Blue Madness: (Blue Raspberry Series #3)

by D. K Lake

  "Nope. We are just leaving." Mitchel says.

  "Ok...coming!" the security guard talks into his walkie-talkie and strolls off.

  I don't even look at my dad as I turn away and start walking with Mitchel close by my side.

  "Kelsey!" Dad calls. "Kelsey, come back here!"

  I can hear Dad following us. I want to run but how stupid will I look, running away like a little kid? I haven't done anything wrong.

  "Kelsey!!" Dad says in a clipped tone, trying to keep his voice down as we weave our way through the people on the walkway.

  Mitchel stops and I slow down to see what he's doing.

  "Just leave us alone! She doesn't want anything to do with you!" Mitchel growls and a few bypassers give us a little more space and walk around us.

  "I won't let what happened to Amber happen to you. Now, will you please just come with me!" Dad pleads, looking at me.

  I laugh, I can't help it.

  "Wake up, Dad. Amber is a horrible person. You have no idea what she's really like. She's made my life miserable since we were kids. I hate her just as much as I hate you. She got what she deserved and I hope you get what you deserve for leaving us!" I yell, ignoring the looks I get from random people.

  I grab Mitchel's hand and lead him away and we soon get lost in the crowd.

  When we make it back to the car, JT is leaning against the car with a cigarette between his fingers and Nessie is sitting on the hood. When she sees me she hops off the hood and comes over to me. Mitchel lets go of my hand as Nessie pulls me into a hug and I can't help but cry.

  I'm so exhausted, worn out, emotional, tired, and seeing Dad is just too much. The icing on today's crappy cherry pie.

  "Shhh...it's ok." Nessie soothes.

  Nessie makes me sit in the back of the car with her and I cuddle up to her, needing a shoulder to lean on.

  Mitchel climbs into the driver's seat and starts the car and JT drops into the passenger's seat and rests his head on the headrest and it looks like he might fall asleep at any minute. I don't remember much of the drive home because I'm too tired, but I remember the way Nessie strokes my head, the way Mitchel's eyes kept drifting back to mine in the rearview mirror and I remember the music. Sleep takes over and I let it, unable to fight it anymore.

  58

  Sunday morning is unwelcome. A day closer to my departure. One more day and then I will have to return home.

  I hear a loud thud in the hallway that wakes me up and a door banging somewhere outside.

  "Where do you want these?" JT calls.

  I squint and rub my eyes and starfish stretch and turn to look at the clock.

  "12.10 pm." I whisper out loud. I must have been really tired to sleep until noon.

  I sit up and look around, I try to remember getting into bed but I get nothing. I must have been out of it last night, all the stress of the move and everything else had left me exhausted that I couldn't even remember getting undressed. I assumed Mitchel had undressed me or maybe Nessie, either way, I didn't really care. I'm still wearing my underwear and t-shirt when I wander out into the hallway to see what all the noise is about, and find the walls are covered in fairy lights that I'm sure weren't there before. I walk into the kitchen and find Mitchel piling his plate up with waffles.

  "Hey, baby." he says when he notices me.

  "What's with all the decorations?" I ask.

  "It's for your party, remember? Willa said we could make use of them." Nessie replies, digging through a box in the living room.

  "I thought we weren't making a big thing out of it, just a few friends you said." I cross my arms and stare at Nessie.

  "Yeah, but we might as well make use of these and what's a party without fairy lights and feather boas?" Nessie grins, pulling out a pink feather boa and wrapping it around JT as he holds the box for her.

  "Where's your mom?" I ask.

  "She's staying with a friend tonight." Mitchel replies, squeezing syrup onto his waffles.

  "A friend?" I query, noting the way he said friend so weirdly.

  "His name is Jim." he adds.

  "Ooookay."

  "She was worried she would cramp our style or whatever so she said she'd stay at Jim's." Mitchel tells me.

  "I think it would be impossible for your mom to cramp our style. She's cooler than me." I say and lean against the counter.

  "She was really persistent that it was no big deal which makes me even more suspicious that Jim isn't just her friend." JT says. "She's been trying to make up excuses to get out of the house for a few weeks now, this party is just an excuse for her to go and see Jim." JT continues, walking over and stealing a waffle from Mitchel's plate. I note the way he says 'Jim' in a higher tone with a girlie edge to it.

  "Oh Jim," he repeats and Mitchel shakes his head with a smile.

  "He sounds alright, I guess." Mitchel shrugs.

  "Alright? The guy sounds like a right tool. He runs a flower shop for crying out loud." JT snorts and walks off toward Nessie who is standing on a chair hanging party streamers and JT holds onto her legs to steady her which is just an excuse to grope her ass.

  "I thought this was supposed to be a party?" Boston asks, walking into the kitchen. I didn't even know he was here. "So where is all the beer?" he adds.

  "What's he doing here?" I ask. "I thought he was sick."

  "He is but he refuses to leave." Nessie says.

  "When did he arrive?" I frown, watching him as he grabs a handful of chips from an open bag on the counter.

  "I thought I'd come over and help." Boston says and Nessie snorts.

  "What by infecting us all with your stomach bug?" she says in a clipped tone.

  I reach for the nut bowl but decide against it in case Boston has had his paws in there.

  "We're heading out now to get the drink and food, you coming?" JT asks but I have no idea who he is asking because he is still looking at Nessie's ass.

  "We're staying here," Mitchel tells him.

  "Who's gonna help me carry all the booze?" JT asks.

  "Me! And shotgun." Boston says and burps.

  "No. He has to sit in the back. As far away from me as possible. I don't want to get sick." Nessie says, glancing at Boston.

  "Sorry, man, but she's right. You can sit in the back, I don't want your germs." JT tells him.

  I snort. "It's probably a bit late for that." I watch as Boston helps himself to someone's glass of Coke.

  "That's mine." Mitchel snaps.

  "Right. I'll be outside waiting in the car." JT informs everyone.

  Nessie skips over to the counter and grabs her bag, making sure to give Boston a wide berth.

  "See you in a bit. And maybe try to do something with your hair." she says.

  "What's wrong with my hair?" I reach up and touch my hair.

  So it's a little unruly this morning.

  "My stuff is in Willa's room. And I picked up a little number for you to wear while I was at home yesterday."

  "You have got to be kidding? I thought it was just a few friends? Why do I have to bother doing my hair?"

  "Because you look homeless." she smiles.

  "It's not that bad." I defend.

  Nessie shakes her head and leaves with Boston in tow.

  "It's not that bad." I say again and walk over to the mirror in the hallway.

  OMG. She's being polite. My hair is knotted and sticking up in places and all I did was go to sleep.

  "Ugh. I should really sort myself out if there are going to be other humans at this party."

  Mitchel laughs and goes over to the couch with his plate of waffles.

  "Is that breakfast?" I ask.

  "Uh...kinda like my second breakfast. I had a bacon roll earlier."

  "Where do you put it all? You're all skin and bones. I wish I was that skinny."

  "I don't, there would be nothing to grab." He pulls this big ass grin with his mouth full of food.

  I smile to myself and leave to get ready for a party that I don't re
ally want. As long as it is a drama-free party I might be able to cope. No drunk teenagers, no fights, catfights, no vomiting, and definitely no truth or dare.

  Oh, who am I kidding?

  We couldn't go a day without drama and I'm sure Boston would most likely be throwing up within the next twelve hours. At least Amber isn't invited to this party.

  "Hey, do you think it will be alright if I use the shower?" I ask Mitchel.

  "You don't have to ask, Kelse."

  "It's polite."

  "Of course you can use the shower, and help yourself to whatever you need in there."

  I let myself into Willa's room and I'm surprised at what I find. A frilly white bedspread with old-fashioned bears sitting on top and a knitted patchwork throw is hung over the end. There is an antique dressing table and all the furniture looks like it belongs in a Jane Austen Novel. It's different compared to the rest of the modern house, cozy and welcoming. I spot Nessie's stuff on the window seat. I rummage through her bag and find myself a pair of clean panties, they are see-through but I'm not about to complain because all of my clothes have probably already been boxed up and labeled. I look through the whole bag but don't find the outfit Nessie was talking about. I zip her bag up and stand up to go and use the shower when I see two outfits hanging up on the back of the door. I recognize them as pieces from Nessie's closet. I shake my head.

  "Yeah right." I mutter to myself.

  The dress hanging up on the right (if you can call it a dress) is square cut around the top to reveal a lot of cleavages and is a slim fitting bodycon that barely covers your underwear and the middle has diamond sections cut out at the sides to reveal even more skin. I was with Nessie when she bought it in the sale. I thought it would sit at the back of her closet and never get worn like a lot of her things, or at least I hoped it would. I roll my eyes and smile at Nessie's newfound confidence. I know for sure that isn't the dress she was talking about for me to wear because I wouldn't even be able to fit one leg in the thing and I would probably get all tangled up in the cutout sections so the other dress must be for me.

  My eyes shift to the dress hanging up on the left. It's the same length but with more fabric in a gorgeous navy blue. The front covers up a lot of the chest area and it has little cap sleeves and the back has a see-through lace section across the shoulder blades and is in the shape of a V and ends just above the bum. I hold the fabric between my fingers, it's soft and slinky but I have no shoes to go with it, that is if I even decide to wear it. I glance around and catch sight of Nessie's gold strappy heels near the bed and the pair of black gladiator sandals she had bought for me.

  One problem, though, I haven't shaved.

  I rummage back in her bag and find her shower bag and look inside and see a shaver. She really does think of everything.

  I take a long hot shower and shave my hairy legs that are overdue as I have completely neglected them. I also shave a few other areas. I wash and condition my hair and take much longer than I need to but I'm enjoying the shower way too much and unlike at home, Paige hasn't banged on the door once and yelled at me to get out.

  After my shower, I wander into the hallway and peek into the living room and see Mitchel asleep on the couch. I smile to myself and go back to Willa's room to get ready. Nessie has spread her stuff out everywhere. There is makeup all over the dressing table that I recognize as Nessie's. She's even brought along her own hairdryer, flat iron, and curlers. I pull on clean underwear and the same clothes I had on before because there is no way I'm going to get all dressed up now in heels when it's only 1 o'clock. I decide to curl my hair for a change. I was going for Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City, the way she always looks amazing and her curls are full of life but I manage to end up looking like I have just been pulled through a hedge backward. I try to sort my crazy curls out by scraping my hair into a high ponytail which helps and then I get a little creative and tease the ponytail and voilà. I somehow manage to create a masterpiece, even I'm impressed because I'm not a girlie girl that knows how to create such masterpieces. I mess around with Nessie's makeup and try to do it the way she had taught me, dark and smoky with cute, black flicks. It takes a few attempts but I manage to perfect it and by the time I'm finished it's already 3 o'clock and the others still aren't back yet. I wonder how much booze they are buying, but I guess they must have stopped to get some food somewhere.

  When I leave the bedroom I stop in the hallway to check my reflection again in the mirror. I really hope I don't look stupid. I think I look pretty good which is something I never really say about myself. I nudge Mitchel and he stirs awake, and looks at me with a grin, stretching his arms.

  "And who are you?" he says, trying not to laugh.

  "Whatever. Nessie wanted me to get ready for tonight. You think it's hideous?" I dash out of the room and inspect myself in the mirror again.

  Mitchel comes up behind me and spins me around.

  "You look great. I was kidding. I'm just not used to seeing you with a ton of makeup on."

  "That bad?"

  "No, you look gorgeous with or without the makeup." he says and grabs my face with his hands and crushes his lips to mine. "Gorgeous." he says again as he pulls away and smiles at me.

  I'm just glad I didn't go over the top and put on some of Nessie's fancy lipgloss because Mitchel would have rather shiny cherry delicious lips right now.

  "You hungry? I'm starving." he says.

  "Again? You just ate."

  "Like three hours ago. Come on, you need to eat something before tonight and we can't nibble chips and dip all day."

  "Where do you want to go?"

  "Um...pizza?" Mitchel pulls on his hoodie.

  "Ok. But you don't think I'm a little overdressed for pizza?" I ask.

  "You're wearing skinny jeans, a hoodie and boots."

  "I meant my face, you idiot."

  He chuckles. "You look fine. Now come on, I need food!"

  I follow Mitchel outside where he locks up.

  "Wait, how are we going to get there? It looks like it might rain any minute." I say, hunching my shoulders at the coldness.

  Mitchel holds up a set of keys and jingles them.

  "Jim picked Mom up so we can borrow the Jeep." Mitchel strolls over to the Jeep and unlocks the door and holds it open for me.

  "Thank you." I climb in and Mitchel walks around to the driver's side and hops in.

  "I was worried you wouldn't be able to see where the handle was because of all that makeup weighing your eyelids down." he teases.

  "Seriously?" I laugh as he closes the door. "I knew it was too much. Give me your keys, I need to go inside and take some of it off."

  "Kelse, I'm messing with you. You look sexy as hell. And you can't go inside, we don't have time."

  "We have all day."

  "No, I need food. And soon, otherwise, I might add you to the menu."

  "Oh really?" I give him a look.

  "Yes really, you look edible. Actually, now I'm kinda thinking maybe we should go back inside while we have the house to ourselves."

  He leans over the console and I fall into his kiss but he soon pulls away and kisses my neck and I let out a soft moan but realize it didn't come from my mouth and it was actually my stomach growling.

  "Now you've talked it up, I'm starving. I haven't eaten all day."

  "Ok. Food first."

  Mitchel starts the car and pulls out just as the rain starts to come down.

  We order a ridiculously large pizza. I doubt we will finish it, but I'm so hungry I manage nearly half of it and Mitchel finishes off the rest.

  I am just sipping my Coke and listening to Mitchel talking about the trouble he and JT used to get into when they were younger when a figure appears at the end of the table. I turn and see my sister. I look over her shoulder and see Emily and her dad waiting by the door.

  How long have they been here? And how did I miss them? I must have been so distracted by Mitchel and his dancing pizza act that I didn't see them.
She stands at the end of the table and glares at me but doesn't say anything.

  "What?! What's wrong?" I snap.

  "Um...let me think. My life is ruined!" Paige says loudly.

  "Alright Paige, no need for the public display." I say, noticing heads are starting to turn our way.

  "I hate you!" she screams.

  I turn away and stare at my Coke and spin my straw.

  "I already know that. Are you just going to repeat things you message me or was there something else?" I whisper-shout at her.

  "No, there's one more thing I need to tell you."

  "Yes, what is it? Let me guess, you wish I was dead?"

  "You look like a hooker." she spits and stomps toward the door and they all leave.

  I look up at Mitchel.

  "You don't look like a hooker. I'm pretty sure they wear red clothes and mini skirts, and you have to stand with a cigarette between your fingers all the time."

  I snort into my Coke and a woman behind Mitchel looks over her shoulder.

  "What movies have you been watching?" I laugh.

  "They do though." He laughs as well.

  We order ice cream and a feeling of glumness starts to take over. Damn Paige, I had nearly forgotten about tomorrow.

  Almost.

  "Well, thanks for lunch, it was really great up until my sister called me a-"

  "Hey, forget about it. Let's just try and have some fun tonight, yeah?"

  "Right, fun. No fighting, though, right?"

  "But that's fun." Mitchel grins as we get up and leave.

  59

  We decide to kill a few more hours, getting our photos taken in a photo booth, and Mitchel takes me to the movies, and we end up watching some light comedy. I don't think either of us is in the mood for anything too soppy or anything too gory. We do the whole popcorn thing and sit in the back row. I miss half of the movie because Mitchel is too distracting with his make-out sessions and heavy petting (not that I'm complaining).

  As we leave the movie theater Mitchel suddenly stops and turns to look at me and we block the entrance way.

  "What's wrong?" I ask, wondering if he dropped his phone or something.