"Come on out! Don't be shy," Liz said outside my bedroom.
"No way! I feel way too exposed. Are you sure I can't just wear jeans and a hoodie?" I asked.
"No way in hell!" Patty said loudly. "This is our last high school party. And I know your fancy schmancy college won't have anything like this."
"But," I started still staring at myself in my full-length mirror.
"Just think about how hot you'll look for your date," Tsubaki inputted.
I shuddered. When I told Tsubaki how Soul had forced me to become his date, she hadn't been all that shocked. Instead, she had said,
"It's a good thing you're going to look hot. You might need to seduce him."
Tsubaki was not normally the type to use her body to her advantage, though she most certainly could. Hearing her suggest that I should shocked me.
"Damn it Maka! If you don't move it we're going to miss the entire party!" Liz said exasperated.
She started banging on the door. I sighed turning away from my reflection and unlocked my door. The door swung open and my friends stared at me, eyes wide and mouths agape.
"I knew it. I look terrible. That's it, I'm changing."
I turned to go back in my room but Patty grabbed my shoulder stopping me.
"No, Maka. We're just so shocked. You look really good."
"Yah," Liz agreed. "If you dressed like this more often your date just might become your boyfriend."
I bit my bottom lip. That was not at all the goal I had in mind. I looked down at myself and felt completely out of character. I had a red tank top with large, silver, stars inspired by Tsubaki. It was long enough to where you could only see the bottom of my pockets and cuffs of my denim shorts that crested the tops of my thighs. Way too much of my skin was exposed for my taste. The only thing I liked about this ensemble were the shoes. Plain, gray, canvas flats. Very simple, very comfortable; just my style.
"I mean damn girl. Your legs look a mile long," Liz said giving me another once over.
I didn't have to say anything about Liz's outfit. It was obvious she looked good. Black skinny jeans played up her long frame while she had a silk, royal blue, top with loose mid-length sleeves to contrast with her tight pants. There was chunky silver jewelry all over her. Her bold outfit was the opposite of her sister's gentle brown and pink getup. I just knew that they both looked better than I did.
"Let's just hurry and go before I decide to grab a sweatsuit," I grumbled wrapping my arms around myself.
My threat seemed to work and we all rushed out of the hallway and down the stairs. As I passed my dad's office I paused for a millisecond. I wanted to tell him goodbye, even though he wouldn't really care. He'd be too busy with his work, or a woman; whichever was more demanding of his attention. I decided against it and followed my friends out to Tsubaki's car, slamming the door loud enough to let my dad know I left.
On the way to Blaire's place Liz took it upon herself to give me as much back seat dating advice as she could fit in the 18-minute drive.
"Don't drink anything he gives you. He probably slipped something in it," and "he can be affectionate but if he starts getting too touchy feely then don't be afraid to yell 'rape'. We'll come save you," seemed to be the main lines she gave me.
Tsubaki seemed to catch onto this as well.
"Really Liz. Her date could be the nicest guy on the planet. Isn't there any other advice you could give her besides how to dial 911 with her wrists tied?"
Liz thought for a moment then leaned forward over the armrest and said,
"Stay calm. Smile. Be yourself. All very cliché but you can use them."
"Oh, by the way," Patty added squishing past Liz, leaning over my shoulder, "look him in the eyes. It really unnerves people."
"Great," I said rolling my eyes. "I can either pepper spray him or freak him out."
I knew I really didn't intend on doing either. I just wanted to find Soul, get my necklace back and try to survive the rest of the night.
"Are you really not going to tell us who your date is?" Patty whined.
"Don't worry, she can't hide him from us all night," Liz said smugly applying another layer of lipgloss.
That was a fact I knew all too well. It would only be a matter of time before they learned about Soul. It wouldn't be too big of a deal if he wasn't so…so…you know? Tsubaki only smiled from the driver's seat.
"Ooh, we're here, we're here!" Liz cheered checking out her reflection in the rearview mirror.
The street was full so we had to park at the end of the next street.
"Oh my gosh you guys this is so exciting! Let's go!" Liz said getting out of the car and taking off down the street.
"I wonder if she's got snacks." Patty thought aloud then followed her sister.
Tsubaki and I sat still in the car for another moment more.
"You nervous?" she asked me.
"Why would I be nervous?" I answered.
"Well, it's your first date. I'd be scared if I were you. I'm nervous enough by myself."
I opened my door.
"Soul does not count as my first date. And there's nothing for you to be nervous about. It's just people. Maybe you'll meet someone here too."
She smiled and smoothed out her cream sundress, her gold bangle bracelets jingling with the movement.
"You're right. Let's go get me those stories," she said getting out of the car.
We followed Liz and Patty's path down the road. Blaire lived very well off. The house had at least three floors from my outside perspective and a wraparound porch. All the lights were on inside, but most of the noise; the voices, the music, the splashing?, was coming from the back of the house.
We had just reached the back when suddenly Tsubaki was hugged from behind.
"What?! Who?!" she panicked.
I turned ready to punch something in the face. It was the weird blue-haired guy I had seen Soul talking to earlier.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"Uh, hugging a pretty girl, what does it look like I'm doing?" he answered back twirling Tsubaki's black ponytail in the same manner Soul had done to me.
Tsubaki's face flamed at the sudden attention.
"I like you," blue-hair said to her. "You want a drink or something?"
I assumed Tsubaki would shy away from someone as forward as this guy, who seemed to be a little intoxicated. Instead she shocked me by saying, "Ok."
My jaw dropped down to what felt like my toes as I stared at their retreating forms. She turned to look at me over her shoulder and gave me a thumbs up before disappearing through the back door. I shut my mouth and put a hand to my head. Right, I had forgotten about the 'stories' she wanted to be able to tell. But what did ignoring Liz's first main rule have to do with that? I looked around the backyard.
There were tons of former students dancing, and talking, and swimming in the large pool. Lights hung across the huge yard in lantern shapes swinging from tree to tree like monkeys. In the large crowd, I couldn't see Liz or Patty and Tsubaki was in the house with a stranger ingesting who knows what.
I must have wandered around the yard and the house for what seemed like at least an hour. I wondered when Soul would show up, and how long I'd be expected to stay when he did. It was a weird feeling. Being alone in a room full of people. Like I was a phantom in a world of living beings. I didn't like it.
I went back outside and stood awkwardly on the porch. Blaire came out of the house wearing a purple bikini the same shade as her long, colored hair with black cats all over it. She's always had a thing for cats according to Liz. She saw me and smiled and ran over to hug me. She squished me to her really hard, almost suffocating me with her large chest.
"OH MY GAWD! Maka! You look super cute. I didn't think you'd actually come," she squealed grinning from ear to ear.
"Well ta-dah. I'm here," I said weakly trying to at least not frown horribly at her.
"I just knew this party would have a huge turnout what with Soul and Kid here."
My ears pricked up at the name.
"They're here already?" I asked her.
"Oh yah, one of the earliest to show up."
Leave it to Soul to force me to come here and effectively hide from me for a solid hour.
"Oh really?" I asked.
"You mean you haven't seen them? Soul's had an entourage of girls all night," she said.
How had I not noticed something like that? Well, since I wasn't interested in anything here it makes sense to not notice a bunch of girls all following one person. If Soul was here I could find him and make him give me back my necklace, then be able to sit by the pool and eat chips in peace.
"I'm need to find them," I said trying not to sound to desperate, "do you know where they are Blaire?"
She put a perfectly manicure nail, also purple, on her chin and said, "Well, Kid is inside rearranging my pantry or something and Soul is over there."
I turned to where she was pointing. Up on the diving board above the pool stood Soul in red and black swim shorts. I thought I saw a flash of silver but he was too far away to be sure. A chant started up: "Soul! Soul! Soul! Soul!" He then turned around and did some ridiculously complicated backflip off the board and into the water punctuating it with a big splash. As he climbed out of the pool a large group of girls met him. They were all giggling and squealing as if he were some pretty-boy pop star they got to meet backstage. He took a towel from one of them and rubbed his hair with it. The girl practically fainted against her friends who were all still cheesing.
"Every girl is dying to know who his date is. Lots of them have tried hitting on him and stuff but they've all been turned down," Blaire said taking a sip from a plastic cup.
Soul threw on a gray t-shirt and slung the towel around his neck and started walking away from his fanclub.
"Well, he's not going to turn me down," I said.
Blaire's eyes grew wide and she started clapping and jumping up and down.
"Ooh, Maka, I've never seen this side of you. You'll need this if you're going to go win your man back from all those girls."
I didn't bother on correcting her statement of Soul's ownership. She handed me her cup. I looked inside it. It looked like water and didn't smell like anything. I took a big sip and immediately began choking. Whatever that was, it had not been solely water. It was a sharp burn all the way down my throat and I vowed to listen to Liz about drinks more often.
I walked around the edge of the pool, but so many people were moving about, my vision was swimming with people. The leftover burning was not helping me either.
"Out of the way!" someone yelled seconds before I was shoved into the pool. Well, that's what would've happened had someone not grabbed my hand at the last second. They pulled me back up, hard into their chest. I looked up and saw Soul looking at me with an eyebrow raised. Before I had enough time to even think of saying something Soul threw his arm around my shoulders and started leading me away. I turned and looked behind me and saw the group of girls staring after us. Some of them looked really pissed, some of them looked sort of sad, they all looked shocked to some degree.
"Uh, Soul?" I managed to choke out.
He ignored me and kept tugging me along. Finally, we made it out to the street. He took his arm away and stood directly in front of me, his face keeping the nonchalant expression that he's had since he entered the pool water. I didn't want to waste any more time than I already have.
"Ok, I'm here. I showed up like I said I would. Now give me my necklace back," I demanded.
He blinked his eyes slowly, then said, "But you're not doing what you said you would."
"What?"
There was no way he was serious.
"What do you mean? I said I would come and I did!"
He lifted his eyebrow at me again along with a corner of his mouth.
"No, you said you'd come as my date, and you haven't really been my date yet."
I let out a sigh. I could've been his date faster if he had just found me earlier. He would drag this out as long as possible so there was no point in voicing that thought. The entire world would know about my predicament if he had his way. There's no hiding it from Liz, Patty, or anyone anymore.
"Ok, what counts as 'being your date'?" I asked completely giving up.
He stepped closer and I leaned away a little but didn't step back.
"One hour."
"One hour?" I repeated.
He pulled the towel of his shoulders and wrapped it around my waist. I looked down at it in question and was caught by surprise when he tugged on the ends, effectively bringing my body almost flush with his. My hands were on his chest and I quickly took them away letting them hang awkwardly at my sides. My hands were not too pleased, they had felt hard muscle through that shirt and wanted nothing more than to touch it again. His eyes bore into mine and his half-grin widened into a smile, his serrated teeth reminding me of razors.
"Spend an hour with me and you'll get your precious locket back," he promised.
His breath was tickling my face and smelled faintly of cigarettes. My back hurt from leaning away so I straightened out, getting even closer to him, our noses almost touching, his hair still dripping water between us.
"Ok," I said my voice low.
"Good," he answered matching my intensity yet somehow still smiling.
He released me from his towel's grip and held his hand out. I looked at his outstretched hand for a moment.
"You're supposed to take it. That's what people do when they're on dates right?" Soul asked waiting.
"I wouldn't know," I grumbled silently.
I couldn't tell if Soul heard me or not, but I reached out and placed my hand in his, my fingers automatically intertwining with his. He led me back up the driveway, past everyone who had tried to watch us discreetly but had failed miserably. Blaire was the last one we walked past and as we did so she smiled and winked. Soul lay the towel over the railing of the porch and led me through the door inside the house.
"Hey," Soul said very close to my ear so he could be heard over the music without having to shout. "I need to find my friend. Wait for me?"
"No, I'll come with you," I responded.
I needed this hour over with as soon as possible, and that would never happen if we took starts and stops. Soul didn't see that however and smiled his toothy grin and said,
"Already attached huh?"
I rolled my eyes as he led me through the crowd. It wasn't too difficult because everyone moved out of the way for us, parting like the Red Sea. We left behind a trail of gossip as we moved to the living room.
"Where is he, that…,"Soul started but was interrupted by some guy throwing his arm around him.
"Soul, we're playing beer pong, you in?" he asked.
It was Justin. He was supposedly a catholic boy but partied harder than most atheists. At least according to Liz. I could smell the alcohol on his breath and knew that he most likely already played a couple rounds.
"I would but I gotta take my girl home later ya' know?" Soul said shrugging.
He waved Soul away and focused on me.
"Well, how about you?"
And with that he took my free hand and pulled me away from Soul and towards the dining room table. Soul tried to follow but was immediately intercepted by more girls. On the table were a bunch of red plastic cups and a few guys playing with a ping pong ball, bouncing it all across the table. Justin started telling me the rules but I wasn't paying attention. It was too sudden and I felt so uncomfortable. His words were too loud, and the music was too loud, and my thoughts were too loud. Nothing made sense. I didn't want to be here. Maybe my mother's necklace wasn't that important. She may have known how to live life, but she also knew when to draw the line and I was about to draw mine. The next thing I knew Justin was shoving one of the cups in my face. I was so confused. All I had needed to do was bounce a ball it seemed. It hadn't fallen off the table so what gives?
I peered into the cup, the contents were a dark amber color and didn't even fill it a quarter of the way, and it smelled like Justin's god awful breath. Everyone around me was starting to chant for me to drink it, much like they had for Soul to jump. I'm not a drinker. I'm not anything. I don't even curse if I can help it. I'm a goody-goody, a square, straight-edge, whatever. Justin got impatient with me.
"Maybe she needs a little help," and put the cup to my lips and tilted it.
My eyes squeezed shut. Really, how bad could it be? Everyone seemed to love the stuff, and it was only a little bit anyway. The first swallow burned on the way down much like Blaire's 'water' had earlier. How anyone could get addicted to this stuff was beyond me. I finished it and immediately regretted it. I felt as if I would hurl. I must have had a spoiled one because that had been nowhere near pleasant.
"Maka, you ok?"
I turned around and found Soul. I was about to answer when I felt woozy and leaned backwards a little bit.
"Dude, what'd you put in that?" Soul asked Justin.
"Under 40," he answered.
"What the hell man!" Soul said shoving Justin out of his way.
He held me against him, his hands on my shoulders keeping me steady.
"Ok, we're going outside," he said leading me from the table.
"Where you going Soul?" I heard a voice say.
"Out," he answered.
The door opened. I don't know which one, or how we got there. All I felt was night air sweeping through my fuddled brain. I wanted to sit but at the same time didn't want to be on the floor. I climbed up on the porch railing wrapping one of my arms around a post and leaning against it. I noticed that we were not in the front of the house, or the back, but somewhere on the side. That was all I noticed. I couldn't be bothered to think about anything else while my head had a mosh pit going on inside of it. I couldn't believe I had broken Liz's number one rule too.
"So, you're not a drinker I'm guessing," Soul asked breaking the silence.
"What did I take? Gasoline?" I asked closing my eyes willing my stomach to stop impersonating a washing machine.
"Under 40," he answered.
I cracked open one eye and saw that he had started smoking a cigarette that he had produced from somewhere.
"What's that?"
"It's pretty strong stuff. It hits your system in under forty seconds. Most people can handle the kick. Apparently you have the lowest tolerance ever."
"What else is there here?"
"What do you mean?"
"There's other stuff here. I had some water and I'm pretty sure it wasn't just water," I said remembering Blaire's drink.
Soul chuckled.
"Sounds like you had vodka."
"Ugh. Has it been an hour yet?"
Soul chuckled again.
"No. It's been about 20 minutes.
I sighed.
"Soul?" I asked.
"Hmm?"
"Why are you so different?"
He looked at me. I continued.
"You act one way for 4 years, then suddenly you're different today."
I didn't understand why I was talking. I wondered briefly of this was what they called 'liquid courage.' Soul straightened out and stood next to me leaning against the railing.
"Sometimes your answer is going to have to be 'just cause'."
That didn't answer my question. 'Just cause' was never an answer.
"You can have your necklace back," Soul said startling me.
"But it hasn't been an hour yet," I said.
I didn't understand why I was arguing this point, the Under 40 still rushing in my blood.
"It's ok. Not all promises can be kept," Soul said turning, now directly eye to eye in front of me.
"Sure they can," I said quietly.
"Well, I'm breaking this one for you," he said dropping his cigarette on the floor and stepping on it.
He made eye contact with me again and grinned that mischievous grin he had worn when he had 'asked me out'. I was suddenly nervous.
"But don't worry. I'll still get something from you in return."
I held my hand out swallowing.
"So, can I have it?" I asked.
"Take it," He said.
We stared at each other for a moment and I knew what he wanted me to do. It was clear he wasn't going to take it off himself. I had already blown my dignity out of the water, what could it hurt? I reached my hand out and felt the top of his chest, my fingers tingling with familiarity. I felt the heart of my necklace under his shirt. So far, so good. I slowly slipped my fingers under the collar of his shirt. It suddenly wasn't so good anymore.
I had never touched a guy before in such close proximity and with such intimacy. I swallowed, eager for this to be over. I felt the chain and pulled it out of his shirt, hastily getting away from his warm skin. I needed two hands to undo the clasp in the back. My arms were around his neck and he was so close to me. Patty was right, this eye contact was completely unnerving me. Or was it more than that? I refused to think like that. This wasn't doing me any good. I focused again on what I was trying to do.
I spun the necklace so the clasp was in the front. I thought it'd make it easier. My hands were shaking so badly I couldn't even see what I was doing. I pulled it closer, and in turn pulled Soul closer. We were about 5 inches apart. It was different than earlier. This time it was me who pulled him close.
"Maka, did I tell you that you look really good?" Soul said almost in a whisper. "Red's always been my favorite color."
His fingers were now ghosting past my legs sending shivers through me. I didn't answer. I couldn't answer. Not with us like this. I had been trying so hard to make a coherent thought, but then Soul had spoken and his smoky breath had wrapped around me re-fogging my mind worse than the Under 40. I couldn't focus. Normally, cigarette smoke would make me disgusted. But, suddenly it was this aphrodisiac that I was ashamed to admit to being attracted to. I realized I had stopped trying to take the necklace off and was slowly pulling him closer to me. Our lips had scarcely touched but I felt an immediate heat rush.