Inner Demons

13. Happy Birthday Brooke

Brooke's eighteenth birthday party was set to be the party of the year. A band. A giant Ferris wheel. Stands set up with typical fair games like ring toss and whack-a-mole. There were even rumors of fire dancers. After the way the last party I attended sort of went up in flames and I almost died, I wasn't terribly excited about the idea of yet another party, but of course, I had to go. Everyone on the team was going.

I studied my reflection in the mirror one last time. I had used magic to straighten my normally wavy blonde hair and it fell straight down my back in long silky layers. I didn't want to do anything too taxing since I knew I'd need all my power for the ceremony. On the other hand, straightening my hair kept me connected to the power. It fed me.

I wore a new pair of skinny jeans I'd picked up at the thrift store with my black boots over the top, a black long sleeve shirt and a white faux fur vest I'd borrowed from Lark. I was surprised at how much I looked like my new friends. Being a part of the cheerleading squad had really changed me in such a short period of time.

With a somewhat nervous sigh, I grabbed my purse and headed out. Drake picked me up as usual. He looked amazing in his dark jeans and white button-up dress shirt. Very cool and casual. Had I judged him too harshly? Maybe I should stop keeping him at arm's length and give him a shot at being a real boyfriend for a change.

"You ready for a real party?" he asked when I got in the car.

"Sure. What makes this one real as opposed to other parties?"

"Because this is all-out," he said, pulling onto the highway. "Brooke's parents are always trying to top themselves and believe me, when Brooke's older sister turned eighteen, they had the party of the century. People still talk about how wild and outrageous that party was, and that was what? Six years ago? I'm expecting nothing but amazing tonight."

"Wow, what do people say about the last party? Did you go?"

"No," he said. "I was like, twelve. But people talked about how amazing the food was. Oh and they had this circus theme with animals in cages and circus acts going on in different tents. It was wild. I'm dying to see what they did with a fair theme."

"You seem pretty excited about it."

"Hell, yeah. Aren't you?"

"I guess."

"You guess? After everything we've been through already this year, I'm ready to just have a good time. No drama. Just plain old fashioned fun."

I relaxed as he squeezed my leg and smiled. It would definitely be nice to have a night with no drama. Drake pushed the button to open his sunroof, then stuck his hand through and yelled, "Woohooo!"

I laughed. "You dork."

"Proud of it," he said.

When we pulled up to the party, an actual valet in a black vest and tie took the keys and parked the car for us. Even from out front we could hear the blazing music in the backyard. Brooke's family lived pretty far outside of town on a huge farm. At least they wouldn't have to worry about upsetting any neighbors with the noise. There wasn't a house within a mile from here.

When we walked through the gate to the backyard, a guy in jeans and a red cowboy shirt asked if he could get us something to drink. I ordered a diet coke. Drake ordered a beer.

I laughed and hit him in the ribs with my elbow. "They aren't going to bring you a beer, you dork. You're underage."

"It's a private party," Drake said. "No one cares if we drink as long as we don't drive home or damage anybody's property."

"You're kidding me." I looked to the waiter to see if he would disagree, but instead he wrote down the order and walked away to go get the drinks.

"You should definitely get something next time," he said. "Live a little."

"There's Brooke," I said. I didn't want to get pressured into drinking tonight so I changed the subject. I needed all my senses to pull off that glamour later.

I pointed over toward the stage. Brooke was standing there with Foster and a few other guys from the football team. She looked amazing in tight black leather pants, a red strapless corset and black and white cowboy boots. Very un-Brooke-like. She was usually little Miss Conservative when it came to clothing.

"Let's go over and wish her happy birthday," he said.

We walked over and Brooke gave me a huge hug. "I'm so glad you're here!"

She practically squealed in my ear. I couldn't tell if she was drunk or just high on being the center of attention, but she was definitely acting different. She was usually so reserved.

"Happy Birthday, Brooke," I said. "You look unreal."

"Thanks," she said. "I figured tonight was a night to just let loose and go wild."

"I like the sound of that," Foster said, kissing her neck.

I was still holding her present in my hands. It was a new Coach purse that cost over two hundred dollars. Drake's mom had picked it out and put both mine and Drake's names on the card. "Where can we put this?"

"Oh, gosh." She looked around. "I think they set up a gift table over by the face painting," she said.

"We just got here, but so far it looks amazing," I said. "This is such a cool theme."

"My parents totally outdid themselves tonight."

"I know, I can't decide what to do first."

"Dance with me later?"

"Sure," I said. "Of course."

"Okay, y'all have fun, I'm gonna go say hi to a group of Mom's friends who just got here." She leaned over and actually kissed me on the cheek. Definitely not typical Brooke. I smelled alcohol on her breath and figured she'd been drinking for quite a while before the party got started.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Drake asked. He took my hand in his and gave me a squeeze.

I looked around. The Ferris wheel was all the way toward the far side of the yard, and it looked like there were a few other fair-type rides. "Let's go over there and ride some of the rides."

We got several rides in before dinner. Brooke's parents had a huge backyard and there was a large tent set up on one side of the house. Dinner was served buffet style and included fair foods like pizza, corn dogs, fried chicken, elephant ears and corn on the cob. The area was decorated with hay bales and the tables were covered with red and white checkered tablecloths. It was amazing how authentic it looked. I felt like we were really at the State Fair they threw every fall in Perry. On top of each table was a giant sparkler that never stopped shooting sparks of changing colors.

Drake was impressed. "Wow, those things are cool." He pointed to the sparklers with his fork. "How do you think they get it to do that? Normally, the only kind of sparklers I ever used as a kid would fizzle out after thirty seconds or so. But these are just infini-sparklers."

"I have no idea," I said. I wasn't sure how much Drake knew about the Order of Shadows-or even if any of the men in town knew about its existence and the magic involved-so I didn't mention the fact that Brooke's mom was a witch who could probably turn him into a sparkler if she wanted to. "It must have been crazy expensive, though."

Money was a language Drake understood perfectly. "I'm sure. It's neat. My parents always throw this huge Fourth of July bonfire party down on St. Simons Island on the beach. We'll have to get some of these for that party next year."

I bit into my corn dog and searched for Brooke in the crowd. She was seated at the head table on the stage. Someone had put a sparkling tiara on her head and she was laughing at something Foster said in her ear. All of her nervousness from the other day seemed gone and she looked genuinely happy. I wondered if someone had finally explained the ceremony to her or if she had just put it out of her mind for the party. One way or another, I knew that everything would change for her tonight.