by Wren Emerson
I had expected a few people sitting around with a couple of pizzas and maybe video games or a movie. Instead there were dozens of kids packed into the downstairs of the house. Everywhere I looked there were clusters of three or four guys daring each other to out drink each other or their counterparts, the girls who stood around eyeing everyone around them and making catty remarks. And who could forget the couples draped over every available surface?
The Middleton house had a state of the art sound system which was now blaring music with such a heavy bass line that I couldn't quite identify the song. People weren't talking so much as they were yelling into each other's ears. Most of the lights were either off or dimmed, but even so I could see that almost everyone was wearing jeans. I felt terribly overdressed, although most of the other girls were wearing shirts that showed a similar amount of flesh. A voice in my head told me that all the girls were gossiping about me even then.
I sniffed the cup James gave me. It looked like a soda, but it smelled pretty vile. Date rape? No thanks. I went into the kitchen and dumped the contents down the sink.
"Party foul!" A voice said in my ear. I jumped. My heart which had only just started to slow down from my earlier scare was racing again. I whipped around and saw Zane Littlebury smiling at me.
He was truly easy on the eyes. And I was glad to see a face with a name attached to it.
"Hey, Zane. Some guy tried to impress his friends by catching popcorn in his mouth. I wasn't especially impressed when he missed though. It ruined my drink." I lied.
He laughed. His blue eyes twinkled in a delightful way. "Not surprising in this crowd. It gets pretty wild when a Coven kid throws a party."
"Wild?" I snorted at the understatement. "I've been entertaining myself since I got here playing spot the party clichés."
He pulled me to the open French doors that opened onto a patio and pointed out a couple sitting side by side on a lounge chair while gazing dreamily into each other's eyes. "You can add 'parties have magical match making powers' to your list."
"Love is a funny thing."
Zane raised his eyebrows. "It is indeed. It's going to get a lot funnier when his girlfriend and her boyfriend come looking for them."
I laughed. "Oops."
"Do you want me to get you a drink? There are a few kegs outside if you like beer, otherwise I think I've seen at least one bottle of most kinds of hard liquor floating around the house." He shuffled through pizza boxes, bowls of food, and dozens of empty cups on the granite topped kitchen island until, victorious in his mission, he pulled forth a small bottle of vodka.
I shook my head. "No, thanks. Soda is fine for me."
He grabbed another of the ever present blue cups and poured some clear soda into it. Then he added what seemed to my inexperienced eye to be a quite generous portion of the vodka. He rummaged in the fridge for a minute and backed out with a carton of orange juice and one of pineapple juice which he also added. "Here, you've got to at least try this. You can't even taste the alcohol."
Is getting a buzz really the worst thing that can happen to me when Lydia is stalking me? I shrugged and accepted the drink. "Who even has pineapple juice?"
Zane winked. "This isn’t the first time that James has thrown one of these parties. If you don't like this drink I know where he keeps enough stuff to make you twenty others to try."
I tentatively sipped the drink. To my surprise, he was right. I didn't taste anything besides a fizzy orange juice. I took a longer drink and started to relax a little for the first time since I got there. "This is good."
"I know." He pursed his lips in what, I think, was supposed to be a wise look, but instead it made him look a little like a duck. I giggled. When he shook his head like I was crazy, I giggled even harder.
He waited patiently while I quieted down and then he asked, "I don't want to pry or anything, but James was saying that you were coming here as his date. Is that true?"
Awkward. I drained the rest of the drink in a few huge swallows. "I'm sorry, what?"
Zane fixed me another drink and asked me again, "You and James... are you guys together or what."
Ok, so he wasn't going to drop it until I answered. I shrugged. "He asked me here as his date, yes, but I've been here for almost an hour now and outside of the first couple of minutes I walked in the door, I haven't seen him since."
"I didn't believe him when he told us. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that you'd go out with."
My head was starting to buzz. So that's why they call it a buzz. I chuckled at my own joke for a minute, but then I focused on what Zane had just told me. "Who's us?"
He was bobbing his head in time with whatever the song was that pounding out of the speakers. "What? Oh. 'Us' is just me and a couple of other guys who ditched school to get supplies for tonight. He was pretty proud of scoring the date with you."
I copied Zane's wise-duck face and nodded. "Classy."
"You can't blame him. You have a lot going for you in our circle. You're a powerful First Daughter, which would be enough to hook you pretty much any guy you want. But you're also new in town which makes you far more interesting than any of the other girls. Plus the fact that you are totally hot doesn't hurt. That dress-- terrific choice, by the way-- pretty much seals the deal. Any girl who can pull that off in real life officially becomes the object of all male lust."
My face was flushed, although it was caused as much from the alcohol as the praise. "That's very... honest. I'm flattered. Are you flirting with me or what? I can't handle subtlety right now." To illustrate that I drained the rest of my drink.
"Whoa, there. I think that's enough for a while. I know you're new so I'll let you in on a secret. More than one marriage in this town has happened because a guy got a First Daughter he had his eye on pregnant and then offered to do the honorable thing about it. Very selfless until you weigh it against the fact that he deliberately got her drunk and didn't use any kind of birth control so that she'd be forced into a marriage."
I slammed my fist into the counter. "What's with this town? Isn't there anyone who has even a shred of decency?"
He shook his head sadly. "Not a one. You can't trust anyone in this town. Remember that and you'll do fine."
"I should date you. You seem like a really good guy. You've been really nice to me tonight and I needed that. I've had a horrible couple of days."
Zane looked over his shoulder and once he was sure we wouldn't be overheard he leaned in close to my ear. "I think you're a great girl and really pretty and all, but I don't want to date you."
"Oh." Now my face felt significantly warmer. I was fairly sure that this wasn't due to the alcohol.
"It's not you. It's just-- I'm gay." Now he was blushing.
"Oh, wow. Jeez. How does that even work here?"
"It doesn't." He sighed. "Like every other man in this town, I'm a pawn to my Mother. I'll either marry who she tells me to marry and try to have a daughter or I'll have to leave town. If I don't get married I'm not useful to my Family and I won't be welcome once it seems unlikely that I'll ever attract a suitable wife. I'm from a Coven Family. I can't even choose a Second Daughter if I find one I'm fond of. It's First Daughter or leave."
I hugged him. What a terrible position.
"Interesting development we have here." I turned around to see Mattie Carter and some girls I didn't know eyeing the two of us speculatively.
"Oh, I-- uh-- I mean--" I sputtered. My brain was working, but deciphering my thoughts felt like trying to read text through a layer of gauze.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Matt. Thistle is here as James' date. If you'd ever let me take you out sometime I'd woo you so hard that you'd never question my love for another woman." I wanted to hug him again. The girls were laughing coyly and all the attention was off of me for the moment. I hoped to keep it that way.
I was sidling past the group which had absorbed Zane into their midst when I overheard one of them, a short, dumpy girl say, "Who invited
a Second Daughter? I didn't know this was a mixer."
I looked at where they were all looking and saw Darcy standing in a room outside of the kitchen. She was standing with a tall, dark haired guy who looked like he might be a little older than her. He had his arm draped absently over her shoulders. She happened to glance our direction and she spotted me. She narrowed her eyes in a hateful glare before looking back at the man she was with.
"Did you see her looking over here? Doesn't she know her rank? I think we should tell her to leave." A willowy, raven haired girl said.
Mattie took a peek and said, "No, she's here with Ryan Middleton. I'm not sure what he's doing with her, but it's his house so she stays."
The short girl who spoke first replied, "I'm positive that Tatiana doesn't know about this. I doubt she'd let one of her sons slum it like this if she knew. I think I'll have a talk with my Mother and let her know what I saw tonight."
The second girl laughed shrilly. "I don't think we'll be seeing her at the next party."
The walls started to close in on me. I needed air. No wonder Darcy hates me. This is what I represent to her. I staggered through the still open French doors and past the couple that Zane pointed out to me earlier. Guess nobody's caught them yet. I made it to a row of bushes before I vomited. An unknown amount of time that felt like eternity passed before my convulsions quieted to dry heaves. Eventually, those tapered off too.
I reached in my purse and had my hand on my cell phone when an arm slipped around my shoulder. The music outside was as loud as the music inside and it smothered the sound of my startled shriek. I assumed that the neighbors must not frown upon a houseful of First Daughters and Coven sons disturbing the peace. They probably aren't Coven Families anyway.
I spun out of the grip of the arm that held me so quickly that I almost tipped over on the hateful heels. If hands hadn't grabbed me, I would have surely fallen. I saw that it was James. I was only slightly less ready to pummel him than when I thought he was a stranger.
"Great party, bro. So glad that we've spent all this quality time together tonight." I tried to walk around him, but he stepped in front of me, blocking my retreat. Clearly my sarcasm was lost on him.
"I'm sorry, Thistle. It was a douchey thing to do to you. I've been looking around for you for the last twenty minutes, but nobody knew where you were." He looked sincere, but I thought he was probably full of crap.
"I think this was a mistake. I'm sorry, but I've got to go."
His dark eyes were pleading. "Seriously, come inside for a little longer, let me make it up to you. If you still want to go after that, I'll find someone sober enough to drive you home." At my dark look he added, "I've had a lot to drink and I don't want to endanger you because of my irresponsible actions. Honestly, I'd love to drive you home myself."
I must have still been tipsy. It's the only way I can justify going back inside with him.
I perched on overstuffed arm of a couch in the living room with one foot hooked behind my ankle, a cup in my hand. The drink inside was untouched. I still wasn't as sober as I wanted to be.
James was standing beside me. Unlike me, he was drinking frequently from his cup. More frequently when a friend passed by with an offer of a fresh drink. In the twenty minutes since I joined him in the living room he'd finished three cups of beer. I was now listening to him as he told me delightful stories.
"So then I was like, 'You don't know who you are talking to, bro. My Mother is Tatiana Middleton.’ I tried to warn him, I really did. He wouldn't back down though so me and my boys had to jump him later. We put such a hurt on him that I heard that Natalie thought she couldn't heal him."
I wonder how good you are in a fight without your "boys"? I thought, disgusted.
He must have mistaken my silence for awed admiration because he leaned close and whispered, "Don't be scared of me, Thistle. I would never hurt you."
I might have laughed except I didn't have time. His mouth was on mine and his hand was pawing at my breast, trying very hard to get underneath the thin material. I attempted to gasp, but unfortunately, he took it as an invitation to stick his tongue in my mouth.
"Oh hell no!" A voice bellowed and I was shoved backwards. I fell off the arm of the couch and onto the lap of a very surprised and pleased looking kid. My first fuzzy thought was that James must have pushed me, but I saw that he looked as startled as I felt.
"You slut! You were coming onto my brother just a couple of days ago and now you're hooking up with my boyfriend? Mother was right. You Madisons are a Family of whores." Ah, Lydia. That explains a lot.
I gritted my teeth as I picked myself up off the lap of the gentleman who appeared to be far more interested in staring at my cleavage than he was in helping me up. I would give Lydia that one since she didn't really understand the context of the situation and it really did look bad, but the urge to throttle her was strong. "Lydia, you don't understand."
She tossed her perfectly coifed blond layers and made a show of looking around the room. I followed her gaze and realized that the entire room was watching our confrontation. I knew she was feeding on the attention and that things were almost certainly going to get ugly.
"What I understand is that here you are with my boyfriend, at his party, making out with him, in front of all these people."
I shot James an accusing look. "You said that you guys broke up." He shrugged, smirking. "Really? That's it? Are you serious? I mean, really?"
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Well, don't worry about it. We're finished now because I'm dumping his ass. He's all yours."
Zane yelled from his spot on the side lines, "Are you getting this one, Thistle? 'Guy lies about breaking up with girlfriend, girlfriend finds out, hilarity ensues'!"
Although the situation wasn't really humorous, I snickered. It must have really pissed off Lydia because she said, "This is funny to you? I hope you realize that none of this was about you. James would go out with anyone who's next in line for the Matriarch title. It's pathetic that you thought he sincerely liked you."
That comment hurt because I really did think he liked me. I asked him, "Is that true? Tell me you have more emotional depth than that."
James smiled at me, evidently finding himself to be unfailing charming. I made a mental note to tell him that it's far less cute when he's got bleary red rimmed eyes and beer breath.
"It's nothing that every other guy in this room has been thinking about. Word is that you have the most amazing power of our generation. That it surpasses anything we can imagine. Hunters verified that before you left town, but nobody's been able to figure out what it is that you can do. If the Coven believes it, it has to be true."
He grabbed my arms and started speaking inches from my face. "It's not like I don't have anything to offer you. My mother is--"
I interrupted, heavy sarcasm coloring my voice, "Tatiana Middleton. I know."
He beamed at me. "That's right! She's the youngest member of the Coven in generations. That doesn't happen if you aren't extremely powerful. With your power and my blood lines we could have a daughter who has no equal. She could rule Desire. Don't you want that?"
I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "Ewww, no. What a horrible thing to base a relationship on. What is wrong with the kids at this school? We're teenagers, for God's sake. Why is everybody always talking about getting married? If it happens that you fall in love with someone who is uber powerful and all knowing, then that's great, but you guys are just short of having arranged marriages. I feel like I've fallen into a time warp to Europe in the middle ages."
Astonishingly, James didn't look at all upset by my outburst. Instead, he actually wrapped an arm around me. "I'll bet you'd be surprised by how many of those couples fell in love after they were married."
I shoved his arm off of me. "You know, it's really too bad you burned your bridges with Lydia because the two of you really do make a lovely couple."
Ignoring the hoots and catcalls from the sidelines, I pivoted on my high h
eels and stalked toward the door. My mind was full of confused thoughts and weird impulses that didn't even feel like anything I'd ever want to do. I had images of scratching James' eyes out and choking Lydia. I wasn't normally a violent person at all. I vowed not to drink anymore.
"I don't know why everyone thinks you're so special." Lydia called after me. "Nobody even knows what your power is. Your Mother would never tell anyone if you had a useless power."
I was tempted for a minute to make a wish so big and obscene that nobody would ever doubt me again. The words were on my lips when I finally talked myself out of it. The violent feelings made it hard to bite my tongue. I wanted to wish Lydia a painful bloody end. My urges were starting to scare me, they felt so unlike me and yet so persuasive.
Instead, I walked away. Or at least I tried to. The couch, with people still sitting on it, flew across the floor and cut off my escape route. I clenched my fists and didn't dare look at her. "You need to let me leave now."