Fire and Rain

Six

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

After Martin dropped me off at home, he drove off to meet with his friends and I went straight to my room to freshen up. But a horrific view presented itself to me when I got out of the shower and opened my dresser.

Pink.

Well, okay, only mostly pink, but those that weren’t were all floral and lacy and just… not me. I picked out one of the clothes on a hanger and looked at it with disgust. So, this is why people noticed my outfit. Apparently, a version of Dana Maverick used to go out wearing… whatever this was.

One by one, I went through all pieces of clothing that “I" owned. Almost none of them were wearable, so I settled on a plain gray shirt with a small print of “Get it, girl!” on the top left, and a pair of leggings.

I was convinced that I was living in my nightmare.

I settled on lying on my bed with my face in the pillows after I had gone through most of the items in the bedroom. I say “most" but in reality, as soon as I found an old bedazzled journal with a picture of Gareth and I in it, I immediately recoiled, threw it back where it came from, and plopped facedown on my bed.

Just then, I heard a car pull up in the driveway, then a few minutes later, mom was calling me down for dinner. I lifted my face from the pillow. Did I hear it right? Mom's home at—I checked the clock—7 pm? I hurriedly got out of bed and ran downstairs, just to check. And there my parents were, in the dining area with plates of food on the table. I couldn’t believe it.

“You’re home,” I gasped.

Mom placed a kiss on my forehead as she passed by me, carrying plates. “Of course, honey. Why are you so surprised?”

“Aren’t you two… busy with work?”

“We are,” dad answered, placing utensils on the table . “But never too busy for dinner.”

“Oh, that reminds me, honey we have to be early tomorrow because I have a meeting. They wanted to do it tonight but I pushed it to tomorrow,” Mom told dad.

They took a seat, and I stood there still in shock at how two people who looked like, sounded like, and had the same jobs as my actual parents seemed much happier and loving.

“Dana, aren’t you going to sit down?” Mom asked me, looking a bit worried.

I could feel my eyes begin to water, but I blinked back the tears and smiled. “Yes, sorry,” I said, taking a seat.

Dinner lasted longer than how our family meals did. My parents actually took the time to discuss their work and my school. I can get used to this, was what I kept thinking throughout. One of the maids took care of the dishes afterwards, and I went back to my room, still in some sort of daze. I was only pulled out of it when I heard a car honk. A few seconds later, dad was calling my name and telling me, “Your friends are here!”

I had stupidly forgotten about Gareth’s party.

After a few wardrobe changes, my mom telling me to be home by 11, and her miraculously greeting Maria and Fin with a friendly smile, we drove off.

Of all the years I’ve been classmates with Gareth Winds, I had never once been to his house. To my surprise, I found that our houses were only a couple of minutes away from each other. All this time, he had literally been living in the neighborhood next to mine.

When we got there, dozens of cars were already lined up along the driveway, extending to the side of the street, so Fin dropped Maria and I off before finding for a place to park. As soon as we exited the car, we could already hear music blaring from the house. I was already sure that this place’s definition of a party was different from my reality, and I confirmed it as soon as we entered through the door.

The entire house was only lit by small fairy lights and lamps. I mean, were their main lights not working? Red cups and bowls of chips littered almost every surface. And all the guests—mostly teenagers in our school—were obviously having a good time chatting, dancing—more like grinding at each other—or kissing. I had been to parties before, but none of them were like this.

Not two seconds in, a couple who were making out bumped into me and didn’t even acknowledge it. Maria, who was grinning beside me, only laughed as she saw my disgusted and shocked reaction.

“What’s with that face, D?” she screamed at me so I could hear her.

“It’s too loud, isn’t it?” I yelled back.

“What?” she said, proving my point.

From across the room, Jonathan spotted us and his eyes widened with glee. “Heeeey!” he shouted really loudly, that it made Louie and Baron turn to where he was looking. When they saw us, they cheered as well and the three moved past the crowd towards us. I had never seen them this excited to see me.

“Welcome, welcome!” Louie exclaimed, putting his fist towards me. For a second, I thought he was going to jokingly punch me, but when he looked at me expectantly and said, “Don’t leave me hanging, girl!” I realized what he meant, and so I hesitantly bumped my fist with his. Jonathan and Baron followed suit, then they did the same with Maria.

Oh my god. Was I in a “fist-bump" level of relationship with these three?

Baron screamed something at the two that I couldn’t overhear because of the music, but they nodded and urged Maria and I to follow them. They led us through the bodies in the living room and kitchen—acting as if they were bodyguards—and out to the pool, where there were less people and the music was much quieter.

“Gareth threw a heck of a party!” Maria said, fully audible now, as Louie handed the two of us red cups. One sniff of the liquid inside and I already knew what it was.

“All of this is our doing,” Jonathan replied proudly. “We came here at 7 and Gareth hadn’t prepared anything! So we had to do everything ourselves.”

“That guy's acting weird today,” Baron whispered.

“Probably hit his head with a ball during practice,” Louie snickered.

Maria looked around. “Where is that guy anyway?”

“He ran off to get more ice,” Baron answered. “Oh, there he is!”

“Eeey!” the Stupid Pack cheered in unison as their leader walked towards us, looking quite uncomfortable as he had to dodge a bunch of people. As soon as he got through, he ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation. Jonathan, being the loyal servant that he is, immediately took the bag of ice from Gareth and went to the kitchen.

“Hey,” Gareth casually greeted me and Maria when he noticed us. I must say, even in this world, he seemed as reserved.

“You alright there, man?” Louie asked, tapping at Gareth’s shoulder while chugging on his drink. Baron proceeded to hand Gareth a cup, which Gareth hesitantly received.

“Yeah, I’m good, man,” Gareth replied, glancing at me and Maria again as an awkward air surrounded us.

“We're gonna go get some chips,” Louie obviously lied. When Baron didn’t catch his drift, he elbowed him in the ribs, making Baron jump and quickly say, “Oh, right, yeah let’s go. Catch you guys later.” They looked to Gareth, who only nodded at them, then they left.

Maria glanced at me, and I slightly shook my head. It was obvious what she was thinking of doing, and I did not want to be left alone with Gareth—no matter if the Gareth standing in front of me was a different one. I don’t know if she misread my head gesture or if she was being deliberately defiant, but she looked behind her and said “Oh, there’s Fin!” and hurriedly went back inside the house.

And there I stood. Awkward and alone with Gareth Winds 2.0 who was supposed to have a “thing" with Dana Maverick 2.0. Whatever that means. All I knew was that I had to be civil—lest everyone gets convinced that I’m not the Dana they know and proceed to burn me on a stake. So, I decided to try my best to make conversation, like how I usually would to a random acquaintance.

“You didn’t come to class today,” I started, hoping that the awkwardness I felt didn’t translate to my expression. “Are you alright?”

Gareth seemed a bit startled that I was talking to him. He shifted uncomfortably once then answered, “Yeah, I uh, I just hit my head with a ball so I feel kinda woozy. Did I miss anything at school?”

Truth was, I could barely pay attention in school—which was a first for me—since I was too busy being awed and horrified by things. “Not much,” I shrugged.

“Alright, cool,” was all he answered. Thankfully, a few of the partygoers came out of the house, intending to use the pool.

A chorus of “Cool party, man,” and “Hey, Gareth, Dana,” in a sleazy tone came from them, obviously inebriated. Some of them bumped fists and even hugged the two of us, but truth be told, I had no idea who they were. Then, they made their way to the pool and chatted amongst themselves.

“You’ve got a lot of guests tonight,” I said.

“Yeah,” he muttered, but he didn’t seem too happy about it. “I think my friends called up a bunch of people. Are you having fun? Do you want anything to drink or eat?”

Now that, I thought, was a clear indication that this really was a different Gareth. I mean, asking about my well-being? Original Gareth would never.

“Sorry to interrupt, love birds,” Baron said as he placed his arms above mine and Gareth’s shoulders. I wanted nothing more than to shove him away. “But Gareth, I need help with another keg. And Dana, Lara is looking for you so I’ll send her out here,” he said, before letting us go.

Gareth watched as Baron jogged back to the house, then screamed “Who wants to play a game?” really loud. He turned to me. “I guess I better go,” he said, seemingly unsure what to do.

“Okay, then?” I answered. Was he waiting for me to say something else?

He gave me a half smile and an awkward hand wave, then finally waked away.