by J.Q. Davis
Chapter 11
The Party
We finished our glasses of SoCo and Coke…well, one glass for me and Eric, two for Tristen and two and a half for Phoebe, and headed out the door. Eric’s old black Mustang shimmered in the moonlight and Tristen sighed.
“Now this is a car!”
“Yeah dude, it’s my baby.”
“Hey!” Phoebe shouted.
“You know you’re my baby. But she’s my baby too. Baby.” He cupped her face and kissed her forehead gently before opening the car door for her. Phoebe smiled sweetly and giggled. Yeah, those two were definitely in love. My heart filled with happiness for both her and Eric, but a twinge of jealously followed. I glanced over at Tristen as he waited for Eric to unlock his door. He was watching them with a smile growing bigger and bigger. He switched his gaze to me and I melted once again.
He was a romantic. I could tell.
We piled into Marilyn, as Eric called his car, and began our fun-filled night. Our first stop was the House of Shock. This haunted house had been around for several years. It was known as a Halloween staple around town. It had been voted the number one haunted house in New Orleans for many years. It was started by the frontman of the metal band Pantera and had been named on the Travel Channel as one of the most extreme haunted houses in America. Phoebe and I had been there almost every year since we could remember, and while there were some scenes within the haunted house that were quite graphic and…demonic to say the least, it was still one of the best places I’d been to. I have almost peed my pants walking through that place before. And if I did, it would have been worth it.
We pulled up to the parking lot and of course the line was almost down the street. As we waited, we watched the rock band play on stage and became judges to the people around us of our own little costume contest.
Phoebe pulled out her flask of SoCo and she, Tristen, and I took turns sipping. As we continued to near the entrance, a recognizable feeling washed over me. I suddenly remembered then that I hadn’t eaten in some time. I reached around myself to grab my bag for a quick snack, but realized I left it in the backseat of Marilyn.
Tristen noticed and touched my arm. “Hey, you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. Yes, I’m fine. I just forgot I left my purse in Eric’s car.”
“Did you need some money or something? I can buy you something to eat if you’re hungry.” He seemed concerned…and to have read my mind.
“No, it’s okay. I have money. But yeah, let’s go grab something really quick before we get inside,” I said, eager now to put something into my mouth. I knew where this would lead if I didn’t. And I wasn’t going to let anything ruin the night, including my ridiculous urges to eat unsuspecting house pets.
I informed Phoebe and Eric of our plan to grab a quick bite before we headed over to the row of food booths.
“What are you in the mood for?”
I quickly read over my options. Hotdogs, corndogs, nachos, and beer. Of course, my stomach was craving all of the above, but my mind was thinking there was no way I was going to eat like a Hungry Hippo in front of Tristen.
“Are you hungry?” I asked. His answer could affect my choice. If he chose to eat, it could take all eyes off me and allow me to eat a little more.
“Yeah, I can eat. I’ll get whatever you get. Your call.”
Great. While he was being a gentleman and allowing me to choose, I was hoping he would decide for me. “Um…let’s go for hotdogs.”
“Okay, two hotdogs coming up.” My mind was wishing it was three hotdogs for me.
“Here.” I reached in my back pocket for a twenty.
“Grace, are you trying to make me look bad?” he asked playfully as he took my twenty out of my hand.
“No, not at all. I can pay for my own things, you know.”
Tristen folded the twenty and reached around my body. As he reached down and stuffed it back into my back pocket, my heart pounded so loudly in my ears that I couldn’t even hear the band playing in the background anymore.
“Keep it. Dinner is on me,” he said. His voice was low and sexy. All I could do was nod as he took my hand and led me to the hotdog booth.
He ordered two hotdogs and a large Sprite. My mouth began to water as the smell of cooked pig intestines swirled around my head.
“Cheers.” We tapped our hotdogs against each other and took a bite. I had never really eaten outside of what Mom cooked for me every day. Why would I? There was constantly food in our house. Every once in a while I would grab something extra during lunch or maybe grab some fries at the food court in the mall. Honestly, it never really hit the spot compared to Mom’s home cooking. But Mom was completely against any fast food joint. She would say that it was unhealthy and that she would rather die a thousand deaths before she would ever bring it home for dinner. A little dramatic if you asked me, but I got her point. It was insulting to her if I would ask for something outside of what she cooked. We would sometimes order take out from a few fancy restaurants around town that Mom did approve of, but she wouldn’t dare allow us to eat it without adding a little something extra herself.
This hotdog, however, was quite delicious. Although, it really wasn’t doing anything for me. After the last bite, my stomach growled at me for more. I decided to ignore it and wait until we could get back to Marilyn so that I could munch on the snacks Mom made for me. Or at least I hoped to ignore it.
We made it back to our spots in line just before we reached the entrance. Eric and Phoebe were in front of us, Eric’s arms wrapped around Phoebe’s waist.
Tristen looked over at them and then me. “You gonna be okay?” he asked into my ear.
I shivered when I felt his warm breath. “Yeah. You?”
“I’m a little scared,” he admitted.
“Really? Do you need me to hold your hand?” I teased.
“No! But I think you will grab mine at some point.”
“Oh, yeah? You don’t think I can handle this?”
“No. I don’t. I think you’re gonna scream.”
That was an insult. “What?” I asked, playfully but serious.
“You heard me. I think you’re scared.”
“Well, we’ll see who’s scared when we get in there.”
“I’ll be right behind you. Watching your every move,” he threatened.
I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. “Okay, but you’re gonna be disappointed.”
He smiled back as we entered the most extreme haunted house in America. Smoke immediately clouded our vision as we walked into strobe lights and darkness. A bloody-faced creature jumped out within the first two seconds, prompting Phoebe to jump, which in turn caused Eric to squeeze her tighter. He was such a sucker.
We walked slowly in a single file line through scenes of a graveyard, a bloodied operating room, and a room filled with fake dead animals hanging on chains. Screams filled my ears from the girls ahead of us. Vampires, Michael Myers, and deformed monsters jump out at us from all sides. The smell of the smoke machines and Halloween makeup filled my nose. I smiled at this, remembering just why I loved Halloween.
Occasionally, the line slowed down and we would come to a halt. Seeing as the space is quite small, we waited, breathing down the person’s neck in front of us until the line sped up again. Normally this would make me a little uneasy…unless Tristen was behind me.
He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “You scared yet?”
My neck tingled and I smiled. The lack of light and sense that we were practically alone, since no one was paying attention, gave me a boost of confidence. I turned my head to look him in the eyes. We were so close at this point that all I had to do was pucker up and his lips would be on mine. The smell of his clean cologne filled my head.
I gave him my sexiest smile and he returned it. I suddenly felt his hand, slowly intertwining his fingers with mine. My breath caught and I became completely lost in the moment. My heart pounded under my shirt when I realized
this could finally be it. Our first kiss.
His other hand reached up to caress my arm, slowly sliding up and down. I allowed myself to fall back a little into his chest as I prepare for the moment I had been waiting years for. He held me up with his body, strong and firm.
As I counted to three in my head and closed my eyes, I heard the man behind him.
“Hey dude, line’s moving!”
Tristen turned around. “Oh, sorry.”
Oh, damn it to hell!
Right at that moment, my stomach growled again and a pain shot through me. I instantly hunched over, swallowing the yell that wanted to escape my throat. Tristen grabbed hold of my waist and hunched over with me.
“Grace, you okay,” he asked, concern in his voice. I inhaled deeply and focused on his touch instead.
The man behind us yelled. “Hey, dude, can you please walk ahead? Y’all are holding us back!”
I felt Tristen turn around quickly. “Hey, DUDE, chill okay? Give us a minute!”
I grabbed on to his jeans and tugged, hoping that he understood that I was trying to tell him to calm down. He turned around immediately.
The pain escalated and I knew I couldn’t stand up straight just yet. I peeked over to my right and noticed an exit door. I grabbed Tristen’s leg again, fighting to move my way closer to it. In that moment, Tristen swooped me up effortlessly into his arms and we moved out of the line. Eric and Phoebe were a ways ahead of us, and I knew they would wait at the end till we got out.
He carried me through the door and found a curb to sit on. He never let me go. I buried my face in his neck and began to pray for this horrible pain to subside.
“Grace, tell me what’s wrong. Does your stomach hurt? Do you need some medicine? Tell me what you need.” His voice was soft and full of genuine worry. I was in so much pain, but mortified at how this must have looked. Oh my God! I was the girl who passed out in the haunted house because she couldn’t take it. At least that’s what people were thinking as they walked by.
I finally managed to say something between my stabbing pains. “I need Marilyn.”
“You need Marilyn? Grace, I don’t know—”
“My purse.”
“You need to get to the car? He caught on quickly. “Got it.”
Within an instant, Tristen was up and power walking with me in his arms towards the end of the haunted house to meet Phoebe and Eric. Just as I thought, they were waiting, and sucking face of course.
“Hey, we need to get to the car. Now,” Tristen huffed.
Eric pulled his keys out of his pocket and bolted for the car. Phoebe, Tristen and I quickly followed.
“Gracie, what’s wrong?” Phoebe asked, worry filling her voice. I knew she was concerned, she never called me Gracie.
I couldn’t talk.
“I don’t know what happened. She just collapsed in there so I got her out as fast as I could.”
“There’s blood on your neck Tristen, Is that fake or coming from Grace?” she asked, panic creeping through her voice. Phoebe turned my face away from his neck to get a better view.
“Shit! Gracie, your nose is gushing!”
I reached up slowly to see what she was talking out. “What?” was all I managed to ask before everything went black.
“Grace. Grace. Please wake up. Can you hear me, sweetheart?”
My eyes fluttered open and horror flushed over me when I saw a man covered in blood and gore hovering in my view. Was I having one of my morbid dreams? I sucked in a breath of air and jumped a little, slowly realizing that I was not dreaming and that Tristen’s beautiful face was underneath the Halloween makeup.
“What happened?” I asked.
“You passed out. How do you feel? Here,” he said as he rubbed a cold, wet cloth on my forehead. I turned my head, taking in the coolness; it being apparent then that I was lying down in the backseat of Marilyn.
My mouth was dry. As I imagined a cold glass of water, Tristen brought a bottle of water to my mouth, slowly spilling a little at a time into it. How did he know what to do and when to do it all the time?
I heard Phoebe’s voice. “Is she awake?”
“Yeah, she’s awake. Grace, tell me what you need.”
I reached around with my hand in search of my bag. I knew exactly what I needed. It was the only thing on my mind.
Of course, Tristen sensed this and handed me my purse. I reached in and grabbed one of the Ziplocs of treats Mom made for me. I began to eat, feeling a thousand times better before I even swallowed, and a million times better knowing Tristen was right next to me.
“Oh, she’s fine. Thank God.” Phoebe said in relief.
“How do you know, babe?” Eric asked curiously.
“Because if she doesn’t eat,” she turned to give me the stink eye, “she gets faint and sick.”
I managed to give her the finger in between bites.
“Is that true? Do you get sick if you don’t eat?” Tristen asked.
I nodded my head, only wanting everyone to just stay quiet and let me eat. Tristen smoothed my hair out of my face. His expression remained the same, still and serious. Concerned. Phoebe continued to give me the stink eye. Over the past few weeks, she had also noticed changes in me.
Although she didn’t quite know to what extreme my body had been changing, she noticed that there was a change in my eating habits. I explained to her at some point that Mom had been monitoring me to make sure that everything was okay. She naively believed the whole hormones story and never really asked any more questions as to why I had been eating so much. She did, however, witness me becoming extremely fatigued and sickly because I needed food when we were studying at my house. It was very hard to not pig out in front of her, but I managed to get by without seeming like a hungry maniac. Luckily, I was able to come up with an excuse to end our study session early so that I could devour as much food as humanly possible.
“You scared me,” he whispered.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t talk. Eat. Now, Woman.” His gorgeous smile grew, as did mine.
Marilyn rumbled beneath us, and Eric turned his body to look as he backed out of the parking space.
“G, are you feeling well enough to continue our night?” Phoebe asked.
Throwing the second empty Ziploc back into my bag and reaching for another, I mumbled yes. To be completely honest, what I really wanted to do was take Tristen back home to my house and prepare a lovely dinner for just the both of us. However, seeing as how I was fighting with everything in me to keep from gulping down my treats, plastic baggie and all, that didn’t seem to be a good idea. I managed to sit up straight and concentrate on eating like a lady. Tristan kept his hand on my leg, glancing over at me every ten seconds to make sure I was okay.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked.
“I’m fine. Sorry about what happened back there,” I looked down at my fingers and began to fidget. Tristen squeezed my thigh, prompting me to look up at him.
“Grace, you never have to be sorry for anything when you’re with me.”
“But I made a complete ass out of both of us…”
“No you didn’t. Not me at least.”
I looked over at him, stunned that he would say that. His smile was radiating off his face. I remained still, until a second later when I couldn’t hold in my laugh any longer. We both laughed out loud, causing Phoebe to turn around.
“Hey, what’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” we sang in unison.
“Okay, so what are the plans? Mona Lisa Drive? Or do you guys wanna head to Mardi Gras World for some more haunted house excitement. Minus the passing out and nose bleeds of course,” Phoebe chuckled out. I plucked the back of her head. “Hey!”
“Do you guys wanna crash a party?” Tristen asked.
“What party?” Eric asked, intrigue in his tone.
“Sonny’s party.”
I shot a look over at Tristen, not quite su
re what I was feeling. Phoebe obviously felt the same; however, she didn’t bite her tongue.
“Sonny’s party? Why the hell would we go to that witch’s house? She and her Minions are probably getting ready to jump on their broomsticks to fly around town and wreak havoc on innocent children.”
“To crash it,” Tristen answered. “And I kind of have some things to talk to her about,” he whispered only loudly enough for my ears to hear. He glanced over at me and the butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach as if they were trapped and trying to get out. What was he suggesting? Was he suggesting we go to Sonny’s party so that he could tell her once and for all that he wants me? Why now? Holy crap!
“I’m in,” Eric declared. He looked over at Phoebe, who was now looking over at me, searching my eyes for any hint to the answer she was supposed to give. I was completely stumped, not sure of what or how to feel.
“Is that okay with you, Grace?” Tristen asked, resting his hands on mine.
I stared into his hazel eyes, frantically searching for an answer in them. They were soft and despite his bloody, dead-like makeup, there was no mistaking the language between us at that moment. HHHfjfHe wanted me to say yes.
“Yes.” I caved.
“Well alright, let’s go crash a party!”
“Really, Eric? Is it that exciting?” Phoebe asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.
“C’mon babe, you know it will be fun. Plus, I’m pretty hot. You can rub it in her face,” Eric smiled a glamorous smile as he threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him in the bench seat.
Tristen kept his eyes on me. He leaned in closer. “Are you sure?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.”
“I have never been more sure of anything. Grace, you are smart, beautiful, funny, and everything I have wanted in a long time.”
“But you don’t even know me that well, Tristen,” I stated, suddenly feeling insecure.
“Grace, I know enough to know that I wanna know more. And I can’t get to know you more with… baggage.”
“Yeah, but don’t you think—”
He put a finger over my mouth as if to shut me up, but gently. I did as he implied, desperately hoping that he would switch his finger out for his lips. Instead, he embraced my face with his hand and tenderly squeezed.
“It’ll be okay. There will be tons of people there. We can just walk in, I’ll pull her aside and tell her and she won’t even know you’re there. Honestly, she will probably already have another boyfriend by the end of her party.” He knew that I was nervous. He was trying to reassure me that everything would be okay.
I nodded, hoping that he was right. This had drama written all over it, but I had Tristen, Phoebe, and Eric on my side. If Sonny tried anything stupid, Phoebe would be on her like white on rice. And something told me Eric wouldn’t pull her off this time.
Tristen directed Eric to Sonny’s house from the backseat. As we pulled up, I soon realized that it wasn’t a house at all, but a mansion nestled away in a quiet cul-de-sac. The street was lined with cars and the enormous yard was infested with drunken teenagers. We found a spot almost around the corner and made our way up the street to the party.
The house sat between two slightly smaller houses, both with their lights off and seeming as if the tenants were not home. It was two stories and white, with four round pillars acting as if to hold up the roof. It was reminiscent of the White House, and I briefly wondered what the hell her parents did to afford such an amazing home.
We walked up to the lawn, which was larger than it looked from the car. The driveway led to a circular one. In the middle stood a huge water fountain that reminded me of photos in history class of the old water fountains in Rome, minus the large W that was visible through the sparkling water. The initial for “Westwood” I was assuming, unless it was the initial for “wowthey’vegotalotofmoney”. Why did I suddenly feel the need to hashtag that?
Teenagers were scattered around, some with cups of what I presumed to be alcohol. The bass was pumping inside the house, sounding muffled from the outside. There was absolutely nothing Halloween about this party. No one was dressed up. No one had Halloween makeup on. This sort of pissed me off, leaving me with the feeling that they were too good for it. No one was too good for Halloween.
As we walked up the driveway, eyes began to descend upon us. Of course, since no one here was in costume, we were the oddballs. Eric grabbed Phoebe’s hand; probably making sure that he had a hold on her as we approached a group of girls who began giggling and pointing their fingers at us. I didn’t look their way, trying hard not to give them what they wanted, which was attention. At that moment, Tristen’s hand found mine, and I looked down to make sure it was really happening and not just something I was imagining. I glanced up at him, only to find him smiling down at me, lips stretched from ear to ear.
This was amazing and scary at the same time. I was thrilled to be this close to Tristen and that he was going out of his way to make a big gesture, but scared out of my mind that tonight would end up badly. Hopefully the inside of this castle would be filled with preppy drunks, allowing me to keep away from Sonny and her Minions. I was sure my zombie-like appearance would help hide me.
As we made our way to the line to get in the front door, the music got louder, along with the sounds of drunken teens. My heart began pounding and in that moment I realized that my stomach was growling. Oh not now!
I did eat three and a half bags of treats, however I didn’t know what I was thinking when I thought that would be enough.
I tried to ignore it, concentrating on hiding from you know who.
Upon entering the house, I felt like I was in the middle of Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras day. We could barely maneuver through the crowd. Tristen kept a hold of my hand as he led the way. I felt Phoebe clutch on to my shirt, making sure not to lose me through the crowd. People were drinking, talking, and well…partying all around us.
From the little glimpses I managed to get in between the sea of people, the inside of the house was just as immaculate as the outside. There were two large majestic staircases, one on either side of what seemed to be the foyer. Everything was white, and the walls were filled with hanging portraits of art work. I would not have been surprised if somewhere in this house there was a bathroom made out of twenty-four karat gold. It screamed “I’m rich, and I can do anything I want”.
I wasn’t sure where Tristen was taking me, until suddenly I felt a shift around us. We moved into a tiny opening in one of the rooms. Everyone around us was moving, bouncing and swaying to the loud music.
A hip hop song slowly turned into a more dance-friendly song. I recognized it immediately and thought to myself how much I loved it.
Tristen stopped in front of me, bopping his head to the rhythm of the song as the rest of his body began to follow. He turned around to face me and leaned in close to my ear.
“I love this song!” he yelled.
I smiled wide, knowing full well that we would have the same taste in music. His arms found their way around my waist and he pulled me closer. Without taking his eyes off mine, he moved me to the music with him and I was forced to let go of any inhibitions I had. His beautiful zombie face lit up when he felt me begin to carry his same rhythm, and we were soon in sync. I wrapped my arms around his neck, suddenly forgetting about Sonny, food, or what tonight may bring. Thoughts of my mother, my body changing, Megan, and my possible departure to Costa Rica began trailing off into a distant area of my brain. I could feel the bass pumping between us and allowed my body to relax in his arms, feeling safe and sound, just what Capital Cities was singing about.
A bubble was beginning to form around Tristen and me, and soon it felt as though we were the only people in the room. He lifted his hand, grabbing my neck and squeezing gently. The touch of his skin created sheer bliss, jubilation that made my body quiver. The alcohol from earlier in the night still coursed through my v
eins, generating a slight buzz. And with the music, I closed my eyes and tilted my head up, giving him more space to rub and send tingles through me.
I felt a soft kiss on my neck, causing my eyes to roll. His other hand met my face and he gently forced me to look into his smoldering eyes. Our bodies continued to move together, swaying and bopping in the same motion, as if it were meant to. He grazed his thumb over my bottom lip and gave me a half smile. I wasn’t anticipating it. I wasn’t bracing myself. I didn’t even begin my countdown. In that moment, the only thing I wanted more was to taste his lips on mine. And without our bodies stopping their movement to the music, I leaned in.
As soon as my lips touched his, I felt his body relax, as if it were a relief. I felt my body do the same and without a skip to our beat we pressed our lips harder on one another’s. His hands moved from my face and through my hair as I pulled him closer to me, feeling as if he weren’t close enough. His lips parted, as did mine, and his tongue slowly and tenderly entered my mouth and tasted mine. The butterflies in my stomach danced with us and my heart slowed its beats. Without catching a breath, we kissed slowly and passionately, savoring every moment. I grabbed the back of his head, gently pulling his hair. We kissed like we had never kissed anyone else before. There was nothing else in the world at that moment that could be better than what I was feeling.
Suddenly, I felt a force on my back. Someone pushed me firmly against Tristen and he quickly held on to me, stopping me from causing us both to fall on the ground. I turned around feeling really pissed off that someone ruined the incredible electricity that was flowing between us. And maybe a little punch-drunk from it being our amazing first kiss.
Sonny stood in front of us, arms folded across her chest. The music suddenly stopped. Kind of like what happens in the movies when the DJ stops a track too quickly and it screeches. I stifled a chuckle as it reminded me of that.
“What the hell, Tristen!”
