Chapter 10~ Of Party-Going And Situations
PREVIOUSLY, ON BECAUSE OF A FIGHT, BELIEVE IT OR NOT
"Anyway, how is your husband? Is he getting better?"
At this, Mrs. Walker frowned deeply. "What are you talking about?"
"Um, didn't he get injured? Fang told me about him."
"Max, are you sure he said that?"
Now it was my turn to frown. "What do you mean?"
"Max, Fang's father lives in New York. We divorced awhile ago. And as far as I know, he's perfectly fine."
I narrowed my eyes.
What?
MAX POV
The music pounded loud in my ears as I moved through the gyrating, buzzing crowd gathered in Nudge's big-ass backyard. Nudge hollered my name, like, a million times as I was making my way to her.
"Max! Would you come over here already?" she called out. It was quite hard to come quickly when you're in heels, but she apparently didn't understand that.
"Coming!" I yelled. Straightening out my green dress, I finally reached her at the snack table.
"Finally," she said. "Nice party, right?" Nudge asked. "You have no idea how long it took me to set everything up."
"Everything seems great, Nudge. Besides, one of the reasons everyone likes you is because you hold such awesome parties," I complimented with a small smile.
"Thanks! Anyway, can you taste this punch I made and see if it tastes alright? I added a lot of vodka to it, by the way. It seems fine to me, but you have better taste buds," Nudge explained.
I nodded in agreement. "Sure." She poured some of the drink into a cup, and handed it to me. I sipped it gently, and my eyes widened. "Um, Nudge?"
"Yeah?"
"This tastes like heaven." The punch was sweet and fruity.
"Ohmigosh, are you sure? Thanks so much. I honestly had no idea cuz I'm no good with measurements and the amount of sugar just didn't seem right-"
I cut her off. "It's amazing, Nudge, don't worry. Just go all out and enjoy your Sweet Sixteenth, alright? There are a bunch of people who want to wish you happy birthday."
Her face broke into a huge smile. "Alright, Max. You should come with me to the dance floor! It'll be fun!"
I hesitated. "Uh, no thanks, Nudge. In these death traps," I lied and motioned to my heels, "I'll probably hurt myself and others around me. I think I'll just stay here for a bit, you know?" I didn't want to tell her that these heels really weren't that much of a bother, but I didn't feel like dancing at the moment.
If Nudge was disappointed, she showed no sign of it. "Whatever. It's your move, dude. Now, please excuse me, 'cause I need to..." Nudge stopped, not even finishing her sentence, and she walked away from the snack table.
I turned to see who she was walking towards and smiled. Iggy was standing there with flowers and a wrapped present. Nudge's eyes lit up like fireworks as she hugged strawberry blonde. When she let go, Iggy wrapped his arm around her as they strolled away.
Lovesick idiots.
I turned back to the large table laden with food and drinks. Remembering how the punch Nudge made tasted so good, I filled a huge cup with it and downed it. The drink made me feel lightheaded, but the sensation was so wonderful, so refreshing, I drank another full cup. All of my worries were flowing away fast, so I gulped another, not caring if I was gonna get drunk as hell.
After a few drinks, I felt a huge buzz of excitement. I slammed my last cup down and whirled around. All of a sudden I wanted to dance away all my troubles. Family, friends, school; it was all swirling down the drain.
I found myself on the dance floor not long after that epiphany. Lost In Stereo by All Time Low was playing through the speakers as I swayed my hips. No one really cared that I was dancing by myself; they were all too tipsy to notice.
She's dancin' alone, I'm ready to go, but she's so lost in stereo, lost in stereo.
You know, sometimes being good at fighting can really contribute to other things, like amazingly NOT tripping over my feet while dancing, even in heels.
She's outta control, so beautiful, in stereo, lost in stereo.
As I was moving to the beat, a few guys leered at me, but I managed to ignore them in my drunken stupor. I don't need guys to have fun. Right?
A familiar dark haired boy caught my glance on the dance floor. Fang. Wrong, apparently.
And I've been waiting for so long, but she'll never know.
Our eyes met, as bodies around us danced to the beat of the music. My steps faltered as his onyx eyes twinkled with something I've never seen before. It was mischievous and almost...alluring.
I'm losing hope, but she's lost in stereo, lost in stereo, lost in stereo.
Fang came closer as he moved through people and soon stood close to me, very close.
"May I have this dance?" he whispered in my ear. He was sober; I couldn't smell any alcohol on him. Does he even drink?
And I'm just like cellophane, cuz she sees right through me, and I know, she's glitter and gold.
I found myself slowly nodding to his words, forgetting anything that made me want to stay away from him.
And that's just the price I pay, when I don't even know her name, she's slippin' away...
Soon enough, a slower song came on. My arms slipped around his neck as he put his on my waist. We moved to the music, swaying slowly. He smells nice, I thought in my head, intoxicated by the vodka. Almost like roses. Fang's mom smelled like roses a little, too. I wonder if Fang's dad smells like roses? Poor guy, I hope his leg gets better...
Wait a second. That's not right.
Everything that Fang's mom said to me that day came rushing back suddenly. How his parents were divorced, how his dad lived in New York, and how he was perfectly fine. How Fang was a liar.
I wrenched myself away from the dark teen's grip, the buzz suddenly gone. Surprised, he took a step back. "Is something wrong?" he asked confusedly.
"You know what I really hate? People who lie and think that they can get away with it so easily," I snapped. Fang's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and then his eyes widened, realizing what I was talking about. "That's right, Nick. I ran into your mom the other day and she might have let it slip about your dad."
"Max, I-"
"Why did you do that to me? You wanted me to hang out with you the whole day and then you just ditch me. Was it really worth going through all that trouble? I thought we were close friends, Fang. I really did."
His mouth opened and closed, as if he was thinking about what to say. Part of me secretly hoped that he'd tell me that his mom was lying, that he didn't mean to ditch me like everyone else. Instead, Fang just said, "I'm sorry." No explanation whatsoever.
Well, then. I glared at him. "I should have known you weren't any different." And then I left.
FANG POV
I couldn't tell her anything. Not yet. Not now. Never. Not if I can help it.
It's incomprehensible on what could happen if she knew. They would come after her, endangering her life. Once a worthy person is confronted by them, they're not going to be the same ever again. I would never let that happen to Max.
They were cruel, bitter, relentless. But they knew what they were doing. They knew the consequences of the others getting hold of it.
Max was certainly worthy. No doubt about it. If they found out about her, she wasn't going to come out of this situation unscathed.
I thought back to that one Sunday when I saw him.
The man swirled his water in his glass. "Leaving was the wrong thing to do, Nick. No one can ever leave without coming back one day. For you, that time is now. We need you, Nick," he said with an impassive face.
"Find someone else," I growled. "I'm not going to be some pawn in this game you all play. And stop calling me Nick. "
The man in black laughed coldly. "Who said you were going to be a mere pawn? After all, you are the son of-"
"Don't say his name-" I cut him off. "He's the reason why my mother and I left. That goddamned bastard can put this burden on someone else, can't he?"
He spoke, "They're coming, Nick. After years of enmity, this is the time they're closest to finding out. This is the time everything we've struggled to contain has a chance of being stolen. And in this game, you are the knight, do you understand? Everything could change in the matter of weeks, and you have to help us stop it. It is your duty, Nick," he stressed.
"Save it," I hissed. "I've had to deal with all this crap for practically four years. There is no way I'm coming back." Knocking down his glass, I stood up and left.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, snapping me out of my flashback. I picked it up and answered, "Hello?"
"Nick Walker, how wonderful to hear your voice again."
Speak of the devil.
I gripped the phone tighter. "How many times have I reminded you? Don't. Call. Me. Nick."
"What's that? I don't think I can hear you over- is that music I hear? Go somewhere quieter," he ordered.
"Fine." I walked back inside the house, looking for a quiet place that was preferably not filled with drunken bodies or couples making out. As much as I didn't want to talk to him, I knew whatever he wanted to say had to be important. This particular person never called for just a friendly chat over tea.
"And Nick?"
"What?" I asked impatiently.
"You never seemed like the one for parties."
I remained silent for a second and then said, "Things change. You may not notice, but nothing ever remains the same."
MAX POV
To get my mind off things, I decided to keep myself busy and help Ella out and supervise the party. Making sure all the food and drink was in stock, no one was stealing the presents, and that kinda stuff.
It was so not working.
The whole time, my brain hurt from thinking about Fang's actions. Usually I was good at reading people, and he honest-to-Buddha did not seem like the lying type. I've had too many experiences with those kind of people; I was sinfully good at knowing which ones were untrustworthy. Fang wasn't the type at all.
However, he did have a character that was quite...
...mysterious.
Yes, that was the word. The least Fang could have done was explain what he was doing when he decided to leave, but he didn't. And the time at the dinner, too; his reaction to that person in black was certainly questionable.
I was still angry, though. He could have at least told me there was something important he had to; I deserved at least that!
"Oh, Max!" a girl clad in a light blue dress called my name. Ella.
I gritted my teeth. "Is there something else you need?" I asked when she reached me.
"Yeah, it's just one thing, though I am impressed. When did you decide you loved helping me out so much?" she demanded incredulously.
Racking through my brain for an answer, I said, "Uh, since it was our best friend's birthday? Obviously I'd help her out on such a special day, right?"
"True," Ella agreed. "Anyway, we're out of plastic cutlery. Could you get some more from the pantry inside the house?"
"Sure." I scurried away from the backyard into the house. Searching for the pantry, I finally found it in a matter of two minutes.
Clasping the bronze doorknob, I began to open it and stopped when I heard a voice inside.
"Now what could be so important that I have to meet you in person?" the voice said. The lights were on, and a person was hunched over in a corner with his/her ear pressed to something. A cellphone, probably. "What? I told you I didn't want contact from anyone. Yes, I realize this is important, but I have nothing to do with this anymore. Hey-what-are you hanging up on me? Hello? Are you still there? Hello?" The figure took the cellphone away from his/her ear and pressed a button, cursing under his/her breath.
I squinted my eyes to take a better look at who this person was. The voice was definitely familiar, and I could so tell who he was from his back.
Fang.
FANG POV
Goddamn him. He actually had the nerve to hang up on me after telling him me my life was in danger. Well, he got what he wanted; I had no choice but to set a rendezvous with the bastard.
I heard the door behind me creak and turned around to see a suspicious-looking Max behind me.
Whoops.
"Uh, hi," I said lamely. Hi. Nice going, Fang Walker. "What's up?" What's up. Even better.
"I'm just here to get some stuff for the party. What are you doing here? Everyone's outside," she said, raising an eyebrow.
"Taking a phone call," I said nonchalantly. "It was too loud in the backyard." My hands that were shoved inside my pockets were fidgeting.
"From who?"
Geez, since when did she become so nosy? "Er, my mom." A gust of wind from outside blew the door shut, but neither of us bothered to acknowledge it.
Max let out a humorless laugh. "Right, that's exactly who you were talking to." My face remained expressionless but I mentally frowned. Did she hear me while I was talking to him on the phone? She walked right past me, brushing my shoulder, and grabbed a bag full of plastic spoons and forks. "Or is that just another thing that you're hiding from me?"
The blonde strided away in haughty steps to open the door. Max twisted the handle, but the door wouldn't open. She shook the doorknob repeatedly, but the door refused to budge. Her face turned white as she muttered, "Shit."
I frowned. "What's wrong?"
"We're locked in."
Author's Note:
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