Possessed Soul

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I hadn't expected my mother to throw a party for my sixteenth birthday, but I barely knew who she was anymore. It looked like she had invited the whole of Croydon. The floor might as well have been moving, with the amount of feet that made its way across the tiles. I hadn't thought my house could fit so many people, but I was wrong. I stood in a spaghetti strap red dress that fell all the way to the floor, accepting presents from total strangers. They all gave me fake smiles, confirming they were only here for the food.

I just wanted to curl up with a good book and pretend like reality wasn't reality. I needed to be someone I wasn't. Someone who wouldn't let herself fall apart at the seams, when she found out she was being used. I hated Kaden with a passion. I am an overthinker with a sensitive heart, meaning I don't express any half feeling. I only have overwhelming feelings and when they surface there is no pushing them down. For his sake, I hoped I never saw Kaden again. I was capable of killing someone I didn't know, so who knows what I'd do to someone who had hurt me. But that being said I was also hyper-sensitive, so it wasn't a big surprise that someone had broken my heart.

"Sage?" someone called out to me in a high pitched voice.

"Hi," I said to the lady who stood before me. She seemed like a sweet old lady; well, she wasn't that old, but she was older than my mother. She wore a cream-coloured dress that flared out by her hips. The dress ended just above her knees and displayed her knock knees. Her hair was neatly pinned up into a high bun, which looked a bit weird considering that she had a fringe which covered the whole of her forehead. The yellow irises of her eyes emphasised her black pupils, scrutinizing me from head to toe. "Mrs. Simpson?" I asked, wincing when she neither clarified nor denied that statement, leaving me to wonder if she was who I thought she was.

"You've certainly grown," she told me. "Since the last time I saw you," she added as an afterthought. She put her index finger on her chin, seemingly deep in thought. It took a lot to convince myself that I really didn't need to know what she was thinking, and it was probably better if I didn't know.

I nodded my head, not sure if a statement like that needed a reply.

"You seem to be doing ok, all things considered." She looked somewhat impressed as she said these words and leaned back as if she was trying to see all of me, without having to rake her eyes down my body.

Before I could ask her what she meant, she waddled away looking very much like she was tipsy. But I was pretty sure she was just unsteady on her legs.

***

"Shouldn't you be in there?" a deep voice asked. I knew who it was without looking. "Crowd get a bit too much?" I heard a soft rustle as Calum sat down next to me. I turned my head towards him and marvelled at the way the light from the moon reflected off his pale face and made him look as transparent as a ghost.

I sighed and used my hands to push myself up. I quickly dusted my dress, careful to catch every remaining bit of damp grass that clung. I knew I would have to go back to the party now that I had been found, whether I liked it or not. I should have found a better hiding spot, and I would have if I had known anyone would actually realise I was missing. When I left the party my mother was preoccupied with greeting everyone at the door. I knew Ryan wouldn't come looking for me because he was still mad at me. That covered everyone I knew that was here tonight; save for the few people I had only seen once or twice in the sixteen years I had been alive.

Calum grabbed my wrist. "No one's really missing you." He confirmed my thoughts. "We could stay here." He was dressed in a blue jacket that opened up over a white shirt. His hair wasn't as gelled as usual, so it gave him the freedom to run his hands through his hair; and he did just that, like he was combing it while trying to be flirty at the same time. Calum was handsome enough, I reflected, but he wasn't as hot as Kaden.