Fireheart [Fanfiction - Alternate Universe]

Pretending to be a normal teen

[Header image of Thea Dertien]

Celaena decided on an inconspicuous entrance to the party: jumping over the tall back fence of Dorian's residential House and landing around an area with few people. She showed up in the backyard as if materializing out of thin air. She knew there was no point sneaking in, and that she could have just used the front door as everybody else did, but she wasn't like everybody. It was thrilling to do things her own way, and especially to sneak past security without being seen. It was also good practice for a possible future.

Nehemia found her almost instantly, showing up by her side with two red plastic cups in her hands as if she knew she was about to arrive.

"I've been looking for you, my friend," she said happily as she passed her over one of the drinks. "How long have you been here for?"

"Just a little while," Celaena smiled.

"Dorian's parties are always the best," Nehemia replied. "I've been here for a while myself," she said casually as she wrapped an arm around Celaena's shoulders.

Her body went stiff automatically, and she had to make herself relax into the touch. She was so unused to people being nice that she even wondered if all girls treated their friends like that.

"What do people normally do here?" She asked, and noticing Nehemia's raised eyebrows, she corrected herself. "I mean, are there any particular games you play in Rifthold or anything I need to be aware of to fit in?"

"You'd fit in even if you didn't want to," Nehemia replied, sounding almost a little sad. "But no, there's nothing special here. The bees normally drink a bit and dance, except during the season, when they stop drinking in order to stay in shape, some of them do sometimes indulge in some other... forms of intoxication, but most people here are clean," she said, looking away from her and into the house.

Celaena looked at Nehemia's thin brows lowering and wondered why this girl was so worried about those kinds of things. She knew for a fact that drug and alcohol abuse had skyrocketed in the lower levels in the past few years. She knew about it from third-party experiences and things she had seen in dark alleys and dodgy basements. She had seen the effects some of those drugs had on the young kids that spent their nights on the streets, looking for their next fix. She wasn't surprised to hear it had made it to the upper levels too.

"Do you ever... you know?" Celaena asked, being a little more direct than she normally would be.

"No, I hate that shit!" Nehemia snapped as she let go of Celaena's shoulder and wrapped that same arm around her own torso. Deciding not to push the matter, and feeling a little bad about upsetting the only girl that had tried to befriend her, Celaena decided to get out of her comfort zone to cheer Nehemia up.

"Come on," she said. "Let's go inside and see if there's any dancing going around."

Nehemia's dark eyes lit back up like two opals shining under the moonlight.

"I'd love to dance!" She said happily, drowning the remaining of her drink and tossing the cup into a nearby bin.

If the yard was packed with groups of students talking, drinking, and playing, the inside of the house was even fuller. The furniture from the massive living room had been pushed to the walls, where a few people were lounging on the couches. And in the middle, there was a big dance floor where most of the cheerleaders were dancing, their arms in the air, red plastic cups in their hands.

Nehemia and Celaena joined the throng of girls and the few boys on the made-up dancefloor, swaying to the rhythm of the music. A few eyes darted their way, and after a moment there were guys asking to dance with them. Hands were wrapping around their waists and bodies were brushing against them from all sides. The music, the lights, the faint smell of smoke, it was almost intoxicating; and Celaena felt like she was in the middle of a disco. Even if just for a fraction of a second, she forgot all about her worries, her mission, her secrets, and she let her body get lost to the notes and pulses running through her body.