Splitting Colors
Chapter 3
By some miracle, Carlos had actually allowed Sarah to leave the house tonight. She could've never told him that it was a huge house party with actual alcohol and boys there. No, she'd told him she was going to someone named Clementine's house, and that she could walk there because it wasn't too far, which isn't a lie.
Carlos had insisted 'this Clementine girl' meet Sarah so they can walk back together, because he would never allow his daughter to walk anywhere alone. Thankfully, he ended up having to work tonight and hadn't been there to make sure Sarah actually had an attendant.
In reality, she'd walked to the place by herself and met Duck just outside.
There are a couple of people lingering outside in the grass and on the front porch, but thankfully she finds Duck before she has to walk past any of them. The pounding bass of the music from inside can be heard from where they are.
When Sarah follows Duck through the front doors of the house, her mouth turns agape. With a twinge of fear and a racing heart, her wide eyes are met with dozens of rowdy people all dancing and laughing as they crowd around each other throughout the main floor of the house. The blaring music is nearly deafening as it pounds into her ears.
Pretty much every person has some sort of drink in their hand, and Sarah can't help but notice how all the girls seem to be wearing clothes that hardly cover up their bodies at all. Suddenly feeling so much more self conscious about wearing only jeans and a t-shirt, she's thankful for the fact that no one seemed to notice when her and Duck walked in because every one is so preoccupied with themselves.
If it weren't for all the empty red cups and bright streamers that litter the ground, Sarah would say that this house is actually very beautiful. It's definitely a lot bigger than any place she's ever lived in, and the grand double doors and chandelier that hangs above the living room makes it hard for Sarah to believe that Clementine actually lives here.
Sarah almost doesn't hear when Duck shouts something next to her, practically screaming over all the noise. "I'm gonna get a drink, you wanna come?"
"Sure," Sarah shouts back, leaning closer to him so he can hear. "I'll follow you." She definitely isn't the one to drink on any occasion. She's never even had a drink before, let alone been to a real party, but she figures she'll follow him anyway so she isn't left standing awkwardly at the front doors.
The two of them push through the crowd of people with Sarah desperately trying to keep up with Duck while also trying not to trip on anyone's feet. She doesn't make eye contact with anyone, but she can still feel some people's eyes lingering on her as she mumbles 'excuse me' multiple times. She couldn't feel more out of place.
When they finally emerge from the crowd and reach the kitchen area, Sarah feels like she can somewhat breathe again. It's slightly less crowded in this area, and the music isn't as loud, but it all still feels uncomfortable.
Duck offers to pour her a drink in which Sarah politely declines, but he doesn't waste a moment in preparing one for himself. She can see how much more comfortable he seems to be here compared to her, but then again, he did say he's been to a couple of these parties before.
The only party she had ever been to besides birthday parties was at a wedding once, but now she's not even sure if that would be considered one after seeing this place. There had been alcohol and dancing there too, but it wasn't dark and loud or anything, and it definitely wasn't scary.
While waiting for Duck, Sarah attempts to subtly scan the people around her, almost feeling too shy to be looking at anyone. She'd been beginning to think there was no one here that she recognized from school, but then her eyes catch sight of a couple of girls wearing amazingly short skirts a distance away, laughing and chatting to a couple of boys in the crowd.
Sarah has a few different classes with them. Their names are Becca and Natalie, if she remembers correctly. Sarah also recognizes them from the cheer routine at the pep rally.
She wonders if she should try flashing them a smile or something, and maybe they'll know she's a nice person. Maybe they'll want to be friends with her. However, Sarah suddenly stumbles forward when she feels someone aggressively bump into her from behind and a splash of something cold spills onto her shoulder.
"Hey, watch where you're going, asshole!" A female voice shouts from nearby as Sarah regains her footing.
Momentarily grimacing at the spilled beer that's now soaked into her shirt, Sarah is too preoccupied to pay attention to the chorus of laughter around her. She doesn't look up until she notices the figure standing next to her a few moments later.
"I'm sorry about that, Dustin gets kinda carried away when he's drunk."
"Oh, don't worry about…" Sarah's words die on her lips once she recognizes the familiar face of the person there.
Clementine Everett is standing directly in front of her, talking to her and actually acknowledging her existence. She has one of those red cups in her hand and is glaring past Sarah's shoulder, presumably at the guy that had just absentmindedly run into her and then stumbled away.
It isn't until Sarah finds herself unable to finish her sentence that the other girl meets eyes with her for the first time.
A part of Sarah knew it before, but now that she's standing face to face with Clementine, she just seems like one of those people that when she walks down the hallway, it's like people will clear a path for her. Honestly, Sarah would be surprised if that doesn't actually happen.
Sarah almost doesn't even recognize her with the heavy eye makeup and black choker around her neck. It's also quite dark where they are. She'd gotten used to seeing her in her cheer uniform, so the lacy white tank top she wears and red flannel tied around her waist kind off takes Sarah off guard, although she does seem to be one of the few girls here that is actually dressed somewhat decent. The purple baseball cap is also something that Sarah hadn't expected to see her wearing, but it suits her nonetheless.
"Uh… it—it's fine, really," Sarah stammers, chuckling softly in an attempt to appear less awkward. She pretends not to notice the two girls from earlier trying to hide their stares and laughter. They had obviously seen what happened, and Sarah swears her cheeks are on fire at that moment.
Clementine doesn't even seem to notice Sarah's discomfort and proceeds to roll her eyes at her obvious annoyance with what just happened. "Seriously, it's like people forget what decency means as soon as they get one fucking drink in them."
"It's no big deal," insists Sarah, hating how much attention had just been drawn to herself. "People bump into me all the time," she says it as if it is a joke, even though it's far from one.
Clementine sighs exasperatedly, meeting Sarah's eyes once more.
Sarah can practically feel the girl's eyes scanning over her, which only causes her insecurity to rise.
"Do you want another shirt? I can go grab one from upstairs."
"Oh, no thank you," Sarah looks down at her stained top once more, only declining because she doesn't want to cause a hassle. "It's just a little bit of beer. It'll dry up."
Clementine releases a breath of laughter at that, her gentle smile absolutely captivating Sarah for some reason. "You're… Sarah, right? The new girl?"
Glancing down at the ground, Sarah finds it hard to believe that someone here besides Duck actually knows her name, let alone Clementine of all people. A part of Sarah is surprised, but her and Clementine do actually have a couple of classes together, now that she thinks about it. Sarah just never thought that Clem knew she existed. Plus, Sarah practically sticks out like a sore thumb in their school just because she's new.
"Yeah," grins Sarah. "That's me."
"Clementine," the other girl introduces herself with a grin.
Sarah doesn't bother mentioning that she already knew her name. She wonders if Clem knows how often people seem to talk about her.
"Well again I'm really sorry, Sarah," she apologizes, her eyes sparkling in the light. "Hopefully that asshole doesn't go spilling more drinks on people," she mutters while placing her hands on her hips, gazing about the rowdy room once more.
With her entire body feeling frozen, Sarah only swallows the dry lump in her throat. However, she's saved from having to think of something to say next when a group of kids by the dining table begin to beckon Clementine over, their shouts filling the room.
Clementine looks over her shoulder at them, then faces Sarah apologetically. "I'll see you around, alright?"
Sarah merely nods in response and watches as Clementine flashes her one last smirk before turning to leave. Sarah stares after her, the other girl practically skipping over to the bottle-littered table and laughing at something someone had said, their voices too far away for Sarah to understand.
"So, what was that all about?"
Sarah practically jumps out of the daze she hadn't known she was in when Duck suddenly speaks from behind her.
She whips around, releasing a breath. "You scared me."
"Sorry," he steps back, drink in hand. "I just didn't wanna interrupt you guys."
Sarah purses her lips, feeling awkward again. "It's okay."
"I saw that guy bump into you. You okay?" he asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she absentmindedly brushes a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "And… that's all we were talking about. The guy, I mean."
Duck nods, gesturing to somewhere behind Sarah. "So, what'd you think about her?"
She looks over her shoulder, following his gaze. Her eyes land on Clementine a distance away who's currently talking and laughing with a group of people, completely oblivious to their eyes. "She's nice," decides Sarah. "I don't know why people say all those things about her."
"Yeah well, sometimes all it takes is just hanging around the wrong people," mutters Duck.
They continue to observe from a distance just as Clementine raises a shot glass to her lips, throwing her head back. The surrounding group of people all begin to cheer and clap. She scrunches up her face, stumbling backwards a little before laughing once more. Sarah doesn't miss the way one of the boys linger a little too close to her.
Acknowledging her radiating smile, Clementine seems really… happy. Like she's having the time of her life when she's around other people. It reminds Sarah of the way she had looked when they'd performed their cheer routine.
How can someone just fit in so easily? Clem probably never even had to worry about feeling left out. She's probably got her whole life figured out by now.
Sarah could never be like that.
Watching the girl from a distance, she looks so pretty with her makeup like that, and her outfit…
"Anyway, it's not my fucking business," Duck continues as the group continues to yell and cheer in the background. "You wanna find somewhere quieter to hang out? I'm already getting a headache from all these people."
"Yeah… me too." She brushes off her thoughts, following Duck with her head hung low.
Twenty minutes later, they find themselves sitting at the top of the staircase, almost completely hidden behind the railings. They're still not entirely away from the crowd, but it does seem to give them a sense of protection up there.
When Duck had told Sarah they'd be sitting in the back and judging people, that's pretty close to what they end up doing. Although, it's more just Duck talking to Sarah about everyone and telling stories about things that have previously happened at their school while Sarah only listens. She enjoys it nevertheless. It makes her feel good knowing that someone is actually putting effort into being her friend.
When Duck eventually leaves to go to the bathroom, Sarah absolutely despises the feeling of being left alone at a party, even if it's only for two minutes.
She's almost thankful when she hears someone nearby calling her name.
"Hey, Sarah!"
Sarah snaps her gaze up from her lap and meets eyes with a couple of girls looking up at her from the bottom of the stairs, both wearing bright smiles on their faces. It takes her a minute to realize that they're actually talking to her and not someone else named Sarah. She recognizes them from earlier, the ones from the cheer team, the ones she had thought about smiling to. They must be friends with Clementine. Why on earth are they talking to her?
"Clem said she was looking for you earlier," says the blonde one, Natalie. Her cheerful voice clearly overpowers Sarah's own.
Sarah creases her brows in intrigue. "She was?" Wait, Clementine?
"Yeah, she told us if we saw you to tell you that she'll be upstairs," informs Becca, her brown curls practically bouncing with every word.
"Yeah, I think she wanted to ask you something."
Sarah rises to a stand and looks behind her up the rest of the stairs, still confused. "Where?"
"Her room is at the end of the hallway, on the right." The blonde makes a couple of gestures with her finger, her smile practically radiating.
Sarah glances back once more before forcing herself to smirk back at them. "Thanks."
Hesitantly, she glances behind her while making her way up the rest of the stairs, hoping no one would see her for some reason.
It's completely dead upstairs, with only the muffled sound of the party coming from below. There seems to be no one up here, and that makes Sarah even more confused as to why Clementine would be. Maybe she just wanted to be away from the party too? Clementine did seem to enjoy talking to her for the brief amount of time that they did earlier, so maybe she just wanted someone to be with her? She can't imagine what it is that Clementine would want to ask her, though.
As questions only continue to pile up in her mind, Sarah eventually finds enough courage to bring herself to the half-open door at the end of the hallway.
She pushes it open the rest of the way, hoping this is the right one. When she enters, Clementine is nowhere to be found, however it is definitely her bedroom. The lamp is turned on in the corner of the room, casting a dim light and creating a sort of serene atmosphere.
Sarah can hardly hear anything from downstairs anymore and a part of her is relieved from no longer having to listen to that pounding music.
She glances back down the hallway, then into the room again. Figuring that Clementine is only a little late to meeting her here, she decides to take a step further in with a wandering gaze.
It looks like any regular teenager's room, with a large un-made bed in the corner as well as a dresser, desk and bookshelf. There are a few articles of clothing littering the floor, but it's still a really pretty room. It even has a bench seat positioned underneath the large window. Sarah can also see a door at the other end of the room that leads into a bathroom, amazed that Clementine actually has one of her own attached to her room.
A part of her feels bad for being in here, but Clementine did invite her here, didn't she? So it's not like she's intruding. She thinks that maybe she should go back to the party, however she finds herself being practically drawn further into the room without even noticing it.
She examines the gold and silver trophies that sit on top of the dresser in the meantime. She reads the labels, learning that all of them had been won from cheer competitions over the years.
Continuing along the dress, she eyes the various picture frames of Clementine and her friends. She notices one in particular that had presumably been taken at a cheer performance. They're in a baseball field with a group of cheerleaders at the bottom of the picture, and Clementine is being lifted in the air above their heads, her leg held up to her face as she wears a huge smile on her lips.
Duck did mention that Clem had been doing cheer her whole life, but Sarah didn't know that she actually competed on a team. She wonders what that must be like.
Clementine seems to really love doing cheer. Sarah almost grins at that, but instead whips her head towards the door when she hears someone giggling from down the hallway. She swears her heart may have just stopped.
She freezes where she is, listening for who it might be. Within moments, she realizes the sound of shuffling footsteps are coming right for this room, getting louder by the second. Suddenly reminded that she shouldn't exactly be here right now, she does the only thing she can think of and sprints towards the closet.
A couple of figures burst in just as Sarah closes the door behind her, the suddenness of their voices making her heart pound through her ears. She hears the bedroom door lock behind them, the room becoming so much quieter and darker.
It's pitch black in here, but Sarah is still able to see through the wooden slats in the closet door with obscured vision.
One of the people in the room is Clementine, and Sarah recognizes the other as the boy downstairs who had been standing really close to her. He's wearing a blue jacket and an orange beanie, his brown hair peeking out from underneath. What is he doing here?
Wait… why would Clementine ask her to come here if she was going to be with someone else?
The two of them are laughing and murmuring words to each other that Sarah is too stunned to make out, their voices hushed as if they don't want anyone to hear.
Next thing Sarah knows, he's pushing her down onto the bed and she's giggling continuously.
Sarah's eyes widen at the sight before her.
Completely paralyzed, she can only stare with sheer panic as he runs his hand along her body, kissing her neck and causing her to make noises that Sarah never thought she'd ever want to hear from anyone ever.
God, is she drunk? The idea of him touching her like that while even slightly intoxicated makes Sarah shudder.
"What if someone hears us?" Clementine giggles. Her breath hitches.
Not even wanting to hear whatever it is he may have said to her, Sarah looks away. Her eyes are met with nothing but blackness in the tiny closet she'd somehow found herself trapped in. She can feel various objects crowding around her feet, and clothes hanging somewhere behind her. The sounds of their kissing makes Sarah begin to sweat.
She shouldn't be here, she shouldn't be here, she definitely shouldn't be here.
Wishing she could completely rip out her ears at that point, the guilt feels like it's continuously stabbing at her with every passing moment. A huge part of her is just screaming about how disrespectful it is to be listening in on them like that, but it's not like she had a choice. She didn't even have time to think. What else was she supposed to do? And she can't just walk out there now and risk them seeing her. She doesn't even want to think about what they would say if they saw her.
They're only kissing, but Sarah prays that that's all they're going to do, at least until she finds some way to get the hell out of here. Sarah doesn't know how long it is until she hears Clementine's breathy voice again. It was probably only two seconds, but it felt like forever.
"Wait, wait, stop."
Sarah's heart jumps once more, both worry and hope gripping onto her.
"What about protection?" she asks, panting.
God, Sarah wishes this could just be over.
"I thought you had one," he says.
"Ugh, hold on," Clementine groans with annoyance, pushing him off. "There might be some in my parents' room."
Sarah watches wide-eyed as the other girl stands, heading towards the door. She doesn't miss the way Clementine momentarily stumbles and leans into the doorframe before vanishing into the brightly lit hallway.
The boy sighs heavily.
With the room suddenly dead silent, Sarah is too afraid to even breathe out of fear of being discovered.
At that moment, she wishes she could literally melt away into the darkness as her mind scrambles for an explanation. Clementine hadn't called for her to come here. Of course she didn't. Why would she? Those girls had lied to her in order to get Sarah up here. They knew this was going to happen. They knew Clementine would be here with that guy and they wanted to, what? Make her jealous? Humiliate her? She knew it was too good to be true.
God, how could she be so stupid? Absolutely loathing herself, tears begin to well in her eyes and the room she's in suddenly feels so much smaller. She just has to get out of here. She needs space to breathe.
Noticing that the boy had gone into the bathroom, Sarah carefully peeks her head out from behind the door. She can see him brushing his hands through his own hair in the mirror, clearly too preoccupied with his own reflection to notice her.
Gently closing the closet door behind her, Sarah manages to scurry out of the room and back the way she came without a sound.
She rushes down the hallway with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, her pace quickening by the second. The noises of the party down below gradually reach her ears again and she suddenly finds it so much harder to breathe.
What kind of person does that? And why on earth did Sarah even believe them? She saw the way those girls were laughing at her earlier when that guy pushed her, and they saw her talking to Clementine too. Sarah wanted to believe that maybe they weren't laughing at her at all, and that when they'd said 'hi' to her on the stairs, they actually meant it to be friendly. But of course, why would anyone want to be friendly to her? She's invisible, she always has been. And all people ever want to do is find some way to push her in the dirt.
She can't stay at this party for another minute.
Sarah finds herself practically running down the stairs as the blaring music and chatter sounds in all directions. It's the last kind of atmosphere she wants to be in right now.
"Hope you enjoyed the show, pervert," Sarah hears a female voice call to her from somewhere on the steps as she walks by.
A ripple of laughter erupts among the lingering crowd, and she ignores when one of the boys begin to imitate disturbing sex noises from behind her.
It does nothing to slow her pace. It only makes her run faster, and she doesn't bother to look up. She already knows who said it. Sarah's heart feels as if it's shattering just from their mocking voices, the taunting sounds of it reverberating in her head.
The tears finally spill down Sarah's cheeks as she bursts out the front doors and refuses to look behind her.