Indigo Blues (25 page)

"It's great! And I love that painting." I point to a huge
Jackson Pollack-like canvas above the couch.

"Thanks. Garage sale. And that one, too." Jane points
to the opposite wall, where a sunset sits.

We freshen up and are back on the street in less than
thirty minutes. There's so much to see and we'll only be
here for a day and a half. We grab slices of the most awesome pizza for lunch and then hit some of the vintage
shops in Jane's neighborhood. I score a skirt and a pair of hoops while Cat makes out with two Indian-print tops and
the cutest clutch, made out of recycled soda cans.

Back at Jane's place, Cat and I chill out on the couch until
six and then decide to get decked out for the night. We both
blow-dry our hair and raid Jane's makeup collection. I wear
black on account of the fact that we're going to a restaurant associated with pirates. But I draw the line on anything
with bold stripes, or a bandana on my head. I throw on my
latest beaded creation instead, a matching coral necklace
and earrings set-one of my more sophisticated pieces. Cat
insists on a green top, because her old manager at The Gap
confirmed early on that green is her best color.

Pirate's Booty is pretty funky, with a skull and crossbones on the huge wooden door. Jane's wearing black leggings and a red-and-white-striped Pirate's Booty tee. She
looks cute. The host, who has an eye patch, sits us in her
section.

While we're looking at our menus, I pinch Cat. "I can't
believe we're actually here!"

"I know, this is so cool! You might actually have something to thank Eli for."

Maybe.

Jane slaps a basket of mozzarella sticks on the table.
"They're on the house!"

We both thank her and place our orders. A cheeseburger
for me and a chicken sandwich for Cat. The restaurant is filled with all types of people but most look like they're in
their early twenties, casual with sneakers and jeans.

I dip the cheesy stick into the marinara sauce. "This
restaurant is pretty happening."

"I know, and that cute waiter keeps on looking at us,"
Cat says.

I immediately turn my head. "He is cute. Did you see
his dimples?" Tall, thick brown hair, squeezable buttwhat more can you ask for?

"Not so obvious." Cat laughs.

Mr. Cute strolls toward our table. Cat smiles at him.

"Saw that!" I tap her on the arm.

There's no time to react, because now he's a foot from
my face. "Hey, ladies. Heard you're friends of Jane's."

Cat eyes him. "Yeah, she's my cousin. We're staying
with her for the weekend." She points to herself. "I'm Cat
and this is Indigo."

"Nice to meet ya. I'm Bradley." He slaps his dish towel
onto the table. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Not sure yet." Cat shrugs.

"Well, a friend of mine is having a huge birthday bash.
You guys are welcome to come. It's in Soho."

"Thanks," I say. It would be fun to go to a real New
York party.

"What time?" Cat sips her Diet Coke.

"It starts around eight. Jane's closing tonight, but if she
doesn't mind, I can take you guys over. I'm getting off at
nine.

I look over at Cat. With the smile on her face, I don't
even have to ask her if she's in. "Cool," I say.

Cat nods. "Sounds fun."

True to his word, Bradley clocks out at nine and comes
over to our table to get us. Jane told us to have a good time
and make sure we have enough cab money in case we want to
ditch the party. I don't see that happening. All the New York
parties that I've read about in magazines sound amazing!

You'd never know from staring at the front of the brownstone that a party is brewing inside. But when we walk
up the three flights of stairs, the music is blaring and we
can hear people laughing inside. The apartment is pretty
sparse-totally bachelor-style, with a leather sectional and
Yankees memorabilia hanging on the walls. Tons of people
are hanging out, the crowd flowing onto the balcony.

We follow Bradley to the kitchen and grab some beers.
He starts talking to a couple of buddies, so Cat and I find
a safe corner in the living room. All the seats are taken, so
basically we hold up the wall.

"Cheers to New York!" Cat raises her plastic cup.

"Yeah, this is cool. A real Manhattan party." I look
around the room. Wonder if we'll catch any celebrities here.
Not that I'm looking, but it would be a fun thing to report
back to Eli.

It doesn't take long for me to feel no pain. If this is New
York life, I am so in. I can't stop staring at all the people. They look so much more glamorous than the partiers at
school back home. I mean, if someone showed up to a
party in Caulder wearing four-inch heels and a plethora of
makeup, they would definitely be made fun of. But here,
anything goes. The less clothes the better. I'm glad Cat and
I went shopping today, because my Target wear would be
majorly out of place here.

I can't get my eyes off of the girl working the keg in
a tiny gold dress and red heels. She actually looks kind of
cute. Bradley has wasted no time finding a girl to hook up
with. Okay, so technically she could be his girlfriend, but
he didn't act taken on the cab ride over. He kept on telling us how good we smelled and that my hair was really
silky. He smelled like Pirate's Booty-fried food and stale
beer-so I couldn't return the compliment.

Cat grabs a couple bottles of Mike's Hard Lemonade
from the fridge and hands one to me.

"Shouldn't we stick with the beer?" I ask.

"That stuff tastes like piss. The guy with the Red Sox
hat said we can have whatever we want."

Oh yeah, he probably knows what he's talking about if
he's wearing that hat in a Yankees fan's home. But I laugh.
"Look at you. We've only been here two hours and you've
already got an in." I taste the drink. "This is good."

"I know. Isn't this awesome?" Cat slings her arm around
me.

"Yeah, so cool!" Some older Smashing Pumpkins song
fills the air. As far as I'm concerned, old stuff is good. Safe.

"And don't even think about your interview tomorrow."

I slosh back some more hard lemonade. "I wasn't, until
you just brought it up."

"Oh, my bad."

A girl with an actual beehive passes by with a tray of
Jell-O shots. Cat grabs one and hands it to me.

"I'm good." I hold up my drink.

"Your loss." She downs the shot. "Let's go talk to them."
She points to three guys huddled around a small table. They
look like college students with their baseball caps and sports
T-shirts.

I glance over and make eye contact with one, a very
good-looking, green-eyed hottie. I let the alcohol do the
talking. "Yum, I'm in."

"That's my slut." Cat drags me over to them. She almost
trips over her own feet.

"Slow down," I whisper. But she doesn't even hear me.
She's already half gone.

"Hey ladies." The Green-Eyed Prince smiles. His voice
is deep and sexy, like a movie-voiceover guy. I melt.

"This party is the bomb!" Cat holds her empty bottle
up like a torch.

"Looks like girlfriend needs another," a curly haired
guy says. He reaches down and hands her a bottle from the
six-pack next to him. Why walk over to the keg when you
can bring your own?

"Cat, are you sure you want another?" I whisper.

"Puhleese." She holds her hand up to me.

"The party's just getting started." Green Eyes taps his
beer bottle against mine.

I take a drink to that.

"So where do you go to school?" he asks.

"I'm from Boston." Only a three-hour drive, if you're
into long-distant relationships.

"Boston College?"

"Boston University," Cat shouts.

"Ah, BU girls." Green Eyes smiles. Whatever that
means-I really don't know. But it's better than him calling
us high school girls.

"Yeah, we're just here to visit her cousin for the weekend." I point to Cat.

"Indigo really needs to party," Cat shouts, swaying
her hips to the music that's blaring from the other room. I
don't even recognize the song, but it's got a techno beat.

"Indigo? From the song?" Green Eyes asks.

"Not really," I say.

"Hell, yeah." Cat drowns me out.

"Ha, Greg, check this out. This is that Indigo chick."
Green Eyes, no longer my knight in shining armor, nudges
the guy next to him who's talking up a girl.

"No I'm not." I lower my head and look to Cat for
some help. But she's sitting on the floor, slumped against
the wall and sipping another drink, humming. How you
hum to techno music is beyond me.

"Yeah, sure it's her." The girl joins the conversation. "I
thought you'd look bitchier."

How do you look bitchy? "I'm not her," I mumble.

"I thought you were in high school." The girl laughs.

Maybe if I don't answer they will all go away.

"Indigooooo." Cat waves to me from the floor. I swear,
if she wasn't my best friend, I would so leave her here. For
good.

"Come here, Jade, Haley." The girl calls over two more
friends.

I inch away a couple of steps, over to the balcony door,
hoping there's an escape staircase like you see in the movies, but I don't see anything. There are too many people
outside, gathered around a bamboo bar.

"Cat, get up." I nudge her with my foot.

"Oh, my God," Jade says. "You must be so sorry now
that you screwed Adam over."

"You could've been hot shit," another girl, with boobs
the size of bowling balls, adds.

"Now she's cold shit." Green Eyes laughs.

I shout, "Cat, get up! We need to leave." I manage to
slide her a little closer to the balcony.

And that's when I just about lose my lunch. It takes
every muscle in my body to hold it in. My eyes must be
playing tricks on me. They have to be.

Is that Adam? With a girl ... the one from the newspaper? Crap, I'm fucked, and Cat was wrong-she's pretty,
really pretty in person.

Adam looks different. More grown up, more sure of
himself, like he's standing straighter or something. He used
to always have his hands in his pockets, but now they're at
his side.

I can't let him see me like this. These hecklers could be
his friends.

I turn to the group. "Listen, I think you've got the
wrong person.

"Really, Indigo?" the first girl says.

"Okay, I am Indigo, but you know nothing about me."
I cross my arms.

Cat is totally passed out now. The girls are whispering
about me. My eyes keep on flitting over to Adam. To the
skinny pencil of a girl by his side.

Adam is walking toward the balcony door. Our eyes
meet. He's wearing the necklace that I gave him. The one I
wanted to get back. I mouth, "Help."

"That's her?" the girl with him yells.

God, what did he tell her about me? How far is the
jump down from the balcony? I really would consider it if
Cat wasn't snoring away against the wall.

Adam whispers something into Pretty Girl's ear. She
frowns. I hear someone say, "This is gonna be good."

Jade and Green Eyes are clearly talking about me, but I
manage to ignore them.

I pull on Cat and half heave her body up. If I get her
into a cab, we're home free. But I know we're a long way
from that.

"Let me give you a hand." Adam puts one arm around
Cat's back and helps her up. He's stronger now, too.

"Why's he helping those hoes?" I hear one girl say.

Another one comments, "Sorry asses, how did they get
here? This party was invite-only."

"Leave them alone," a guy says, but I don't have time
to turn around and see who it is.

Pretty Girl follows us to the elevator and rides it down
with us. Cat's as heavy as a dead shark and it takes both
Adam and me to hold her up.

"Just get her a cab and let's go back up," Pretty Girl
says firmly to Adam.

"No, I better ride with them to make sure they get
home okay." We pull Cat out of the elevator together.

"Don't you dare go with them," the girl threatens. "It's
only eleven thirty."