chapter 17 • flash.
1022 Words
By the time Dana got to the party, her legs were already tired from pedalling her bicycle to an entirely different neighbourhood.
I'm here.
She sent the message to Avi and slipped her phone back into her pocket. From her position by the hedges, Dana saw the multicoloured lights that illuminated the whole modernist house.
Flashy cars were parked down the length of the street, empty liquor bottles strewn across the lawn. A girl was in her underwear, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the sidewalk.
Can I keep up with this?
Dana occupied herself with watching underwear girl while she waited for Avi. A few minutes later, he appeared from the side of the house, his arms outstretched as he approached her.
Dana laughed at the goofy grin on his face and she realised she'd missed him too. She closed the distance between them and hugged him.
"Where did you go?"
"Chicago. My dad asked me to meet him there."
"Oh. You didn't tell me."
He squeezed her tightly before pulling out of the hug. "It all happened so quick." He justified before taking her into the house.
Maybe she should just let it go, after all, they'd only been together for a few weeks. Maybe he wasn't comfortable enough telling her everything yet.
It's such a minor thing, though.
The party was wilder than the last one, that much was clear to Dana.
The music was louder and more fast-paced. More people were dancing and all sorts of activities were going down. Dana averted her eyes from the explicit shows couples were giving.
How many more parties would she have to attend till her friendship with Leila, Avi and their friends was solid?
"Let's dance," Avi whispered in her ear.
The ache in Dana's legs magnified at his words. She looked up at him and yelled, "Can I just rest a little? I rode my bike here!"
"Oh, sorry! Sure!"
As they moved through the pulsing crowd, Dana spotted Leila standing by the entrance of the kitchen, sporting shorts with a wool bralette and another handsome boy eager to please, just like the week before.
Why didn't you text back?
"Dana," Leila gave her a red-lipped smile.
"Leila, you look really good," Dana said, enthused.
"You too," she replied. "Hakeem, I'll see you." She put her hand in the crook of Avi's elbow, leading him away as well as Dana, whose hand he was holding onto.
"Don't use us as a ploy to leave your boo." Avi yelled to his sister once the boy was out of hearing distance.
She flipped him off. "See you later!"
Dana sat on the kitchen stool, propping her legs up on the one next to her. Avi poured a drink and handed it to her with a grin. "Just to loosen up a bit!"
"What's in it?" Dana asked, her hands already taking it from him. There was no way she'd be able to really let loose like everyone else in her constant state of self-consciousness.
"Just vodka!" Dana put the lid to her lips, scrunching up her nose at the sharp smell.
Avi chuckled, and said in her ear, "don't worry, you'll get used to it."
Dana gulped some of it. The liquid burned her throat as it entered her body. She grimaced. It tasted horrid.
"This is seriously your first time?"
"Yeah, always had a wine cooler instead of this!" Dana said, beside herself as her head started to feel lighter.
"Just have a little more," Avi said, putting the cup to her lips. Dana resisted the urge to plug her nostrils with her fingers as she drank. Instead, she held her breath.
After her second drink, she put her leg to the floor, a lopsided grin on her face. "We can dance now!"
He took her hand in his, a solo cup in his other hand and he led her to the centre of the dancing area where other sweaty teenagers were, moving his body to the beat. Dana giggled, following his lead.
"I have to be home before morning!" She yelled to Avi.
"Not a problem," he whispered in her ear as he turned her around. Soon, there was barely any space between them and his hands that were on her waist, began to travel north.
A picture flashed before Dana's eyes, one in which he was hovering over her in his bed.
Last week.
As his hands inched closer upwards, Dana felt something nipping at her insides, the feeling more pressing by the second.
I need another drink, she wanted to say but his hands were back on her waist before she could utter the words. The feeling was gone but her body was still tense. She couldn't relax.
Already, the haze of tipsiness had cleared from her mind and she could feel the ache in her legs again.
She almost wanted to cry out. Avi was latched onto her, how was she supposed to go to sit? In the distance, she spotted Talia, Lian and Leila dancing their hearts out.
How dull she'd be if she went to sit down. They hadn't asked her to lunch, if she was boring here again, she could kiss being asked to come out with them goodbye, and that left nothing.
His hands began to travel again.
Sweat rolled down her back, her entire body itching to leave his space.
She wasted no time in speaking this time, "I want another drink!"
"Okay." Then he let her go.
Dana's eyebrows pulled together. What had happened between them? She felt just fine the morning after — save for the pounding migraine that had plagued her.
On her way, Leila beckoned to her. "Dance with us." She mouthed to Dana.
Was Leila finally warming up to her?
Dana danced over to the girls, and she tried her best to keep up with them until her legs gave out and she crashed onto the burgundy couch.
Too tired to get up, she let herself fall asleep, her dream filled with visions of white sheets and a green-eyed boy in places she didn't want him in.
- Writer
