Thanks again for all the great reviews. Today is kind of an open day for me, so I'm getting a lot written. Hope you're enjoying it so far! I promise that things will pick up soon.
That night, Anna came home with Lexi. A note had been left on the kitchen table that read:
Went up to LA for the weekend to
meet with the editor.
Should be home on Sunday
night.
Dad
Shrugging, Anna tossed the note. Lexi looked at her, wide-eyed and expectantly. "What?" Anna questioned.
"Your dad just leaves for weekends at a time?" Lexi asked in amazement.
Anna had never thought anything of this. When she was back in Wisconsin, he used to tavel down to Milwaukee or Chicago to meet with editors all the time. That's just how things were. "Yeah, sure. Why?"
Grinning, Lexi picked up the phone. "I think it's about time that we invite a few people over."
Anna grew panicky. "No, no, I can't have a party. If my Dad found out, he'd kill me." Lexi just laughed.
"No, not a party, just a small get-together. Trust me, it'll be wicked fun and everyone will think you're really cool if you do it. Let me handle this." For the next half hour, Lexi made a few phone calls, getting people to come. When she hung up from the last one, she grinned, then looked Anna over. "Umm, Anna, let's go up to your room and find you something to wear, okay?"
"What's wrong with this?" Anna asked, motioning to her soccer shorts and tee-shirt.
"Well...nothing is wrong with it...I just think Jake would love to see you in something...really cute?" Lexi said, as nice as she could. The way she said it made it sound not so mean.
"Oh...alright. Well, my closet it up in my room, so..." Before she could finish, Lexi had taken off up the stairs and into her room. When she opened her closet, her eyes grew wide.
"You have all of this, and wear soccer shorts and jeans everyday?" She asked in disbelief. Anna shrugged. "Ohh, now this is cute." Lexi said, pulling a tight, black halter from the closet. After sorting through all of her clothes, Lexi decided to have her wear the tight black halter, short white mini skirt, and black, small sandal heels. Anna went to change in her bathroom, and noticed that her bruises were very visible in this. Panicking, she started applying large amounts of make-up to her arms. "You ready in there?" Lexi asked.
"Yeah, almost." Anna shouted through the door. She thought she had covered up most of the visible bruises, and let down her hair to cover the tops of her arms. Walking out, Lexi cat-called at her.
"You look hot." She said, evaluating her. "And you have that whole sexy hair thing going on with your waves. Jake is going to be knocked out." Anna bit her lip, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "Everyone should be here in about a half hour...hey, do you mind if I wear this?" Lexi held up a small, strapless green shirt that tied in the back.
"Yeah, sure, wear whatever."
Lexi went to change and Anna looked herself over in her full-length mirror. She felt really uncomfortable in the clothes she was wearing. Thinking back, she realized that she'd never worn a halter in her life. Coming out of the bathroom, Lexi looked stunning. Her long blonde hair and perfect figure accented the tight gree shirt perfectly. Her tanned legs jutted out beneath a white skirt, similar to the one Anna had one. "God, we look sexy." Lexi commented. "Oh here, Anna, let me do your make-up."
After another ten or so minutes of Lexi applying make-up to Anna, (she had gone for the smokey eyes look) the doorbell finally rang. "They're here!" Lexi grinned, excitedly running towards the door. Anna stayed back in her room for a few minutes, trying to get herself together. After looking in the mirror, she couldn't help but not recignize her own self. Her skin was even getting tan.
"Am I turning in to one of them? I can't be, not after I told myself that I would stay true to myself...what is everyone going to say?" Music had started playing downstairs, and Anna heard more voices than what should have been present at a "small get-together". Walking downstairs, she saw that there were at least 50 people in her house and more were entering, most of which she didn' t even know. When Jake spotted her, his mouth dropped open in disbelief. He tapped Bradin who was standing next to him with Callie and pointed. Bradin's eyes grew wide. Was that really Anna? She looked...amazing. Callie rolled her eyes and pulled Bradin away.
"I thought we were getting ice cream." She pouted.
"Oh come on Callie, you didn't want to miss the party, did you?" Callie just rolled her eyes and walked away. This time Bradin didn't go after her. He looked around for Anna, only to see her disappear back upstairs. Nobody else was paying attention, so he casually walked up the stairs. Not knowing where her room was, he took a guess by which one had the light shining through it. Walking up to the door, he knocked.
"Yeah?" Anna asked, wondering who would be knocking. Bradin walked in, smiling when he saw her at her desk. "Oh, hey Bradin." She smiled. He was still in awe of house beautiful she looked.
"Hey, you. Ditching your own party?" He laughed.
"Not mine, it was Lexi's idea. I'm just hiding out up here because I don't really know many people down there, so, you know." Bradin sat on her bed, as she turned to him in her chair. "And what about you? Isn't Callie having a fit by now that you're not with her?" Anna joked.
Bradin rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. She'll get over it." The two sat in silence for a few moments. Anna was scribbling something on a piece of paper, and Bradin was taking another look at her. OUt of the corner of his eye, he caught something on her arm. It looked to be a really bad bruise. "Ouch, how'd you do that?" He asked. Anna looked up, confused. Bradin pointed to her arm and again Anna flushed.
"Ohh...well, we had a rough practice. Got kind of physical..." Anna tried laughing it off.
"Sounds like a violent sport...first your lip and now your arms." Bradin said steadily.
"Hey, you ready to go back down there?" Anna interrupted wanting only to get off this conversation. Bradin let it go again, following Anna back to the party.
"Anna!" Jake shouted from across the room. Anna couldn't even tell how many people were there anymore. She walked over to Jake.
"Hey." He wrapped her in a hug, and she flinched. Jake didn't notice though, and kept her in his arms.
"We were looking for you before. Where were you?" Bradin took this as his cue to go find Callie, whom he knew would be furious at him for disappearing.
"Oh, I was just upstairs, but I'm here now." She smiled as she wiggled free from his grasp. Jake took a sip from a water bottle, and then offered Anna some. "Oh, thanks, I am really thirsty actually." Opening the cap, Anna took a big gulp from the bottle, and just then her eyes grew wide. Swallowing, she looked up at Jake. "What in the hell was that?" She asked, disgusted.
Jake laughed and put a reassuring arm around here. "Vodka...haven't you ever had any before?" Anna shook her head.
"I'm from Wisconsin, the only thing we drink is beer."
Smiling, Jake held out the bottle for her again. "Some more?" He coaxed. Hesitantly, Anna took the bottle from him. She didn't really want to take the vodka, but she didn't want to be a loser either. So, she took another gulp from the bottle and swallowed.
"That is the worst tasting thing I've ever had." Anna complained. Jake laughed again, not really paying attention. "Hey, where are Eric and Lexi? I haven't seen either of them for a long time." Anna asked aloud.
Shrugging, Jake responded. "Probably having sex somewhere or something. Where else would they be?" Maybe it was the way he said it...so casually, or the fact that it was actually happening that creeped Anna out.
"You mean like..they are having sex, somewhere in my house?" She was disgusted.
"Nah, they probably walked to the Cove or something. That's where everyone does it." He responded. Shaken by this, Anna grabbed the bottle from him again, sipping another swig of vodka, only so she wouldn't think about what Jake had just told her.
As the night dwindled on, people came and left. Lexi and Eric finally showed up again, both wearing big smiles on their faces. Bradin left with Callie, probably to go get that ice cream he had promised her, and Jake stayed by Anna's side, as they both casually sipped the vodka. Anna had never really drank before. Sure she'd had a beer with her friends back home on occassion, just to feel like a rebel, but never anything like this. And the alcohol was affecting her faster than she'd expected. Not wanting to ruin anything for herself, she decided to retire to sleep. She didn't want it to get to the point where she wasn't in control anymore, because Anna knew bad things would come from that. So at midnight, she said goodnight to Jake. "I'm just not feeling so great," she used as her excuse.
Disappointed, Jake nodded. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then, right?" Anna nodded and headed upstairs, not caring when everyone left. She knew Lexi would take care of it. After changing into her pajamas and out of her sexy "get up", Anna went over to the windows to close her blinds. Across the way, she saw Bradin sitting at his desk. He looked up at her, and she smiled, waving at him through the screened in window.
"Night Bradin." She said quietly.
He smiled. "Goodnight Anna."
