Loving Annabelle

by Priscilla Melinda Visser

  The drive to Summer’s house is quick and I know that we are late with all the car’s piling up down the street. We are forced to park around the corner and walk back to the house. I see Garett looking agitated. He didn’t like the Barbie’s and the Ken’s as he called them and Summer was in his book a Barbie. I know he was really going out a limb for me tonight and I know there was no way I was going to be able to back out of Friday night’s festivities. I look at Nicole and she looks nervous. She checks every car we pass and I feel horrible for making them come here with me. “Hey… You guys really don’t have to do this if you don’t want too… I know how much torture this must be for you so you can go… Really I won’t hold it against you at all” I say as we reach the door. “Annabelle don’t be an idiot… We’re here now… Let’s make the most of it” I hear Garett say as we enter the house. The music is playing loud and I look around to see if I can’t find Summer. We walk through the house holding hands and find most of the party out back. The yard was made up of fairy lights and light bulbs. It looked so pretty and the tables were decked out in white and silver. Summer loved flashing and why not, her mother was a famous author and her dad a renowned surgeon. She was good student and showed great potential just her taste in men really sucked. Nicole smile and so does Garett… Well looks like this might be a great idea after all. “Come let’s find a table near the pool” Nicole says and grab’s Garett’s arm and run with him across the lawn. I’m standing looking to find Summer when I suddenly feel hands coming around my waist. I feel the chill run down my spine and horrific scream jumps out of my mouth. I see a couple of people turning their backs to look at me as I jump up into the air. “Hey… Hey… Relax it’s just me” I hear his voice and let out a relieved sigh. “Ethan… You fucking scared me.” I say and hit him on the arm. He pulls me into his arms and holds me close. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean too… And since when are you so jumpy anyway” He asks as we start walking down the lawn to where Nicole and Garett were sitting. I look at him and wonder if I should tell him; no; now was not the right time. I shake my head as we reach them and his attention is instantly drawn from me to a certain girl sitting next to Garett. “Hi” Ethan says and Nicole is oblivious to him staring at her. Garett hits her in the ribs trying to draw her attention to their guest. “Hi…” She says shyly knowing her blue eye had not properly healed yet. He looks at her and smiles. “How are you doing…? I read about what happened to you in the paper… I hope they find that bastard” Ethan says and my stomach starts to turn again. Garett glances over to me and I feel hot and flustered. “I’m fine… They will find him I’m sure they will” Nicole says in return and she and Ethan stand looking at each other for what seems like forever. Ethan had my father’s blue eyes and spikey hair.

  “So… Can I get you guys anything to drink while we wait for the food to arrive” Ethan offers and smiles brightly at Nicole and I can see that she was slipping into those beautiful blue eyes. “Sure…” I hear Garett say and see him roll his eyes. I wanted to burst out laughing but choose not to. I didn’t want to spoil the moment. “I would like a juice please” I say and tap Ethan on the shoulder and bring him back to earth. He had been very down and out since he came back from his tour to France and I know that it must have something to do with his girlfriend or rather ex-girlfriend. “Sure… Let me get to it” He says and smiles politely as he leaves. “Oh my God… Who is that?” I hear Nicole finally speak as she watched Ethan walk away. I realized I never introduced him to them. “Oh that is my cousin Ethan… Summer’s brother” I say and watch him disappear in the crowd. “Wow… you can never believe his related to the Barbie” I hear Garett say and I roll my eyes at him. “What…” He says and crosses his legs in sarcasm. “If this party doesn’t pick up in an hour I’m heading out… Some of us are heading out to Stargazer and I made an excuse… but if it doesn’t pan out… I’m out” Garett says and looks at me. I know he was serious and I sigh. “Sure… No problem” I say and see Nicole looking out to where Ethan had disappeared. I see her smile as I see him reappear with our drinks on a platter. She was smitten and I think he was too. I smile as he gets to us and puts the tray down on the table. “Thank you” I say and he only looks at Nicole who looks like a stupid school girl. Garett takes his drink from the tray and takes a deep gulp. I know that this was going to be a very interesting night. “I’m going to see if I can’t find Summer” I say and walk away. I see Garett getting up to as Ethan sits down next to Nicole. He shows me with is finger that he was going to circle around the party and I nod. I walk along the garden and then I see him standing beside the pool. I could not believe it he was here. Through all my despair I had totally forgot that Summer’s boyfriend was a rugby buffoon too so it’s only natural that all the buffoons would be here including Mr King. He was talking to a girl, I try to focus my eyes to see if it was the same girl of the night before but it doesn’t seem like it. I feel appalled. These guys were so disgusting. I shake my head and walk further on. I become worried as I can’t find Summer anywhere outside and venture inside. I see Ethan and Nicole standing at the wine table and I think I saw Garett at the pool talking to some Barbie’s. I walk up the stairs and find Summer sitting in her room. She looked upset. “Hey birthday girl… What’s the matter?” I ask as I enter her room and close the door behind me. She looks at me and I suddenly she burst out crying. “Summer… What’s matter” I say and pull her into my arms. She cries uncontrollably. I become angry knowing that the buffoon must have something to do with this. “Hey… please talk to me is it Peter?” I ask and suddenly she starts crying even harder. I get up and walk to her bathroom to get her another tissue. I grab some toilet paper and head out. Wait… What? I head back inside to make sure I hadn’t seen what I thought I saw. I pick up the stick with shaking hands. Two lines… Two lines means… Oh shit! I walk out of the bathroom holding the stick in my hand. Summer looks at me with a tear streaked face. “Summer…” I look at her shocked out of my skull. She sniffs and I feel hopeless and helpless. I walk and sit next to her on the bed. “I don’t know what I was thinking… I should have taken it after the party…I just fucking ruined it” She says and gets up from the bed and walks to her mirror. She takes one of her wipes and start cleaning up her face. She must have suspected for a while that she might be pregnant. “Does he know…?” I ask and she stops cleaning and looks at me in the mirror. “No… I haven’t told him yet” She says and I see the fear in her eyes. She looks into the distance I wonder what is going through her mind.

  “Are you going to tell him?” I ask her and she stops applying her make up she looks over at me. I see the doubt in her eyes. “You have to tell him…You can’t go through this alone” I get up from the bed and walk to the mirror to look at her. She looks over at me and her eyes are suddenly cold as ice. “I don’t even know if I’m going to keep it” She says and looks mad. Really crazy. “Let’s get back to the party” she says and I know that she is suppressing her feelings. She takes the stick from me and breaks it in two and raps it in a piece of paper and puts in her bag. She walks to the door and looks at me questioning. “Are you coming?” She asks and I look at her hurt. I walk to the door too and then she smiles at me. “I like your top it’s very cute… Awesome to see you wearing some other colours besides black grey or blue” She says and pulls her dress right and walks down the stairs. I see Peter walking up to her and looking at her attentively. I see him touching her face and she nods telling him that she was okay and I feel my heart break. I can’t believe that Summer is pregnant. She was starting her new job next month and she was doing her finals with me too. She had taken a year off to travel and we enrolled together. Having a baby was going to be crazy. Wait she did say that she hadn’t decided if she was going to keep it. I mean how that is even an option, she has a little life growing inside her. I shake my head and start walking outside again. I see Nicole sitting with Ethan again but I don’t see Garett. I walk over to them and they are totally wrapped up in each other’s con
versation. “Hey… Where is Garett?” I ask and look around as I take my seat again. “Oh he said he was going to bounce… Heading out with the other Felicia’s to Stargazer” Nicole says and rolls her eye. “I thought you were going to head out with him” I say clearly not seeing the chemistry between her and Ethan. She looks at me stupidly and I feel like an idiot. “Oh okay… Well I will then take another walk and see if there might be anyone else here who could keep me company” I say and get up from my seat again. As soon as the words had left my mouth it must have found his ears because as I looked up I saw him walking towards me. I feel panic creeping up my back and I start walking in the opposite direction before he looks up. I walk quickly to the front of the house and find a quiet spot. This was so weird, Summer was pregnant, Ethan was falling for Nicole, Garett is super edgy and I… I… I was in love. I take deep breath and then I hear someone coming up behind me.

  Chapter Nine

  “I thought I had seen you” I hear his voice and I feel my whole body freeze. I thought I had missed him. I turn around and see his blue eyes looking at me. They are glistening and I know that he has had a few drinks already. I turn back as he come standing next to me and I really wasn’t in the mood for drunken conversation especially not from him. “I didn’t know you were friends with Summer” he say and takes another sip of his drink. I look at him and see him blinking hard. Oh my God he was drunk. I see him swaying back and forth slightly and I feel like walking away but he suddenly turns to look at me waiting for me to answer him about my friendship with Summer. “She is my cousin” I say and he looks at me hard processing the information. He lifts his brow and lets out a little hiccup. Oh shit he was completely sloshed. “Wow but you don’t look alike.” He says and I feel weird at his statement. I realize that I will have to walk out of this conversation before things get said that should rather have been left unsaid. “Yeah we get that a lot” I say and get ready to leave. “So you’ve never had a boyfriend… what is that all about you scared of the dick” I hear him say the words and I feel the heat raise to my cheeks. “What?” I say and look at him hard. “Or was it because no-one wanted you Ice Princess… I hear you were quiet a bitch back in high school” He says and I know somewhere people were talking about me and I was not as invisible as I thought. I look at him and try to find the right words to say but he turns to walk away. “Have a good night Ice Princess… And you can forget about doing this assignment… You will never get it unless you’ve fallen in love and I doubt that ever happening with you having a heart of coal” he says and lifts his glass to me. “Cheers to being a lonely fucking virgin for the rest of your miserable life Ice Princess” He says and walks away. I stand there gasping for air as the pain rips through my body. I could not believe that he was an even bigger ass than I thought. How was it even possible for those beautiful blue eyes to be so heartless and hurtful? I look around and to see if no-one had witnessed our altercation and then I sniff back the tears. He didn’t even know me and he was judging me on what other people say about me. I walk back to the party and see Nicole and Ethan kissing. Oh God… Just what I needed. I needed to get away and out of sight. I walk back to the front house and sit on the garden chair. Suddenly I see someone walking out into the light. It was him again but this time he was on the phone. “Chloe what is going on? Why are you doing this? You’ve got me out here drinking and shit doing things that I don’t want to do… I love you Chloe please don’t do this to me… I know that we can work this out as soon as you come home… Just come home babe” I hear him say and he sounded broken and hurt. “You said that you needed to do this explore and that was what I had agreed to and now you want to end things just like that.” He puts his hand to his mouth. He was angry and emotional. I try to stay out of sight. “Are you fucking him? Is that it…? You guys a couple now” Suddenly he lashes out and I’m shocked. “Okay Okay… if this is what you want… If you want to throw away eight years for some photographer who tells you you’re going to be a fucking star just so that he can get into your pants… Fine” He says and I suddenly feel sorry for him. “Good bye Chloe” He says and hangs up the phone. He let a couple of punches loose in the air and then lets out a little yell. He was mad. She had broken up with him and he was really cut up about it. I see him look in my direction but I doubt if he had seen me and then he walks away. I wait a couple of minutes and then I come out of the dark and stand thinking about everything that I had just heard. I remember him talking on the phone a couple of days ago when we had received the assignment and he looked super stressed out. Could they have had problems then already? I wonder a little and then I hear my phone go off. It was text from Nicole. Where are you? I read the text and walk back to the yard and find her sitting alone. I wonder where Ethan had gone since they were lip locked a moment ago when I walked passed. “Hey where are you… You’re cousin… Ethan I think I have met the man of my dreams” I hear Nicole say and I lift my brows at her. “The man of your dreams?” I repeat and she looks at me amusingly. “Okay okay… Maybe I am rushing it…But Belle… He is really amazing and I like him” She says and I have to stop myself from going Annabelle on her and just smile. “Well just be careful he just broke up with his girlfriend and last I hear he wasn’t doing too well” I say and she smiles softly. “Yeah he told me… It’s always bad breaking up but I think the sooner you get back on to the wagon the better your chances are of getting over the person” She says and shrugs her shoulders. I can’t help but laugh. “Well just keep an open mind please… I don’t want you to get hurt” I say and pull her in for a hug. I see Summer walking by and she comes walking over as she spots me and Nicole. “Are you guys having a good time?” She asks and avoids me stare. She always did that even when we were kids. She always said it felt like I was looking into her soul. “Yes… I’m having a really good time” Nicole says and smiles. I see Summer smile too. She looks sober meaning that she is taking so form of responsibility for the little life growing inside her. I see Ethan coming towards us looking concerned. “Hey Summer…Blue eyed boy is having a meltdown… You better let Peter get his boy before I lose my temper” I see Summer looking at him and I see her rolling her eyes. “His girlfriend broke up with him and he hasn’t been taking it well… Let me go and find Peter and get him home” She says and walks away. Ethan comes and sits down next to us and starts talking about James’s meltdown and about his recent break up and we listen attentively. I think about everything James had said to me and I feel a little bit of resentment. He was taking out his anger and on me and I wasn’t going to allow him to treat me this way. Monday I was going to give him a piece of my mind.

  “Oh my God Ethan is amazing… I’m going to marry him one day” Nicole is grinning from ear to ear as I drive her home after I had managed to get her off Ethan’s lap. I smile at her for being so happy. The last couple of weeks had been tough on her and it was good to know that things were looking up and she had a little excitement to look forward to. “What was up with Garett… He is becoming such a pain in my ass lately” She says and looks me questioning. I wasn’t really sure if she wanted me to say something in response. “Really I hadn’t noticed him acting strange…” I say and in all honesty I was right. I hadn’t noticed much the last couple of weeks with everything going on and now with Summer being pregnant things were just going to get worse. “I don’t know his so angry and mad all the time… Can you believe that he called me a Barbie… Said I was becoming one of them” She looks at me and I wonder why Garett would be acting out all of a sudden. Maybe it was the fear. Everything was quickly coming to an end and not everyone was sure where they were going to go and with Garett being gay it was extra hard for him to fit in and find his feet. I felt sorry for him and wish that things would become easier for him. “Maybe he is just stressing about the future… I mean not everyone is sure what they are going to do when we finally graduate… Heck I haven’t even started looking for a job. Have you started looking?” I ask Nicole and she looks at me surprised. “No I haven�
��t… gosh another thing to stress about. I really don’t need that drama too” Nicole says and I laugh at her as she rolls her eyes. “So what’s up with you and blue eyed boy?” Nicole suddenly asks and I look at her caught off guard by the question. “What do you mean?” I say and she looks at me and presses her lips together. “I mean how is the assignment going? Have you guys started working on it yet?” She asks and I feel relieved that it’s not a question about feelings and shit. “No… I’m waiting for him to let me know what is going on… He seems a little distracted with this whole break up thing” I say and pull up my shoulders. “But I will talk to him on Monday. I take my work very seriously and I don’t have time for people who think they are allowed to have meltdowns and shit on someone else’s watch. I mean we only have a few weeks left before the assignment is due and I’m not going to fail the last assignment of my final year… He will have to get his shit in line or I will crush him” I say and look into Nicole’s wide eyes at my sudden outburst. “Shame man… They were together like forever. It’s super hard if something like this happens. You know you haven’t been in a relationship so you can’t really be compassionate…” She says and I feel the rip at my heart. How can she say these things? I look at her and she smile apologetically. “I’m sorry… I don’t mean to offend you… All I’m say is; cut the guy some slack his hurting right now…” She says and I want say something in return but decide to not say anything. We pull into her drive way and I get out with her. We hug quickly and then she walks up to her door. “Hey… Are you okay with me seeing Ethan? I don’t want us to be like weird because I really like him Annabelle” She says and I see her eyes sparkling. She had fallen hard for Ethan a guy she had just met and here she was almost at crying point over him. Strange how this love thing is, you really can’t control it. “Sure… All I care about is your happiness and if he makes you happy then I’m happy. Just keep an open mind Nicole please. I don’t want you to get hurt” I say and walk up to her and pull her into my arms. We stand holding each other for a while and then she looks at me funny. “You look different you know… Something has changed?” She says and looks at me suspiciously. I frown and wonder what she could be talking about. Nothing had changed or had it. Then I see her smile again. “You can stay here tonight… I know it’s very late…” She says and invites me in. “No it’s okay… I will be fine. I will drive through town. It’s still very busy” I say and walk back to my car. “Okay send me a text as soon as you get home” She says and locks open her door and stand on the threshold and waves to me as I pull out of the drive way. I wave back and let out a big sigh as I drive off. Town was still buzzing with bodies and cars. I look around to see if I recognise anyone but no-one looks familiar. Suddenly my mind is back in my room with all the panties on my dresser. All the panties with the heart shaped holes in them. I can’t believe that this was happening. I know that he will try and get to me again. This was far from over. Suddenly I start looking around for anyone who might be following me or looking at me strange from beside the road. I try to still my thoughts and pounding heart. Maybe I was just getting ahead of myself. It was almost a month since the attack on Nicole that was actually meant for me. So maybe he had given up. But deep down I knew that he was waiting. He wasn’t in a hurry to get to me. If he was he would have made his move by now, he wanted to get me alone and right now I wasn’t. So as long as I move in groups and stay around people he won’t be able to get to me; and eventually he will give up. Well I hope he will give up. I pull into our street and look around me for suspicious vehicles but the street is empty and quiet. I open the gate and drive inside. I see my parents’ bedroom light was still on. They were waiting for me obviously worried about me. I park my car and sit inside as I watch the gate close behind me. I see the light in the lounge come on and then I see the door open. My dad stands in the door waiting for me to get out. I feel relieved when I see him and get out. I walk up to the door and he pulls me into his arms. I know this must be very hard for him knowing that someone wanted to hurt me. He holds me out to him and looks at me hard and then presses his lips into a tight smile. I smile back at him and then we walk inside. I see my mother sitting at the kitchen table. She looks up and smiles as we enter. “How was the party?” She ask and I know she is trying to get my mind as well as her’s off the incident of earlier. “The party… The party was…” I think a little trying to find the right word to describe the events of the night. “It was interesting to say the least.” I say and suddenly feel like laughing. “Interesting?” I hear my father repeat as he puts the kettle on. “Yeah… Nicole has fallen head over heels in love with Ethan and he seems to be very smitten with her too” I say and see my mother’s eyes widen. “But hadn’t he just broken up with his girlfriend” She ask and I nod my head yes. “Wow… They don’t wait long to move on don’t they” She says and looks at my father. “How was the birthday girl? Did she have a great time” My mother asks and I feel a chill run down my spine and the excitement inside me subsides. I think about Summer and her pregnancy. I sigh suddenly. “Hey is everything okay… Is Summer okay” My mother asks and I’m quickly shaken out of my thoughts. “Yeah she had great time…I barely saw her” I lie and my father looks at me funny. “James was there too… He was such a douche bag” I say and roll my eyes. “Why was he a douche bag?” My mother asked. “His girlfriend had broken up with him and then he decided to have meltdown at Summer’s party. It was so pathetic” I say and get up from the table and start walking upstairs. “Well I’m so tired. I will see you in the morrow” I say and head upstairs. I see my room door and I freeze. What if he comes here? What is stopping him from coming here into our house? Nothing stopped him from coming into the Res what is stopping him here. I stand there looking at the room and I feel the fear creep into my heart. What if he was in there now waiting for me to come in? Waiting for me to fall asleep and then attack me? “Is everything okay?” I hear my father’s voice behind me and I get freight. He comes walking further up the stairs and holds me close to him. “Hey everything will be okay…” he says and holds me tightly. “How do you know that dad? Someone out there wants to hurt me” I say and feel the fear welling up in my eyes. “What is stopping him from getting to me here?” I say and look up into his eyes. “I’m the one stopping him… I will fucking kill him if he comes close you here or anywhere for that matter… His not going to hurt you” My father says and I try to console myself with that thought. He walks with me to my room and we go through every inch of it to make sure that there was no-one there. Even though there I was no-one there, it doesn’t still the paranoia in my mind. I lie awake thinking about what I could have done to anyone who would want to hurt me like this. I try to steer my thoughts into a different direction but it goes from bad to worse as I think about Summer. Summer who is pregnant but has no maternal compassion for the little life growing inside her. What was going on, why was the world this way. I lie in bed thinking about everything that was going on right now. I think about James and his meltdown and I wonder about how someone like him could be so broken by a woman? He; who I saw the night before climbing down a girl’s throat as if she was honey and he was a very hungry bear. I wonder if I would ever be honey to someone. If someone would want to kiss me and love me the way they love their favourite food. I lie on my side and look out the window at the sun coming out and I realized that I had not slept at all. My mind was bombarded with thoughts of life and love and the fear of the future. All my life I had prepared myself for my future, and here it was. I thought I knew where I was headed; all the nights I had spent studying for what? I feel the despair creeping into my heart. Was this all worth it, waiting? Waiting so long that in the end no one will love me or try to understand why… Will I only become a chase for some guy who thinks he can break me and take from me something that in actual fact means nothing to the next person but meant the world to me? Something that I have kept for someone who might end up not being worthy of it and then end up giving it away to every man I meet
in search for the one… I sigh and close my eyes and allow my mind to run empty and then I fall.