The Club

CHAPTER 9

20th Birthday Part 2

"So tell me again where we're going?" Kyle's standing in the bathroom doorway as I add my finishing touches to my makeup. "I thought we were having a movie night with Chinese takeout? I even got a bottle of Malibu from one of the guys at work for the occasion."

I let out a small laugh as I fluff up my hair. I figured that was the plan for the evening, or at least something similar. But not tonight. "We're going to a party."

She crosses her arms across her chest and stares me down through the mirror. "Want to elaborate that some more? Why are you being so secretive about this?"

I didn't intentionally mean to be evasive but I also know what she'll probably say when she finds out where we're going and more specifically who I'm going to see.

"Okay...don't make fun of me."

"I promise." She crosses her finger over her heart and asks, "What's the deal?"

I finish applying my lip gloss and toss it into my makeup basket on the counter. Turning around I face her and say, "I ran into Parker Townsend at work today."

Her mouth drops open and her eyes go wide. "You've got to be shitting me. What does he have to do with this?"

I shrug and tell her about the weirdest part of this whole thing. "Strange as it may seem, he was flirting with me and invited me out with him tonight to celebrate my birthday."

I still don't understand why he's interested in me. What's changed between high school and now?

"It doesn't seem strange at all. You're hot, Erika, you always have been. Just because Parker is finally noticing doesn't mean it's finally true. And you can do so much better than that douche."

"Are you kidding me? He's gorgeous and you know I've always had a thing for him. Besides, I'm not deluding myself into thinking we'll fall in love and get married. We're going out and having a fun time. No big deal."

She rolls her eyes and says, "You almost have me convinced that you believe that."

"Stop it. Now are you coming or what?"

"I wouldn't leave you to go there by yourself. Of course I'm going with you."

I grab her hand and pull her toward the front door before she can change her mind. I am on a mission and you don't mess with a woman on a mission. Before the end of the night, Parker will be mine. At least I hope.

After I dragged her down to the car it didn't take long to arrive at the the address that Parker provided. It's a townhouse situated on the other side of the country club from the apartment that Kyle and I live in. It's much nicer than where we live, that's for sure. Although we also live on the golf cripple, it still feels like we're on the other side of the tracks, if you know what I mean. There's just something more glamorous about being over here. Even if I can still see our place from here it feels different. Like we're in a whole other world.

I pull Kyle from her car and drag her up the driveway to the small townhouse buzzing with anticipation for what's waiting for us inside. I know I shouldn't be getting so excited. This is pretty reminiscent of all the high school parties that we went to. With one small caveat this time—Parker invited me personally. It feels so much bigger this time. Like I'm important and it means something. At least like it's bigger than me. I don't care if I'm being silly in thinking this way. But still it feels huge and my sixteen-year-old self is waiting on the sidelines to watch all the action go down.

As we walk to the front door I have an internal battle with myself on what we should do when we get to the door. Back in high school we just walked in the door of wherever the party was. If you would have tried knocking on the door, you'd be waiting all night. But we're not in high school anymore. There's a good chance that the party going on inside is just as wild and crazy, if not more, than the parties we used to have. But we're adults now, some more than others, and it feels more respectful to knock on the door rather than make assumptions and walk right in.