Chapter 51: Waking Up in Wonderland
(ECHO)
You gotta help me out
It's all a blur last night
We need a taxi 'cause you're hungover
And I'm broke
I watched Liv lead Eva away anxiously, but she seemed okay…not on the verge of complete hysteria like she had been. I sipped some of the sweet liquid out of my cup as Ivy and Summer sat me down, spreading the cards in a circle around the table.
"Alright, I'm guessing you've never played Circle of Death?" I looked up at Summer blankly, she laughed, sitting down. "Rob! Rob, come play with us!" The lanky boy smirked, folding in half to sit at the table. He leaned over to lightly brush his lips over Summer's hair. She blushed as she sat down next to him.
"Alright, you pick a card, we tell you what the card is. Most of them have to do with drinking." Summer said. "Look, I'll go first."
She reached out, picking up a card and flipping it over. It revealed an eight of spades. "Okay, eight is mate. You pick someone and whenever they drink, you have to drink. And, because I always do, Robert's my mate."
"She just likes to get me drunk." Robert stated. "But it works both ways, I drink, so does she." He smiled at me helpfully. "Your turn."
I got the hang of the game quickly, pulling cards with the group. People left and entered the game randomly, inserting themselves in between us, sitting on their friend's laps. People were constantly moving… and the room seemed to sparkle and shimmer with the energy coming off the kids everywhere.
"Oh! I love this song!" Ivy yelled, jumping up. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair falling out of the messy bun she'd thrown it back in an hour before. She reached out, grabbing my hands, pulling me up and almost falling backwards. I had to reach out to steady her.
"You don't look as drunk as me!" She commented. "You haven't had enough."
"I've been going cup for cup with you, what are you talking about?" I teased. She laughed, throwing her head back, tossing her hands carelessly in the sky, her hips rolling, body swaying.
You got me into this…information overload
Situation, lost control.
Send out an SOS.
I moved with her, dropping, shimmying, dancing. There's something magical about dancing, some sort of common, everyday magic. Two girls dancing with each other, moving to the same beat can weave a spell between them more powerful, more compelling than any a witch can cook up. And it's something you don't need violet eyes or witch blood to accomplish.
"Coco! Coco!" Eva yelled, throwing her arms around my shoulders. Her eyes were sparkling, her cheeks flushed a healthy pink color. Her blonde hair was starting to curl again from the heat, falling in loose waves over her shoulders. She was absolutely stunning. Liv seemed entranced by her, and Emma was staring at her like she'd missed something.
"Hey Evie." I said softly. "Havin' fun?"
"Uh huh." She said, nodding emphatically, kissing my cheek. "Thank you for talkin' me into this." Her words slurred together a bit.
"I think you've had a bit too much." I said, half laughing. "Maybe you should sit down."
"No no no." She shook her head. "I wanna dance with you. You're the best dancer." She said, moving slowly, her pout sweet on her face. I sighed, quickly spinning her around. Her laughter was like bells. I danced with her for a few minutes, before twirling her back to Ivy and Liv. I made my way through the crowd, slipping out the window onto the fire escape I'd seen people escaping to all night. There was only one person leaning over the railing.
"Hey Emma." I said, pausing, half out the window.
"You can come out. I don't bite." She said, inhaling the smoke from her cigarette.
"Didn't know you smoked." I said. She held out the cigarette to me, I shook my head.
"Only when I'm here. It's like a whole different world, different rules, different life…" She trailed off.
"Same secrets though." I said softly, leaning beside her.
"I don't want you here." She said bluntly. "I don't want that…La Push, I don't want to bring that here. I don't want to drag them into it. You know what their biggest concerns are? Falling in love, money for rent, cigarettes, booze, and passing the semester. They don't know or care about good or evil, werewolves or vampires."
"I don't think that's your big concern, Em." I said, tilting my head to the side, inspecting her. "I think your big concern is that you don't get drawn back into it."
"I'm already in it. I can never get away." She muttered, looking out over the night sky.
"You tried your hardest, got as far away as you could. And, trust me, I might be the one person that'll never judge you for it. Our lives? They're crazy, and we were born into it without a choice. I wish…I've wished lots of times I could be anybody except myself. I can't get away from it, Emma, but it's unfair to dislike me cause I can't. I won't bring this into your life…I won't bring it into theirs. I promise."
"You screwed up Isaac's life." She accused.
"Yeah." I began sarcastically. "That was entirely my fault. How dare I handcuff your brother to me and force him to be in a relationship with me."
"You didn't stick around to make things right." She pointed out.
"I still don't know how to make things right for my sister and your brother, and if you have any ideas, feel free to let me know, but the best thing I could think to do was to leave them alone together." I argued.
"You were never right for him."
"Well, hindsight's a bitch." I spit out, ducking back inside. I grabbed my drink back off the table, downing it all. The crowd was thinning out, I sat down on the couch next to Robert.
"How's your first college party?" He asked, his voice was rough, like crackling fire. I wondered if it hurt him to talk, I wondered if it felt like fire was going to come out of his throat.
"Ah, it's fine. Eva's having fun." I shrugged.
"Emma got to you?" He asked after a short pause. I turned, wide eyed.
"How'd you…?" I started.
"She's protective. It's weird. When I first started dating Sum she put me through the ringer. It's sweet…in her way. I guess she didn't know you that well back in your hometown."
"Never really took the time." I shrugged. "I was always under the impression she never liked La Push."
"Well, I was never a big fan of my hometown either." He grinned, handing me a game controller.
By the time we'd finished our second game, the crowd was gone. It was just the four girls who lived there, clicking glasses together as they cleaned up, Robert, Eva, and I. Eva's head lolled against my shoulder.
"We should probably get home." I said, standing, giving Eva my hands and pulling her up.
"You're going to walk home?" Liv said, frowning. "By yourselves? No way!"
"They'll be fine." Emma said, her voice like steel as she threw something in the sink. The other three girls turned to look at her, shocked.
"Emmy! It's like two in the morning! You've never let us walk home alone! They're not even from here!" Liv said quickly.
"We'll all walk home with you. We could use the fresh air." Summer said, taking Robert's hand. "Let us get our jackets on."
We made our way down the Seattle streets, taking a 'shortcut', or at least what Summer described as one. The streetlamps glowed brightly as we walked.
"Oooh, look, how pretty." Eva cooed. Her eyes glowed as she pointed at a big fountain in front of some sort of skyscraper. The lights around it cast the figures on top in shadow. They looked almost like angels.
"Ah, I think we made a wrong turn." Summer muttered, looking back. The fountain water ran over the edge, I could hear its song. The melody in my head was back, it matched the trickling sound from the water. It called to me.
I headed toward the fountain. "Echo, what are you doing?" Ivy called after me. I took off my shoes. "Echo, it's freezing!" She yelled, walking toward me.
"Maybe she had more to drink than we thought." Liv mused quietly.
I rolled up my jeans, climbing up on the edge of the fountain. "Echo, Echo, you're going to get hypothermic." Emma called. I grinned over my shoulder.
"You know I won't Em." I wink, jumping into the fountain, the water splashed up over my arms, soaked my jeans. I laughed, slicking my hair back.
"You're ridiculous." Emma sputtered, her hands on her hips.
"I wanna go!" Eva said, looking at Liv. Liv was giggling madly.
"C 'mon Em, it's just like that time we all went swimming in January back home. Remember?" I kicked the water up. "Oh, wait, you didn't go into the water with the rest of us."
"Shut it Echo and let's go." Emma ordered, stepping closer. That was her biggest mistake of the night. Quickly, so quickly I doubt she had time to appreciate what I was about to do, I ducked down, scooping the water in my hands, and sending it spraying over Emma.
There was shocked silence as Emma wiped the water from her face. Then Robert began to laugh.
"That is it." Emma hissed, throwing off her jacket and running into the fountain. She tackled me with all the force of her body, knocking us both into the water. I rolled over, pushing her under as I stood back up.
"Rob, stop them!" Summer said.
"I think you should." Rob said. "This could only get hotter if you were involved."
"Rob you pig!" Summer said. Emma kicked my leg out from under me and I fell back down in the water. I looked up as she surfaced, her hair dripping wet.
And she was laughing. She stood, offering me her hand.
"C'mon, get up you crazy bitch." Emma said, a hint of affection in her voice.
"You're not going to throw me back down again, are you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Y'know, I can't remember ever seeing you do something completely insane. It's a nice change." Emma giggled, pulling me out of the water.
"You guys should come in, not that cold!" I yelled back. Robert laughed, running up to the fountain and splashing in between the both of us. He was followed quickly by the rest of the girls, who all fell, laughing into the water.
Remember what you told me… told me… told me…
Shut up and put your money where your mouth is
That's what you get for waking up in Vegas
Get up and shake the glitter off your clothes now
That's what you get for waking up in Vegas
We played in the fountain for an hour before we left, chilled. When we finally made it back to my townhouse, I threw Eva in the shower and let the girls borrow my clothes. Robert said he was man enough to bear the walk back soaked. I threw their clothes in the washer after they left, made sure Evie was asleep and that her alarm was set, and walked into my room, still soaked to the bone. I shut my bedroom door, and looked up in the mirror.
Chris's face appeared right beside my reflection and I turned, my hands resting instantly on his rock-hard chest. His mouth was on mine instantly, lifting me effortlessly and pinning me against the wall. My legs wrapped around his waist and my fingers clutched his dark curls.
"How long have you been here?" I asked as his lips descended to my neck, dancing lightly over my skin.
"I didn't know where you were." He whispered. "So I waited."
"Stalker." My breath caught in my throat as he peeled away the strap of my tank top.
"There's something about you when you're water-logged." He whispered. "It makes me crazy."
"Do your worst." I teased, trailing my fingers over his exposed skin.
"I can't." He rested his forehead against mine. "I love you too much. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."
I took his face in my hands, turning his golden eyes to mine. "You really love me?" I asked, the words barely coming out.
"Yes." He said, his lips inches from mine.
"Why?" I asked. I didn't realize the answer meant so much to me. Tears stung my eyes.
"I never wanted to die, Echo." He said slowly. "Living…it meant more to me than anything else. I enjoyed every moment…and I lost it. But…when I'm here, when you're with me, when I hear you sing, when you talk… I feel alive again."
The silence was heavy. I tried to find the confident Echo, the one that had no problem splashing Emma Uley or dancing with strangers. But she'd fled just as quickly as she'd come, and I had no shield, nothing to protect me. "Do you love me, Coelle?" He asked, his voice soft.
"I can't." I whispered. "What if…what if you leave me…"
"I won't. I won't ever leave you." He whispered. "And I'll stay. I'll stay until you know I won't leave. I'll stay."
"You will?" I asked.
"I will. It's not like you have another sister or anything." He said, smirking. It melted my heart and I couldn't help but giggle just a bit.
"That's not even a little bit funny. You should be ashamed." I said, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"I'm sorry." He said, running his hands through my hair. "I won't say it again. But can I ask for one thing?"
"Of course." I said, smiling.
"Will you be my girlfriend? Officially?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. His gaze took my breath away, all I could do was nod.
That's what you get, baby…
Shake the glitter…shake, shake the glitter…
(EVA)
I was in a church. I was sitting on a pew, surrounded by all of La Push. My aunt Cassie sat beside me, tears in her eyes. I looked up toward the altar. I was standing there too, long curls glowing in the light filtering through the stained glass. Beside me stood Delilah, and beside her another girl, taller, with short, auburn hair. I wanted to scrutinize her, to figure out who she was, then the music changed. I turned, as did everyone else. And I saw a vision.
My best friend was dressed all in white, a long flowing gown that fluttered as she walked, her dad was holding her arm, a bouquet of white and red roses. Her dark hair hung over her gold-dusted skin. Something churned in my stomach, butterflies. I turned quickly to see who the groom was.
Christian's golden eyes were soft as he watched Echo walk down the aisle. I gasped in shocked, but nobody else seemed bothered.
"Echo Black." The priest said, smiling. "Is it true that you come here of your own free will and accord?"
"Yes." Echo said, glowing, her hand still lingering on Jacob's arm.
"And with who do you come and whose blessings accompany you?" The priest ask. Jacob cleared his throat.
"She comes with me, her father, and accompanied by the blessings of all her family." Jake looked sadly over at Echo, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "Go get him, kiddo." He whispered, stepping away.
"Please join hands with your betrothed." The man said. Echo reached out, taking Christian's hands in her own. A single tear ran down her face.
I woke up in my bed, the blaring of the alarm clock frightening me. I sat up, quickly hitting it, taking a couple deep breaths.
"What the hell was that?" I asked out loud, although I already knew the answer. Echo's future. Christian.
I slipped out of bed, my head throbbing as I walked across the hallway, cracking open Coco's door.
"Echo, you awake?" I asked softly.
"No, she's not." Another voice answered me. I covered my mouth so I wouldn't squeal. Christian chuckled and I opened the door more. He was laying beside Echo on her bed, her head was resting where his heart should have beat.
"Do you need something, Miss Eva?" He asked, looking at me from over the top of his book.
"N…no. I…I just wanted her to tell me exactly what happened last night. It's a little blurry." I said, blushing.
"Yeah, she said you had a fun night." He laughed again. "Don't worry, as far as I can tell, you didn't embarrass yourself. Oh…and I hope you don't mind, but I put some coffee on for you a couple minutes ago, and there's a bottle of Tylenol on the counter. I heard that's the best hangover cure." He offered. I paused, confused.
"Thank…thank you?" I said.
"You're welcome. Have fun at class." He said. I shut the door, leaning against it as it closed.
I didn't know what to think anymore.
But I knew I'd never seen Echo so happy before. Never. And wasn't…wasn't that the most important thing?
