sins of their fathers were not theirs to bear. But I wouldn't broach it tonight. I was honestly still a little too spooked to even think of seeing Lex again.
"Come on, I'm going to have to speed through town to get you home before your curfew. I am trying to make a good impression on your mom, remember?"
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Changing the subject, are we?? Hahaha. I hope you guys are enjoying this so far!
I tried cooking dinner tonight. I'm normally not too bad at making things I know how to make but I tried to make mashed potatoes tonight. I know, I'm strange, but I've never made mashed potatoes before. I failed dismally. They were foul.
My dog liked them though hahaha. I don't know what I did, I put milk and butter in, I even used full fat milk to make them creamy which hurt me as I never, ever have full fat milk, but it just tasted like boiled, gross, mess.
I burned my steak as well when I was trying to fix my potatoes. I like my steak well done (a cardinal sin according to many hahaha) but I incinerated it oops. I managed to steam my vegetables well, though. So that was a win.
One of these days I'll grasp cooking. Not today hahaha
Alright, I'm off. New chapter tomorrow.
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