"So tell me again why you're dressing up?" Peyton asked as she lounged on my wonderful light green couch, sipping a glass of lemonade.
I sat across from her, rolling my eyes in annoyance as I tried to slip into a pair of heels. "My neighbor is having a party and she invited me to go."
"Since when do you make friends with your neighbors?" she asked me incredulously, although as I looked up I noticed the beginnings of a smirk on her face.
"Since I moved to a new town where I know only a handful of people. I'd like to have some friends, believe it or not." I glared at her momentarily as I stood, trying desperately not to wobble too much in my new heels.
"Oh, Hayley, how you've grown," she said with a smile, taking another sip of lemonade. "I'm so proud."
"Shut up," I said, glaring at her once again. "Beats hanging out with you, anyway."
Her eyes filled with mock hurt. "You're killing me. Really."
I grinned slightly as I walked into the small kitchen adjacent to the living room, pouring myself a glass of water. "Well, since I'm too important and busy to hang out with you tonight, what are you going to do?"
There was a significant pause; I looked up from my water and found Peyton nervously gulping down the remainder of her lemonade. I eyed her curiously, her apparent hesitance beginning to become a bit suspicious.
"Oh, well, Rachel and I are going to a party as well," she said at last. "It's something for Matt, her boyfriend."
"Sounds like you'll be having the time of your life tonight," I said, smirking. "Though, I must say, it took you an awfully long time to come up with that answer."
"I didn't 'come up' with anything," she said, seemingly a bit more relaxed.
"Oh, sure," I said, smiling slightly. "You don't have to lie to me, you know. If you're cheating on Jake, just admit it."
She glared at me, though I could see her eyes sparkling beyond the anger. "Wow, Hayley. That was simply amazing."
"I know, I know," I said, laughing. "Please, no applause."
Peyton laughed and rolled her eyes, but beyond the smile she wore as she poured herself another glass of lemonade I could tell that there was something she wasn't telling me, something she was purposely leaving out of the conversation. But I smiled back at her anyway, pushing my doubts aside.
There were heavy storm clouds hanging overhead as I neared the tall brick building. A crack of thunder resounded through the quiet night; I stepped into the building, watching through the wide glass doors as the thick drops of rain began crashing to the pavement below. I sighed quietly, suddenly wishing that I was still in my flat, able to enjoy the thunderstorm raging outside.
Reluctantly, I turned away from the doors and headed toward the elevators on the other side of the white marble lobby. I glanced at the directions Natalie had given me as I stepped into an elevator, quickly pressing the 5 button and stuffing the crumpled paper into my purse. I shivered as the cool air from the air conditioning fully hit me, feeling goosebumps beginning to spread across my arms. My stomach was churning and I began to feel oddly nervous as the elevator crept towards the fifth floor; even through the solid steel doors I could hear the sounds of a band playing and it increased my apprehension significantly, the butterflies that were now swarming around in my stomach doing back flips.
It felt as though I were reliving the first elevator ride in my father's office all over again, only now I was the only person inside of it and had no one to blame for making the small space seem even smaller than it was. Now I had nothing on which to blame my anxiousness; all that awaited me on the fifth floor was a party, not an awkward reunion I had both dreaded and dreamed about for too many years to count. My father was not there waiting for me; it was only Natalie and her fiancé and their friends and family. I couldn't figure out the reason why I was so nervous, but as the elevator doors opened to reveal the fifth floor I didn't have much time to think about it any longer; what met my eyes was truly breathtaking.
I had never been a particular fan of weddings or of romance in general and normally I wouldn't have bothered coming to an engagement party, especially for someone I barely knew. I still had not quite determined why I had come in the first place, but as my eyes traveled along the golden room filled with men in tuxes and women in beautiful gowns, I suddenly found myself (for perhaps the first time in my life) not questioning my decision. Everything that surrounded me was drenched in deep gold, from the chandeliers that hung from the ceiling to the cloths draped over the circular tables. And it was, I realized, quite beautiful.
The entire room radiated elegance and sophistication, and I was quite glad that I had decided to wear an actual dress as opposed to my trusted jeans and converse. As I made my way inside, soft piano music floated into my ears as waiters served tall flutes of champagne on golden platters. I couldn't help but think that Natalie was certainly marrying into a family where money was obviously not an object. Although everything was beautiful, I knew that if I ever got married I wouldn't want a simple engagement party to feel more formal than the wedding itself.
"Good evening, miss. Would you like a glass of champagne?"
I turned to face one of the many waiters that were circulating around the room. I smiled and said, "Yes, thank you," as he handed me a flute of the sparkling gold liquid. I took a sip as I began walking through the room, looking for Natalie. As my eyes scanned the crowd of people, they landed on not a head of auburn hair, but a head of blonde hair - and a very familiar one at that.
I approached him quickly, knowing it was him before I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around, his blue eyes growing wide in surprise as they focused upon me.
"Hayley?" he said, his voice full of shock.
"I've always said that you were the smart one of the group, Lucas," I said with a smile, pulling him into a hug.
"What...what are you doing here?" he asked me as we broke apart, his eyes darting around the room rapidly.
"I could ask you the same question," I replied. "How do you know Natalie?"
"Natalie?" he repeated, the look of surprise never leaving his face. "No, Hayley...surely you know..."
"Hayley!"
I turned around and came face-to-face with Peyton, her blonde hair tied back in an elegant bun, her bright honey eyes wide as saucers. I stared back at her in equal surprise, my mind spinning.
"Hayley, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked me frantically, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.
"Me? What are you doing here?" I said rather loudly, my brown eyes narrowing. "Peyton...what the hell is going on?"
"First I need to know why you're here," she said, exchanging a nervous glance with Lucas. "Honestly, I didn't even think you knew...and if you had known, I would have thought you would have stayed away..."
"If I had known what?" I said, feeling my anxiousness begin to creep up on me once again, my stomach churning unpleasantly.
"Hayley," Peyton began, her voice soft, "this is..." But she was interrupted; a moment later I heard someone call out my name and I turned around, seeing Natalie smiling at me.
"I'm so glad you're here, Hayley," she said as she approached me, a glass of champagne in her hand. "I see that you've met a few of my fiancé's dearest friends."
"Excuse me?" I said, suddenly feeling very strange.
She placed a hand to her head and laughed. "Oh, how positively stupid of me. Of course you'd be familiar with them - you're Jim James's daughter! Speaking of your father, he's here with his lovely wife, Olivia - have you seen him yet?"
"Wh-what's my father doing here?" I asked, looking from Natalie to Peyton to Lucas, feeling incredibly stupid. I felt as if I were standing on the outside of the party looking in, cut off and unimportant.
My question went unanswered. Natalie turned and smiled brightly at a man making his way through the crowd toward her, but all I could see was a head of dark brown hair. That was when I suddenly felt the room growing smaller and smaller by the second as the awful truth hit me; I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but stand there and stare, my heart beating faster and faster, my mind spinning out of control.
"Hayley," Natalie said as the man finally stepped into the light, "this is my fiancé, Nathan."
And then he looked up, his blue eyes holding the same spark that I remembered, and as they fell upon me they grew wider than I had ever seen them before. He looked very much like a deer caught in headlights: powerless, afraid, disbelieving. And I stared back, feeling as though time had stood still and sped up all at once.
I stood there motionless, unable to say a single word. I could feel Peyton's eyes on me, and I knew without looking that they were wide, full of concern, full of a guilt she would feel for months to come.
"Nathan, this is my new neighbor, Hayley James," Natalie said with a bright smile. "Isn't it an odd coincidence that she's Jim's daughter, darling? I actually wouldn't be surprised if you two had already met, considering she's already acquainted with Lucas."
It seemed as though neither of us could bring ourselves to say a word. All we could do was stare at each other, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. I felt my heartbeat increasing by the second and I knew without even feeling it that my cheeks were burning. I was shaking, whether out of surprise or anger or sheer humiliation I did not know; all I knew was that I had to get away from that party, that building, those people that were surrounding me, but most importantly I had to get away from those blue eyes that were penetrating my own before they saw something I didn't want them to see.
"Darling? Are you all right?" Natalie asked Nathan after several moments of stunned silence had passed.
He blinked fiercely and a small smile began to form on his lips. "Uh, yes, I'm fine," he replied, although his voice was shaky. "Sorry, love."
I felt a pain in my chest as those words left his lips; for a single, vulnerable second, I wished that I was the one standing next to him in a gold gown, a shiny diamond sparkling on my finger. But as quickly as the feeling had come, it went, and it was swiftly replaced with hot, searing anger.
"It's so nice to see you again as well, Nathan," I said to him, enraged that he hadn't acknowledged me in front of Natalie. "It's been a few years, but I was rather expecting a 'hello' when you saw me."
"Oh, so you two have met?" Natalie said cheerfully, seemingly oblivious to the anger laced in my voice. "How lovely!"
"To be blunt, Natalie, I don't think you'll find the circumstances of how we know each other to be lovely at all," I snapped, fuming. I glared at Nathan, daring him to speak; when he remained silent, I grabbed the opportunity to tell Natalie the truth. "Nathan and I used to be together."
All of the color seemed to drain from Natalie's rosy face; her large blue eyes swept between Nathan and I rapidly, and I could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to believe that it was all a joke. She, however, quickly regained her composure and her smile reappeared on her face as her eyes landed upon me.
"Oh, so you're the girl that Nathan dated a few years ago," she said, and although she was smiling brightly there was a sharpness in her voice. "What a strange coincidence." I could tell that there was more meaning in those words than she was letting on, and I didn't like what it implied. Still, I held my tongue and decided to leave with at least some of my dignity still intact.
I smiled, trying my best to control my anger and the million other feelings that were raging inside of me. "Well, congratulations to both of you. I hope you're very happy together. If you'll excuse me, I have to be going." And without a backward glance, I ran from the party and from those blue eyes that had never quite left mine, bursting into tears, hating myself for shedding tears as soon as the elevator doors slid closed.
Sorry everyone, it was bound to happen.
Don't worry Hayley still might have a chance.
Please review and tell me what you think..