Party time!
I'm hoping this chapter will be a little more exciting than the last. I think having the group together makes the story more fun. Chapter Two was mainly Phoenix sulking around alone, and I must admit that it managed to bore even me when I read it.
There will also be something a little unexpected—even to me—near the end. The idea just kind of came to me. Once I had it in my mind, I couldn't resist. I was going to have this at the end of the last chapter, but it just didn't feel like the right time.
Hope you guys enjoy!
When Phoenix and Chandie entered Rose and Monty's house where the party was being held, they were immediately greeted by their friends. It was a jumble of happy birthday messages. In the middle of it all was one shouted word that made the other guests laugh.
"Surprise!" Zoey exclaimed. She had a goofy-looking birthday hat on that was tilted significantly to the left.
Chandie gave her friend a confused look, held it there for several long seconds.
"What?" Zoey asked finally.
"It's not much of a surprise, Zoe, when I helped plan the party," Chandie remarked.
It took her a moment, but eventually Zoey did seem to understand Chandie's point. "Oh. Right." She looked embarrassed. "I'm just . . . I'm gonna go get some sandwiches." With that, Zoey walked off to a table full of various snacks.
"Happy sweet sixteen, Chandie," Monty said.
"Thanks." She glanced behind her at the table. "Did you make all that food?"
"Yeah." He smiled proudly, proud of himself. Chandie figured it was only fair. It was a surplus supply of food.
"Wow." She whistled in amazement. "That's a lot of food."
"Thanks. Go enjoy," he encouraged. "Happy birthday."
"Okay, um . . . You've said that at least three times now. You okay?" she mused.
Monty laughed. "Just go stuff yourself."
"'Kay!" Chandie ran over to the table to find all her favorites. Pizza, sandwiches, macaroni and cheese with cut-up hot dogs, chips and dip, sodas, juices—so much more. Anything Chandie could even think of wanting, it was there. Her jaw dropped in pure exhilaration. It was so much to take in. So much food. So much.
Her mind was so absorbed in the appearance and smell—Oh, the smell!—of the snacks before her that the sudden voice behind her made her jump. "You like?"
Chandie spun around to face Monty. "Do I like it? No, no. I love it! I'm gettin' so fat tonight."
Monty laughed. Chandie loved making him laugh. "Good. Here: I'll give you the tour. I bought chips, all kinds. Barbeque, sour cream and onion, regular—of course—and several others. Then there's your favorite: mac and cheese with cut up hot—"
"Yeah, I see," Chandie interrupted. "I think your job is over. You've done enough. Thank you for all of this. Enjoy the party. You did your part. Enjoy what you set in place."
"Thanks," Monty said, grabbing two plates from a stack at the near end of the table. She handed one to Chandie. "Let's fill ourselves up until we're full, and then watch a movie, and then eat some more." He smiled.
"And then watch another movie, and then eat some more," Chandie added.
"I like the way you think, Chan," Monty said with a smirk. He began to fill his plate. Chandie followed suit.
They placed the various snacks on their plates as they walked down the long side of the table. When they made it about halfway to the other end, Chandie glanced behind her to see a sad sight. Phoenix was sitting on a couch, staring at the ground. He was all alone and looked sadder than Chandie had ever seen him. She was suddenly very much regretting letting him talk her into telling her tomorrow about whatever horrible thing had happened to him. There was obviously something bothering him, and Chandie couldn't bear to watch her friend suffer.
"I'll be right back," she said quietly to Monty, setting her plate down on the table where she was standing. She knew it would probably bother Monty, having something so out of place smack dab in the middle of the buffet, but that wasn't her greatest concern at the moment.
She headed over to the couch and found a seat next to her friend. She placed a hand on his shoulder. His eyes moved their direction from the carpet below up to Chandie. "You okay?" she asked sweetly.
"No," he said in a low, distant voice. He went back to staring at his feet. "I'm ruining your party."
"Whatever's going on with you, I'm sure it's more important than some party."
"I just . . . I just wanted to let you have this one day be special. I mean, your parents didn't even come." He looked to be on the verge of tears. "I figured you at least deserved some friends to help you celebrate. It's your sweet sixteen. I just thought you deserved to have a good day. You're such a good person, and . . . and . . ." He seemed to be struggling to get more words out.
"Look, we can stop this party and redo it any other day," Chandie said. "Whatever terrible thing happened to you: you can't put that off. I can't let you put it off. Please just—just tell me what's wrong."
There was a long pause, made to seem longer by Chandie's impatient brain. Finally, Phoenix spoke. "Come on." He stood up.
"Where are we going?" Chandie asked.
"Anywhere other than here. I don't want the others to overhear." He started looking around the house for the best place to go. After a few minutes of this search, Phoenix finally gave up. "Let's just go outside."
They decided to head out the back door. When they where outside, they sat on a two-person wooden bench. The anticipation was killing Chandie. What was Phoenix going to say? What had gone wrong? On some level, she didn't even want to know. She just knew that she had to know for the sake of her friend. He needed comfort, and Chandie couldn't stand knowing that the boy had nobody to give him any at the moment.
Chandie stared at Phoenix, willing him to speak. She refused to redirect her gaze until the whole story was told. She waited, forcing herself to look patient. Inside, however, she was screaming at her friend to begin. She wanted so badly to know what was wrong.
Finally, Phoenix broke the silence. "It's a long story, and I should probably start from the very beginning."
Chandie nodded. Then, feeling like that wasn't enough, she spoke. "Go ahead." Her voice was quiet and filled with fear and anticipation. "I don't care how long it takes. I wanna hear the whole story."
Phoenix cleared his throat, though Chandie knew he was only stalling. "I know you guys don't know all that much about my family. You know we don't have much in the way of money, but there's more than that." His gaze drifted to Chandie's face, down to his feet, back up to Chandie, and finally settled on his feet once again. "My step mom . . . A couple weeks ago, she went to prison."
Chandie was taken aback by this statement. She gave her friend a pitying look and stroked his arm. "I'm so sorry."
"There's more," he said softly. "That's about the least of my problems."
Chandie thought of making some sarcastic comment such as "Well, this is fun," but she refrained from doing so. Instead, she stayed quiet and waited for her friend to continue.
"Earlier today, I got this phone call. It was . . . It was from the, uh, the hospital." His voice cracked with emotion. Chandie feared where this was headed. "My dad . . ."
Chandie could see he was struggling to finish. He didn't need to. She could figure out the rest. His father had passed away. How, Chandie had no idea. Though, that wasn't the main concern of the event.
Chandie was now at a loss for words. She could only imagine how terrible her friend must be feeling. He now had no parents. Where was he supposed to go from here?
As if he had been reading Chandie's mind, he continued. "Where am I going to stay? I have no mom, no dad, and no home. What do I do?" He finally allowed himself to spill a tear. Then another. Soon, they were pouring from his eyes like two identical waterfalls.
It broke Chandie's heart to see her friend like this. Phoenix had always seemed so strong. It sounded to Chandie that his life was falling apart. "You can stay at my house," she said quickly.
Phoenix suddenly looked up at her and wiped his eyes. "Really? You sure?"
"Yeah. We have . . . We're rich. We have, like, twenty guest rooms."
Phoenix laughed. In the moment, it seemed to be the wonderful sound Chandie had heard in all her life. He had such a nice laugh. He didn't laugh often, but when he did, the sound of it made Chandie want to bottle it up and keep it for herself. It was just so lovely of a sound.
"Thanks, Chan," he said. Then, after some silence, he added in a significantly happier voice, "We're gonna be roomies!"
Now it was Chandie's turn to laugh. "We are, now, aren't we? This'll be interesting."
"Yeah," Phoenix agreed.
It was then that Chandie noticed she still had her hand on his arm. She was about to pull it away when she suddenly met Phoenix's gaze. They stared deeply into each other's eyes for several long seconds. Chandie noticed an odd look in Phoenix's deep lime green eyes. She couldn't quite place it at first.
It was when he leaned in until their lips touched that Chandie finally figured out what the look was.
I suck at describing this kind of stuff. It's not like I really have the experience to know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed. Reviews are much appreciated. They help me know how well I'm doing, what to keep, what to change, ect.
Thank you guys for the current reviews, and I hope to see more in the future. ;)