“Could you stop being so weird?” Cris spoke, interrupting me. Am I the weird one for hugging myself in a corner while watching everyone else dance and drink as if they were performing some sort of mating ritual to the rhythm of the music? Well, it’s a party, so yeah, maybe.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know where you want me to go, if I step near them, I’m sure to be abducted by some sort of teen sexual abduction. And I don’t want to. Thanks.”
“It’s a party darling, and I’d love to be abducted by some hot guy, but for that, you need to stop standing here like a madwoman and come drink with me.”
Cris grabbed my wrist and led me to the bar that was just a few meters from us, I still didn’t know where he got the invitations to the parties, he was always with me and I didn’t see that he had more friends.
The house we were in was huge, even bigger than my aunt’s, but there were still hundreds of people, we could hardly breathe in there… Well, at least I couldn’t breathe.
I took advantage of the little space that a person who left had freed up for me and leaned on the bar, taking my head in my hands and taking deep breaths to control my anxiety. “I warned you, I told you, you shouldn’t have brought me, I didn’t want to come and you know it.”
“Look, you can’t always be sleeping and doing homework…”
“Yes, I can.”
“No, you can’t because I won’t let you,” he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I tensed up. It bothered me to know that he feels sorry for me, damn it, I was fine. He thinks I’m still crying over Donovan, but I’m not, it’s been three weeks.
I felt like getting Cris off me, I loved him, but I didn’t want his compassion, I didn’t need it.
Two seconds before I broke the hug that my friend was giving me, I saw Jessi looking at us and smiling, she was practically on top of the bar to have better access to us. I want to die. “Couldn’t you at least bring me to a party where she wasn’t?”
Cris looked at me confused, not knowing what I was talking about, until his eyes spotted her. “Speaking of Jessi, that’s practically impossible.”
We received two plastic cups with an orange content and I quickly looked at Cris, begging for mercy. “You just drink it. In one gulp, come on.” I shook my head and did it, it wasn’t that horrible. “Good, now keep doing that until you want to kiss my whole face and worship me because I’m awesome.”
I laughed and gently hit his arm. “You’re an idiot.”
“That’s my girl.”
With three more cups of alcohol, I wasn’t drunk, but I was in a better mood. Now everything around me seemed funny, even the mating ritual that was now in phase two, touching under clothes and making weird faces that pretend to be sexy. It would be quite appropriate to film this party and send the video to Animal Planet for one of their episodes.
I appreciated being on the same wall as before, watching everything from a distance.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a boy approaching my safe zone. He stood next to me and smiled. Just one word… Crap. “How are you?”
I gave him a quick glance before continuing to watch the crowd of people. He had curly, blond hair, and compared to my height, he was a bit taller, he was a head taller than me. His hands were in the pockets of his jeans, and he was wearing a white t-shirt.
“Fine?”
“Was hoping that was a question you’d answer, but since you insist…” He looked me up and down, but not lasciviously. “You look good. Drunk, but good.”
“Thank you for the drunk part.”
“Right, not the best way to start a conversation,” he offered his hand. “My name’s Blake.”
I didn’t accept his introduction, I didn’t need this right now. “Aren’t you going to tell me yours?”
I was going to politely tell him to leave, but the idiot Cris showed up and put his foot in it. “Her name’s Celina, and she’s freaking beautiful, just look at her,” Cris grabbed my cheeks and pinched them for emphasis. “And no, I’m not her boyfriend, so take your chance.”
I pushed him away and glared at him. “Cris!”
“He’s cute Cel, did you see him?” he tried to whisper, but I think half the party, including the guy next to me, heard. “Are you gay, darling?”
The curly-haired boy smiled, showing his dimples. “Not yet. But you’ll be the first to know.”
Cris made a sad face and looked at me. “Alright, I’ll tell you the news. See that guy over there?” He pointed to his dance partner, who was physically quite smaller than him. “Well, he invited me to continue drinking outside, it’s just for a while, can I go?”
“Go ahead, but if you don’t come back in thirty minutes, I’m going to look for you. I want to go home now.”
“Why? Aren’t you having fun with this handsome guy?” Cris gave him a definitely lascivious smile.
“I don’t know him,” I hurried to answer.
“Actually, you do, I told you my name,” Blake said, catching my attention.
“If you think that’s enough to know a person, I’ll tell you right now you’re wrong.”
“Alright, do you want to get to know me?”
“No, I’m sorry, but I’m not interested.”
“I can be a lot of fun and I’m also very talkative, I mean, I don’t know, most people like me, until I become annoying, which is most of the time….”
“Yeah, I noticed that.”
Bitchy? Me? Well, yes. And I’m not proud of it.
He grimaced as if I’d slapped him and forced a smile. “I’m sorry, I just came here to talk, I didn’t want to seduce you or anything.”
“Damn it,” I whispered to myself for being an idiot. I turned around to focus on Cris and ask him to leave right now but the bastard had already left.
“See you around Celina, good luck, and I hope your friend comes back soon,” Blake said goodbye, walking towards what looked to me like the front door of the house.
He was really sweet and I was a bitch. God. I followed him to where he was heading and confirmed he wanted to leave the party, just like me.
I caught up with him in the main yard and yelled his name. “Blake!”
He immediately turned around reluctantly. Okay, he hates me now, that’s normal.
“I’m really sorry for being a bitch in there, it’s just that I don’t want to be here and my friend forced me to come and I’m not social, not at all…”
“Yeah, I noticed,” he said, imitating my words.
Touche.
“Great, I deserved that,” I said, unable to stop smiling. “I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay, Celina, it’s fine, I didn’t want to come either. The problem is that I didn’t have many places to go because I live here. My younger brother threw the party while my parents are on vacation and since it’s his senior year, I didn’t want to ruin it.”
Brother? Senior year? “How old are you?”
“Twenty, and you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Aren’t you a bit young to be drinking?”
“Aren’t you a bit old to be talking to a girl who’s barely of age?”
Blake blushed and looked at the floor. “You… you seemed older, I don’t know, I thought… I didn’t know.”
“Now you do, are you going to keep talking to me?”
He shook his head smiling and walked to a tree near where we were. I wasn’t going to follow him, but he motioned with his head for me to do so. “I have a car back here, do you want me to drive you home? Or do you want to call a cab? Don’t wait for your friend, he’s not going to take half an hour, this is going to take a while.”
“Yeah, do you know any cab line I can call? I’m new here and have no idea.”
“Of course, give me your phone and I’ll put a number in. It’s nearby, they won’t be long.”
I handed him my phone and he dialed the numbers right away. I saw him save two numbers, and I didn’t have to be very smart to know that one was his.
“Here, call them. I’ll wait and tell your friend that you left in a cab.”
“Thank you, Blake. Again, I’m sorry for being an idiot with you.”
“It’s okay, I have that effect on people… I left my phone number in your contacts, in case you ever want to talk.”
I extended my hand hoping he would accept it, given that I had rejected him earlier. He looked at it and without hesitation, he shook my hand in a sign of introduction.
“I’m Celina.”
“I’m Blake.”