Cruel Summer

by Lisa Cardwell

  We chatted for a little while until I caught sight of Trish near the bar in a great little black dress, looking at her iPad. I excused myself and headed over to say hello. I knew somewhere nearby would have to be Milo, and with him, Sorche. I hadn’t seen a sign of them yet, but I figured they had to be around somewhere. Sorche had texted me when she was getting ready that Milo was going to pick her up.

  The club was filling with people, and I caught sight of the curved booth up front in the VIP area that served as the gift table, already covered in boxes wrapped in blue and plaid wrapping paper.

  “Hey. You look great!” I said as I gave Trish a quick hug.

  She really did, in a black, spaghetti-strap dress and her hair down, and even more important, she looked a lot more relaxed than I’d seen her lately. I think she was as stressed about the situation with Dad as he was.

  She blushed at my compliment. “You are a liar.”

  “Hardly.”

  “Tell me, did your dad like the gift?”

  I slid onto the empty stool next to hers. “He loved it. It’s already hanging up in the office behind his desk.”

  “See. Told you it was a winner of an idea.”

  “You were right.” I ordered a Coke from the bartender and swivelled to look around. “So, where’s Milo and Sorche?”

  “I lost sight of them earlier. I think they might be up on one of the VIP balconies.”

  “JT?”

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that hopeful tinge to my voice. I liked him, but there was still that something I wasn’t sure about. I couldn’t figure out what it was. Maybe it was that whole Hollywood dynamic.

  “Haven’t seen him, but it’s still early. Why don’t you go see if you can spot Milo and Sorche up there? I’ll send JT up when I see him.”

  “Sounds great.” I gave Trish one last parting hug before heading off.

  I climbed the winding staircase drink in hand, careful not to bump into anyone coming down. A few newly familiar faces passed by saying hi, and I nodded back, keeping my eyes out for my friends.

  Once upstairs, it didn’t take long to spot Milo and Sor, sitting a table on one of the balconies, overlooking the party below. I waved and headed over.

  “Finally!” Sorche greeted me with an easy smile. “I saw you and your dad come in, but then, we lost sight of you.”

  I took a seat at one of high-back leather chairs at the table and set my drink down. “You guys look nice.”

  True to her word, Sor was wearing the outfit she’d bought at The Grove while Milo wore a black, button-down shirt and a pair of dark jeans.

  “Thanks.” Sor smiled as she looked back down below. “So far, no sign of the wicked witch.”

  “Sor clued me in about Adriana,” Milo commented, making a face as he picked his cell phone up off the table. “She sounds like trouble.”

  “Yeah, she’s definitely not one of my number one fans.”

  Milo grinned at me. “Isn’t JT auditioning for that role?” he teased as Sorche nudged him.

  “And here I thought you were heading up my fan club.”

  “I’ll leave that to JT.”

  Milo left us to go wish my dad a happy birthday, and Sor and I opted to stay upstairs and people watch. It was like watching one of those red carpet shows, except live and in person without the overbearing commentary.

  I propped my elbows on the railing and contemplated the top of Dad’s head as he talked to a group of guys. Looked like the same ones he’d been with when I’d ditched him earlier, except a few more had joined in, that Quinn guy included. I knew I shouldn’t instantly dislike the man, but I did, simply for the fact he’d stolen my dad away.

  “Where’s your mom?” I asked Sorche.

  She gave a barely audible sigh and leaned forward, peeking below.

  “Last I saw, she was heading to one of the booths.” She shrugged. “You can’t miss her when she reappears. Glittering gold sundress.”

  I snuck a small sip of my drink, watching more people stream through the doors, when my eyes locked on a tall blonde I truly didn’t ever want to see join the party. Sor must have noticed her at the same time because she gave an awful nudge to my ribs.

  “Ouch.” I rubbed the sore spot.

  “Sorry, but look who just walked in.”

  “I saw.”

  And I couldn’t help but notice she’d brought the entire entourage with her. Fiona. And a couple other girls I didn’t know by name, but remembered holding court at that first party. The same ones who’d been giving me the dirty looks even then. What were they all doing there?

  The invitation had likely just been for Adriana’s parents, which Adriana I guess interpreted as anyone else they felt like including. Including her and anyone who worshipped her enough.

  A sudden warmth against my back caught my attention, and I turned my head to see JT there.

  “Joining the party, or just sightseeing?” he asked as he squeezed in next to me, wrapping his arm casually around my shoulders.

  “I’m being social.”

  “Looks more like anti-social.” He smirked at me. “Quite the turnout, huh?”

  “Looks like it.” I studied the growing crowd below.

  The DJ had jacked up the volume on the music, and I was suddenly glad we were up there instead of in the midst of the growing swarm of people below. I remembered Trish saying the place could hold up to five hundred. At the time, I’d thought that would leave us with a lot of empty space, but now, I was thinking we were going to be cramped.

  This was a far cry from the birthday parties I was used to at home where the biggest amounted to a few dozen packing into someone’s backyard for a pool party.

  “Come on, let’s join the party.” JT pulled on my hand, tugging me to my feet.

  I took a look around VIP. There wasn’t that many people up there yet.

  I looked at Sorche, who was already adding the reserved sign to the middle of our table with my name on it.

  “Why not?” I grabbed Sorche’s arm, pulling her with us. If I had to face Adriana, I didn’t want to do it alone.

  ***

  We were actually having a really good time, the four of us dancing near the DJ booth. He’d begun to play a list of Dad’s thirty-nine favorite songs, including a dozen or so I’d never heard before. I figured Trish had done a lot of research until Milo confided he’d ‘borrowed’ Dad’s iPad and scrolled through it ’til he’d found a favorites’ list.

  I laughed and danced with Sor to a classic Madonna song. We hadn’t spotted ‘her evilness’ once, and I was glad to just enjoy the party with my friends. I saw Dad a couple times, dancing to a few of the songs before heading to a table around the dance floor, although I didn’t see Trish anywhere around. I hoped she wasn’t ‘working’ tonight. She’d put enough work in for this party with the planner, and she should have been with Dad, enjoying everything.

  Sor and I left JT and Milo on the dance floor, and I grabbed a glass of something from a passing waiter, downing half of it in a single gulp before I felt the fizzy burn of the champagne down my throat.

  Sorche laughed at my suddenly wide eyes. “Let me guess, not the sparkling water you thought it was?”

  “Far from it.” I laughed and set the empty glass down as we inched through the crowd. I was feeling hot from the sudden crowd of bodies around us, and the thought of a splash of cold water sounded like Heaven.

  “I think I’m going to go check my make-up,” I said to Sor as she grabbed a glass from a passing waiter.

  “Okay. I’m going to wait here for Milo…”

  I found the glossy black door for the women’s room down a small, narrow hallway and pushed my way in. Oddly enough, it wasn’t that crowded, and I went to the backside of the double bathroom where there wasn’t anyone.

  A couple handfuls of icy water later, I was feeling a lot more like myself and ready to go find JT when I heard the door open on the other side of the room followed by the clicking of heels on the tile
floor. I was about to make my move for the door when someone spoke.

  “You know why she got picked, don’t you?”

  I tensed, immediately recognizing the voice.

  Adriana—the star of several of my recent nightmares.

  Don’t panic, I told myself, trying to find a spot to disappear into so they wouldn’t see me if they peeked around the edge.

  I scanned the area quickly, trying to find either a route of escape, or a place to hide.

  No escape.

  But there thankfully was a place to hide.

  A whole line of empty stalls.

  I tiptoed as quietly as possible towards the closest one that wouldn’t be visible from the other side of the room, sliding gratefully inside and out of sight, closing the door silently. I held my breath, praying it wouldn’t make a sound.

  Thankfully, not a single squeak.

  I pressed my suddenly sweaty palms against the chilled metal of the door and strained to hear what was going on while praying I wouldn’t have to breathe for the next several minutes.

  Of all the luck, I would have to be in the washroom when they walked in.

  Why did I have to have the worst luck in the world when it came to Adriana?

  “She’s a good-looking girl.”

  Well, thank you, Fiona.

  “This city is full of beautiful girls,” Adriana said, her annoyance coming through loud and clear. “If her daddy wasn’t who he was, she’d be just another wanna-be clinging to Sorche and throwing herself at JT’s feet.”

  Hey! I didn’t throw myself at JT. If anything, it was the other way around. He pursued me, thank you very much. I wished these two would hurry things up. My legs were starting to hurt from the weird way I was standing, my legs spaced wide apart so I could hopefully not be seen.

  “Her daddy?” Fiona asked.

  “You don’t know?”

  Evidently, there were some advantages to keeping Mom’s name.

  “He’s…”

  I heard something drop on the counter, and I clenched my firsts to keep from giving in to my urge to open the door just a little and peek out. Couldn’t they hurry this little convo up? I mean, as much as I loved hearing people bitch about me, it was tiring, especially in these heels.

  I took a quick breath and hoped no one would decide to head my way. I didn’t need to be discovered like this by the bitch brigade. I could just imagine Adriana’s scathing comments.

  “He’s hot.”

  “Please. He’s past his prime. He should be doing infomercials or something.”

  I rolled my eyes, my nails digging into my palms to keep myself silent. I had a great remark in mind about her only starring role being in Girls Gone Wild, but that’d give me away.

  And I didn’t want that.

  I heard a click that I figured had to be her compact.

  Finally.

  Maybe now, they’d leave. The room would be good; the club even better.

  “Let’s find JT. I know I saw him earlier. Maybe we can talk some sense into him.”

  I heard their heels clicking once again across the tiles, and I waited ’til the door slammed shut to take a deep breath. No sounds filled the washroom, so I risked leaving the bathroom stall.

  I went to the sink and washed my hands before I pulled my comb out of my purse, trying to fix my hair. Or more to the truth, calm my nerves and keep myself from going after little Miss Hollywood.

  I just had to hope Fiona and Adriana weren’t about to make a return appearance.

  I’d just put my comb away when the door opened, and I jumped at the sudden intrusion. My heart thudded wildly in my chest as the footsteps neared the corner, and I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see Adriana finding me.

  “There you are!” Sorche called, and within moments, she was standing beside me.

  My heart rate slowed in relief as I glanced at her in the mirror, hoping she wouldn’t notice how freaked out I really felt at the moment.

  “I wondered where you disappeared to. I peeked in here earlier, but it didn’t look like anyone was here. JT’s talking to your dad, so I knew you two hadn’t run off.”

  I managed a weak smile as I rooted through my clutch.

  “I went outside for some air,” I lied.

  Sor looked at me like I was completely zoning her out, which I kinda might have been. “Chey?”

  “Sorry.”

  “Did something happen?”

  Hmmm. No, just high school gossip reaching a whole new level of bitchiness. Adriana should patent it; she’d make a fortune. Or another one.

  “I think I want to go home,” I said as we left the restroom and headed back towards the party.

  “Why?”

  Why? Because I wasn’t so sure Adriana wasn’t plotting my untimely demise, that’s why. There were way too many balconies in this place I could end up toppling over while she sipped her drink and made shocked expressions when I plummeted to the ground. I’m sure she’d even deliver a touching eulogy while hitting on JT and managing to convince Rico of her potential to replace me.

  I wouldn’t put it past her to volunteer to Photoshop her face on my body herself.

  Yeah. She should win an Emmy for outstanding younger actress in the role of a…

  “Chey!”

  Great. Dad. I couldn’t escape him. It was his party, after all.

  “Hey, there.” I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “How’s my favorite birthday guy?”

  He smiled. “Good. Even better if I could grab a couple pictures with my beautiful daughter.” He looked at Sorche. “Mind if I steal her away for a few?”

  “All yours. I’ll find her later.”

  Sor waved as we moved away, and the crowd swallowed her up.

  I followed Dad through the crowd towards where Trish waited alongside a photographer, cameras in hand. I noticed a few other more ‘official’-looking photographers loitering about and tugged down the hem on my dress. More butterflies. I still wasn’t used to being in that big of a crowd and possibly having every set of eyes in the room directed my way.

  As we walked, he grabbed two champagne flutes from a passing waiter and pressed one into my hand. A quick look told me he had the real stuff while mine wasn’t fizzy in the least, unlike my earlier drink.

  “Go over. I’ll be right there,” Dad promised as someone called his name and he gave me a nudge towards them.

  I joined Trish at the bar where she seemed to be spending most of the night. “Has the cake arrived yet?”

  “They’re prepping it in the kitchen. Takes a while for that many candles, you know.”

  We both laughed and turned to look at Dad talking away with a fellow actor I’d seen on TV tons of times.

  “Your dad said you seemed down earlier.” Trish glanced at me.

  I sighed and looked down into my flute of white grape juice that Dad had handed me and wished I’d grabbed one of the flutes of real champagne instead. Yeah, I knew that whole ‘alcohol doesn’t solve problems’ speech; yet, at that moment…

  I’d love something to take off my Adriana-induced edge.

  “I’m trying to keep a smile on my face. It’s Dad’s party.”

  “What’s going on?”

  I debated on telling her the truth, but I figured she’d get it out of me, eventually, so why waste time? “You know Adriana?”

  “Name’s familiar. Point her out to me.”

  I wished I didn’t have to. I looked upwards at the balconies and alcoves above us. I spotted her immediately, my eyes narrowing as I saw who she was laughing with.

  JT.

  As in my JT.

  A total moment of possessiveness flooded over me, but she’d torn me apart, at least verbally. Wasn’t I supposed to get the guy, in the end? Or was L.A. that warped that a good girl couldn’t get the guy?

  I pointed her out as quickly and discreetly as possible so she wouldn’t see.

  “Ah, yeah, I recognize her.” Trish turned to look at me. “What’s the problem?”<
br />
  I leaned in close and gave her the abbreviated version of her showing up pretty well uninvited as far as I was concerned, concluding with Adri tearing me to shreds and now cozying up to my…JT.