Ed, Eddy and I got drinks and stood in the kitchen with Johnny, and Sarah. Jonny grasped Plank in his arms as he took a sip of his soda. Eddy looked over in the living room and there Jimmy and Rolf set more food on a table. I looked outside and saw snow fall ever so gently. Then I saw Kevin and Nazz sitting at a table talking, their voices muffled from the glass sliding door. Nazz seemed excited but yet angry at Kevin for getting out of the hospital. Kevin seemed to try to reassure her, but she looked uncertain. Eddy quickly turned me away from looking anymore.
"Come on sockhead, they can't talk with you staring at them." He guided me to the living room where the food was laid out on long table. Rolf looked at me with a proudful face.
"Rolf took the liberty of making some of the food, straight from Nana's kitchen." I looked at the food carefully to try to see what he made. His dishes were always so…foreign. But the food looked like they were edible, it actually looked like meat. Jonny went straight for a dish that looked like pork and got a handful of chips. Ed as well got the same. I looked at the table more and saw there was a lot of junk food, cookies, brownie, etc. Other than Rolf's mysterious dishes, everything looked really great.
Sarah turned music on that played lightly in the background, while Jimmy and Eddy talked away laughing. The party was wholesome. Seeing everyone gathered made me feel comfortable and happy inside. Rolf came up and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. We both walked through the house slowly.
"Edboy I hope you enjoy my cooking, took me all day." He said with a smile. I gulped and I quickly nodded. His smirk grew wider after my reaction. We walked back to the kitchen where he got more soda out of the fridge, he then looked back into the backyard, then back at me.
"That boy doesn't like to listen. But I don't blame him." He sighed as he closed the fridge. I looked at them and saw that they were cuddling with each other now. Nazz's head rested on Kevin's shoulder, the wind gently carrying their hair. Rolf opened the sliding door and yelled
"Hey! You should both get back inside before you die from the cold!" They both looked back with a smile and headed inside. Kevin smiled at me warmly while Nazz finally greeted me.
"Double D thank you so much for coming." She gave me a warm hug, and let go with a friendly stare.
"Of course Nazz, I wouldn't miss it." Kevin grabbed Nazz's hand gently and smiled at her, guiding her to be with the others. They seemed just fine, in fact they seem like they got together. I felt nothing but happiness for them, they really deserve each other. I turned to Rolf who was giving me a gleeful look.
The life of the party seemed to never die down. All I could hear was chat and laughter that drowned out the music, and friendship that cut us off from the outside world. I noticed that Nazz was about to open the presents. I saw that she was wearing the necklace Kevin made for her already, which laid gently on her collarbones. I studied her whole body as she gathered the presents. Her personality seem to glow around her, like an aura. Her short blonde hair glistened against the fire, and her eyes gave color to the room. Eddy bumped me with his elbow, throwing my gaze off. He smiled at me and then turned to the presents. He noticed that I was staring again and I'm glad he caught me because I could never catch myself. From the pile, she grabbed a large, strangely shaped box that was covered with festive wrapping.
"This is from Sarah and Jimmy; what did you guys get me?" Nazz questioned.
"Just open the box, I'm sure you'll like it." Sarah said. She looked down at the present again and began to rip the wrapping. A black box was uncovered, and as I studied it closer I realized that it was a guitar case. I gave a surprised look to Eddy and Ed, who were also surprised. Nazz's mouth dropped as she slowly opened the case. A beautiful, lightly tanned wooden guitar surfaced. It seemed to glow from the fire; it's strings seemed soft as her fingers lightly glided across them. She slowly strung the guitar and a soft, beautiful sound filled the room. I never knew that Nazz played the guitar. Never in my life have I heard anything of the sort from anyone. Not even Kevin. Kevin seemed to know, though. He gave a big smile to her and she smiled back.
"Oh my God, you guys you shouldn't have!" She looked at Sarah and Jimmy with her big eyes.
"Don't even, you needed a new one after the old one got destroyed." Jimmy said. She looked back at the guitar, and then got up to hug the both of them.
"Thank you so much." She said. She sat back down and resumed opening more presents. Rolf tugged me arm and whispered
"Did Edboy know Nazz can play?"
"No, I never knew." I replied.
"Huh, sometimes Rolf thinks there are many things we do not share amongst us." He looked at Nazz with a smile. I'm not sure why she never told anyone else that she could play. It looked like Kevin, Sarah and Jimmy were the only ones that knew. Ed looked at me with a funny, confused face. I just chuckled and looked back at Nazz. She proceeded to open more gifts. There were gift cards, clothes, new headphones, and then Ed, Eddy and I's gift which was a framed photo of the whole gang.
"Awh this one is so cute you guys, thank you so much." She said to us.
"No problem, Nazz." Eddy replied. Nazz turned to me with hopeful eyes. I nodded lightly, feeling my heart get lifted.
"Thank you so much everyone, you really made this such a great day." Nazz exclaimed. We then continued with the party. As I got water from the fridge I froze in place. I looked around slowly and time seem to slow down. Everyone moved in slow motion, the lights got blurry and all I felt was warmth. I couldn't help but smile from this wholesome moment. I had this feeling of certainty, that we are all going to be friends forever. I couldn't bear to see our lives without each other. I am not sure why we are so connected to each other, but I wasn't complaining. No one could replicate this type of friendship and bond we all share. It's almost like we're family. We all had different directions in life that we were going towards, but I don't think that's enough to separate us.
I walked through the living room and headed upstairs for the bathroom. I felt like I haven't used it all day and I had to really go. I closed the door and the music turned into a muffle and the bass shook the whole room. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw the bags under my eyes. I felt tired; the warmth of the house made me feel sleepy and comfortable enough to fall asleep in the bathroom. As I washed my hands after finishing, I could faintly hear a different tune of music. It wasn't the speaker downstairs, it sounded very soft and ambient. It felt like it was calling me, the beautiful sound lured me out of the bathroom and down the hall of the second floor. I know I shouldn't be up here but it sounded too good to not check out. Near the middle of the hall, a door was opened slightly. The source of the sound was coming from in there. I peeked my eye through the slit of the door and saw a dimly lit room. Almost too dim, if they turned off the lights it wouldn't even make a difference. I saw a nicely made bed with all white sheets, the walls were painted the same soft egg-shell color as downstairs. A simple desk with a laptop was standing beneath the window, which was half covered by the blinds. I scanned my eyes to the left and saw Nazz at the edge of the bed, with the guitar in her arms. Her colorful eyes were looking down at the strings which were being played ever so beautifully. I didn't know what song she was playing, but it sounded amazing. A soft, atmospheric tune filled the whole room. Her fingers glided across the strings calmly, in no rush of finishing the song. I couldn't help but smile and listen. I would have never thought that she could play so well. I tried to lean in closer to hear better but I accidently stumble on the molding of the wall, and fall inside the room. I land on my hands and felt my face flush red. I felt so embarrassed for spying, I couldn't lift my head up for her to see me.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to spy-I mean I wasn't I was just walking by and-" I could feel my throat tighten as I choked on my words. I looked up and saw that Nazz was just smiling.
"It's fine dude, don't worry." She reassured. I got up and stood in the middle of her room, feeling the redness of my cheeks get worse. She pointed me towards her desk chair, telling me to sit down. As I sat down she turned her body forward to me, positioning the guitar for her to play. She looked down at the guitar, speaking softly.
"Not everyone knows I play the guitar, it's something I like to do in my own time y'know? Whenever I felt sad or mad or something, I turn to playing this. It always made me feel better." She strung a chord and looked at me with a smirk.
"The one I had before got too old. The strings started to break, I would drop It by accident and would get chipped. But don't worry I will take good care of this one." She started to play a familiar tune, something that I heard somewhere before. I believe it was a song by an artist she loved, but I forgot the name. I just stared at her, and the guitar. The song blocked out the sounds of the party, and I felt like I was transported elsewhere. It felt like we were both alone in the world.
"I want to say thank you for talking to me the other day." She said.
"I know I was a lot to deal with but it means a lot, you being there for me. I didn't know who else to go to."
"Oh it's no problem at all." I replied
"You weren't difficult. I just wanted you to feel better." I said. She smiled at me and looked back at her guitar. The tempo was slow, and the notes played were low. The room was almost too dark to see her hands move, but I could faintly see them move up and down slowly. Her short hair covered parts of her eye, but they seem to shine right through them. I couldn't stop staring at her, and she knew what I was doing. For some reason I just didn't look away; I didn't want to. She just chuckled and shuffled to her left of her bed more.
"Come sit next to me, I want to show you something." I hesitated a bit before getting up. I felt too nervous but then again I am not sure why I feel nervous. I shouldn't be at all. I sat closely next to her, our legs touching. She pointed to the hole of the guitar, trying to show me something inside. The dim light didn't help much, but as I looked closer I saw that she had taped the photo we gifted her inside. I looked up to her and she was already smiling.
"I wanted it to put somewhere where I could always remember, somewhere that made me feel closest to home. So I put it in my guitar." She said.
"Awh Nazz, that's amazing of you." I replied. Her smile didn't leave her face, she just looked into my eyes, then at my hands.
"Thanks Double D. The photo really means a lot." Nazz said. She softly strung chords as her eyes looked out the window. The snow kept falling down, the wind roaring through the neighborhood. The dead branches of the tree shook off built up snow, piling more snow to the ground. She turned to me and spoke softly.
"Here, I heard you know how to play some instruments. Maybe you can show me." She handed the guitar in my direction, but I kindly declined.
"Oh no, I barely know how to play. I never tried learning." I said.
"Don't worry, I can teach you a thing or two." She placed the guitar in my arms gently. I put my hands in position, ready for her instructions. She looked at my posture and quickly grabbed my hands.
"You're holding it a bit weird, it will be easier to play if you held it this way." Her warm hands guided me across the guitar, in the correct positions. All I did was stare at her the entire time. My chest and stomach felt light, like they were filled with balloons. My heart sank as her hands controlled me.
"There you go like this." She said. She smiled and looked into my eyes. She was still holding one of my hands, but she stopped guiding me to the right positions. We both froze in place, our gazes locked. I didn't know what was happening. I couldn't speak at all, my mouth felt numb and I couldn't breath. The hand she was holding was no longer on the guitar, but in her lap. I looked down at my hand, then back into her eyes. I couldn't tell if our faces got closer or not, the dim light didn't help. But it certainly felt like our bodies got a lot closer. Nazz didn't speak at all either, all she did was look into my eyes, her mouth opened slightly. I was going to speak, but then Nazz leaned in and I felt her lips touch mine. I felt my face get numb, and my body go limp. My eyes widened as I realized what had just happened. Her soft lips didn't want to leave mine, and I just sat there shocked. I looked at her and saw that her eyes were closed. I didn't know what to do, all I did was just take it. I don't know if I even kissed back or not. Her lips slowly pulled away from mine, and the warmth of it as well. She sat up quickly and dashed to the window, her back turned.
"Oh my God I'm sorry Double D- I didn't mean to do that I just got caught in the moment and-and-" Now her words were getting choked up. She still didn't look back at me, she just stared outside. I got up and walked towards her slowly. I don't know why she did that, I thought she was finally with Kevin. They both seemed so happy together downstairs, frankly they seemed happy all the time.
"I'm sorry I know I shouldn't have, that was so dumb of me I know you don't see me that way I-" I grabbed her wrist and turned her towards me. We both looked at each other in silent before speaking. I didn't know what I was doing, I couldn't control myself. It's as if some other entity was controlling me, something alien. I knew this wasn't me, this was someone new. The light in her room felt like it died and all that was left were our shadows, lost in the dark. I guided my hands up her arms and grabbed her face before leaning in once more to kiss her. I closed my eyes as I felt her lips accept mine, and her hands grab my back. I couldn't stop myself, and soon I realize I was too late to stop. What I had done was something unforgivable. Why I did it was uncertain. Something came over me, and took control. Maybe it was just my feelings finally getting what they want. But all I felt in the moment was comfort, and love. We were pinned against the desk, and I could feel her pushing me towards her bed. I wanted to stop but I couldn't get myself to. I opened my eyes and tried to speak to get ourselves to stop, but as I looked my eyes glanced outside. As the snow fell onto the cars, street lights, and trees, I noticed something was in the middle of the driveway. I looked closer and saw that it was a person. I thought that maybe it was someone from the party, or maybe someone's parent. But I soon realized that it wasn't anyone I knew. Instead, the Peach Creek Ghost stood there motionless, staring into the life of the party.