A First Novel

Chapter 3

I walked out of the bathroom just to meet a glaring Yvonne.

“What happened?” I asked, chuckling.

She kept on glaring at me. But then, her desperation she had suppressed earlier shoved its way out and sat evidently on her face until she couldn’t anymore. “I want to pee!” She squealed in desperation, pushing me out of the way and closing the door on my face with a bang. I jumped slightly, still wanting to laugh.

“Sorry!” I shouted.

“You are not forgiven!” She shouted back. We both knew she was kidding but my apology was actually genuine.

The previous day, she showed us around a bit which bonded us. She was majoring in Anthropology with a minor in history while I was doing my major in Journalism with a minor also in history. Growing up, Netherlands was my sole dream but one day in 9th grade, I had volunteered to join the journalism club in my school because we all had to join at least one club and that was how my second dream was born. I had combined them both hence wanting to become a journalist in the Netherlands became my ultimate dream.

The bathroom door opened. “Phew,” Yvonne muttered, relief all over her face. “I’ll forgive you only on one condition.” She added, wiping her hands on the towel beside her bed.

“What is that?”

“There is a party tonight hosted by Jason. Jason James. Or more commonly known as JJ.”

“Okay, where will this party be held? And who is Jason James?”

“Son of a business tycoon. I have known him and his g**g since school. Start of a new semester that’s why he is throwing a party,” She explained. “But mind you, they are all in their second year.”

I nodded. “Okay. Count me in.” I was introverted. I knew that. But I didn’t want to stay the same. I wanted change. And this party would give me the opportunity to do so. It was going to be hard but I wanted to socialize, even if it was a little bit because something was better than nothing. And my high school experience was the exact definition of nothing.

“Damn, I didn’t think you would give in so easily.” She gave me an impressed look, throwing the towel she was using at me. I caught it on time, keeping it on her bed for her.

“Yeah, I want some change I think.”

“I’m so glad. Trust me, I won’t make you regret it.” She winked, before grabbing her car keys and walking out of the room. “Be ready by six. I’ll come pick you up.”

“Where are you going?”

“To exchange the car with my car which my brother had taken for his road trip.” She answered. Yvonne lived 30 minutes away from our campus. Talk about being lucky.

“I’ll go then Hayes. Bye! See you!”

“Yeah sure. Bye!” I said, as I watched her go. I grabbed a book from my rack (I was finished with my unpacking by this morning) and sat down by the window as I read.

* * *

“We reached,” Yvonne announced, unbuckling her belt.

“So fast?” I was trying to unbuckle my seatbelt but that stupid seatbelt wasn’t just getting unbuckled.

“Yeah, I drove fast too. The party house is nearby; I told you that before.”

It took us only around 5 minutes to reach the party house. But as she said, she actually drove fast. Not like the way in races but still fast enough. I did tell her to slow down since we were in no hurry but her answer was, “The road is pretty deserted. Don’t worry.” I mentally thanked the lord for not making someone cross the road out of the sudden.

We got out of the car and started walking inside. The Iron Gate to the house where the party was headed was visible clearly even in the dark from the parking lot. She took the lead, the sound of her stilettos steady and confident, mirroring her usual confidence. A guard opened the gate for us as we walked in. The noises from inside the house were now clearly heard, with music blasting from each and every corner of the house. Few were outside smoking and drinking.

I was never a party person and I could literally count the number of parties I have gone to in my life. This was like the fourth or the fifth one for sure.

“Come in Hayes. It will be fun,” She said, taking my hand and smiling. She gave me a light squeeze, a sign of reassurance that she was there with me. For me. She was the first person with whom I had felt this comfortable so quickly. It was almost as if she knew me and the kind of person I was the moment her eyes landed on me. A good person reader, or maybe I was just too easy to read. Or she was what we call, our platonic soulmate, for me.

We walked inside, hand in hand as we witnessed a bunch of people dancing, drinking and laughing wildly as if the party had already started. The moment I stepped in, the air of the party hit me. This was exactly what I had avoided my entire high school but ironically, I was at one. So much for change.

But nevertheless, I had to admit: the house was cleaned up pretty well; the host knew exactly how to plan a party. I sighed, impressed but my confusion hadn’t been expelled from me yet so, I looked over at Yvonne and to my surprise, she was taking a look around with a confused glance.

“Hey, the party starts at six right?” I asked, raising my voice because the music was too loud.

“Y-Yeah. I mean Jason told me it starts at six. Actually, don’t ask me, I am confused too,”

I continued to stare at her with folded arm, to which she shot me back a look which spoke, ‘Don’t give me that look. We are in the same boat’.

“Come on, let’s just join in. Maybe he made a mistake?” I said. I myself couldn’t believe I was saying those words.

“Jason never messes with the party timings, espec—”

“Hey Yvonne! Welcome! Why are you late, dude?” Someone with a deep voice interrupted her from behind. I turned around to see a tall guy with hair as dark as the night sky and tanned skin. His brown eyes glowed under the disco ball all around, his chiselled face making his cheekbones stand out in the ever shifting colour of the party lights. He flashed a toothy smile at us, making him look more attractive than he already was.

“Jason, you told me that the party starts at six,” Yvonne confronted.

Okay, so he was Jason James. Or JJ.

“Oh s**t. Didn’t I text you that it"s been shifted to five because the Dean said it"s a college night so the party has to start early and end early?”

“No.” She answered, annoyed.

“Oh s**t, sorry mate. I promise it won’t happen again.” His eyes gleamed with sincerity and guilt, and for a flash second, I felt as if they already had something going on or they shared something in the past. The familiarity in their chemistry was just too evident.

“It"s okay, but anyways, I don’t plan on drinking heavily tonight because I came for her,” Yvonne said, putting her left arm over me. “She is Summer Hayes, my friend and roommate.” She looked at me and smiled.

“Oh hey there newbie,” His eyes shifted to me. “I’m Jason James and the host of the party. Welcome to Dalewood, where you get to meet the most amazing kind of people, starting from our squad.” He said in an amused tone. This guy was surely proud of his “squad”. He then lends his hand out for a handshake.

“Hi, I’m Summer,” I greeted back, lending out my hand for the handshake. “And the party is amazing! You sure do know how to make a party thriving. Thank you for the warm welcome.”

“Oh, thank you so much. That"s so sweet of you. Feel free to hang around and do anything,” He offered me a warm smile, before turning back to Yvonne. “Yvonne, the whole squad is upstairs and it"s been so long so you got to join us. Bring her with you. That way, she can meet more people.”

“Not any other people but your squad. If there are any pole dancers upstairs from your dad"s bar then I’m not coming. She won’t feel comfortable.”

“Yeah, my squad are also people and don’t worry, there are none. We’ve all been taking a break from that.” He assured her.

“Yeah right, as if I don’t know that you can’t live without s*x and girls but okay, I believe you tonight. But, if you lied about it, you are dead, Jason.”

“Fine, mate. Now let"s go. We have a lot to catch up with.” He said “we have a lot to catch up with” more quietly as if he didn’t want her to hear but as I was nearer to him, I heard it which added up more to my little suspicion. But, I couldn’t guarantee the fact that she didn’t.

Soon, both were leading the way so I quietly followed them. I trusted her and it was enough for me. We took the stairs, stopping when we reached the third floor. It was less crowded and quieter which brought instant relief to my soul. There were even lesser rooms, with the only sound coming from the opposite end of the floor - faint and lighter. He took us both to the same direction from where the sound was coming, multiple voices laughing and talking while we were fainter earlier clearly heard now.

There was a huge entrance door right at the end of the massive hallway, leading to a huge room inside. Jason entered, spreading his arms out as he excitedly said, “Yo! Guess who’s with me right now?”

There were around 5-6 guys in the room as expected, all with a full glass. They all looked up, hearing his voice but I noticed one of them in particular. With warm olive skin, blue eyes, dirty brown hair and sharp features, it almost felt impossible to not notice him. As he looked, his chiselled face got more into shape showing off his perfectly-shaped jawline and cheekbones, a natural blush of pink glowing all over his cheeks. Even from a distance, I could see his freckles on his pointed nose, scattered bit by bit while his thin bow-shaped lips parted ever so slightly making him look so adorable. His mysterious aura felt thin yet calm. It was almost as if this guy could just breathe, and I’d still find it worth admiring. His serious eyes then suddenly fell on me and I was sure I would faint because of how intense and deeply beautiful it was. I suddenly could see the sparkling ocean water on his eyes, swaying gracefully, all bathed under the warm sun accompanied by the sound of its satisfied waves. The unknown guy right here legit gave me a full-on virtual ocean visit experience at just one glance and it shocked me to my core that someone did that to me. To say he was the most beautiful human I had ever laid eyes on sounded less than the bare minimum; I needed beyond words to do justice to him because all the words in the dictionary fell short in front of him.

He was that beautiful. God really had favourites.

What was he? What was the instant connection that I felt? And why couldn’t I explain it?

“Summer. Hello?” Yvonne shook me hard. “Dude, are you even listening to me?”

“Oh yeah,” I snapped out. “I’m sorry… I wandered off.”

“Yeah, you did. Anyway, I would like to introduce you to some people,” She said smiling. “Summer, they are the squad. Back in grade 10th, few people started calling them the squad because they’d always hang out together. Ever since then, this is what everybody calls them collectively. They are all sophomores,”

Then, she pointed her finger to the guy on my left and began introducing. “This is Ryder Hudson, Ian Hastings, Liam Brown, Preston Miller an—”

“Elijah. Grey.” The mystery Greek God stood up, interrupting Yvonne and introducing himself.

I felt too numb to speak. When he stood up, I noticed him more - with a tall and muscular figure, he stood confident, looking at everybody from time to time, laughing alongside and never saying a word. The conversation going on was on mute to my ears because my eyes were fixed on this man. He wore a plain white t-shirt that covered his neck fully on top of which he wore a white and blue varsity jacket pairing it with light blue boyfriend jeans which folded slightly at his ankles showing the plain white striped socks he wore with white Nike Air force. His dirty brown hair was messy and untamed, adding more to his beauty. Suddenly, his deep piercing blue eyes met mine with such intensity that I felt like he would hypnotize me the next second if I didn’t look away.

Except that I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

It was like my whole body and every part in me had signed an agreement that allowed him to hypnotize me just by his eyes. If eyes could capture, I would have been captured, happily. And that was the problem.

Instantly and immediately, I hated the way he made me feel because I felt so powerless and so dependent and the elephant in here wasn’t how he made me feel - it was how I had never felt like this for anyone else ever before.

I had always felt I had everything because I was blessed in many ways of life - at least I considered myself to be. I got everything that I had always asked for and I didn’t ask for more because I never felt the need to. And why should I? I was happy and content. Like truly. It felt like I had everything. Every single thing.

Until tonight.

Now, it was almost as if my bag of happiness wasn’t really enough anymore. Something else felt missing. And this something else seemed so strong and powerful because the desperation in me to find out what it was made me grow so restless in the middle of the party. It was then it hit me that it had always been missing but it took tonight and a chance encounter of one beautiful guy to make me realize it. But now the problem was, I couldn’t really figure out what. What was it that I was missing?