Secret Affinity

17

Crimson invited me to her house this time around, so I got permission from Dad beforehand. We went directly to her house after school, and I took my dress and shoes with me.

“This stupid assignment is due tomorrow,” Crimson grumbled in her car. “I’m done all of it, but I need you to edit.”

She lived in the city-centre, and her house was near the bakery. But this neighbourhood was completely different in style and arrangement than the neighbourhood near the bakery. It had upscale houses, large driveways, and an urban atmosphere. It was peculiar.

“Here we are,” Crimson said, pulling up on the driveway. “Don’t judge by its appearance. It’s shitty inside.”

I followed her into the house and was immediately hit by a wave of noises. It was mostly children and a woman’s voice shouting over them. The living room was humongous but a complete mess. The carpet was stained with orange, and sparkles were spilled everywhere.

“If you weren’t coming, I’d have to do all this s**t on my own,” Crimson said to me. “Mom!”

The woman in the middle of it all noticed us, and her flushed face lit up. She had chocolate brown hair parted in the middle and tied back into a ponytail. Her eyes were a soft amber—she was very beautiful.

“Hi, dear,” she gushed when she saw me. “Are you Crimson’s friend?” I nodded. “Fabian was talking about you the other day. You seem like a sweet girl.”

I thanked her, and Crimson took me upstairs before her mother and I could talk any more. She didn’t introduce me to any of her cousins or her siblings. We went straight to work.

Crimson wasn’t bad at school, in all honesty. She worked hard when she wasn’t busy, and she was a remarkable thinker and creator. The work she produced was very artistic and informative, but it was the grammar she needed to improve on.

“Fabian’s coming home in an hour, so we better get this done,” Crimson murmured.

We took a break and finally, Crimson showed me around her house. The bathrooms were bigger than my bedroom, and I loved the fancy chandelier that hung at the centre of the staircase. Hers was the messiest room with clothes, shoes, books, her guitar case, and random things scrambled all over the place.

“Mom’s probably making us potato wedges,” Crimson said taking me downstairs. “She cooks everything at home.”

The living room was much cleaner than I’d last seen it. The kitchen was at the back of the living room and had a big window over the sink.

“Oh, Crimson, get two glasses from the hutch, please,” Crimson’s mom said. She smiled at me. “You’re going to the party with Crimson?”

“Yes.” She asked me if I needed anything for the party. “No, Ms. Hawke.”

“All she needs is makeup,” Crimson said, putting the glasses on the kitchen island. “And you can just call her Dorothy. Mom, you can call her Ari.”

“Crimson told me you’re new to the city,” Dorothy said, and I nodded. “How’s everything going so far? You like it?”

I explained that it was a great place, but I had to get used the defects or the governmental issues in the city. She agreed and told me to wait a couple months, and it’d be a piece of cake to handle the strange situations.

Crimson and I sat on the couch to watch T.V. while eating the snacks we were given. Dorothy was an amazing cook, but Crimson shrugged when I commented about it.

We went to go get ready shortly after, and I slipped into one of the bathrooms with my bag. I took out the dress and smoothed a hand over its soft fabric.

I opened a jewelry set from years ago and took out a thin chain and matching earrings. It was my mother’s, a gift Dad and I picked out for her for Mother’s Day. I carefully put it on along with the earrings and combed my hair.

When I returned to Crimson’s bedroom, she was already dressed and was curling her hair. I took out my black shoes, because I couldn’t find any heels. I put on my shoulder bag and waited for her.

“Why are you dressed so formal?” she said, looking at me from the mirror. “This isn’t a formal party. Okay, let me fix some things.”

Crimson made me sit down in front of her dresser and used her comb to bring my hair up. Leaving a few strands falling at my ears, she tied it into a loose bun and inserted a matching navy pin she found in the drawer. She began working on my makeup, and I relaxed, trusting her to work some magic on me.

The door opened downstairs and voices erupted. Crimson and I went downstairs with our stuff. Fabian came inside with the tips of his hair coated in snow.

“Ready to go, beauties?” Dorothy asked us. She made sure we took our coats in case it got too cold.

“Okay, let’s go,” Fabian said, and we started walking out. I turned around last minute to see Dorothy peck him on the lips but turned again quickly.

“Hurry up,” Crimson told Fabian in the car.

The party wasn’t far away from Crimson’s house, just around the corner in fact. It was in the same park Evin had taken us to after DQ. The building in the park was the party location, and I got nervous when we stepped out.

“Don’t have too much fun,” Fabian said, and Crimson slammed the door. “Please look after her,” he requested me before he left.

People were pouring in and out the building, and I stuck close to Crimson as we climbed the steps and walked through the glass doors. We took off our coats and held them in our arms.

This was the so-called paradise. I had to admit the night-look was shockingly pretty with shimmering lights, a large swimming pool, different bars, and disco music. The entire roof was a sunroof, yet it wasn’t cold inside.

“Come on,” Crimson said, taking me away from the bars and towards another section of the building. It had a tropical appearance within a glass building. Kind of like a greenhouse but with all the people in their dresses and suits.

The place Crimson took me to was where the stage was. Multiple DJs played songs, and people danced on the floor. Confetti was floating in the air among disco lights, and it was too dark for me recognize anyone from school.

“There’s your sexy jock,” Crimson said, pointing to Nixon. Whoa, she had excellent night vision. He was standing near the sidelines with his friends, laughing and chattering. “And there’s your motorcycle guy.”

She nodded towards the only person sitting on one of the bar stools. Arian was wearing a suit, too. It was entirely black, contrasting against his fair skin and blue eyes. It was strange—he looked very…handsome.

To my surprise, he was already staring at me with his arm looped over the backrest of the barstool. His eyes slightly pierced, intimidating me from all the way here. When Spike crashed down on the barstool beside his, I peeled my gaze away.

“You still have to tell me about that,” Crimson hissed at me. “You know how crazy I went after finding out your biker dude was Arian? You and him. How?”

We went to the punch bowl which was a little farther away, and Crimson poured herself a drink. A familiar face was already there, pouring two glasses of punch.

“Took you long enough to come,” Evin said when he noticed me. His suit was a dark maroon. “We were here for an hour because Arian had some business.” Evin looked at Crimson’s deadpan face. “Is this your friend?”

“Yeah, she’s Crimson,” I introduced them. “Crimson, this is Evin. He’s my neighbour, and Arian’s brother. They’re all my neighbours.”

“Neighbours?” Crimson said. “How come I didn’t see them when I came over to your house?” I told her they went to work.

“Spike’s already drunk,” Evin told me. “I would’ve showed you around but he’s, unfortunately, my responsibility now. I can go get Arian if you want.”

“No thanks,” I said quickly. Evin smiled, and I rubbed my shoulder. “Uh, Crimson is here with me, so it’s fine.”

“Later guys,” Evin said. “By the way, that punch has some alcohol in it. It’s off limits if you’re under eighteen. Unless you want to break the rules.”

Crimson drank all of her punch, and she filled a glass for me too. I held it, but I didn’t dare take a sip.

“Do you want to dance?” Crimson asked me. I shook my head. “Wow, you’re boring. I’m gonna go look for the band. Stay here.” Crimson left, and I was alone at the punch table.

Within a minute, a guy walked to the punch bowl and lousily filled a glass. His white collared shirt was unbuttoned almost halfway down, and his hair was messy. I stepped to the side, away from him, but he caught my motion.

“Hey there, cutie,” he said, his smile seductive. I searched the room for Crimson, but it was impossible in the dark light and a lot of people. Eventually, someone called him, and he left.

Crimson found her band members, and all of them said hello to me. Half of them were already drunk.

“Crimson, do you get drunk, too?” I asked her. She told me sometimes and I clutched my glass of punch. Oh, man.

I stood at the sidelines most of the time, watching Crimson and her friends drink and dance on the dance floor. After about three glasses, I told her to stop and take a break.

“Why you still have your first wun?” she said, a little tipsy. She wiped her mouth after finishing her fourth glass.

“So I don’t get drunk like you,” I said, grabbing her arm. I couldn’t see her bandmates anywhere, so I took her out of the room. I didn’t know where I was going but I had to get her out of there.

Fabian told me to look after her, and as a friend, I was doing what I was supposed to do.

After some minutes of aimless roaming, I found a bathroom and poured all of the punch into the sink. I left the glass there and dragged Crimson out. She made no attempt to help me, but wouldn't keep her mouth shut either.

“You’re going the wrong way, ma friend,” Crimson said and smiled sleepily. “Are you looking for someone? Is it the asshole jock or the pretty biker?” I sighed heavily.

I abruptly stopped when we reached an open stadium within the building. There was a stage and several men and women on the stage. Nothing was happening except a grown-man party, with people holding wine glasses and talking with each other.

“What are you dooooing?” Crimson said, and I shushed her.

I squinted, seeing Arian and another man talking with each other on the side. The man was doing all the talking, but Arian was standing there with his hands in his pockets. If I wasn’t wrong, the man he was with was the same man white-suited man who encountered me after DQ.

“What is going on?” I whispered to myself. Arian, plus some others, were the only youngsters at that area. He walked out the room, leaving the man with a frown.

“I wanna get outta here,” Crimson grumbled. Okay, sheesh. Crimson began to lean on me, and I took her another direction.

I found a bar, and even if I’d never been to a bar before, I had to ask for water. I waited at the counter while I rummaged through my bag. Did you have to buy water, or whatever it was you get from a bar?

When I looked up, I couldn’t see Crimson. Anywhere. A thrum started in my stomach, creeping its way up to my throat and skin. I walked around, almost running in panic.

“Crimson?!” I shouted. Several people looked at me, but I was scared. What happened to her Where the hell did she go?

I was completely and utterly lost by running around in circles. When I thought I searched the whole building, I ran outside into the chilly air. I saw empty bottles scattered around and ran past them around the building.

At the back, I heard voices that seem to belong to males. Against the wall, I saw two guys holding Crimson, one cupping her mouth and another pinning her arms to her sides.

“This is number seven guys,” one of them said, sneering. The person I saw earlier with the unbuttoned white shirt was also there.

“Crimson!” I shouted, and I immediately regretted it when all four of them looked at me.

“There she is!” the white-shirt guy yelled. “The impotent little s**t I told you about.” I pulled in my eyebrows and told them to leave Crimson alone. “Or what?” he said.

“Why are you waiting, man?” he was told. “Go get her.” The white-shirt guy started walking towards me, and I forgot how to move.

“D-don’t come near me,” I said, taking a step back. I began to run away when he lunged for me, grabbing my arm and hauling me away. “Hey, I’m going to call the police! Leave me alone!”

He brought me to the back-doors of the building, pushing me against the glass. His eyes slid off my face, going down, down, down. His hand fell on the skin above my chest.

“Stop touching me,” I warned with a wavering voice. My entire body tensed when he confined me to the wall. His breath reeked of alcohol as he pressed a knee between my two legs. I tried to push him back.

“Relax, baby doll. This’ll be fun, huh?” he said, smirking and coming closer.

I shouldn’t have come here. I was near to tears when his lips were close to the side of my neck, and his breath was creeping onto my skin.

I wasn’t very strong, and apart from my attempts to kick him in the shin or punch him, he was holding my hands down. This was all a mistake. I should’ve stayed where I was safe. I was trying to protect Crimson, I knew that, but this was too much for me.

The door flung open, throwing me towards the drunkard. He was momentarily taken off guard and both of us turned to see Arian. I couldn’t tell Arian’s expression, but it did not look friendly.

“Who the f**k are you?” the white-shirt said. I, myself, was completely astonished to see Arian there. By the way Arian looked between us, in which I assumed was pure disgust and disbelief, he seemed to understand the situation in mere seconds.

“Me?” Arian questioned in a daring beat. He grabbed the white-shirt’s collar and the guy stumbled forward, cowering to Arian’s height. “Someone who’ll beat your ass if you don’t get lost.”

“W-what the f**k,” the guy said. “I didn’t know she was your girl, okay? Leave me the f**k alone.”

Arian’s hand loosened on his shirt. “Leave,” he ordered. The guy ran inside the building quicker than I imagined. When Arian looked at me, I wanted to run away too.

“I’m sorry!” I said before he could speak. “You were right, okay? I’m sorry. We have to get Crimson.” I began to freak out and run back to where I last saw her.

Arian grabbed my arm. “Relax. I already took care of it. She’s in the backseat of my car.”

“Wait, what?” I said, confused as hell. All what happened replayed back to me, and I was at a loss of words. “How did…why did…? Were you following us?”

“Evin saw you leave the room with Crimson, so he told me to go after you,” Arian explained. “I found Crimson and got her in the car. I went back inside to go through the back door.” He found the need to go through the back door? Even more surprising, he agreed to go after us after we disappeared?

“You left me for last?” I said.

“I left the person I might kill for last,” he said, and I didn’t understand what he meant. “I didn’t hit this guy. Lucky asshole.” Arian’s eyes met mine and held them. The hue of his blue irises deepened in the dark, but were so sharp I shuddered under their scrutiny. “You’re the stupidest girl I’ve ever met in my life.”

I widened my eyes. I must've known what was coming before he even said it. “I-I know, I'm sorry. I know that you told me to…I mean, I know I shouldn’t have gone, but I really wanted to go with Crimson. I’m sorry—”

“Saying sorry won’t get you out of trouble,” Arian said and started walking, pulling me with him. “I’m taking you home.”

I didn’t want to go anywhere but home. Calmness settled over me as the distance between us and the building grew. He took me to the parking lot and brought out his keys.

I sat in the passenger seat while he turned on the car. I looked behind me and saw Crimson lying on the backseats.

“Is she unconscious?” I asked with worry.

“I don’t know,” Arian replied. Soon, we were on the road, and I watched every streetlight as it passed. Arian’s jaw was slightly clenched, so I knew his anger—or irritation or whatever he felt—was still cooling off.

He didn’t know how happy, how relieved I was after he helped me back there. But apart from happy, there was something else. Fear. I would never go to these kinds of parties again. Or until I knew my ground. Arian may be strong enough to defend himself, but I was too weak. I was impotent.

“Did he touch you?” Arian asked. It was too abrupt, a sudden question I didn’t even know how to answer.

“Y-yes?" I said. "I mean—" He saw the drunkard through the glass doors and still asked about something I was sure he knew the answer to. And yet... “I don’t understand what you mean.”

It was quiet again. Streetlights passed by, and the sky was covered with a few clouds. It was pleasant, and I didn’t want to break this silence even if I had a ton of questions floating in my head.

We were nearing my house when I asked the one question gnawing inside of me. A memory of the party floated into my mind, and I mustered the courage to ask. “Who was that man you were talking to? Was he the guy in the white suit from Dairy Queen?”

Arian’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Yeah.” I didn’t ask him to explain. He drove up on the McCoys’ driveway. I got out of the car and helped Crimson up. I shut the door and walked towards the side of the car.

“Sorry for everything,” I told Arian, looking through the driver’s window. “Are you going back to the party?”

“I don’t want to,” he said. He watched me while I adjusted Crimson’s arm on my shoulder. “By the way,” Arian turned off his car as I waited, “my favourite colour is blue.” I was confused for a second and looked down at my dress.

Blushing, I walked Crimson to my house and fiddled with the house keys. Arian got out of his car, locked it, and walked through the side entrance to enter his house from the back. I couldn't help but stare until he disappeared.

Inside my house, I helped Crimson on the couch and called Fabian through her cell phone. He said he was on his way, and I sat next to her.

Too much happened today, and I didn’t want to think about it. I wanted to go to bed, lie to Dad that everything went well, and forget whatever happened today the next morning.

Right now, I found all of them hard to do.