by Sarah Tork
“They were going to leave me alone and not tell me until I woke up to an empty house!” I blubbered in shock, leaning back down onto my bed and stared at my beloved ceiling.
“Get off the bed!” Jenna snapped angrily. “You’re ruining all my hard work!”
She marched right over and hauled me up by my shoulders. “Eyes wide open. It’s makeup time.”
“My family doesn’t give a shit about me.” I moaned. “I’m an afterthought, I’m an inconvenience, that’s all.”
“Shut up.” Jenna murmured. “Don’t talk like that about yourself. Just because you don’t have a life doesn’t mean the rest of your family can’t.”
I jerked my head back and eyed her disapprovingly. “Thanks!”
“Don’t mention it!” She grabbed my chin, smirking. “Anytime.”
“Do you think I’m boring?” I asked her seriously as she put the mascara brush back into its tube. She narrowed her eyes in disbelief.
“Anna, you’re not boring, you’re just not that wild and adventurous.” Jenna explained. “The craziest thing you’ve done, well if I’m being honest, is having that side – lusting thing with James. Which I must say, I’m still pissed about you keeping from me. But whatever, shit happens right!”
“I can be adventurous, I can be wild and free!” I told her firmly. “I’m a senior, isn’t it some rule that you have to be carefree and wild during your senior year of high school?”
Jenna grinned. “Now you’re getting it!”
“Oh I got it!” I got up and march in front of the mirror, examining the face paint. My lips were a glossy violet color, my caramel – colored eyes stood out more with the extra coat of mascara Jenna had applied. And my cheeks were extra rosy thanks to a pretty plum blush.
If I was conceited, I’d say I looked damn good, especially with the top mom had bought me before the summer had begun. It clung to my body tightly, but not to the point where I couldn’t breathe. The most important thing was that it showcased my ten pound lighter body to its fullest.
“I look good.” I murmured quietly, hoping Jenna wouldn’t hear and laugh at the audacity.
Laughter broke behind me. I spoke too soon.
“What was that I hear?” Jenna laughed in disbelief. “Was someone telling her mirrored self that she actually looked good?”
I turned around, and for the first time, I think in my entire life, I wasn’t ashamed to speak the truth. I looked good. I should be able to express that.
So here goes.
“Yeah, you heard right. I just said I looked good!” I said to her with attitude. “Damn good!”
Jenna marched right up to me and put both her hands on my shoulder blades. “Welcome to life my friend! Welcome to life!”
Chapter 2
ANNABELLE
“I’m gonna text my mom.” I told Jenna after locking the front door.
“Tell her you’re going to sleepover at my house, that way we can stay out longer!” Jenna said excitedly. “By the way my parents won’t be home till three in the morning, they went to a party at my uncle’s house.”
“Why didn’t you go to that then?” I asked as we strolled down the stone path towards the sidewalk. “Your family parties sound great.”
“This one was for adults only and besides, tonight I’m needed elsewhere.” Jenna grinned. “I had a few matters that needed fixing.”
“Oh really!” I shook my head, laughing as I texted mom, asking her if it was okay to sleep over at Jenna’s.
My phone beeped a few seconds later.
Damn mom was fast.
She must have had her phone beside her.
Mom: That’s alright. But remember to monitor your calories and not to eat anything over the limit set aside by the nutritionist.
Have a great night darling.
“So mom just texted back, I’m not to eat anything over my calorie limit.” I explained, tucking my phone in my back pocket. “Do you think there’ll be food at this party?”
“Probably some chips and pop, but by the time we arrive,” She checked her wrist watch. “It’s almost nine. There probably won’t be any snacks left. Maybe some pop. There’s going to be drinks though. For sure!”
I stopped mid step.
Drinks?
Oh God….drinks! I turned, facing her. “There’s going to be like beer there?”
“Among other things!” Jenna rolled her eyes, pushing me forward. “Geez Anna, this is a senior class party. What do you think goes on? Drinking, dancing and getting wild!”
“I don’t know if I should drink. I mean, what if my breath still smells like beer after we leave? You know my mom’s a pro at smelling things off my breath. You think I can get pop and chips passed her. I was lucky today she didn’t check up on me. When you knocked, I thought it was her and freaked out, trying to hide my stash!” I screeched, feeling my face heat up for reasons unrelated to the Floridian weather system.
Calm down and breathe slowly! I ordered myself, on the verge of dropping to ground, hyperventilating.
Her shoulder bumped into mine. “Calm down! You dramatic princess. You don’t have to drink if you don’t want to. Just go with it and be comfortable. Do what you feel is right.”
“Okay, okay, I’m good – I’m cool.” I reassured her.
Stressed Annabelle was gone….for now.
Jenna snorted, linking her arm through mine, dragging me faster. “Sure, I’ll believe that when I see it. We’ve got to hurry. It’s going to take twenty minutes to get to Peter’s house.”
I sighed, matching her pace.
A senior class party….who would have thought.
*~*~*
Unfortunately, the twenty minutes it took to get to Peter’s brought me momentarily back to square one. Jenna noticed as I stalled on the sidewalk, trying to control my nervous breathing.
What if James was already there….with Donna!
“Can you please stop!” Jenna belted, clearly annoyed. “Stop trying to convince yourself that this is a bad idea. It’s going to be a great night.”
“It’s going to be a great night!” I repeated, matching her optimism, even though it was forced. “It’s going to be a great night!”
“That’s right.” Jenna said. “And if we see douchebag James, you’re going to ignore him, right?”
“Right!” I answered.
I hoped I could.
I really hoped that I could.
We turned the corner to Peter’s block and heard faint sounds of dance music. Jenna started moving her body to the dimmed beats enthusiastically.
“I hope some of the others are there too!” she said excitedly, moving her shoulders to each beat. During our walk, Jenna informed me that her swim team members were going to the party as well. “We’re going to dance the night away!”
Dancing? I imagined my larger than average frame busting a move in front of our fellow classmates. It didn’t look good as I imagined it. In fact, it was horrendous. She let go of my arm and skipped across the sidewalk.
I stopped walking. “Dancing Jenna? That’s a scary thought.”
She stopped skipping and faced me, stretching her arm out towards Peter’s wide ranch style house. “Anna, dancing is about having fun and letting loose. There’s nothing scary about it, well not unless you’re in an auditorium filled with judges. It’s only a high school party. Most of the kids there are getting drunk as we speak, they won’t notice us.”
I snorted. “Yeah, how about you try dancing when you have parts of your body moving without your say so, then we’ll talk about throwing caution to the wind and letting go!”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.” she whispered, crossing her arms for a few seconds before dropping them angrily. “You know what! Screw that! I will acknowledge what you just said. Anna, the body you talk about doesn’t exist anymore. You lost weight last summer. Accept that! There will be no more body parts moving without your say so. They do so only at your command. Can’t you see
that now? Get to it girl!”
“As always, your inspirational speeches on self discovery does wonders for my self esteem.” I cringed. “In perfect timing, as we are about to enter a party, with boys.”
“And boys don’t like self doubting girls. They want confidence. They want swagger and attitude. And I agree, it is perfect timing. We need every ounce of courage before we enter that high voltage hormone filled party.” Jenna remarked, eyeing the house that already had a few of our fellow seniors staggering around on one foot.
The night had already begun for some.
“Hormone filled and extremely contagious?” I told her as we slowly walked towards the driveway.
“There’s nothing I would want more!” Jenna grinned, moving her shoulders to the growing sounds of Hip Hop music. “It’s time to let loose and do as the senior class of Royal Heights High are doing right now. Getting drunk and getting crunk!”
“God!” I hissed, embarrassed for her. “I can’t believe you said crunk. Who says crunk anymore?”
She laughed me off as we entered into official party territory. The driveway was long and wide. Our fellow party patrons filled bits in small groups, probably discussing the validity of tonight’s refreshments with how well they could walk a straight line. I’m guessing the more they stumbled, the more they believed the punch they poured into those red plastic cups earlier.
“Is there like a spiked punch inside?” I yelled over the loud music as we walked around the groups. She cringed, jerking her head back.
“Why are you screaming?” She yelled, caressing her violated ear. “I’m not deaf you know!”
“I’ll yell at you all I want!” I told her back, matching the attitude. “The music’s so loud I didn’t think your messed up ears could hear me, you know with you being a swimmer and all. I’m sure you’ve got a hearing aid in your future!”
“Bitch, you better take that back. How dare you mock a swimmer’s life. Do you even understand that kind of dedication?” Jenna said, clearly not angry by the twinkle in her eyes.
I was kidding and she knew it. Like I’d ever mock the sport she loved seriously.
I had the rest of my life to live.
A few feet away from the entrance, I could already picture the house filled with loud and obnoxious kids our age. Throwing their bodies around as if it were an actual sport, to see who was the loudest, the baddest, the wildest, and the life of the party.
None of which were me. Probably didn’t even have it in me to compete. Not at that level at least.
We stood in-between the threshold and took in the massive room for a few seconds. The music was loud enough to break windows and it seemed like our entire class showed up tonight. Peter’s grand salon was dressed up like a night club, with dimmed lights and a huge crowd of dancers in the center, busting moves as if their lives depended on it.
I didn’t see anyone not having fun. For the first time in my life, I was a part of the experience like everyone else was. I wasn’t trapped at home in my room gorging on chocolate all by myself, unlike everyone else.
Jenna grabbed my arm. “Let’s do this!”
She pulled me through the open doorway, throwing us into the senior frenzy, soup style. My jaw dropped at the massive amount of people that were really crammed inside.
Girls in small dresses, boys in oversized sports jerseys, mixed in with the rest of us regular folk that were dressed in jeans and simple tops. The only difference was I wore sensible shoes as most of the other girls that surrounded the front were wearing high heels. I glanced down at Jenna’s sensible slide on sneakers on route to my black Chucks.
We thought alike.
She was obviously smart. But to be safe we should probably steer clear of the potential foot assassinators.
I didn’t get rides to school in the morning. I needed my feet working. “Let’s get away from the stampede of foot annihilator’s!” I yelled over the music to Jenna. She nodded in agreement and pulled me through the crowd, around the dance floor.
“Keep your eyes out for anyone we know, okay!” Jenna said, guiding me across the room. I searched the room, trying to pinpoint any familiar group we knew, but came with no such luck. I knew of the people that surrounded me, but not enough to stop and have a conversation.
The number of people that I actually spoke with at school was a small number, and I wasn’t sure if that was healthy anymore, considering the size of our class.
Jenna quickly pinpointed her fellow swim team members huddled in a corner near the refreshment table and quickly ushered us to them. I took in the entire room again, settling on the dance floor for a few seconds extra, mesmerized by the flailing arms and legs.
My first high school party….at seventeen. I broke the transfixed gaze, looking back at Jenna who was busy hugging her other friends and laughing loudly. Watching them exude excitement with one another made me feel numb all over. She had another life, one that didn’t involve me.
Where was I when all this happened?
Had I been asleep for the last three years?
My shoulder jerked wildly. “Snap out of it!” Jenna screeched next to my ear. Before I could give her a nasty scowl, she shoved a red plastic cup into my hands. I grasped it tightly to my chest, the red liquid inside sloshing dangerously close to the rim.
She took a sip out of her cup before ordering me to. “Drink!” She mouthed, barely audible over the music. I drank the red liquid and it slid down my throat, leaving a weird tangy aftertaste. I stuck out my tongue and a disgusted moan followed.
Jenna eyed her friends knowingly and they all burst out laughing. “What is that?” I yelled, holding the cup away as if it were poison.
“Special Punch!” Jenna laughed. She grabbed my arm and pushed it back to my body. “Drink more. You’ll feel more relaxed.”
Did she really go to parties without me? How? I tried remembering a time when I didn’t know what Jenna was up to during a weekend night. The last few months, there were a few blank spots I couldn’t remember knowing what she’d been up to.
“Anna!” Jenna screamed excitedly from behind, tapping my shoulder. “We’re going to dance, let’s go!”
Before heading towards the dance floor, they slammed the rest of their drinks back and dumped the empty cups into the trash. I’d never danced in public before and that scared me. “I’m still thirsty. I’m going to finish my drink. I’ll join you guys later!” I yelled over the music, holding my drink up, hoping she’d believe me.
“Finish your drink,” Jenna’s eyes narrowed, unconvinced. “And then get your ass on the dance floor. If I don’t see you in a few minutes, you’re shark bait!”
My eyes rolled at her tone. Bitch whatever!
“Yeah okay!” I assured her, reluctantly taking another sip of the punch.
What if I got drunk?
I’d never been drunk. Tonight wasn’t really the night I hoped to have that first, especially if James was going to show up with Donna.
Ugh! Donna and James. Why? How? I couldn’t believe I came, knowing that they were going to be here, probably up in each other’s arms kissing. Making loud grunt noises, dry humping as they danced, probably thinking they were the King and Queen of this party.
What the hell was I then?
The King’s mistress and the Court Gesture?
My roles included keeping the King happy, however he saw fit. While alongside his main lady (Donna), my duty was to provide comedy for them while they basked in the pleasures of a feast with their closest allies.
Damn it! I knew this party was a bad idea.
How did I let Jenna talk me into going?
It was a trap.
I walked into a trap!
And as if it were fate, a loud and obnoxious animal noise echoed through the room, ostentatiously overriding the music. Incredibly nervous, I took another swing of my punch, the sour taste distracting me from the loud barbaric noises that continued to rattle loudly.
They were excited. Taking a d
eep breath, I turned and faced the animal calls to see who it was.
I lowered my gaze instantly, immediately wishing I’d never turned.
I shouldn’t have turned.
I should have stayed with my back to that part of the party.
It would have been for the best.
I could have just walked on without a worry. Now I was faced with a dilemma, one that my heart currently pounded at a mile a second for, ripping against my chest. My heart clearly wanted out of the misery that was my body.
The body that still ached for his touch again.
James.
He was here.
Gulping, I gazed back at the entrance.
Wearing a backwards Baseball cap, a fitted black t-shirt and dark blue jeans that looked like they were made for his long muscular legs, he stood with his crew of backward Baseball caps. They were true Baseball fans as well as the schools shining stars, the Royal Heights High School Baseball team.
Cue the applause, royalty had arrived.
Kings I say.
I wasn’t the only one who thought this. They acted like they were, and my fellow classmates seemed to agree. The crowd parted for the overly confident, overly arrogant leaders as they made their way down into the dance floor. Making matter’s worse, like in an ‘I can’t believe it could get worse’ kind of way, girly screams rippled through the entire room as if it were a tangible vibration.
Whatever it was, my punch swirled in rapids because of it.
Ugh, can you say too much! I glanced at the evil suspects, a group of floundering females, twisting and twirling through the crowded center. It was as if they were zombie bees lusting after the nectar of a flower that would keep them alive.
Guess who played the flower?
Girls and their boys, was there actually a way for them to behave like ladies when their so called men entered into their zones? I didn’t think they needed to scream like crazy hyena’s, disrupting every single person’s ability to hear.
Any more screams from those screeching lunatics, and I’d be lucky not to be in line for a hearing aid by the end of the year.
God I’m bitter! I stared at the growing crowd, as the mixture of bright pink and violet dressed piranhas stalked quickly to the apple of their eyes.
