Elphame

Party Time

Sawyer and David had been close friends since the 9th grade, but they became very close in the 10th. It was obvious to everyone but them that they liked each other. They constantly made googly eyes at one another, complimented each other all the time, and always felt the need to be physically touching the otherHonestly… I would have thought they would already be together by now. However, David was too shy to make the first move and Sawyer was too prideful. So, they remained friends for years until the last month.

“It just doesn’t make sense. Even if he is shy like you have been saying” she pauses for a moment, clearly flustered “it’s been 2 years. Why wouldn’t he get over his shyness and make a move? We have 2 months left before we move on with our lives.” She says annoyed with the situation. “maybe his fear of being rejected or losing your friendship forever is outweighing logic right now for him.” I say not completely convinced he has any idea she likes him. “maybe you should go out on a limb and make the first move” I say as I nudge her arm. When she looks over at me I wiggle my eyebrows, which pulls a laugh out of her. “I guess it just depends on how tonight goes.” She says and I smile, elated at the fact she finally is at least open to the idea. The rest of the drive goes by in a breeze as we laugh about how Samantha will react, and talk about what we think will happen at the party. I watch the street lights and trees pass by in a blur, and before I know it we are pulling up to Jarren’s house.

Jarren was the star quarterback we all thought was going to be drafted… except when the scouts came they didn’t even think twice about him. They noticed Brody, one of our linebackers, and began talking to him immediately after the game. Jarren was speechless for the first time in his life, it didn’t make things any better that Brody was his best friend. Jarren always exuded confidence, but that night I saw his shoulders slump and his head drop for the first time.

Samantha came to comfort him immediately after the game, but I think that only made things worse. He knew she felt bad for him, and if she noticed the events ….everyone else probably did as well.

“Are you ready to party?” I hear Sawyer say excitedly. The sound of her voice ripping me away from my thoughts. “lets go” I yelp out as I grab my purse and reach for the door handle. I pull the handle and push the door open, and I push my legs out. Standing up, and finally stretching my legs, I smooth my out my dress. The door makes a “click” as it closes and I walk to the front of the car to meet Sawyer.

She was wearing a royal blue velvet tube top that had slim straps wrapping around her neck and back and black high-waisted jean shorts that allowed the bottom of her ass to show a bit. She was a little shorter tonight than she usually was out in public because she was wearing sandals. She had a diamond bracelet on her left ankle and one on her left wrist to match. I meet her at the front of the car, and she reaches out for my hand. I grab hers back excitedly. Music is playing, that only gets louder the closer we get to the house, and I look around trying to see how many people are here.

There are at least 20 cars parked around the house, and as we walk up the driveway… I can hear what sounds like hundreds of voices coming from inside the house. We get to the end of the driveway and approach the concrete steps that lead to his front door. I look at Sawyer, and she squeezes my hand a bit harder as we approach the door and open it. As soon as we open the door the people in direct view of us begin staring. I immediately notice there is a staircase straight ahead and Jarren is at the top of it, we make eye contact and he smiles. I smile back, and return my attention to the party in front of us.

Sawyer begins walking towards the kitchen, she strides so elegantly you would believe she was in heels…even though she’s wearing sandals. I hold my head high and walk with a confident smirk as we shimmy through everyone. Once we finally reach the kitchen Sawyer let’s my hand go and grabs us both a red solo cup. “What are you gorgeous ladies drinking?” I hear a deep but goofy sounding voice say. When I look up, I realize it's Brody. I look around to see they’ve combined at least 20 different bottles of liquor and mixed them with different juices, then put the mixture in the biggest cooler I think I have ever laid my eyes on. “We brought vodka and pineapple juice, thank God. You all will be puking before 12” I say laughing. “A big boy like me can handle it” he replies puffing out his chest. I roll my eyes and notice David approaching us. “David's coming” I whisper just as he is about to reach us.

“Hey Sawyer” he says smiling awkwardly. “you look…” he pauses for a moment looking her up and down like he is seeing her for the first time again “absolutely stunning” he finishes and the faintest bit of a blush looks like it’s forming on his cheeks. “thank you, you don’t look too bad yourself” she says smiling, seeming pleased with the compliment. I decide to give them a bit of privacy and have a walk around the party to see who all is here.

As I walk around I notice that Jarren is still staring at me from the top of the stairs. It seems like everywhere I move his eyes are following. “ugh” I groan. Why couldn’t he just be friends with me instead of pining over me like I was the only thing he had never been allowed? I look around the mansion appreciating the extremely high ceilings, and artwork, that I know my family would have to work 6 years to afford. We were by no means broke, but we were in the lowest bit of the upper class. I had always been more than grateful and appreciative of the life I lived, I know it could be much much worse.

However, seeing the houses and worlds some of our classmates lived in always made me wonder what it was like. I wander into the living room, when I glance up and see that he is still glaring at me. ‘That’s enough of that', I think to myself as I begin walking up the stairs to confront him. As I reach the top he meets me there, “Hey Iridessa, you look lovely tonight” he says smiling and leaning in for a hug. “Hey Jarren. I would love to hug you but your girlfriend would probably be mad at me for the next 5 years.” I say, and he looks like he is going to say something when I cut him off. “I came up here because I felt you looking at me everywhere I went… While I’m flattered, things like that aren’t making the situation with Samantha and I any better” I reply.

Samantha met Jarren in the 9th grade when she joined the cheerleading team. They dated until the end of the 10th grade when they broke up because Samantha thought Jarren was too close with some of his friends. Since then they've still been a “thing” but Jarren won't agree to be her boyfriend. “I'm sorry” is all he could say at first, we stay there for a second listening to the music around us and the people talking “Honestly I'll be glad to be moving far away this fall. It's like a new start where I can talk to and be friends with anyone I want.”

He says as he rubs the back of his neck sighing “I don't know why I'm saying this, maybe it's the liquor… but she wasn't entirely wrong. I tried to look at you as a friend, but I can’t you’re perfect in literally every way. You're my dream girl, I just wish I would have told you sooner” he says looking down at the people below us, refusing to meet my eyes.

I don't know what to say to that, it completely shocked me. Samantha wasn’t crazy, but also, I was never a threat to her because I never knew how he felt. “I'm not sure what to say to that Jarren. I hope your new life brings you everything you want it to have. Thank you for inviting us.” I say as I turn to walk away before the shock and awkwardness sets in any more. “please try not to stare.” I yell back as I start going down the stairs “I don’t think it's something I can control” Jarren says blushing. ‘What has gotten into that boy?’ I thought. He has always said and done things that made me question if he was a little attracted to me, but nothing was ever clear enough for it to register in my brain I guess.

Still, I do not feel bad for Samantha. I did not want Jarren either way. Honestly, I did not want any guy at our school. They all seemed too immature, and the ones that were mature, had no personality. ‘Maybe I am just too picky’ my thoughts can not help but judge at first ‘or maybe, I am just uninterested in those things’ I quickly retort to myself. Jarren was far from the start of issues between Samantha and I. She had been picking on me for as long as I remember. She made jokes about me in elementary, telling everyone my eyes were golden because I did not pee. Then in middle, she told everyone I was an alien and that’s why I was so freakishly tall and weird. The issue with Jarren was just a valid reason for her to get others to hate me rather than just make fun of me. Everything changed the summer of 9th grade however. I promised myself I would become a different person in High school, so I did. The quiet, meek, insecure little Iridessa died. I even held a funeral for her in the woods behind my parent’s house.

I buried the ugly and awkward photos of myself from elementary and middle, and my unfashionable clothes. Most importantly, though, I buried my Berry. This was the stuffed animal my mother kept in my crib when I was a baby. I slept with the pink bear until the stuffing in the limbs were misplaced. For some reason, watching the dirt pile on top of these things made me feel like I had been baptized. Like I was born anew. When I walked into school on my first day, dressed like I had just stepped out of a photo shoot… Samantha’s jaw actually dropped. I remember her expression and how bubbly it made me feel. Since then, I have found joy in repaying Samantha for all that she has done. ‘What do they say? Traumatize the traumatizer?’ this thought made me chuckle a bit. I am not evil, in fact, I try my hardest to make my friends and family happy. Often times sacrificing my own happiness.

Samantha’s voice rips me out of my thoughts. ‘Speaking of the devil’. She is followed by her little minions that help her wreak havoc on Mystic Falls High. “Did you get the attention you wanted?” she sneers, happy with her comment. “Don’t worry about me darling, I get all of the attention I want.”

Her face twitches a little, and I am surprised she hasn’t gotten tired of losing our battle of words. “It’s only because you dress and act like a slut” she says this with her eyebrows raised as if she was telling me a very lucrative piece of information that was going to change my life “No one cared about you before”. She thinks this sentence is the nail in my coffin. “Awww… Sam, are you upset no one cares about you now, since they all care about me?” I make my lips form into a pout that adds a little razzle to my sarcasm. Her face turns red and I decide I am not going to give her anymore time to reply “It will be okay hun, I’m sure one day someone will care about you.” I pat her shoulder and walk away with my head held high.