"I'm sorry, Lizzie," I said. They were words I never thought I'd speak. I
so badly to either kiss her, or say something rude and horrible to her. I
didn't have the strength to do either, so I settled for simply being nice.
We broke our embrace. Lizzie wiped her face. "It's okay," she replied automatically, though from the look on her face I could tell it was not okay.
I struggled to speak. "Lizzie.... You can, um... You can come home with me if you want."
She stared at me.
I hoped to God I wasn't blushing. "I mean, we'll call your parents and tell them you're staying the night with me. We'll wash your clothes at my house, and they'll never know anything happened."
Her tears softened, and she wiped her face again. "Are you sure?"
"Of course. People have to crash at my house all the time when they can't go home because they're wasted... Not that you are or anything. I mean... You know what I mean." What the hell? Get a hold of yourself, Sanders. You've always been able to keep your cool around Lizzie before.
She smiled weakly. "Okay."
"Wait here." I left the bathroom to find Ethan and retrieve my cell phone from his pocket. I hurried back to the bathroom, where Lizzie was waiting. I had her dial her number, but she told me she wanted me to ask.
"Mrs. McGuire?" I said in my sweetest, parent-friendly tone. "This is Kate Sanders... I'm at Kayla's party with Lizzie... No, no, Lizzie's fine... A few of the girls are coming over and staying the night at my house after the party, and I was wondering if Lizzie could come, too... Yes, they'll be there..." After a considerable amount of convincing, Mrs. McGuire permitted Lizzie to come home with me-- provided my parents called her as soon as we got home.
We sat in awkward silence in Kayla McKinley's peach-colored bathroom while Lizzie regained composure. We finally decided to leave around the point when a drunken boy with dreadlocks ran in and vomited.
Re-entering the party with Lizzie was a surreal experience. I wasn't used to be civil with her, especially not in public. No one at that party knew who Lizzie was, and few of them even knew who I was. If it had been a Freshman party, things would have been entirely different. But since no one would pay any attention to us, I allowed myself to break yet another one of my rules and walk beside Lizzie McGuire, as if she was a friend. It was weird, and we both knew it.
I found Claire in the kitchen, talking to Miranda again. Just like in Mythology the day before, their conversation was silenced upon my arrival. I became even more suspicious of what was so secretive. I made a mental note to bitch out Claire later. I would have loved to start something right then and there, but the fact that I had Lizzie tagging along meant I had no valid argument. If I asked her why the hell she was hanging out with Miranda, she would simply retaliate with asking why I was hanging out with Lizzie.
"Have you seen Penny and Jordan lately?" I asked her. "I'm kind of ready to get out of here."
Claire's eyes fell upon Lizzie and lit up with curiosity. She pursed her lips, obviously wanting to make a comment, but stopped herself. "I haven't seen them since we got here," she answered. Her voice was slurred a bit. "What's your hurry?"
I shrugged. There was no way I was going to tell her the reason I wanted to leave was actually because Lizzie was ready to go. "This party really isn't all that great."
She eyed me in disbelief. She knew me well enough to know I was hiding something, but I knew she didn't have a clue what it was. I noticed she seemed slightly off-balance. "Well, let's find Nic. Maybe he knows."
Claire and I left the kitchen while Miranda and Lizzie remained. As we walked through the halls of the extravagant home I noticed the partygoers were dropping like flies. Many of them had left, and a fair amount was collapsed in a drunken stupor. Nowhere in this mess did I see Ethan or Nic, much less Penny and Jordan. As we searched, Claire looked over at me questioningly.
"McGuire?" she asked.
I matched her gaze. "Sanchez?"
We both chose not to answer.
A door swung open in the hall and someone jumped at me. Claire and I both screamed, while Ethan giggled with delight.
"You should have seen your face," he said, his cheeks rosy with a childish grin as he placed an arm around me. "That was great."
Claire rolled her eyes. "Very funny. Have you seen Penny and Jordan?"
Ethan scratched his head. "Yeah, I saw them heading back towards Kayla's parents bedroom just a few minutes ago."
"Terrific. We'll be here all night now."
"Let's see if we can find them," I interrupted. The three of turned around and headed in the opposite direction. Ethan led us to the room he claimed belonged to Kayla's parents' room. The door was locked. I could distinctly hear Penny's voice inside the room. We knocked and called out her name. For a while there was no response.
"Go away!" she screamed at last. "I'm busy!"
I sighed. "I guess we'll have to wait around until they're... finished."
Ethan's face lit up. "I say we bust out Kayla's DVD collection."
"I say we bust out the 'rents liquor stash," countered Claire.
I nodded vaguely to each of their suggestions. My mind was intently focused on Lizzie. I knew she didn't feel like spending another minute at that party, but without a ride there was nothing I could do about it.
We found Nic in the kitchen. He must have been reading Claire's mind, for he had climbed up on the counter and searched through each of the cabinets; his search had turned up several bottles of expensive liquor. Miranda and Lizzie were snacking on the remainder of the cheese cubes, watching in horror.
"Can you give Miranda a ride home, Kate?" Lizzie asked. "She was supposed to spend the night with me, but... you know." She looked down at her beer- stained shirt.
I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "As if. There's no way we can convince Jordan to drive all the way over to *your* neighborhood this late at night."
My glared at me, then turned to Lizzie. "It's all right, I don't want to ride with you guys anyway," she spat. "I'll call my mom."
We carried the booze and a portion of the snacks into the living room. Ethan produced a DVD of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and placed it in the player. There were ten to fifteen guests left in the living room. Some of them got up to watch the movie with us, but most were either too drunk to move or too busy making out. I sat in the middle of a plush red couch. Claire sat to my left, Lizzie on my right. A random stranger curled up on the other side of Claire. Ethan had a seat on the floor in front of the couch, leaning against my legs slightly. Nic was in one of the recliners with plenty of booze to keep him busy. A few minutes after the movie started, Miranda returned to us and sat on the floor next to Ethan.
The movie bored me, though Ethan and many others were cracking up through the entire thing. Ten minutes into the movie, I looked over and saw Lizzie fast asleep. Her face was soft in the glow of the big screen television as she slept. On the other side of me, Claire was getting progressively drunk, curled up with a large bottle of aged liquor. At some point in the movie, I heard fits of laughter explode from the floor beneath me that yanked me out of my zone. I looked down and saw Miranda and Ethan, falling over as they laughed at the mishaps of Keanu Reeves and the other guy. Miranda's head fell softly on Ethan's shoulder. I kicked her.
She growled and looked up at me. "Everything okay up there, Kate?" she hissed.
"Why are you still here, Sanchez?" I snapped with equal coldness. "I thought your mom was coming to get you."
"She is. It's a bit of drive from where I live."
I grinned malevolently. "I'll bet it is. The barrio's not too close to this neighborhood, is it?" Even in the dim living room, I saw her face go red with fury.
"Just what is that supposed to mean?"
The doorbell rang, sparing Miranda from any more of my merciless insults. She got up and left the living room to answer the door. It must have been her mother, because she didn't come back.
The movie was nearing the end. My eyes were getting heavy, and Claire looked about ready to throw up. Jordan entered the living room, coming from the den. I looked over at him.
"Where's Penny?" I asked.
He shrugged. "You got me. I haven't seen her in hours."
I was confused. "But then... where have you been all this time?"
"Getting stoned with Chris and Ben. Why?"
I inhaled suddenly as things clicked in my head. I realized with fascination that the male voice in the bedroom with Penny was someone other than Jordan. "Uh... no reason. Are you ready to head out of here?"
Jordan nodded and rubbed his face tiredly. "Yeah. I'll find Pen and we can jet."
I stood up quickly. "I'll find her!" I offered. "I think I saw her heading to the bathroom not too long ago."
I left the living room abruptly and heading towards the back of the house. On the way I passed an upperclassman I didn't recognize, a senior guy with disheveled blonde hair. The hall to Kayla's parents' room was no longer locked, but cracked slightly. I pushed it open slowly. Penny sat alone on the bed, sliding her purple top over a hot pink bra. Her eyes widened in panic at the sight of me before quickly relaxing.
"The rest of us are ready to leave," I said quietly. I was intensely curious about this whole scenario, but I knew enough to keep my mouth shut. "I think you should drive. Jordan's pretty baked."
Penny nodded. "No problem." She grabbed a ponytail holder off the nightstand and pulled up her deflated hair. She stood up and smoothed out her clothes. She grabbed her purse off the floor and carried it over to the vanity, where she reapplied her make-up. As she was putting everything away, she looked over at me and quite casually remarked, "You're a smart girl, right, Katums?"
"I'd say so," I replied.
"Smart enough not to mention this, of course?"
"Of course."
She nodded, and we left.
When I went to wake up Lizzie, I saw that Claire had passed out as well. I sighed. I would need to bring Claire home as well, since she was absolutely smashed. I was slightly disappointed. I would have enjoyed spending time with just Lizzie. But I supposed it was better for me not to be left alone with her; I had been acting so out of character tonight, who knows what regrettable things I might say to Lizzie if I was alone with her.
Dragging Claire to Jordan's car proved to be a difficult task. She was so drunk she could hardly walk. Lizzie ended up helping me carry her. The drive home was a tight fit. Nic, Jordan, and Penny sat up front, while Lizzie, Ethan, Claire, and I were squished in the back. It was about 3:00 in the morning at that point, and all of us were too tired to make conversation. Jordan tuned the radio to a station that played old rock music. The volume was low, and the reception had alot of static.
Lizzie and I unloaded Claire at my house and carried her inside. The house was dark except for the blue glow of the TV in the living room. It was an infomercial for some miracle-working kitchen appliance.
"Button, is that you?" a slurred voice called from the living room.
I sighed. Mother was awake, and quite obviously drunk. "Yeah, Mom. I'm home and I'm going to bed. I brought some friends, and we're all too tired to talk, okay?"
I heard her stand up and walk to the entryway. Lizzie and I had the half- conscious Claire's arms draped around us to keep her from falling to the ground. I tried to get Lizzie to move up the stairs so we could avoid my mother, but Lizzie didn't move. I assumed she thought it would be rude to run away while my mom was speaking to us.
"What friends?" my mother asked as she came towards us. She came into the light of the entryway. She held a wine glass full of Vodka. It was a beautiful irony: hard liquor in a classy goblet. "Lizzie McGuire? How delightful... Kate never brings home good kids like you anymore."
"You're absolutely right, Mom," I said without sincerity, rushing the conversation along. "Too bad there's no time for catching up. We're all tuckered out." Come on, Lizzie, let's go upstairs." Lizzie looked uncertainly between my mother and me, and took slow steps toward the stairway.
My mother looked at the drunken Claire, head bobbing from side to side as we held her. Mom laughed at her. "But of course you had to bring this one, didn't you?" Her voice was cruel and cold. "She's looking just lovely tonight, isn't she? Filthy piece of shit, this one."
Lizzie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the comment. I rolled my eyes and ignored it, for it was nothing new. My mother had never liked Claire. "Goodnight, mom. Kisses." I motioned for Lizzie to move. This time, she didn't hesitate to hurry up the stairs.
We broke our embrace. Lizzie wiped her face. "It's okay," she replied automatically, though from the look on her face I could tell it was not okay.
I struggled to speak. "Lizzie.... You can, um... You can come home with me if you want."
She stared at me.
I hoped to God I wasn't blushing. "I mean, we'll call your parents and tell them you're staying the night with me. We'll wash your clothes at my house, and they'll never know anything happened."
Her tears softened, and she wiped her face again. "Are you sure?"
"Of course. People have to crash at my house all the time when they can't go home because they're wasted... Not that you are or anything. I mean... You know what I mean." What the hell? Get a hold of yourself, Sanders. You've always been able to keep your cool around Lizzie before.
She smiled weakly. "Okay."
"Wait here." I left the bathroom to find Ethan and retrieve my cell phone from his pocket. I hurried back to the bathroom, where Lizzie was waiting. I had her dial her number, but she told me she wanted me to ask.
"Mrs. McGuire?" I said in my sweetest, parent-friendly tone. "This is Kate Sanders... I'm at Kayla's party with Lizzie... No, no, Lizzie's fine... A few of the girls are coming over and staying the night at my house after the party, and I was wondering if Lizzie could come, too... Yes, they'll be there..." After a considerable amount of convincing, Mrs. McGuire permitted Lizzie to come home with me-- provided my parents called her as soon as we got home.
We sat in awkward silence in Kayla McKinley's peach-colored bathroom while Lizzie regained composure. We finally decided to leave around the point when a drunken boy with dreadlocks ran in and vomited.
Re-entering the party with Lizzie was a surreal experience. I wasn't used to be civil with her, especially not in public. No one at that party knew who Lizzie was, and few of them even knew who I was. If it had been a Freshman party, things would have been entirely different. But since no one would pay any attention to us, I allowed myself to break yet another one of my rules and walk beside Lizzie McGuire, as if she was a friend. It was weird, and we both knew it.
I found Claire in the kitchen, talking to Miranda again. Just like in Mythology the day before, their conversation was silenced upon my arrival. I became even more suspicious of what was so secretive. I made a mental note to bitch out Claire later. I would have loved to start something right then and there, but the fact that I had Lizzie tagging along meant I had no valid argument. If I asked her why the hell she was hanging out with Miranda, she would simply retaliate with asking why I was hanging out with Lizzie.
"Have you seen Penny and Jordan lately?" I asked her. "I'm kind of ready to get out of here."
Claire's eyes fell upon Lizzie and lit up with curiosity. She pursed her lips, obviously wanting to make a comment, but stopped herself. "I haven't seen them since we got here," she answered. Her voice was slurred a bit. "What's your hurry?"
I shrugged. There was no way I was going to tell her the reason I wanted to leave was actually because Lizzie was ready to go. "This party really isn't all that great."
She eyed me in disbelief. She knew me well enough to know I was hiding something, but I knew she didn't have a clue what it was. I noticed she seemed slightly off-balance. "Well, let's find Nic. Maybe he knows."
Claire and I left the kitchen while Miranda and Lizzie remained. As we walked through the halls of the extravagant home I noticed the partygoers were dropping like flies. Many of them had left, and a fair amount was collapsed in a drunken stupor. Nowhere in this mess did I see Ethan or Nic, much less Penny and Jordan. As we searched, Claire looked over at me questioningly.
"McGuire?" she asked.
I matched her gaze. "Sanchez?"
We both chose not to answer.
A door swung open in the hall and someone jumped at me. Claire and I both screamed, while Ethan giggled with delight.
"You should have seen your face," he said, his cheeks rosy with a childish grin as he placed an arm around me. "That was great."
Claire rolled her eyes. "Very funny. Have you seen Penny and Jordan?"
Ethan scratched his head. "Yeah, I saw them heading back towards Kayla's parents bedroom just a few minutes ago."
"Terrific. We'll be here all night now."
"Let's see if we can find them," I interrupted. The three of turned around and headed in the opposite direction. Ethan led us to the room he claimed belonged to Kayla's parents' room. The door was locked. I could distinctly hear Penny's voice inside the room. We knocked and called out her name. For a while there was no response.
"Go away!" she screamed at last. "I'm busy!"
I sighed. "I guess we'll have to wait around until they're... finished."
Ethan's face lit up. "I say we bust out Kayla's DVD collection."
"I say we bust out the 'rents liquor stash," countered Claire.
I nodded vaguely to each of their suggestions. My mind was intently focused on Lizzie. I knew she didn't feel like spending another minute at that party, but without a ride there was nothing I could do about it.
We found Nic in the kitchen. He must have been reading Claire's mind, for he had climbed up on the counter and searched through each of the cabinets; his search had turned up several bottles of expensive liquor. Miranda and Lizzie were snacking on the remainder of the cheese cubes, watching in horror.
"Can you give Miranda a ride home, Kate?" Lizzie asked. "She was supposed to spend the night with me, but... you know." She looked down at her beer- stained shirt.
I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "As if. There's no way we can convince Jordan to drive all the way over to *your* neighborhood this late at night."
My glared at me, then turned to Lizzie. "It's all right, I don't want to ride with you guys anyway," she spat. "I'll call my mom."
We carried the booze and a portion of the snacks into the living room. Ethan produced a DVD of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and placed it in the player. There were ten to fifteen guests left in the living room. Some of them got up to watch the movie with us, but most were either too drunk to move or too busy making out. I sat in the middle of a plush red couch. Claire sat to my left, Lizzie on my right. A random stranger curled up on the other side of Claire. Ethan had a seat on the floor in front of the couch, leaning against my legs slightly. Nic was in one of the recliners with plenty of booze to keep him busy. A few minutes after the movie started, Miranda returned to us and sat on the floor next to Ethan.
The movie bored me, though Ethan and many others were cracking up through the entire thing. Ten minutes into the movie, I looked over and saw Lizzie fast asleep. Her face was soft in the glow of the big screen television as she slept. On the other side of me, Claire was getting progressively drunk, curled up with a large bottle of aged liquor. At some point in the movie, I heard fits of laughter explode from the floor beneath me that yanked me out of my zone. I looked down and saw Miranda and Ethan, falling over as they laughed at the mishaps of Keanu Reeves and the other guy. Miranda's head fell softly on Ethan's shoulder. I kicked her.
She growled and looked up at me. "Everything okay up there, Kate?" she hissed.
"Why are you still here, Sanchez?" I snapped with equal coldness. "I thought your mom was coming to get you."
"She is. It's a bit of drive from where I live."
I grinned malevolently. "I'll bet it is. The barrio's not too close to this neighborhood, is it?" Even in the dim living room, I saw her face go red with fury.
"Just what is that supposed to mean?"
The doorbell rang, sparing Miranda from any more of my merciless insults. She got up and left the living room to answer the door. It must have been her mother, because she didn't come back.
The movie was nearing the end. My eyes were getting heavy, and Claire looked about ready to throw up. Jordan entered the living room, coming from the den. I looked over at him.
"Where's Penny?" I asked.
He shrugged. "You got me. I haven't seen her in hours."
I was confused. "But then... where have you been all this time?"
"Getting stoned with Chris and Ben. Why?"
I inhaled suddenly as things clicked in my head. I realized with fascination that the male voice in the bedroom with Penny was someone other than Jordan. "Uh... no reason. Are you ready to head out of here?"
Jordan nodded and rubbed his face tiredly. "Yeah. I'll find Pen and we can jet."
I stood up quickly. "I'll find her!" I offered. "I think I saw her heading to the bathroom not too long ago."
I left the living room abruptly and heading towards the back of the house. On the way I passed an upperclassman I didn't recognize, a senior guy with disheveled blonde hair. The hall to Kayla's parents' room was no longer locked, but cracked slightly. I pushed it open slowly. Penny sat alone on the bed, sliding her purple top over a hot pink bra. Her eyes widened in panic at the sight of me before quickly relaxing.
"The rest of us are ready to leave," I said quietly. I was intensely curious about this whole scenario, but I knew enough to keep my mouth shut. "I think you should drive. Jordan's pretty baked."
Penny nodded. "No problem." She grabbed a ponytail holder off the nightstand and pulled up her deflated hair. She stood up and smoothed out her clothes. She grabbed her purse off the floor and carried it over to the vanity, where she reapplied her make-up. As she was putting everything away, she looked over at me and quite casually remarked, "You're a smart girl, right, Katums?"
"I'd say so," I replied.
"Smart enough not to mention this, of course?"
"Of course."
She nodded, and we left.
When I went to wake up Lizzie, I saw that Claire had passed out as well. I sighed. I would need to bring Claire home as well, since she was absolutely smashed. I was slightly disappointed. I would have enjoyed spending time with just Lizzie. But I supposed it was better for me not to be left alone with her; I had been acting so out of character tonight, who knows what regrettable things I might say to Lizzie if I was alone with her.
Dragging Claire to Jordan's car proved to be a difficult task. She was so drunk she could hardly walk. Lizzie ended up helping me carry her. The drive home was a tight fit. Nic, Jordan, and Penny sat up front, while Lizzie, Ethan, Claire, and I were squished in the back. It was about 3:00 in the morning at that point, and all of us were too tired to make conversation. Jordan tuned the radio to a station that played old rock music. The volume was low, and the reception had alot of static.
Lizzie and I unloaded Claire at my house and carried her inside. The house was dark except for the blue glow of the TV in the living room. It was an infomercial for some miracle-working kitchen appliance.
"Button, is that you?" a slurred voice called from the living room.
I sighed. Mother was awake, and quite obviously drunk. "Yeah, Mom. I'm home and I'm going to bed. I brought some friends, and we're all too tired to talk, okay?"
I heard her stand up and walk to the entryway. Lizzie and I had the half- conscious Claire's arms draped around us to keep her from falling to the ground. I tried to get Lizzie to move up the stairs so we could avoid my mother, but Lizzie didn't move. I assumed she thought it would be rude to run away while my mom was speaking to us.
"What friends?" my mother asked as she came towards us. She came into the light of the entryway. She held a wine glass full of Vodka. It was a beautiful irony: hard liquor in a classy goblet. "Lizzie McGuire? How delightful... Kate never brings home good kids like you anymore."
"You're absolutely right, Mom," I said without sincerity, rushing the conversation along. "Too bad there's no time for catching up. We're all tuckered out." Come on, Lizzie, let's go upstairs." Lizzie looked uncertainly between my mother and me, and took slow steps toward the stairway.
My mother looked at the drunken Claire, head bobbing from side to side as we held her. Mom laughed at her. "But of course you had to bring this one, didn't you?" Her voice was cruel and cold. "She's looking just lovely tonight, isn't she? Filthy piece of shit, this one."
Lizzie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped at the comment. I rolled my eyes and ignored it, for it was nothing new. My mother had never liked Claire. "Goodnight, mom. Kisses." I motioned for Lizzie to move. This time, she didn't hesitate to hurry up the stairs.