Authors: Jack Parker
"But you weren't invited." She spoke again, slowly, as if trying to figure out the words herself.
"I think we've covered that." I rolled my eyes and Camdon started snickering.
She took a long sip of her drink. "So how… wait. Then what are you doing here?"
"I'm not really sure." I spoke. "I was actually just asking myself that, but its cold out, so can you please move?" I didn't wait for her to stand there and try to figure out what I was saying, so I just moved past her into her house.
"Please don't say anything to me. That was me being nice to her. She's totally wasted." I gave Camdon a look.
He slid his hand in mine, "It's not like she wouldn't be worse to you if she was sober, and I suppose not everyone can be as nice as me." He grinned at my playful indignation.
"So… what do we do now?"
He shrugged. "Want a drink?" I nodded. "Alcohol?"
At that I enthusiastically nodded. "Please. If I'm going to deal with these people-"
"Come on, they're not that bad."
I rolled my eyes. "Some of them are. Dylan and Marcus are the only ones that I actually like." I took my drink, coke and rum.
"Any good?" He asked, watching me carefully.
I let out a little laugh. "Yes. It's great. Why, what's wrong?"
He shook his head, "Nothing. Ready?" He led me to the backyard, past bottles and to a big Jacuzzi with about five people in it, and a couple venturing out into the chilly pool connecting to it.
"Camdon!" the boys all yelled out and exchanged one of their weird bro handshakes. I sighed to myself, taking a sip of my drink and putting it down at my feet. I began to unbutton my lovely True Religion jeans, wiggling out of them. I folded them gently and put them a bit off to the pool, and paused, noticing an eerie silence. I flicked my hair behind my back, and suppressed a smile. I looked up to see the group staring at me curiously. At first, I was worried that I was doing something weird, then I noticed the proud look on Camdon's face. I couldn't help but roll my eyes, and began to lift my shirt over my head slowly, and put it next to my jeans, going to sit at the edge next to Camdon.
"Is that a belly button ring?" A curly haired girl I knew from school was the first to break the little moment of silence.
I looked down at my stomach, and the crystal ring in it. "Yeah it is." I smiled at her, trying to be a little friendly.
"That's cool." A fake looking girl next to her said. "There's like, no place to get it done around here."
I shrugged, "Just go into Iowa City on the weekend or something."
The ice seemed to be broken, just like that, and they no longer stared at me like I was below them, but included me in the rest of the conversation. It also helped to have Camdon's arm around me the whole night, and with Clarissa passing out after only being there a couple minutes, things were looking up.
Until the group's curiosity of 'Heidi, the new girl', kicked in. I had a couple drinks, and was a little tipsy, but I was never one to loose control, so I was taking it slow, and was glad for it too, because they began firing away with questions.
"Where are you from again?" One of the guys asked, I sighed, recognizing the signs of the beginnings of such moments.
"Phoenix." I said, boredom in my voice, hoping he'd get the hint.
Nope. "That's cool. Wait. So why did your family move to this random place?"
"They didn't. My aunt just went through some shit divorce. And my parents are on a sabbatical. They're traveling the world, going through some mid-life crisis. So they sent me to live with my aunt and help her get settled."
"That sucks. Did you even want to move here?" The curly haired girl asked.
"No. The weather sucks, and Phoenix is way cooler than this place. It's close to everywhere, Vegas, California, Flagstaff, so I miss that. But it's not so bad."
"Are you kidding me?" She said, "This place totally blows. I can't wait to get out of here."
I shook my head, "You guys don't even realize how lucky you are to grow up here though." That got everyone to perk up and look at me, especially Camdon, but I purposefully avoided his intense gaze.
"What do you mean?" The girl asked.
I took a long sip of my drink and shrugged. "To grow up somewhere safe. It can be dangerous to live in such big places. It's nice to leave a house and not have to watch my back all the time."
"I guess I never thought about that, but still, you've got street smarts and everything."
"That can't save you from everything." I was antsy, really ready to change the subject.
"So… have you even heard from you're parents?" This guy in my math class asked.
"Not really. They're off across the world remember?" I was a little snippy, but I was irritated about talking about myself so much. This was getting way too personal.
"So what are you going to do about thanksgiving?" He asked.
I could feel the pity in the group come out and glared at them all. "I'm not living on my own you guys. I have my aunt."
The conversation gradually changed from me to someone else, and I was relieved.
About an hour later, when my skin was pruny, and everyone was really drunk except for Camdon, Camdon whispered in my ear, "You ready to go?"
It was like the heavens opened up and Angels started to sing. "Basically since that girl puked over the side of the pool."
"Her name is Kelly." He whispered back at me.
"Okay." I said. And instantly burst out laughing seconds later.
"What's so funny?" Kelly asked.
"I am." I declared. Making myself laugh again. I tried to stand up but Camdon put an arm on my shoulder.
"Let me help you up." He got out and gently pulled me to my feet.
"I'm fine, I swear." I tried to reassure him, but he gave me that look he gave me earlier and was feeling temperamental. "What?" I yelled exasperated.
"Nothing!" He yelled back in the same voice, laughing at me. "I just don't want your drunk ass to puke in my car."
"Whoaaaa." Kelly said. "Did Camdon actually say something that wasn't nice?" She stared at us in disbelief.
"Oh chill out. He was making a joke." I instinctually defended him.
Camdon grabbed my clothes and ignored the teasing calls of the obnoxious group. "Let's get out of here please."
We walked out together, hand in hand, and I went out of my way to step over Clarissa's unconscious form, as I cheerily hopped into his truck, not even noticing the cold.
Camdon stared at me. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What?" I asked sweetly, giving him a smile.
He held up my clothes. "Oh!" I gasped. "Thank you, I totally forgot." I tried as gracefully as I could to get my jeans back on, but needed Camdon's help to steady me. I looked up at him curiously, he didn't even try to take advantage of my state. My heart kind of swelled a little at his kind gestures in making me look presentable.
"Thank you for always being so nice to me." I said softly. Not really realizing the words had come out of my mouth.
He sighed and pushed the hair out of my face, kissing my forehead. "Will you do me a favor?"
I nodded. "Of course."
"Eat Thanksgiving Dinner with my family."
I groaned. "Camdon-"
He put a finger over my mouth to silence me. "I'm serious, my mom adores you, she would love to have you and Anna over. Please? For me?"
"This is not out of pity." I said sternly.
"In no way is it out of pity." He was lying through his teeth, I could see it clear as day, but at least he was trying to cover it up.
"For you." I repeated, mulling it over in my head.
"For me." He asserted.
"Fine."
He pulled me in for a big hug and spun me around until I was woozy.
"Stop. I'm going to puke on you." He immediately put me down.
I stumbled into the house, feeling
a
little more intoxicated than I would have liked. Anna had fallen asleep on the couch, and sprawled across the floor were dozens of papers, some large photographs, others looked like charts, and some just looked like regular documents.
I turned and looked at Anna, who, even in her sleep seemed weary. I immediately felt guilty, Anna was doing
a
lot for this case, and held a normal job too. The stress of it all had definitely affected her, bags were under her eyes, she always seemed a little frazzled, and she anxiously shifted around in her sleep, as if her mind was constantly thinking about it.
I grabbed an extra blanket and threw it over her, and picked up the dishes she left on the ground. I came back, curiosity drawing me to the papers on the floor. I clumsily sat down and picked up a picture. It was the face of a man, beat and battered, his eye swollen shut, and cuts across his face. Another picture was that of an abdomen, with a bullet hole in the side, and the picture under it was what I assumed to be how the man got shot, an empty warehouse with several men encircling one.
I shifted uneasily and put it back, looking at one of the documents instead. But they were no better, it was all times and dates and descriptions of what happened, and I started feeling sick. I put it down and went upstairs to crawl into my bed, holding my knees to my chest and squeezing my eyes closed, trying to forget the image of the man's face, beaten and bloody.
Camdon continued to pester me about eating thanksgiving at his house, always asking if I had asked Anna yet.
It had kind of been a sensitive subject with me since we went to Clarissa's, because now I knew he knew that I had no contact with my parents. I rolled my eyes at his approaching form and slammed my locker shut, turning to face him.
"No I haven't asked her yet." I said before he had even opened his lovely mouth.
"Heidi come on, Thanksgiving is in two days. What if she is already making plans?" He actually looked worried.
"Trust me, she's not." I fiddled with my books, avoiding eye contact. "She's been really busy, so I don't think she's giving much thought to it."
"With what?" He asked frowning, but after looking at me he just sighed. "One of your don't ask don't
tell
things?" I shrugged, growing quiet. "Look," Camdon began again, "that's even more of a reason to come over, she wouldn't have to plan anything."
"Okay, okay. I'll ask her tonight."
"You promise?"
"Yes! I swear."
* * *
I gently pushed open the front door of my house, slipping into its comfy quarters and instantly threw myself on the couch. Dylan and Marcus were not far behind me, shoving me over and squeezing onto the couch with me.
"I brought Fast and Furious!" Marucs cheered. Holding up the DVD with gusto.