The White Rabbit

Chapter 5

I look at Ali as if she had grown a second head. She looks back at me with pleading eyes, which don't really suit her. "No," I say flatly.
"Come on Jace, please?" She asks. I raise an eyebrow at her. For the past hour, Ali has been trying to convince me to go to a party. Not only that but it's a party for someone who I don't even know. Some girl who lives next to Ali is turning 18 and invited her. Ali only invited me because she doesn't wanna go alone.
"Ali, I don't even know the chick. How am I supposed to just show up to her party when we've never even met."
She rolls her yes. "Oh come on. It's a party for an 18 year old. Do you know how many people are gonna be there that she doesn't know. Besides she's not even having it at her house. Her parents rented out this big ass mansion so they're having it there. There's gonna be a pool, food, drinks-"
"Did you say food?" I ask. She laughs. "Yes fatass, food." I think about it. I'm not really one for parties. But I do owe Ali. After everything she's done for me, I should at least go to a simple party with her. The only thing that leaves is asking my dad. I'm sure he'll say no. But it can't hurt to try. If he does say no, then I'll just sneak out. Or at least try to that is.
I sigh. "Fine, I'll go."
"Yay!" She jumps on me and hugs me tightly. She accidentally squeezes one of the bruises in my stomach and and I wince. "Sorry," she says and gets up. "Seriously you're so tiny, I could snap you without even trying." I laugh nervously and try to change the subject.
"So what time are we going?"
"Let's meet up at the park at 7 and we can take the bus to the mansion." I nod along to show that I'm listening. "This is gonna be so much fun," she yells. I sigh
Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My dad sits across from me as we eat dinner. The atmosphere is quiet and uncomfortable. I've been trying to figure out a way to ask my dad if I can go to the party with Ali, but nothing seems to be right.
"Is there something on your mind bug," my dad asks, cutting off any thought I had about a possible way to ask him. "U-um," I stutter and can't make any sensible words. He waits patiently for me to speak, but when I don't say anything, he stands up and walks behind me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. Immediately I tense up. I can feel his breath on the back of my neck as he says "You shouldn't be afraid to ask me anything bug. What's on your mind?"
I know I won't be able to even form a sentence if I try to talk slowly, so instead I blurt out, "IwanttogotoapartywithAli!"
"What?"
I roll my eyes and trying again more slowly. "I want to go to a party with Ali?" It's more of a sentence than a question, but I got my point across this time. I can't see my dad's reaction as he takes in what I just said. "And why should I let my precious bug out of my sight? What do you plan to do at this party?"
"One of my friends from school is turning 18. Ali doesn't want to go alone so I told her that I would go with her." I make sure to tell him that I promised Ali I would go, hoping to sway his answer a little. I know that he knows Ali would find it suspicious if I didn't show up after I told her that I was going.
He takes a minute to respond, and with each passing second I grow more nervous. What if he says no. What if he beats me for even offering to go. What if-
"You can go," he says.
Huh?
I look up at him in surprise. He looks back at me calmly. I looks in his eyes for any hint of mischief, but I can't seem to find anything. "Thank you, Dad"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I wait nervously for Ali. This girl had no sense of time urgency. She told me to be here at 7 and it's already 7:20.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Ali running towards me. "Well it's about time you came. I thought I was gonna be a corpse by the time you got here." She rolls her eyes and looks at my outfit. "Aren't you gonna be hot in that?"
I look down at myself. I'm wearing a black long sleeve button-up shirt with grey jeans, and sneakers. "What's wrong with it," I ask.
"You're wearing a long sleeve shirt when it's almost 80 degrees." You shake my head. "I'll be fine. I get cold easily." I don't tell Ali that the reason I'm wearing long sleeves is to cover up the horizontal lines that now adorn my skin.
Ali looks at me suspiciously before shaking her head. "You're so strange. So how do I look?" She twirls around for added effect. She wear a black skirt with a black shirt tucked into it. On her neck is a dark pink choker. I have to admit that although the black contrasts with her short blond hair, it looks good. "You look nice," I say.
"Wait, did you even get her a gift," I ask. Ali smirks at me and says, "Nope. Her exact words were 'I don't want any gifts unless they're the ones attached to a boy,"
"Ew," I tell her. She laughs and begins to start walking. "Well, let's get going."
When we get to the party, there's a ton of other people there. Ali was right, this mansion is fucking huge. There's at least 3 stories to it and it's wide. I can only assume that the pool Ali told me about is in the backyard. The front yard is littered with dozens of, already, drunk teenagers. We walk pass the dunk teens and inside of the house. The music is deafening and it's hot with all of the bodies dancing inside of it. Which was ones a probably clean living room, filled with trash or food and beer cans. What a shame.
Ali introduces me to the birthday girl, a dark-haired girl with a kiss tattoo on her neck. Apparently her name is Lizzie, short for Elizabeth, and she doesn't pay me any mind. Other than a few 'hellos' and 'nice to meet you', she doesn't pay me any attention, leaving to the rest of the party who's probably way more interesting than me.
Ali grabs a cup of punch and drinks some before offering to me. "Want a sip?" I shake my head. I told myself before I came here that I would not be doing any drinking. Ali shrugs before drinking a little more. "Don't get to drink Ali," I warn her. I am not gonna be explaining to her mom how she got drunk.
She rolls her eyes. "Okay mom." She gets some more punch and drinks a it. "This is really good. What the fuck did they put in it?" Her words are slurred and I know she's already a little drunk. I look at the bottle of liquor next to the punch and it reads 'Jack Daniels'. Oh great.
I drag Ali to the backyard, hoping that some fresh air will get her a little sober. "Honestly Ali, we haven't even been here an hour and you're already practically drunk."
She giggles. "I knooow but I can't help it. Being at home is so boring. I just wanna have some fun." I roll my eyes and sit her and my self down at a couple of empty chairs I found far from the pool. The backyard is filled with even more walks people. They're just as drunk as the rest, the only difference is that they're wet. I suddenly think that it was a bad idea for us to come here.
"Not having fun," I hear a voice from behind me ask. I turn around to see a boy who looks about 17 standing behind me. He has dirty blond hair and a crooked smile. "Not really," I reply. He hums and walks a little closer. "I'm surprised that I've never seen you before. Do you live around here."
"No," I tell him. He doesn't say anything about my lack of conversation and instead sits down next to me.
"So what's your name," he asks. "Jace. And yours?" The crooked boy's smile gets a little wider and he says "Trevor. Nice to meet you." I nod. Me and Trevor talk for a while about normal things. He seems nice. "Can I get you a drink?" I shake my head. "No thanks. I don't drink."
"Really? Come on, you gotta live a little. Just one?"
Never mind what I just said. "No thanks," I say kindly. He puts his hand on my thigh and leans in close to me. "Come on, a cutie like you should have some fun." His hand moves up a little farther.
Before I can retort, I hear Ali's voice from behind me. "Hey bitch. You better back the fuck up before you get smacked the fuck up. Hands off my best friend." Trevor frowns and doesn't take his hand off of me. "And if I don't, what are you gonna do?" Ali stands up. She sways a little bit then steadies herself. "Why don't you come find out."
Trevor stands up and I stand in between them. "Look, my friend is a little drunk but that doesn't give you a reason to hit a girl. Don't touch her."
Trevor looks at me. "I admire your chivalry, you should tell that bitch to watch her mouth." I glare at him. "Don't talk about her like that." He suddenly grips up my shirt. "I don't take kindly to people telling me what to do. You may be cute, but I'll kick your little ass."
I try to diffuse the situation and tell him "Look, I don't want any trouble. We'll just leave." I take Ali's hand and begin to walk away. Before I can pass him, he shoves me agains the gate that surrounds the backyard. "I don't think so. You're cute and I want you."
"Hey let him go!" He ignores Ali's yelling and leans and close to me. Without thinking, I knew him in the groin. His grip lessens for only a second but it's a second that I take. I take Ali's hand and drag her into the living room and out of the house. We're in the front yard when Trevor runs towards me and shoves me on the ground. My head hits the grass but doesn't hurt too bad. Ali moves forward and starts to punch his back but he slaps her and she falls down. By now, the entire front yard is looking at us. Trevor pays them no mind and leans down toward me. "You're going to regret doing that."
He lifts his fist up and is about to hit me. Before he can though, he is knocked off of me. "Don't touch him," a familiar voice says. I look up to see Caleb. He's glaring down at Trevor with Ali behind him yelling profanities. Caleb looks at me and helps me up.
"Are you okay?" I nod. Trevor attempts to get back up and hits Caleb, but Lizzie comes outside and yells at Trevor, telling him to leave.
"Come on," Caleb says, leading me to his black Sudan. He opens the back door for Ali and she climbs in. I climb in the front seat and he gets in on the drivers side. We pull off and away from the party.
It's been an hour since we left and Ali is sleeping in the back seat, only leaving me and Caleb.
"Why were you there," I ask breaking the silence. "I was invited," is all that he says. I look at him skeptically. He's practically grown. Why would he be at a teenager party. He notices me staring at him and says "Calm down I'm only 19."
Oh.
We ride in silence for a few more minutes before I break it again. "Just who are you," I whisper. Caleb sighs and pulls over to the side of the rode.
"I shouldn't be telling you this. James would kill me if I did."
"He's already tried. There's not much that he can do to you at this point." He chuckles but it's dry and doesn't hold any humor. He stares at his hands on the steering wheel.
"I know this will sound weird," I start. "But I feel like I've known you forever. Like you're in my memories but I can't even see you clearly. Saying that out loud, it sounds really stupid."
Caleb looks at me. His eyes show something that I've never really seen before. "I'm glad that you remember me," he says.
"Because after all, I am your big brother."