“It’s almost 7,” Rory replied, pausing to assess her sister’s condition. Rebecca still looked tired, but the color seemed to be returning to her face. Her eyes also seemed more alert, as though she was emerging from the mental fog that bad colds so often seemed to produce. “How are you feeling?” she asked, feeling a twinge of compassion for her sister in spite of their falling out.
“A liddle bedder,” Rebecca said before having a sneezing fit.
“Good.” Rory hesitated. “Do you need anything? Want me to make you some more tea?”
“No, I’m good…thanks though. Have fun ad the pardy. Ad don’t worry, I’m not going to rat you oud to Mom and Dad.”
Rory grinned. “Thanks. Feel better!” With that, she hurried out the door and ran three houses down to the Jackson residence.
She still couldn’t believe Clive didn’t live there anymore. The rose bushes he’d planted were still there. The basketball hoop he’d installed above the driveway for Sheck was still there. But he wasn’t. It didn’t seem right.
“Hey,” Rory said when Sheck answered the door. “You ready for the party?”
Sheck hesitated. “I’ve been thinking,” he said, “and I’ve decided I should go see my dad after all. We’re gonna check out the pool at his hotel tonight.”
“Um…” Rory gave the walking cast on Sheck’s foot a questioning glance.
“Yeah, Dad doesn’t know about the foot yet,” Sheck admitted. “So by ‘check out’ the pool I guess I mean we’ll just go stare at it and then…I dunno. But I can give you a lift to the party first if you want,” he quickly offered. “I think that Grace girl’s house is on the way to the hotel.”
Rory was a little disappointed Sheck wouldn’t be at the party, but she tried to be supportive. After all, family was important, and she knew how much Sheck had always looked up to his dad as a kid. She hated the thought of them being on the outs now.
“I’m sure he’s excited to see you,” she told him.
The fairytale marriage might be over, and that was heartbreaking. But maybe, Rory reasoned, there was still a “happily ever after” hiding in there somewhere.
* * * * *
Sheck seemed to drag his feet a little. First he had to go inside to change his clothes. Then he had to search his messy bedroom for his wallet. As they were finally leaving, he decided to grab his cell phone charger as his battery was low.
Rory could tell he was stalling. He must have been nervous about seeing his dad, which was weird considering what a close relationship he and Clive had always had.
She was anxious to get to the party, but she tried to be patient. She knew Sheck was going through something she couldn’t even begin to understand, so she didn’t push. He needed to do things on his own terms.
By the time they finally pulled up in front of Grace’s house, the party was already in full swing. Rory could hear music blasting from the house and could see a bunch of people through the living room window. She could hear them, too. It was clear they’d already been into the booze.
“It looks like a nice place,” Sheck commented as the two of them peered out at the large Victorian two storey home in front of them. It had a carefully manicured front yard with little white lights lining the pathway up to the front door. The owners clearly took pride in the impressive home.
“Yeah, it does.”
“Have fun,” Sheck said, giving Rory a little wave. He looked cool, calm and collected slouched down behind the wheel of his car, but he couldn’t fool Rory. She could see he was gripping the steering wheel much harder than necessary. He was nervous.
“You too,” she replied. She started to get out and then paused, turning to look at Sheck. “He’s your dad,” she said softly, trying to think of something to say to put her best friend at ease. “That hasn’t changed.”
Sheck nodded tensely but said nothing, his jaw clenched. “Do you have a way home?”
“No, but I’ll figure something out,” she said as she got out of the car. “Unless,” she said, poking her head back inside and smiling brilliantly, “you feel like stopping by after you see your dad?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so, Ror. I wouldn’t come inside if I came back to get you…I’d just wait down the street or something. I’m just not in the mood for the usual high school bullshit.”
“Alright,” Rory agreed, disappointed but nonetheless eager to get inside and see if Carson was there yet. “In that case, don’t worry about coming back for me. I’ll find my own way home.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll be fine,” she said firmly. The last thing Sheck needed to be concerned with was her. He had enough going on in his own life at the moment. And besides, if all went well, maybe Rory would be able to get Carson to give her a ride home… “You’re not my personal chauffeur, you know.”
“Could have fooled me,” he quipped.
“Roooooory!” Jeremy bellowed as he came stumbling out of the house at high speed, nearly crashing into her. “Come on in and get your drink on!” He belched loudly, unzipped the fly of his jeans and began urinating right there against the side of the house.
Rory wrinkled her nose in disgust and went inside as Sheck sped off into the night. Jeremy was such a boorish, classless waste of space. She wondered if he’d even noticed that very few people found his over the top and often offensive behavior funny or if he was genuinely too dumb to catch on.
Once inside, Rory had to pause just to take everything in. The interior was decorated tastefully in neutral tones of cream and beige. It was a beautiful home…or at least it had been before the loud, rowdy pack of high school kids had descended upon it. They didn’t seem to have much regard for anything except having a good time.
Hilary was clearly the party hostess. Even though it was Grace’s house, Hilary was obviously the star of the party. She wore a tiny sequined tube top, a black miniskirt and about twelve pounds of makeup. Grace stood off to the side shyly looking on as Hilary handed out drinks, dictated the music playlist and flirted wildly with several guys at once.
“Hi!” Rory shouted over the music.
“I can’t hear you!” Hilary yelled back, shaking her head for emphasis. “Here, have a drink!” She shoved a red paper cup into Rory’s hand before she grabbed the nearest guy and started grinding sensuously against him in time to the music.
Unfortunately, the nearest guy happened to be Carson Keller.
Rory wasn’t sure he’d even seen her standing there; his back had been turned and he’d been talking to some of his buddies before Hilary had sunk her claws into him. Rory wanted to be shocked but she really wasn’t. For Hilary to put the moves on Carson when she knew damn well that Rory was completely infatuated with him was typical.
Relief flooded through Rory when Carson took the first available opportunity to politely disentangle himself from Hilary’s clutches. He wasn’t interested in her! It was good news on multiple levels.
Taking a step forward, Rory prepared to tap Carson on the shoulder and say hello. A few football players barged in front of her laughing and shouting drunkenly. By the time they’d rowdily stumbled through the French doors off the dining room, Carson had disappeared.
She scanned the room. She didn’t see Carson but she did see Grace. She was still standing off by herself, looking around her parents’ once-beautiful home with an unreadable expression on her face. Rory smiled and waved.
Grace gave her a tiny smile and raised her hand in response. Then a loud crash outside caused her to whirl around and peer out the window anxiously. The mousey girl’s eyes widened at what she saw and she frantically ran out the back door.
Curious, Rory followed Grace.
In the backyard were a bunch of guys standing around a fire pit. Some of them looked mildly concerned while others just appeared to be incredibly drunk. The fire was out of control. It appeared someone had thrown a lawnmower into the pit and the gasoline had ignited. Flames shot out with startling intensity, lighting the
lawn on fire.
“Oh my God!” Grace cried, her dismay evident. “Someone do something!” There was an expression of horror on her face as she surveyed the scene. Then she fumbled in her jeans pocket and pulled out her phone.
“Whoa!” Jeremy hollered, stumbling over to her. “Whoa…what are you doing?”
“I’m calling 9-11! The fire is out of control!”
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa,” Jeremy repeated, his voice inappropriately loud and his words slurred. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. We’ll get the fire under control…relax, babe. Go inside have a drink.”
When Grace didn’t immediately do as he said, Jeremy’s bloodshot eyes narrowed. He grabbed the phone from her hand and stuffed it down his pants. She was so caught off guard that she barely even had time to react.
“Hey!” Grace protested feebly. “Give it back…please?”
Jeremy grinned drunkenly. “You’re welcome to come and get it,” he said, ending his invitation with a loud belch. “You know you wanna,” he teased as a few of the other guys took notice and began drunkenly hooting and hollering. Then in a stage whisper intended for everyone to hear he added, “I’ve changed my mind. You’re not all that ugly. I’d do ya.”
“Hey Grace, your boyfriend’s got something in his pants for ya!” one guy bellowed.
“Who’s Grace?” his buddy asked, pausing midway through the question to take a swig of beer from a bottle. When he realized it was empty he threw it into the fire pit, shards of glass flying everywhere as the bottle shattered into a million pieces.
“Isn’t that her name?” the first guy asked with a nod in Grace’s direction. “Oh who am I kidding, I have no idea,” he laughed. “Who cares?” Then he turned around and took another look at the fire. “Holy shit dude, the whole backyard’s gonna go up in flames!”
Thankfully, one of the slightly more sober guys had the sense to grab the garden hose and turn it on. Eventually, he and a few of the others did get the flames snuffed out, but by then a lot of the damage had been done. A good portion of the lawn was burned to a crisp and even the corner of the garden shed was singed.
Jeremy, unsurprisingly, pulled down his pants and began to pee all over the smoking lawn. “See?” he guffawed as he saturated the ashes in urine. “I’ve got it under control, babe!” A group of guys Rory didn’t even recognize began to hoot and holler, cheering him on. A few of them even copied him. Mob mentality was such a strange thing.
“Ugh!” Rory exclaimed aloud, unable to hide her disgust any longer. She’d seen and heard more than enough. “Seriously, put it away Jeremy,” she ordered, hands planted firmly on her hips. “You’re being obnoxious.”
She turned back to where Grace had been standing but she was gone. Shrugging, Rory went back inside with the intention of telling Hilary what had happened. Things were getting out of hand and as far as Rory was concerned, Hilary had played a part in it by inviting way, way more people than she should have. Half these people weren’t even part of Rory’s clique and she had a feeling more than a few of them were from other schools in neighboring towns. Rory hated to admit it but the much-anticipated party was turning out to be bad news.
Inside, it wasn’t Hilary that Rory encountered. It was Carson.
“Hi,” he said, taking her hand. The simple act sent sparks of electricity shooting through her arm. “Can we talk?”
No sooner than Rory had dumbly nodded her head, heart beating madly, he led her down the hall. They opened the first door they came to and went inside.
It was an office, with a large desk, a couple computers, a fax machine and several filing cabinets. Rory didn’t know what Grace’s parents did for work but she could tell from the upscale furnishings that they were probably well off.
“How’s it going?” Carson asked, leaning against the desk casually as he spoke. He was wearing a blue t-shirt that brought out the blue in his eyes. He looked really hot. Being alone with him in close quarters was making Rory’s pulse race.
“Not bad,” Rory responded as though on autopilot. “Are you having a good time?”
Carson grinned and moved closer to her. “I’m having a better time now that you’re here,” he replied, smooth as ever. “I was looking for you.” She could smell his cologne. He was close enough to reach out and touch her…and then he did.
The next thing Rory knew, her lips were locked with Carson’s.
It was a surreal experience to finally be kissing Carson after all the time she’d spent dreaming about it. It was every bit as good as she’d imagined – better, even. His lips tasted like the alcohol spiked fruit punch that Hilary had been handing out to the party-goers.
A little voice in the back of her head warned that maybe Carson was only kissing her because he was halfway to drunk and she happened to be there. Maybe the kiss was simply a matter of convenience and lowered inhibitions. But the other voice, the one that was doing cartwheels and screaming “hooray!” quickly silenced it. For once, Rory wasn’t going to let her self-doubt ruin a perfect moment. For once, she was just going to enjoy herself.
Rory could feel the heat from his body and her own face felt like it was on fire. Her stomach was full of butterflies. Although she tried to act natural, as though she wasn’t at all fazed by kissing one of the most popular guys at school, Rory felt giddy with excitement. In fact, she suspected the moment Carson turned his back she’d just have to do a ridiculous, celebratory happy dance.
When Carson pulled away, disappointment and panic flooded through Rory. Had she done something wrong? Did he think she was a bad kisser? Something about him brought out her insecure side. She just really, really wanted him to like her.
Rory breathed a sigh of relief when Carson spoke.
“You look hot tonight,” he said, smiling so that the corners of his eyes crinkled adorably. “But then you always do.”
“I…do?” Rory couldn’t hide her surprise. He’d been noticing her! Surely that was a good sign. Ha! Take that, nagging little voice of doom!
“Okay, I’m just going to come right out and say it. I try to find excuses to run into you in the hallways at school whenever I can. I’ve been trying to think up another excuse to call you,” he said somewhat sheepishly. “The whole English homework thing didn’t exactly go the way I’d hoped.”
Rory wasn’t sure but she thought his face looked a little flushed. He was blushing! The thought that she was making him nervous was a strange one indeed. Or maybe he was just one of those people whose faces turned red when they drank alcohol. Shut up, little voice!
“I always look for you after class,” Rory confessed quietly. This was new and unfamiliar territory for Rory. Maybe it was strange considering what a hopeless romantic she was underneath it all, but it was hard for her to lay her heart bare. It meant she had to be vulnerable and for Rory, that was a terrifying prospect.
Thankfully, her confession was well received.
“Cool…I wasn’t sure you even liked me,” Carson said with a grin.
“I like you.” That was an understatement if there ever was one! Rory’s heart was beating a mile a minute and her palms were sweaty. It felt like she was living that perfect movie moment where everything falls into place and music starts to play as the credits roll and a sunset magically appears for the characters to walk off into.
“Things are getting a little insane out there,” Carson observed as a loud crash on the other side of the door startled them both. “Do you want to get out of here?”
Rory’s face lit up. Her dreams, it seemed, were coming true. “Yes!” she practically shouted. Then, blushing, she cleared her throat and bashfully looked at the floor. “I mean…that sounds cool, I guess,” she corrected herself, trying to sound aloof rather than overjoyed.
She didn’t ask where they were going. She didn’t care. Anywhere was fine with Rory as long as Carson was there with her.
Rory and Carson left the tiny office hand in hand. He led her toward the front door, but Rory hesitated on the front
step.
“What is it?” he asked, turning to look at her. The way the moonlight illuminated his handsome features was like something out of a painting. She wished she could take a photo so she could revisit the way Carson looked in this exact moment again and again.
She just couldn’t shake the disaster zone she’d walked though. Potato chips had been strewn all over the floor, mashed into the carpet by partygoers who just didn’t care enough to step around them. There were stains from the spiked fruit punch on the living room sofa that might not ever come out. It even appeared a light fixture in the kitchen had been shattered, likely by some of the drunken jocks trying to play football indoors.
She was so glad Carson wasn’t like the others.
“I should go check on Grace before we leave,” she said apologetically. “Those guys out back were being idiots earlier and she didn’t look like she was having any fun. Maybe she wants us to shut this thing down – Hilary will be mad as hell but it might be for the best if we start making people leave sooner rather than later.”
Rory was relieved when Carson nodded, seemingly unbothered by the delay. “Screw what Hilary wants,” he told her. “I don’t know how she ended up being our dictator anyway. Go find Grace. Take your time…I’ll wait for you.”
Inside the house, Rory scanned the faces in the crowd. There were a lot of people she recognized but a bunch of unfamiliar ones as well. In fact, some of the partygoers looked older, like they might be her brother’s age. Rory wondered if Hilary had invited a bunch of college students or if they’d simply crashed the party. Either scenario seemed likely.
Rory couldn’t find Grace anywhere.
“Have you seen Grace?” Rory asked the guy standing closest to her.
“Who’s that?” he asked, looking confused.
Rory sighed. “Never mind,” she said. Grace was offering up her house for the party – and would in all likelihood also be enduring her parents’ wrath after the fact. Even so, most of the partygoers didn’t seem to know or care who she was.
Grace had been at Belleview High long enough now that people should at least know her name…but many of them were too caught up in their own lives to notice her or care.
Catalyst (The Best Days #1) Page 9