Chapter Eleven
I wove my way through the throng of dancing people in tuxes and brightly colored ball gowns, occasionally stopping to say hello to a classmate or friend who wanted to wish me a happy birthday, until I got to the bar. "Two ginger ales, please," I told the man behind the counter.
"Coming right up, miss." He squinted a bit. "Hey, aren't you the birthday girl?"
"Guilty as charged." I slipped out of my gold high heels and sat down on one of the bar stools, my aching feet crying out in relief.
He flashed me a smile. "Well, happy birthday. Has tonight been everything you'd dreamed it would be?"
I turned away, hoping to avoid answering his question. Thankfully, he got the hint, and bent down to the mini-fridge under the bar to get my sodas.
In truth, the party had been fun – mostly. Mom and Dad weren't fighting (score one for the power of alcohol!), Ryan was here (swoon), and my friends seemed to be getting along pretty well so far (thank God). Yet I couldn't shake this feeling that something bad was going to happen tonight. The feeling had followed me all night, like gum stuck on the bottom of your shoe – annoying and mood-dampening, but not actually serious (yet).
"Here you go," he said, setting down two champagne flutes filled with bubbly golden liquid, each with a maraschino cherry floating on the top. "I added a little something extra, for the birthday girl." I just smiled as he winked, slipping my feet back into my shoes and preparing to go back out into the crowd again. "Hope your night gets better," he called, as I walked away.
Weaving my way through the crush again, I retraced my steps to where I'd last seen Ryan, only to find him gone. Tired and thirsty, I leaned against the wall and downed the remainder of my drink, then, barely resisting the urge to drain Ryan's as well, set off in search of him.
"Hey, girl!" I bumped into Miriam, dancing with a couple other girls I recognized vaguely from classes. Her forehead was shiny and her carefully curled hair was starting to come loose, scattering little silk rosebuds on the floor, but her eyes were full of light and laughter. Clearly, she hadn't been plagued by bad thoughts tonight. She pulled me into a quick hug. "You having fun?"
I hugged her back, breathing in the sweet, flowery scent of her perfume. "Of course," I lied. "Hey, have you seen Ryan?"
"I think I saw him go that way a little while ago." She pointed towards a hallway that led out of the main ballroom to the rest of the palace. "Why? Did you lose him or something?"
"Something like that." I turned in the direction she'd pointed. "I'll catch you later, okay?"
"Kay. Have fun finding lover boy!"
I made my way down the hallway, poking my head in every door, open or not (hey, it's my house!). Every time, I came up with nothing. Sighing, I finally turned around and decided to go back to the ballroom, figuring he'd probably gone looking for me, found nothing, and went back to the rest of the party.
As I walked back down the hallway, I heard what sounded like muffled screams coming from one of the rooms I had passed earlier – a room that had been empty. Intrigued, I cracked open the door just enough to see through, wondering what was going on and if it had anything to do with my premonition.
…And promptly dropped the glass in my hand.
The champagne flute shattered, spilling ginger ale all over the carpet (but thankfully, none of it made it onto the hem of my dress), the maraschino cherry rolling down the hall, likely to end up on the end of someone's stiletto heel. But I didn't even spare that a second thought. My eyes were glued to the view from the door. It was like watching a train wreck – you know it's horrible, but you can't bring yourself to look away.
"Baltor, don't!" Mom screamed. My eyes widened as I watched my dad's fist connect with the King of Eraklyon's face, leaving behind what was sure to be a nasty bruise.
Sky stumbled backwards, but recovered quickly. "What the hell was that for?" he exclaimed.
"Oh, you know very well what that was for, pretty boy," Dad sneered, his golden eyes burning with anger in a way that was extremely intimidating. Apparently Sky thought so too, because although he tried to act tough, I could see his knees shaking slightly.
"Both of you, stop fighting!" Mom screeched, vainly trying to diffuse what was shaping up to be an intense fight.
My blood ran cold at the look Dad shot her – one of pure loathing. "Why should I listen to you, you worthless slut?"
Mom paled. I could feel her heart breaking from all the way across the room. My fingernails dug into my palms, and I wanted to strangle Sky (since considering the intensity of my dad's anger, he was undoubtedly the instigator in all of this chaos). Heart pounding in my ears, I slowly stepped back from the door, careful not to make any noise that would alert them to the fact that someone had been eavesdropping.
Ryan. I had to find Ryan. He would be able to make sense of all of this.
Barely looking where I was going, I picked up my skirt and ran back into the ballroom, searching the crowd frantically for Ryan. Finally, I saw a familiar mop of messy blond hair standing in a corner. Relief flooded through my veins, and I raced towards him. Even if he couldn't make everything better, just being in his arms was sure to calm me down enough to think rationally.
"Ryan!" I exclaimed. "Thank God I found you. You would not believe what I just saw…"
My voice died in my throat as I realized that he was not alone. There was a girl with him, a girl with long dark hair. Mel? I wondered, remembering my music-obsessed friend's hairstyle from earlier in the night. Then I saw something that made my heart stop for the second time that night.
That girl was kissing my Ryan!
"R-Ryan!" My voice was a sputtering shriek, still halfway caught in my throat. Finally, she let go of her octopus grip on his lips, allowing me to see familiar blue eyes smug with triumph.
Alexa…
"How did you get in here?" I spat, instinctively looking her over. Her dress was long, sleek, and bright red – a strapless floor-length number that clung to her perfect figure like Saran Wrap, with a long slit up one side all the way to the middle of her thigh. I swallowed hard. "I don't remember inviting trash to my party." I'd never been so aggressive with another girl – not even Lola during the worst of our fight – but seeing my parents fighting, and now this, had wound me up almost to the max.
Alexa smirked, her acrylic French-manicured nails curling around Ryan's bicep. "So sorry to rain on your party, Alyssa," she cooed, pressing herself against Ryan. "But really, it's not my fault if your boyfriend would prefer someone with more… experience."
"Alyssa, this isn't what it looks like–"
"Shut up," I growled at Ryan. There were still a few flecks of glitter on his lips from Alexa's lip gloss, and the sight of it made me feel sick. "How could you do this to me? I thought you said I was the girl you wanted to be with forever!"
"You are," he insisted, pushing Alexa off of him. She pouted, but her smoky-lined eyes never left my face. "'Liss, please. I promise you; I didn't kiss her. You have to believe me." He reached for my hand.
"Don't touch me!" I spat, yanking my hand away. "You both make me sick." Hot tears stung the corners of my eyes, but I was determined not to give either of them the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
His necklace around my neck suddenly felt searing hot, like it was burning my skin. Without thinking twice about it, I reached up and yanked at the chain as hard as I could, not caring if I was breaking the clasp. "You want this so badly, Alexa? Well here. Take it." I whipped the necklace at her feet, not caring whether my aim was accurate or not.
"Alyssa…" Ryan called, but I had already turned around and was making my way quickly through the crowd, the tears starting to trickle down my cheeks. My only thought was on getting away from the party and finding a quiet spot to cry my eyes out.
"Alyssa? Hey, 'Liss, what's wrong?" Miriam's voice made me stop, and I turned around to face her. She gasped softly upon seeing my tear-streaked face. "Oh sweetie, what happened?"
Grabbing her hand, I tugged her into an alcove set off from the ballroom, needing privacy. Even then, I could barely stop crying long enough to form a coherent sentence. "Ryan… Alexa… kiss… my parents… Sky… everything's ruined!"
Thankfully, Miriam (somehow) seemed to understand. "Well, this is most unfortunate," she declared, pulling out a tissue from out of nowhere and starting to wipe off the tear-streaked makeup from my face. "Okay. I know how to make things better. Where's the kitchen in this place?" Confused, I pointed down the hall to a pair of swinging white double doors. "You're coming with me," she said, taking my hand and leading me down the hallway to the kitchen doors.
She breezed right through them casually, like it was no big deal to walk into the palace kitchen during a party. A couple of the white-garbed men in chef's hats looked up from their work as we passed by (I can only imagine we looked very out of place in our fancy ball gowns), but nobody dared to say we weren't allowed in here.
I followed Miriam until she reached a corner in the back with a couple folding chairs and a long metal counter, probably used for piling dirty dishes. "Sit here," she ordered, pushing me down into one of the chairs.
"Um, Miriam, not that I don't trust you, but what are we doing here?" I ventured, still not completely in full use of all my facilities but aware enough to know that whatever we were doing was probably not exactly officially sanctioned.
"Drink this," she said, snagging a champagne flute off a passing waiter's tray and handing it to me, sidestepping my question completely. I sniffed it carefully, trying not to recoil at the sharp scent of alcohol.
"You do know what's in here, right?" I asked, watching as she searched through what looked like the world's largest refrigerator/freezer combo.
"Don't be a baby, Alyssa. It's just one glass. And after the night you've had, I doubt anyone would deny you a little self-medicating." I shrugged and sipped cautiously, the first sip burning down my throat in a way that I couldn't imagine anyone actually liking. But the second and third sips went down smoother, and by the fourth, little champagne bubbles were starting to tingle on my tongue in a way that was far from unpleasant. Before I knew it, I'd drained the entire glass and was licking my lips, searching out any remnants.
"Got any more?"
Miriam laughed. "Easy does it, 'Liss. I doubt your parents would appreciate if I sent you back drunk." I pouted, and snagged another glass from a waiter when her back was turned. By the time she came back, holding a large gallon container of something and two spoons, the contents of the second glass were making their way down my throat, and a warm, happy feeling was starting to set in. It was like my blood had turned into champagne bubbles, fizzing and popping in my veins and sending waves of happiness through every part of my body. With this strange new feeling of effervescence lofting me high up into the clouds, it was impossible to imagine being upset about anything.
If Miriam had set out to make me forget about everything I'd just seen, she was definitely on the right track.
"Hope you like cookie dough; that's all there was, besides plain old vanilla." Miriam sat down next to me and handed me a spoon, the top of the container opening to reveal a gallon of my favorite ice cream.
"I love it; that's why there's such a giant thing of it in the freezer." Eagerly, I dug my spoon in, scooping up a big mouthful of vanilla ice cream and chocolate-chip cookie dough bits. A few flecks of melting white goo splattered onto the skirt of my gown, and I dabbed at them with a napkin halfheartedly, not really caring anymore. (The night was already mostly ruined, so who cared about my dress?)
With both sugar and alcohol coursing through my bloodstream, it was a lot easier to separate the pain in my heart – to put it behind a glass wall, to be dealt with later – and try to salvage whatever was left of this night. So by the time Miriam took my spoon and moved to put away the now-half-empty carton – "Somehow, I don't think the palace chefs will be very happy with us if we eat this entire thing, and what about our dresses?" she'd pointed out when I pouted – I was feeling as ready as I'd ever be to go back out there and face the music.
"You feeling better now, sweetie?" Miriam asked, as we headed for the kitchen doors.
"Much," I lied, the relieved smile on her face worth the guilt I felt at lying to her. What I would do without Miriam, I might never know. "Thank you so much, for everything. Really, I mean it. You saved me tonight."
"That's what best friends are for." A flash of what looked like guilt flickered across her face, but it was gone before I could be certain it had ever existed in the first place.
We continued down the hallway, pausing at the double doors that led back to the ballroom. "Are you going to be alright?" Miriam asked again, the concern evident in both her voice and her eyes.
"I'm fine," I insisted, maybe a little too harshly, pushing open the doors. The combined sounds of music from the orchestra, high heels clicking on the marble floor, and laughing and chatter from the people dancing was almost overwhelming after the relative silence of the kitchen.
Behind me, Miriam's face fell a bit, but she didn't say anything more, and simply disappeared into the crowd again. I watched her go until she vanished from sight, then took a deep breath and tried to figure out what to do next.
As it turned out, the choice was relatively simple, and not even one I really had to make myself. I'd only been standing at the front of the room for maybe thirty seconds when a hurricane descended on me from out of nowhere – a hurricane in a pink, rhinestone-studded dress.
"There you are, Alyssa! We've been looking all over for you!" Lola exclaimed, throwing her arms around me tightly. "Where have you been, missy? You have no idea what's been happening. This party is insane! And I don't mean it in a good way!" You're telling me, I thought, but let her continue – I knew there was no stopping Lola when she got rolling on one of her rants. "Did you see that Ryan's dad is walking around with a black eye? Who would start a fistfight on such an important occasion? I hope it wasn't anyone you know really well, because that is seriously tacky. And in the name of all that is holy, how the hell did Alexa get in here? You didn't invite her, did you?" She peered at me closely, for once noticing my makeup-less face, unraveling hairdo, and the wet spots on my gown from where I'd tried to dab off the worst of the melted ice cream. "And… why do you smell like champagne and cookie dough ice cream?"
"Lola, let her breathe," Mel chastised, pulling Lola away from me. "But seriously, 'Liss, where were you? You missed a whole ton of crap."
"Sadly, I didn't; in fact, I had a front-row seat. And it's safe to say I know even more than you all do." I sighed and leaned against the wall, the happy dizziness from the champagne finally starting to take its toll on me.
"And? Details, please!" Aqua demanded.
"Aqua! It's clear Alyssa isn't very happy right now," Ivy snapped. "Don't push her even more."
"But without all the facts, how can we hope to help her recover from this?" Dee quipped, in her usual thinking-out-loud sort of way.
"My dad gave Sky the black eye," I said, effectively shutting them up, as they all turned to face me. "My parents had an enormous fight, over something to do with Sky, and Dad called Mom a really bad name. And Ryan was kissing Alexa." I was surprised at how emotionless my voice sounded, that I was able to seem detached from everything when my heart hurt like it had collapsed inside my chest, radiating pain through every nerve in my body. The thought honestly scared me, and I reached for more champagne off a passing waiter's tray, desperate to keep the happy, bubbly feeling alive.
"'Liss, are you sure that's the best thing for you right now?" Mel ventured cautiously, watching me drain half the glass in a single gulp. "Not to sound unsympathetic or anything – it sounds like you've had a real crap night, especially since it's your birthday – but you do know that alcohol isn't the answer, right?"
"It helps." I swallowed the rest and discarded the empty glass onto a nearby table, where someone would find it and clean it up eventually.
"Sweetie, are you okay?" Ivy wrapped her skinny arms around my neck and pulled me against her, and I inhaled the mingled scent of strawberry-kiwi body oil and the fresh, clean smell of her herbal shampoo. "Why didn't you find us sooner?"
"Yeah, you shouldn't have had to deal with all of this alone," Aqua added. Under her breath, I heard her continue, "or with a bottle of Cristal."
"Oh, I wasn't alone," I said, already feeling the effects of my latest glass of champagne. "Miriam was with me. She introduced me to the wonders of champagne, and we had ice cream in the kitchen."
Over Ivy's shoulder, I saw Lola's eyes grow cold. "Miriam? You went to Miriam of all people before me?"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh get over yourself already, Lola. Why the hell does it matter who I go to first with my problems? You're all my friends! Miriam was there when I needed her to be – when you all were nowhere to be found."
"As much as I hate to admit it, Lola sort of has a point," Mel said. "I know you hate hearing this, but there is something weird about Miriam. And until we figure out exactly what is going on in that girl's head, I know I wouldn't be so quick to spill all my deepest, darkest secrets to her."
"And besides, who's known you longer?" Aqua questioned, her eyes flashing with anger. "Us, or that Taylor clone?"
"What is with you guys?" I stared at the five of them like they were strangers – which in a way, they were. "What did Miriam ever do to make you hate her so much? And there is no cold, hard proof that she's up to anything nefarious, so don't give me that bull anymore. This just sounds like plain and simple jealousy, and you know what? I'm sick of putting up with it. You're supposed to be my best friends, and yet it seems all you care about these days is Miriam. Even on my birthday, when my parents are on the verge of divorce and my boyfriend was kissing another girl, you want to stand here and argue about me going to Miriam before you?"
"Alyssa, we–"
"Don't, Lola," I cut in coldly, my anger reaching its boiling point. "I know what you're going to say and you can shove it up your ass. This whole 'we just care about you' excuse is wearing incredibly thin. If you really cared about me, you'd be trying to make me feel better now, like Miriam did, instead of picking fights with me about her all the time. I've had it up to here with you guys trying to insist you know better than I do how to run my life!"
The second I said the words, I wanted to take them back – but at the same time, I didn't. This was an issue that had been bubbling under the surface for most of the semester, and it felt good to just let it all out. But at the same time, that little voice in the back of my head was warning me to slow down; that if I wasn't careful, I could end up doing permanent damage to our friendship.
Mel's eyes flickered briefly, before she crossed her arms over her chest defensively, her jaw set in stone. "I had no idea you felt that way, Alyssa," she said slowly, her voice tinged with that eerily calm sort of anger that's the worst kind.
"If that's how you feel, then maybe we should leave," Aqua added, that icy, silent anger creeping into her voice as well.
Sirens were blaring in my head, warning me that this had BAD IDEA written all over it, but I ignored them all. "Maybe you should."
Lola's eyes narrowed, but then her entire expression changed, as if she'd simply given up wasting her energy on all of this. "Come on, girls. It's rude to stay at a party where we're not wanted." Picking up the skirt of her gown, she stomped (for lack of a better term – although really, 'stomp' is very fitting) down the hall, her stilettos clicking like gunshots on the marble floor.
Slowly, the others started to follow her. Mel and Aqua both shot me icy glares as they turned and followed Lola. Dee, ever the logical one, seemed quite confused at this battle of emotions, but eventually just shrugged at me sadly and walked away as well. Only Ivy lingered for a moment, looking as if she might stay, or try to say something, but a sharp call of "Ivy!" from down the hall sent her running towards the others, her cheeks flushing bright red.
I stood there for a moment, watching them all go, as the reality of what had just happened slowly started to sink in. It hit me like a tidal wave, crashing over me, choking, drowning…
Lacking the strength to move, I sank to the ground, tucking my head into my knees, and cried.
And cried.
And cried.
Until everything else left had lost all meaning as well.
Author's Note: ...Please don't kill me!
Yes, it was necessary to drop a triple-dramabomb like this, for reasons that will become clearer later. And let me just say this one time and one time only: I refuse to answer questions on what's going to happen to resolve these open ends left by the dramabombs. You will find out all in due time.
Adieu, my darlings,
- Authoress