Secret Secrets

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The first week of school flew by like a runaway kite. I couldn't really control it.

I had piles of homework each night and barely time to do it. Della was about as buried as me, so homework seemed to be all we could talk about. But as I collapsed onto my bed Friday night, it dawned on me that all my homework was done-and that it was the weekend. "What do we do now?" I asked Della, my face smashed into my pillow.

"We could see what's going on around campus." Della suggested.  "There's usually some pretty cool stuff on the weekends."

I re-positioned my head on the pillow so that I could see Della better. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, flipping through a gossip magazine. "Yeah? Like what?" I asked.

Della licked her finger and used it to turn the page. "I think a girl in my English class mentioned something about a party..."

The minute Eliza stopped her car I didn't want to get out. I could already smell the fowl scent of sweat and hangover and I wasn't even ten feet away from the house. I clung to my seat belt strap. "Are you sure about this?"

Eliza had flipped down the car mirror above her seat and was smoothing out her hair. "How many times do I have to tell you? Yes." She flipped the mirror back up and swung the driver's seat door open. "Are you coming?"

I looked Eliza up and down. Her facial expression looked annoyed. At me. "Sure." I fumbled with my door until it eventually opened and I met Eliza by the front of the car. We linked arms and walked up the massive driveway to Chris' house. This house was the perfect setting for a party: it was a huge property and was very secluded. As we neared the front gate, a popular fast-paced song filled my ears.

I noticed a buff guy from our grade at the gate, though I couldn't put a name to his face. All I knew for sure was that he played football. Eliza strolled smoothly up to him and told him our names. He pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper from his pocket and scanned it. He told Eliza she could head in, but gave me an awkward look. "Sorry Venice," He said. "your name isn't on the list."

I breathed a sigh of relief, and when I smiled the guy's expression just got weirder. "Okay, that's okay."

Eliza bit her lip. I could tell she really wanted to go in. "Are you sure?"

I nodded my head mindlessly, like a bobble head. "Yeah, you go have a good time without me. I'll wait in the car."

Eliza beamed at me. "Thanks Venice, you're really the best!" She blew me an air kiss. "I won't be more than and hour!"

I waved her away and headed back to the car. About halfway down the driveway, the air became oddly chilly. I zipped my hoodie up all the way and hurried over to Eliza's compact car. Once inside, I turned on the heat just a little bit and kicked off my shoes. For awhile, I fidgeted with the radio dial but gave ended up sitting in silence. I pulled out my phone to play a game of Tetris, when I noticed I had a text from Eliza.

"This party is so gr8! Wish u were here!"

I smiled and clicked out a response to her. "Glad u r having a good time. Don't worry about me."

Within seconds, she had written back. "OMG...I just meet a really cute guy!"

Cute guys got me thinking about Dax, which put me into a bit of a funk. I put a hand on my stomach. A baby had once been there, Dax's baby. I got an abortion so he'd stay with me, but he blew me off. I stuffed my phone into my pocket, feeling jealous of my best friend, and closed my eyes to take a short nap.

My sleep was interuppted by the buzzing of my phone. I had a new message from Eliza. "Venice-" It read. "something's not rite, help me!"

"What kind of party?" I asked, tucking the memory I just re-lived into the back of my mind.

Della was finished with the magazine. She was rolling it up like a spyglass now for fun. "Not really a party, I guess...more like a get-together. Nothing dangerous if that's what you're worried about."

That's exactly what I was worried about. But I wasn't about to tell Della that. "Okay, sounds fun. What time should we get going?"

Excited to my agreement, Della threw the glossy magazine on the ground and ran over to the closet we shared. "Soon. But first, let's pick out some outfits!"

I had to admit it-Della and I looked hot. She wore a pair of distressed dark wash skinny jeans and a fabulous neon green tee-shirt. She wore a pair of beaten up combat boots and even had a cute leather bracelet on. I, on the other hand, was wearing black leggings and and over sized blue shirt with a belt that Della had lent me that I did not want to give back. We had our arms linked-just like I used to do with Eliza-and we were confident walking into the little "get-together" in the Fell's House student lounge.

Music was playing lightly in the back round while (sober) students sat around on couches and chairs while sipping punch. It was a pretty chill atmosphere-and I liked it. As Della and I got comfortable, I saw a pair of familiar eyes come walking in-and they were red. "Gabriel!" I waved, calling him over. He smiled at the sight of me and changed his course so that he could come talk to me. I could feel Della go tense beside me.

"I'm really thirsty," She declared. "I think I'm going to get some more punch."

Before I could react, she was gone and Gabriel was in front of me. "Hey, Venice." He greeted.

My cheeks became hot. Why did I always blush in front of him? "Hi Gabriel." I said, gesturing to the open space beside me. "Why don't you have a seat?"

"Thank you," He sat down and drilled his red eyes into mine. "how are you? I haven't had much time to talk to besides in our classes, and those conversations are usually about the assignments."

"Well there have been alot of them!" I defended myself. "And I'm doing pretty well, thanks. How about yourself?"

Gabriel rolled his shoulders. "I guess I'm still getting back into the groove of things."

I nodded in agreement. "Understandable."

"Is Della here?" He asked, changing the subject.

Della? Was he more interested in her than me? "Uh, yeah. She was sitting beside me until you came in. She told me she was going to get something to drink."

"So that's who you were sitting next to." He said. "I couldn't really tell, all I could tell for sure was that she wasn't as beautiful as you."

Okay, now I was really blushing. But I couldn't help it! I ate up compliments like leftover pie. "Oh, well, I don't know about that..."

"I do." He said softly. Slowly, he leaned in, and I found myself leaning in too. Was this really happening? Was I really going to do this? The answer was yes. Our lips met simultaneously and we kissed. He wasn't a bad kisser, ether.