After what felt like a mere second, my suddenly alert eyes shot open again, leaving me in another state of shock. I rubbed them fiercely, unable to believe the scene that had appeared in front of me. A grungy looking alleyway had replaced my bedroom and a dark, quiet, windless night hovered all around. The air felt like a cool ocean breeze and the clouds were covering any comforting light of the stars and moon. It was almost pitch black, with the only lights blazing weakly from a distant street about twenty yards away. Large, industrial sized garbage cans were scattered throughout the alley and rested against the walls of many rundown buildings that stretched on for hundreds of yards in the opposite direction of the street. Darkness filled the alleyway and continued on indefinitely.
My gaze turned down towards the ground, where I saw many broken glass bottles and trash scattered all over the place. From between my feet came a large rat that squealed and ran towards the other side of the alley. I followed its path across the alley up until the frightening reality that I wasn’t alone dawned on me. A short, portly and shadowy figure stood directly in front of me, holding something in his hand that was pointed towards someone to my left. I could barely make out Annie’s face, but her rich, golden hair stood out in the darkness. Her arm, which was holding a purse, was extended out and quivering so terribly that it fell out of her hands and smacked the cold concrete beneath us. The sound sent a deep, terrifying tingle down my spine. At that moment, a faint rustling of wind blew through Annie’s hair and the earsplitting explosion of a firing gun rang out into the soundless night. A bright white light encompassed my vision and I was instantly transported back into my comforting bedroom.
My hoarse voice let out a pathetic attempt at a scream as I jolted up in bed. It was much darker than before and the refreshing orange that traditionally painted the Las Vegas sunsets glowed inside. I quickly stumbled out of bed and threw the door open yelling for Annie. It had all felt so real and seeing Annie was the only thing on my mind. As I sprinted down the hall towards the living room, she poked her head out of the kitchen with a dishtowel over her shoulder, looking rather alarmed.
“What’s wrong?” she said urgently.
“Oh thank god you’re alright,” I panted. She eyed me warily for a moment like I was crazy.
“Of course I’m alright,” she huffed. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Everything came crashing down almost instantly. I was in big trouble and by the aggravated look on Annie’s face, my outburst had only made things worse. As my breathing slowly returned to normal, I realized how stupid it would be to tell her about a dream where she got shot. Instead of responding, I stood there silently and stared out at the beautiful sunset.
“Well?” she asked again impatiently.
“It’s nothing, forget it,” I replied.
“Geez Zoe, you’re driving me CRAZY!” she shouted. She turned on the spot and headed back into the kitchen, where the sound of banging pots and pans filled the entire apartment.
With a deep sigh, I trudged back down the hall towards my bedroom, reeling from the latest dream. Annie’s anger and attitude were worth it compared to the alternative. If she knew what I had dreamt about, there was no doubt she would completely freak out. It took all of my newly founded energy to shake the images of shadowy criminals and guns out of my mind when I entered the room. I shut the door halfway and approached my closet door. As it slid open, the costume Annie had picked out for me weeks ago was hanging directly in front of me. With no other alternative, and not wanting to be the only person at the party without a costume, I slowly pulled off my blouse and got ready.
**************************************
Our apartment was sparkling clean when we left for downstairs to help the girls set up for the party. Annie had continued her silent treatment ever since that angry outburst earlier in the day. She took the stairs two at a time, not waiting for me to follow her. Instead of ringing the doorbell or knocking, she opened the door and walked straight inside. I barely caught the swinging door before it shut in my face. A toothless, lit pumpkin rested up against the wall next to the door, greeting us as we entered the apartment.
After I softly shut the door closed, Steph immediately bounded around the corner from their kitchen dressed as Wonder Woman, the only difference being her fiery red hair. The skin tight costume, which showed off her smooth, athletically toned legs, was the perfect fit for her personality. She was wearing what appeared to be a one-piece swimming suit that was red, white and blue that also had stars, stripes and gold trimmings that surrounded her chest and narrow waist. Her chest was a little more visible than I’d feel comfortable with, but if anyone could pull it off, it was her.
“Well, there’s no doubt in my mind who is going to be the most hit on girl at this party,” Annie playfully said as she gave Steph a hug.
“Oh stop,” Steph teased. “Besides, look at you! Your costume is awesome!”
“Thanks, but it’s not complete until Liam gets here,” she replied dreamily, which garnered a playful eye roll from Steph.
Annie and Liam apparently had decided to dress up as Bonnie and Clyde. Annie was wearing a tan beret on top of her blond hair, which had been put up into a bun. A rose colored scarf was wrapped around her neck and she wore a cheap tan colored cable knit sweater, which was tucked into her mid-calf, black and white checkered skirt with pleats on the side. The ensemble was topped off with shiny black high heels that made her recognizably taller than normal. I couldn’t help but be impressed with how good it really looked.
“Be careful tonight you little vixen. Dressed like that, we may not see you much at all tonight!” she joked, giving her a wink.
At that moment, Hope came around the corner dressed in her normal jeans and short sleeve black polo shirt. She wasn’t wearing any makeup and her usual frizzled black hair barely reached her shoulders. Her massive reading glasses were on instead of the contacts. Annie seemed to notice as she stared at her with a confused look on her face.
“Um, nice costume Hope,” she said in a poor attempt to sound polite. A twinge of anger rushed through my body at Annie’s rudeness.
“Oh, I didn’t want a costume this year,” she mumbled, looking extremely uncomfortable. I decided to step in before Annie could pounce any further.
“The place looks awesome you guys,” I interjected, leaping forward towards Hope. Hope looked up at me with a thankful smile.
“Hot damn Zoe!” Steph whistled, looking me up and down in awe. “I should’ve known this one would get the perfect costume for you. If anyone could pull off the innocent school girl, it’s you. Just look at those stockings and heels! It’s hot babe. Real hot.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said as all of the blood in my face rushed to my cheeks.
I glanced down, past the extremely high riding black skirt, and glared at the flats that I’d last worn on our disastrous double date. “I thought it was a little too revealing to be honest.”
“Of course you did,” Annie mumbled under her breath.
I glanced over only to find that she had her back to us and was looking at all of the orange and black decorations scattered across their living room. When I looked back towards Steph and Hope, their expressions had become slightly subdued. Hope looked back and forth between Steph and me, biting her lip, while Steph’s gaze lingered between me and Annie.
“Well,” Steph coughed randomly, “I think it’s perfect. You just better hope nobody dumps water on that shirt of yours tonight. Things could get out of control.”
“Wow, the place really does look awesome!” Annie said, ignoring everything that Steph had just said.
“Thanks Ann,” Steph said, looking a little awkward and out of place. “Hope, why don’t you take Annie into the kitchen and get the beer on ice? Zoe, you can stay out here, help me get the chips and dip out. Alright?”
Without a response, Annie glided past us and followed Hope, who gave a final, pleading look at an unaware Steph. A few seconds later, the kitchen door slid closed b
ehind Hope and Steph grabbed my hand and led me over to their comfortable couch. I took a seat next to Steph, who, for the first time since I’d known her, looked serious.
“So, I talked to Annie and got the scoop,” she hesitated.
“Oh?” I gasped. I had almost forgotten about Steph’s reconnaissance mission with Annie.
“Yeah,” she said with an uncomfortable smile. “You want to know what’s going on?”
“Of course!”
Steph sat up a little straighter and grabbed both of my hands. It took a few seconds for her to regain her composure before she spoke again.
“It’s Liam,” she said.
“What about him?” I asked.
“It’s just that Annie is a little…” she paused and looked towards the closed kitchen door.
“A little what?” I insisted. “Angry? Hurt? What is it?”
“She’s jealous.”
It took a moment for her words to sink in. Before I knew it, I had broken out in a wild laughter, barely able to contain myself. Steph looked very worried as the laughter continued to bellow out of me.
“Jealous? Of me? Are you crazy? I’ve never heard something so funny in my life!”
“I’m serious here!” Steph snapped, grabbing my hands rather forcefully. “She’s really jealous of you Zoe. She thinks that you are trying to steal Liam away from her. I tried to tell her that she was crazy and that you didn’t even like him, but she doesn’t buy it.”
“Why not?” I said, the chuckles slowly dying away. “I’ve told her tons of times how much I hate him.”
“I dunno,” she shrugged. “She said that he asks about you all the time. He always wants to know about you and your life. At first, Annie didn’t have a problem with it, but she said it’s gotten worse as the semester has gone on. Apparently the double date is what set her over the edge. She said that he opened the door for you to his truck, and you laughed at one of his jokes or something during dinner. All I can tell you is that she’s picked out the little things and she’s scared.”
“This is insane,” I urged, flopping back into the couch. “I hate him! Besides, what does she have to be jealous of? Look at me!”
“Yeah, look at you,” she repeated. “Whether you want to accept it or not Zoe, you are beautiful. I know this all doesn’t make any sense, but just try to see it from Annie’s point of view. She really likes him and feels that he wants you more than her. She’s being pulled in two different directions.”
At that moment, the doorbell rang, jolting me up from the couch. Steph slowly stood up next to me.
“I promised you I’d find out and I did, do with it what you will,” she said before heading over to the door. “All I can say is to give her some time and space, maybe stay away from Liam for awhile.”
Before I could respond to her ridiculous notion, she glided over to the door and opened it. About a dozen random guys and girls flooded into the apartment, officially starting the party. The sound of random voices seemed to be a trigger in Annie’s head. She came flying through the kitchen doors, holding a handful of beer bottles, yelling wildly. Steph shut the door behind the last guy, gave me a brief, hopeful smile and joined in the fun.
For the next hour, Hope and I sat around the food table, picking at the random finger foods scattered around. The party had slowly grown, but still wasn’t busting at the seams. It wasn’t until 10:00 rolled around when a handful of Betas came in, lead by Damien, wearing their all black t-shirts with B-A-D spelled out in white that the party really got crazy. Everyone in the party watched as they all came lumbering in with their own cases of beer, hooting and hollering. I gazed at them for a moment, ready to leave at the first sight of Liam, but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Damien spotted me and headed straight my way.
Before I could make any evasive maneuvers, he appeared at the table holding two bottles of beer. He held out one of them and jammed it into my chest. I kept my hands at my side and glared a hole right through him.
“Don’t leave me hangin’,” he heckled.
“No thanks,” I said shortly.
“Damn, you definitely win the hottest costume award,” he replied, pulling the beer back. He started to sip from both bottles after he realized there was no way I’d drink it.
“Ugh, whatever,” I exclaimed. “Do you need something? We were talking here.”
“Nope, just had to come over and tell you how good you’re looking tonight.”
“Well thank you. Now, if you could leave us alone, that would be great.”
Instead of looking at me, he had turned his gaze back out towards the wild and full party that had broken out. He was scanning the room over my head, apparently ready to move on after his advance had failed. After a minute, he stepped around me and headed towards the opposite end of the room, giving me a distant “later” as he passed. I turned and saw Steph standing in the corner, already surrounded by at least 6 guys. Damien quickly pushed his way through the crowd and handed Steph the beer that he had reserved for me. Steph smiled widely and took a big swig.
“That was interesting,” Hope finally chimed in, as she stared at Damien. “At least now Steph has apparently found her prize for the night.”
I laughed uneasily, knowing full well that Damien was no prize. But if it worked for Steph, it kept him out of my hair which was helpful.
Hope and Steph’s living room had gotten very full, very fast. It was almost at standing room only when Hope nervously excused herself to the kitchen to make sure nobody destroyed anything, leaving me alone for the first time. My mind immediately focused on Annie as everything that Steph had told me came rushing back. The day had turned out to be yet another link in the rapidly growing chain of emotional disasters that had been strung together since my arrival at school. It felt like ages since Professor Woodward’s crazy midterm had ended and my most recent dream had occurred. Adding Annie’s jealousy on top of the pile made my head start to spin. I needed to get away from the debauchery that was rapidly brewing in the apartment. There was a clear path from the dining room area to the outdoor patio in the backyard, which is where I decided to go to escape.
I collapsed into one of the two lawn chairs Hope and Steph had set up on the patio. My mind continued to run through everything that had happened during the day. It was difficult to figure out what had bothered me the most. Professor Woodward’s bogus and crazy implications that my family was a group of supernatural beings, with my mother being some type of evil demon was a good start to my anger. My dream about Annie being shot had added fuel to the fire. But, it was Steph’s bombshell that Annie was jealous of me that stung the most. If there was ever a time I would lose my marbles forever, that was it.
Trying to relax, I gazed up at the nearly moonless sky and breathed deeply. With each passing breath, my mind started to clear and my body felt more relaxed. All of the negatives that had happened during the day had burnt away, only to be replaced with the peace and quiet I had been longing for. At that moment, someone flopped loudly onto the chair next to me, breaking the serene quiet. I annoyingly looked over and saw the last person in the world that I wanted to see.
Liam was laying out on the chair in full costume, with a beer in one hand, and a toy pistol in his right. His costume was just as cool and creative as Annie’s. He was wearing a grey pinstripe, three-piece suit complete with a pink polka dot tie and black and white two-tone shoes. He topped the ensemble off with a tan fedora hat, half of which covered his curly, pitch-black hair. I wasn’t sure what stunned me more, the fact that he looked as good as his date did, or that he had snuck up on me again, similar to the toga party. He appeared out of thin air, without the slightest trace of sound. The cocky smirk plastered on his face was almost more than I could bear.
“So, you either really hate being social, or you really love the outdoors,” he said, smiling even wider.
“Wow, Captain Obvious is right again!” I mocked.
“Do you have some type of social anxiety? Or do you ge
nuinely dislike being around people?” he asked.
“Does this bring you some type of sick satisfaction? Constantly annoying me?”
“A little bit,” he chuckled as he took a swig of beer.
“Shouldn’t you be inside with your girlfriend?” I jeered.
“Nah, she’ll be fine,” he said indifferently. “Besides, she’s survived this long without me; a few more minutes won’t kill her.”
“You really are the biggest jerk I’ve ever met,” I said incredulously, shaking my head slowly as my mouth was slightly agape.
“What’d I do this time?” he moaned playfully. He seemed to be getting a genuine kick out of the entire situation. It was at that moment I decided to fight fire with fire.
“You know what? I’ve learned my lesson with you. I am going to keep my thoughts to myself because I’m afraid you’ll just start moping and pouting like a baby,” I said smugly.
I could immediately see that my comments had hit their mark. His smirk vanished instantly, only to be replaced by his menacing stare. Parallel to the previous times, a slight shade of red seemed to appear deep in his eyes.
“You think you know everything, but you’re just a clueless bitch,” he said in a flat, expressionless voice.
Before I knew what had happened, my face had gone stone cold at the exact same moment that my palm connected with his face. His expression changed slightly, as a half smile spread across his lips. It looked as though my slap was just a tickle to him.
“I wonder, are you just a jerk because it’s in your nature as a guy, or is it because mommy and daddy did something wrong?” I asked.
It was the only thing I could remember, besides comparing him to regular guys, which really made him truly uncomfortable. His reaction on our double date to the mention of his parents was unforgettable and the blank expression on his face at that moment confirmed my theory.
Common Ground (The Common Ground Trilogy Book 1) Page 16