Chapter 8
Istared at my half-empty closet. It was extremely disorganized. Moving each of my clothes one by one, I tried to find a dress to wear to the party.
Aha! I found a dress. Well…my only dress.
I reached out my hand to pull it off of the hanger and brought the satin green dress out. It matched my eyes. And Ayden’s eyes.
There weren’t any fancy shoes in my closet—they had all been donated when we needed the money—so I wore the same old sneakers I had been wearing.
The doorbell rang as I had just finished putting on the dress.
I scurried to the door but Blake got there before me. He didn’t open it; he just stood there, waiting for an explanation from me. “Who’s at the door?” he asked, facing the door.
“Ayden. My best friend, remember?” I explained. “Well, my boyfriend now.” I didn’t know why I was telling him that. I didn’t owe him an explanation. I was the one who deserved an explanation. For all of the times he came home late. For all of the times he treated me horribly.
“A date?” he asked. His sentences were almost always so short, as if he didn’t like to waste words on me.
“A house party,” I clarified. “Other people will be there.”
“Will this affect your studies?”
“No, it won’t.”
Blake hesitated before opening the door. He looked Ayden up and down. Ayden’s suit was extremely elegant. Oh no. I knew what my brother was thinking.
“One second,” he told Ayden, closing the door and turning to face me.
“No,” I said immediately, shaking my head.
He smirked. “Didn’t even hear what I had to say.”
“I’m not like you!” I yelled. “I won’t use him for money!”
Blake stepped closer to me and twirled a strand of my hair between his fingers. “Do it, and I’ll be nicer.”
“I don’t care,” I spat, swatting his hand away.
“It’s normal for boyfriends to give their girlfriend money. You wouldn’t be taking advantage of him.”
“Oh, it’s normal?” I chuckled at the irony. “I don’t see you give your girlfriends money.”
Blake clenched his jaw. “Go, before I change my mind.”
I rolled my eyes as I walked past him to open the door. “Hi,” I breathed.
“Hi,” Ayden said, extending the rose in his hand. “This is for you.”
I grabbed the rose and smiled. “I love it.”
I looked past him to see his senior friends in a white mustang convertible. I should’ve known they would be rich too, considering they live in the same neighborhood.
As we approached the car, he opened the back car door for me.
I scooted to the other end and he went in, shutting the door closed.
The driver stepped on the pedal and I jerked back in my seat.
Ayden reached past me and pulled the seatbelt over me, clicking it into place.
During the ride, the seniors sang to their hearts’ content as they blasted music on the radio with the windows down.
I held onto the grab handle as I felt like I was going to get flung out of the car.
It was usually a seven-minute drive to his house, but the speed they were going made it a three-minute drive.
Multiple cars surrounded the block—some people actively stepping out, some already inside the house.
Ayden got out of the car and held the door open for me.
I stepped out of the car and walked with him to the front door.
He patted down his suit and pants, realizing he left something in the car.
“Bring her in, I’ll be right back,” he told the seniors as he jogged back to the car.
The short one opened the front door for me as the tall one walked closely behind me.
As I entered, I spotted at least thirty people.
As the door closed shut, the tall one wrapped his arm around me.
“So you’re Ayden’s girl, right?” he asked.
“I am,” I answered, trying to walk away.
The two of them started hysterically laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, forcefully shoving his arm off me.
“Nothing,” the tall one said, dusting invisible dust off himself. “You’ll find out eventually.” He then pushed the short one to walk in front of him as they strolled away.
Curiosity got the better of me. “What do you mean by that?’ I asked, catching up to them.
“You’re ugly,” the tall one said casually, shoving me. “Nobody would like someone like you.”
Ayden had entered the house and saw me being shoved. He rushed over and stood in front of me, shielding me. “Back off, Jerry.”
“Or else what, huh?”
“I’ll tell my cousin you’re interfering,” he whispered, thinking I wouldn’t hear.
“Don’t act so tough, Denny,” Jerry said, smirking. “I can expose your plan right here.”
They stared each other down, until Ayden backed down. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he hissed. “Let’s go upstairs, Peps.” He grabbed my hand and took me upstairs, to his bedroom.
I pulled my hand out of my grip. “What plan, Ayden? Last time someone had a plan, it was Hero, and that didn’t go well.”
“Don’t compare me to him,” he snapped, running a hand through his hair.
“What plan?!” I shouted.
“Jerry was lying,” he said, fidgeting with his rings. “I promise.”
“Fine.” I crossed my arms, averting my gaze.
“I promise,” he repeated in a whisper, kissing my forehead. He looked behind him, then turned his attention back to me. “Can I show you something?”
I nodded. He then walked over to the corner of the room where his acoustic guitar was placed. He took it off the rack and carried it over to me. I saw it the first time that I came over here, but never up close. It was so shiny that I could see my reflection.
He placed his fingers on the strings, sitting down on the bed. “This is something I made by myself.”
He started strumming the strings of the guitar, playing a beautiful tune. It only lasted three minutes, but I could’ve listened to it all day.
He then placed the guitar down on the bed, extending a hand to me. I took his hand and he pulled me gently to the window. He let go of my hand, opening the curtain that was halfway open in the middle.
A balcony.
Of course—how did I not expect him to have a balcony?
The fresh autumn breeze brushed past my face as he opened the balcony door.
It felt way nicer than the air during the car ride here; this didn’t pierce my skin.
He stepped out onto the balcony, extending his hand once again.
I placed my hand in his and walked out onto the balcony.
The railing was made of glass. The view, that had taken my breath away, was of a large, square, maze garden in his backyard, with a water fountain in the center. On the sides of the maze, there were many hydrangeas of all sorts of colors.
“That…that is so beautiful,” I said in a soft whisper.
Ayden placed his arms on the railing, leaning over. I held onto the railing and stared out at the garden. The trees and flowers were swishing in the wind, as if it were waving at us.
I glanced at Ayden, who had been watching me. “What?” I asked, letting out a little giggle.
“I’m glad you love it.” He turned to face the garden. We stood in silence until it was abruptly interrupted by a loud commotion downstairs. It was not the sound of a party, but rather the sound of an argument.
“Do you hear that?” I asked, rushing out of the room before Ayden could respond. He followed closely behind.
“—here for Pepper. No need to start any problems,” a voice said.
“Get lost,” another voice said.
“Do you even know who you’re messing with right now?”
I hurried down the stairs to see an argument sparking between Hero and Jerry. The only thought that popped into my mind was: He came. Hero came to the party.
I scurried back up some stairs to get a clearer view of what was happening. It was a bit difficult to hear due to the loud music that was blasting through the speakers.
“Yeah, I heard of you,” Jerry spat. “That freak that tried to drown everyone, right? Not much of a Hero, are you?”
Hero clenched his jaw before punching Jerry in the face. A small amount of blood gushed out of Jerry’s mouth. Jerry stayed in the same position for a few seconds before grinning and wiping his mouth. People started to crowd them, making it harder for me to see what was going on.
“You think you can get away scot-free after punching me?” Jerry growled.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
I heard punches but I couldn’t see a thing. There was chanting—everyone was rooting for Jerry. Before I could think, my feet started to move on its own. I scrambled down the stairs, but Ayden grabbed my arm before I reached the bottom.
“You’ll get yourself hurt,” he said sternly.
“Well, it’s your stupid party!” I shouted. “Make them stop!”
“They won’t listen to me.”
“You didn’t even try!” I pulled my arm away, running towards the crowd.
Pushing through the crowd, I spotted Violet. Her straight hair was getting messy as she squeezed through everyone. As she noticed me, she shouted over all the noise. “Help me break them apart!”
I quickly nodded. As we made it to the front of the crowd, I saw the fight up close.
It was hard to watch. It was a bloody scene—Hero’s lip and knuckles were bleeding, and Jerry’s nose appeared to be broken.
I couldn’t believe how well Hero was doing in the fight, considering the age difference between the two.
My eyes widened in amazement, then in horror as Jerry took a big swing, causing some of Hero’s blood to splash onto my dress.
“NOW!” Violet shouted.
I rushed over to Hero and hugged him, holding his arms in place, as Violet pushed Jerry away.
“Hero…” I sobbed into his chest. Hero loosened his arms out of my grip and slowly hugged me back. He rested his head on top of mine. Violet gave a small, genuine smile to me before running away from Jerry as he chased after her.
Ayden scurried down the stairs and rushed over to me, pushing Hero off me. “Get off her!” He then grabbed ahold of Jerry as he sprinted past. “And you, out of my house.”