I shut the door with a quiet thud and slid down the wood in silence as if I came home from a date much less a walk that ended in a car ride. The entire house was dark except for the door leading outside; they are usually closed and hidden by curtains. Showing the opposite, my mom was sitting just beyond them.
"How was the walk?" she asked unmoving.
Her conversation with Ms. Amber flooded my head again with the sound of her voice. She stared into the distance like I have never seen before and with my mom I have seen her in a lot of stressful positions. I sat next to her in a comforting way, which she gladly accepted.
"It was good. Cold, from my thoughts about you, but good"
She slightly smiled.
"What's wrong?"
"Stress. Don't worry about me, quiet when you go to bed. Your dad has to be up early tomorrow." She said pressing off the wood and walking into the pitch black house.
I can't think any more of tonight, especially after meeting a strange guy and finding out my mom is hiding something—whether she says it or not, I know her.
Just when I thought my dream was getting to the good part, my mom's voice snaps my eyes open. She sounded like she was on the phone. Pushing back my blankets, I tip-toed to the door thinking I could be quiet enough to listen. The only thing I could make out were the same words of yesterday; only time can tell.
Tell what and about what?
Right on cue, my phone buzzed to life with three different tones, Text messages.
Big party tonight the beach
DJ is going to be spinning everything!
Wear something sexy! Hot guys as always!
A party? There's the downtime I've been looking for. Around the house was quiet all day with mom on her computer or the phone doing who-knows-what and with dad being gone until dinner. I tossed on a pair of faded shorts and a black tank-top hiding the bikini underneath.
"Mind if I head to a beach party? I'll be home if it gets bad—I swear." I added the last part just to make sure she would say yes.
She nodded with the phone still glued to her ear. Party granted.
The beach was everything but good, my friends and I waded through the sandy water to the life of the bash to find nothing but grinding in the dancing and beer everywhere. Classic teenage party but within three minutes of being there I was standing alone. Cassie, one of the friends I've known for years, dressed a little more risky and got the attention from every shirtless guy on the sand dancing. Leslie, her sister, grabbed a beer and walked off with the guy that handed it to her—wrapped up as if they had known eachother or been together in a room before.
One guy was so wasted already that while I stood on the sand looking at everyone around me, he spilled beer across my outfit while attempting to grind on me. I pushed him off the best I could but some guys—especially drunk ones—don't get the tip.
"Come on baby, it's just one dance—you know you like the feel of it." He urged.
I slapped his hand away—very bad move. This guy was drunk but alert enough to know he doesn't like to be messed with like that and I suffered the consequence as soon as my hand hit my side. He slapped the word shit into my mouth when his hand came across my face twice as fast.
I hit the sand from the blow, for the first time in a while I was scared for the second hit.
"Dude—dude, she didn't know. Look, here's a beer go chill out." A guy in a black jacket came up taking hold of his hand and sending him away from me into a wall of a few other guys.
He looked down to me and I noticed it was Alex.
"You ok? Sorry, mike has overdone it on the beer." He helped me off the sand with one jerk of his arm.
"Fine" I said walking down the sand. Last thing I needed to be known as is the girl that got slapped at a party along with having stale beer down her clothes.
"Kayla, hold on." Alex stepped into pace quickly and walked quietly until out of view of the party.
Alex took off his jacket and I stopped in my tracks pissed that he even followed me the possible 30 yards from the fully-intoxicated party. He looked slightly over his shoulder at me and tossed his jacket lightly to my chest—that's when I noticed he was shirtless like every other guy. A pitiful smile was enough to say thank you and he led a couple more yards before sitting in the sand; I followed for the hell of it and it's not like I could just leave.
"So what brought you down here?" he motioned back the way we came.
"Friends that needed an excuse"
"…some friends" we huffed together.
The waves crashing against the sand may sound romantic but it was anything besides that tonight. A storm was coming and we all knew it would hit soon; the wind was chilly and the seas never help with that. Alex noticed my shivering although I barely began to truly shiver.
"Come on, let's get you warm and home." He pulled us both off the shifting sand.
"I can't go home smelling like beer…"
"Let me take care of it, trust me" We walked diagonal a short walk then parallel with the party to the gravel access lot to the beach where his car sat in a place to leave when needed. He probably thought he would be leaving with a beautiful girl that would surely thank him for the ride home as most girls—sadly, like my friends—do. Instead he got a girl smelling like stale beer and a possible burgundy mark across her cheek bone.
Sorry I'm late mom but I went to a party got slapped like hell and then got in a car with the same guy from the other night…Oh, yea. She'll accept that. Not.
My face must've been giving Alex a show because his turned reassuring in a heartbeat as we both slid into the seats of his mustang and sped off.
"Trust me." He repeated once we turned away from the party and toward my house.
I breathed deeply and expected the worst.
The consequence almost seemed worth it of walking in alone but Alex locked me in his warmed car after saying I should truly stay out of it. He slid out his door, walked to the front of the house, knocked, and when the light shined inside I braced for life.
My dad answered the door. Alex held out his hand and my dad took it, they exchanged a few sentences and my dad walked to the car with him and when Alex opened the driver's side door; my dad opened mine to get me. He pulled me into his arms and carried me into the house as Alex sped off in the moonlight of the full moon showing him the way out.