Secrets Upon Secrets

11 - Blanche Frost

"So, Blanche," Abby Brown started, after plopping down at the lunch table. "Do you have plans for Halloween this year?" She asked, her tone made it clear that she was expecting disappointment.

"Just a lead I'm gonna try to follow," I replied.

"Nope, no, nope-ity, nope," she answered in a sing-song sort of tone. "You, my friend, are coming to a party with me," she declared.

"I am?" I asked, already hating the direction of this conversation.

"What are you two talking about?" Cecilia Mathews, our other friend asked. (She was no doubt about to get dragged into party-going too.)

"We are all going to parties tomorrow," Abbly declared again.

"Oh, you two know about the party too?" She asked, surprising both of us.

Abby's face broke out into a splitting grin. She turned and smirked at me.

"Oh, no." I sighed softly.

And that is how I ended up at this stupid party.

There was an emo looking rebel guy chugging come beer, a crazy looking girl with neon pink and green hair who was apparently hosting, a girl dressed as a sunflower at the door (she seemed pretty chill at least), people making out left and right, and wayyyyy more underage drinking than I was comfortable with.

"What the fresh hell?" I asked Cecilia. "This is worse than the clubs she usually drags us to," I complained, "What were you thinking?"

"Remember my friend Ashley? Well her friend Taylor is hosting this," she began, "And apparently Taylor knows this girl who knows Gram," she explained, blushing a little.

Ignoring the ridiculous train of 'so-and-so's friend' and asked, "Gram, as in, Gram Willy?" With my eyebrows raised.

She nodded emphatically.

I sighed. Cecilia's had a crush on him since we were kids. Granted she wasn't the only one, but I was definitely better at hiding that fact.

"And what makes you think he's gonna be here?" I asked here, "Call me crazy but this doesn't really seem like his scene,"

She seemed to consider that, but then looked across the room and her eyes lit up.

"Regardless of the reason why, there he is," she pointed out.

I looked through the crowd and sure enough, there was Gram, in the flesh. Curly golden hair and all. He was dressed up as some military person, and had a kid and a somewhat-older-kid following him.

It had been quite a while since I'd last seen him. (You tend to avoid people when you're hiding a minor crush.)

I suppose my unusual hair caught his eye because he somehow spotted me through the crowd and we made eye contact.

One of the kids said something to him (the pink one) and he bent down so I couldn't see him for a moment, but the next thing I knew the kids were heading for the door and he was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey," I heard someone loudly say from behind me, hardly heard over the music that only seemed to get louder, "Long time no see,"

Cecilia just stood there, frozen in a very un-Cecilia-like manner.

"Hey yourself," I greeted, nudging Cecilia but she didn't seem to take the hint. I rolled my eyes and ignored her awkward behavior. "Who were they?" I asked.

They were too young to be his siblings and too old to be his kids, even if you were to put that possibility on the table. (He's only like 19.)

"Just some kids I'm taking care of right now," he said nonchalantly, "I sent them to go wait with a friend," he explained. Then he surveyed the party again.