Across the Bridge

Across the Bridge - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was after 7:30P.M. when we approached the house of Camilla Rhodes. I only knew of her from around school. I'd never talked to her. Alex said he knew her through other people and he had been to a party there before.

I brushed my hair out with my fingers, then adjusted my shirt. I hated that I was in work clothes. Alex wore jeans and a t-shirt, casual but nice. He'd put a ton of hair spray into his hair, combing it to the side.

"Ready?" he asked me now, his hand on the doorknob.

"Uh, well-"

He grabbed my hand. "You'll be fine."

Inside, there were people - teenagers - everywhere. It was pretty much a blur of faces, bodies, music. Lots of people welcomed Alex, ignoring me. He kept me close, but as he blended in perfectly to this new scene, I felt so completely out of place.

The house itself was something out of a magazine. I admired the marble counter tops in the kitchen and the expensive looking leather sofas in the living room. To the other kids, this all seemed normal, nothing out of the ordinary. I felt like I was the only one that didn't belong. No one knew me, or they knew me as the girl whose brother was in Juvie. I could tell by the half smiles and the side-eyed looks.

Alex had ducked into the kitchen to get a drink, promising to be right back. He had only been gone a few minutes when I had the urge to run out of there. I wasn't meant to go to parties.

"Hey." I heard a high pitched voice, and a girl came up beside me.

I saw her looking at me but didn't even comprehend that she was speaking to me. Her curly dark hair was flowing around her shoulders and she had bright eyes. She seemed familiar.

"Hey?" she said again, this time questioning. "You're Alex's friend, right?"

"Uh, yeah," I said quickly. "I'm Penelope."

"Lydia," she told me, then hugged my awkwardly stiff body. "I think we had a class together last semester."

"Oh, right," I nodded.

To be honest, I had no idea. The last semester before summer had been very rough. I had felt like a shell of a person, there but not really there. Somehow, I'd passed my classes, barely. But dealing with everything with Asa had been rough and really took a toll on me.

Lydia and I stood together awkwardly for another few moments, but all I could think about was getting outside and away from all of these people. Before I could excuse myself, Lydia was slammed into me, making me stumble. I remained upright somehow and grabbed for her arm, before she fell right to the floor. When her eyes caught mine, she was already apologizing.

But behind her, a guy with this perfectly styled brown hair and a button down plaid shirt was stumbling to catch his balance.

"Sorry," he said to both of us, his voice lazy. His eyes were glossy, but right away I knew who he was.

"Jesus," Lydia shouted, shooting him a death glare. "What the hell, Duke?"

The guy winced, looking only at her. "I said sorry. I lost my... balance."

"There's no reason to be that drunk," Lydia went on. "Why hasn't Camilla cut you off yet?"

"Ha," the guy - Duke? - said, stepping back. "She doesn't control me."

"Right," Lydia laughed, then rolled her eyes towards me.

I felt weird, standing there in the middle of a conversation I didn't belong in. I accidentally glanced at the guy, who caught my eye contact.