Just Revenge

Chapter Fourteen: Car Ride to Somewhere

By the time Tuesday rolled around, I was nervous. Rehearsal yesterday had been fine, but neither Harper, nor Max had been called and I wasn't sure if how seeing them tonight was gonna go. There was no rehearsal tonight – because apparently a holiday is the only reasonable excuse for no rehearsal – so I went straight home from work and started to get ready. I wasn't entirely sure what we were doing, Aurora didn't tell me much about it. So, I settled on a cute denim overall dress with a white short sleeve shirt underneath and a pair of flip-flops. I threw my hair into a messy bun, knowing it was kinda a backtrack to my relatable dressing days, but like I was in a dress so...I think I'm fine.

When Aurora picked me up, she looked so excited. "So, we're gonna stop at Harper's family's barbeque, but we don't ever stay for long."

"Um...okay." I guess we were just jumping right into the 'figure out how we're gonna react to Harper' part of the night.

The drive only took us a couple of minutes before we pulled up as this huge white house. It was huge, with this white classic siding and everything that made it seem like it was brand new and never been lived in, even though I knew Harper had lived in the same place her whole life. The house on its own would've been intimidating but knowing who lived here only made it worse.

"Come on!" Aurora marched right up to the door and walked in without knocking. I wasn't quite sure I was at that point yet, but okay. I followed her through the perfect white doorway.

The inside was beautiful and just as modern and chic as the outside was.

"The barbeque is in the back, just through here." She led me through the house in a straight shot through the hallway, everything laid out so simple and modernly, it seemed stupid to feel lost.

The backyard was huge with perfectly groomed green grass and a literal white picket fence encircling it. The grill was already going, and the smell of hot dogs and hamburgers filled the air.

"Ror!" A beautiful blonde woman in a white summer dress walked over to us and grabbed Aurora into a hug.

"And you must be Carmen." The woman smiled at me warmly, "Harper's told me so much about you. I'm so happy you could be here."

I smiled awkwardly back at her. "Thanks?"

With that, she turned around and walked off to another group of people.

"That's Harper's mom." Aurora explained. "She's actually not bad for a politician's wife."

"Oh, okay." I wasn't sure what to do but agree with her and let her drag me through the crowd to wherever it was we were going.

When we finally made it through the crowd, I saw the rest of the group standing next to the back fence.

"Hey, I was starting to think you guys weren't coming." Max greeted us as we walked up.

"No, just running a little late is all." Aurora responded quickly.

"Not too late, we can't leave for a little while yet anyway." Max reassured her.

"Harper's still playing host." Cortland explained.

Luke rolled his eyes, "And Cort's getting impatient waiting apparently."

"Don't act like you want to hang around here either." Cortland snapped back at him.

"Guys. Seriously. Could we just not right now? I have such a headache." Izzy pressed her fingers to her temples.

I shot a confused look at her and Cortland explained. "Somebody's nursing a hangover right now."

My jaw dropped. He didn't even say it quietly, just blurted it out in a sea of parents.