Remembrance (The Transcend Time Saga) (19 page)

CHAPTER 31

Apparently the light makeup I’d put on before driving to Chelsea’s house wasn’t sufficient, and she insisted on sitting me down in the armchair in the corner of her room to “work her magic” before we headed to Shannon’s party. I studied my face in the mirror to see what she did to it with all of her shadows and blush. She’d used three different liners—coal, black, and super black—going as far as peeling back my lower lid to line the inside of my eye. Dark purple shadow covered my top lids, and black “wings” stuck out of the sides of both eyes, making me look like an exotic cat. I tried to wipe some of it off when she went into her closet to try on a dress, but it didn’t make much of a difference.

“How’s this one?” Chelsea asked, emerging from the closet.

I looked at the white terrycloth dress, wondering if she was serious. The light color contrasted her bronzed skin from the tanning beds, but it had no straps and ended halfway down her thigh, resembling a beach cover-up instead of something worn in the middle of November in New Hampshire. She looked in the full-length mirror in the corner of her room and struck a pose before turning around again, waiting for an answer.

“It’s cute,” I said, trying to figure out if she had a higher percentage of skin showing than clothing. “But won’t you be cold?”

“We’ll only be outside for like, two minutes.” She looked in the mirror again and smiled, placing her hands on her hips. “Besides, this is sure to catch his attention.”

“Who’s attention?” I asked, hoping she meant Brad, or even Jeremy. Anyone but Drew.

She turned and looked at me, her eyes glinting with mischief “Drew’s, of course,” she said, turning one side of her lips up to form a half-smile.

I pulled my sleeves over my hands, reminding myself that Chelsea had no idea she was hurting me when she said that. She wanted what she couldn’t have. She didn’t love him—she probably saw Drew breaking up with her as a challenge to try winning him back.

I paused, not wanting the anger I felt to reflect in my voice. “What about Brad?” I asked. “He’s cute, and he seemed happy when you sat next to him at lunch the other day.”

“He’s not bad.” She paused to apply bright red gloss to her lips. “But I’ve been talking with Drew in chemistry, and I don’t feel like it’s over between us. I knew it was a good thing that I made sure we were partners on that first day of class. He even said he was glad I invited him to Shannon’s party.” She turned around to face me again, not giving me time to respond. “What do you think of this color?” she asked. “Is it too red?” 

“It looks good,” I said, even though it looked like there was blood covering her lips.

“What’re you wearing to the party?” she asked, throwing the gloss into her tiny saddlebag with the designer’s name in light blue covering every square inch of it.

I looked down at my dark jeans and black long sleeved shirt with a white tank peeking out underneath. “I’m wearing this.”

She did a once-over of my outfit, pursing her lips in disapproval. “Okay,” she said, not caring enough to try to force me to wear one of her barely-there dresses. “We have to go. I’m sure Jeremy won’t care what you’re wearing.” She paused. “You know, Lizzie, he really does love you.”

“I’m not going for Jeremy,” I insisted, getting up and grabbing my bag from the floor. “I’m going for you.”

“Whatever, Lizzie.” She strutted across the room, her white stilettos digging into the plush carpet as she walked. “Are you ready?”

I looked at myself in the mirror before following her, bringing my hair over my shoulders and wondering if the guilt in my eyes was as obvious to her as it was to me.

* * *

Shannon’s house was two away from Drew’s, and the entire ride there was like déjà vu. The only difference was that instead of talking with Drew as he drove with light music in the background, Chelsea blasted the top forty radio station at full volume, rolling down all of the windows when we pulled into the circular driveway to make sure everyone heard us arrive. Freezing air from outside blew into the car, and there was a bright flash of light in the sky, followed by the booming of thunder.

“Let’s get inside before it starts raining,” I said, looking up at the clouds swirling overhead, so thick that they blocked the moon. Thunderstorms weren’t in the forecast, but the coal black clouds looked like they could dump rain on us in a moments notice. Goosebumps rose over my skin, and I rubbed my arms to try to warm them up as I waited for Chelsea to lock the car. She ran past me, most likely attempting to avoid getting a case of hypothermia from wearing practically no clothing in thirty-degree weather.

Shannon’s house was nowhere near the size of Drew’s, but was still way nicer than anything found in my neighborhood. Chelsea rang the bell and a girl with short brown hair who I didn’t know opened the door for us, revealing the spacious two-story entranceway with a single curved staircase. Dark hardwood floors traveled all the way into the great room, and the large windows in the back had a perfect view of the lake that I’d been out on with Drew nearly every night this past week.

“Let’s get some drinks,” Chelsea said, grabbing my hand and pushing through a group of senior girls standing in the entrance. We walked through the hallway and turned right to go towards the kitchen. Another roar of thunder boomed through the air, followed by the pattering of raindrops outside. I looked at the windows to see small droplets of ice pelting on the glass, forming crystalline shapes on the surface. It must have been a freak storm—I’d learned in my middle school science class that thundersleet was rare, but I was learning to expect anything.

Shannon stood at the end of the kitchen talking with Warren, who was pouring drinks into red plastic cups and entertaining a cluster of girls. She waved Chelsea over when she spotted us. “You made it.” She beamed at Chelsea first, and then at me like we were old friends. “I love your dress,” she told Chelsea, glancing at my outfit a second later. “You look cute also, Lizzie.”

“Thanks,” I said, looking over her outfit. “I really like your dress, too.” The black dress with silver straps looked like it would fit in better at a cocktail event than a house party, but she smiled thanks and looked back at Chelsea. I scanned the area to look for Drew, but didn’t spot his familiar dark hair and leather jacket anywhere in the crowd.

“Liz!” I heard someone call my name from across the kitchen. I looked up and saw Jeremy waving his hands in the air to catch my attention. Despite everything that had happened in the past few months, it was nice to see a familiar face in the crowd of seniors that I didn’t know too well.

“Hey Jere.” I tried to speak loudly so he could hear me over the blaring music.

“Come play darts!” he yelled.

“You should play,” Chelsea said to me before I could respond. “You’ll have fun.”

I looked at her in shock. She knew to keep me away from anything involving hand-eye coordination, especially one that revolved around throwing sharp objects at a wall.

“I’m not good at darts,” I said, annoyed that she wasn’t giving up on her project to get Jeremy and me back together. “Remember when we tried playing in sixth grade and I couldn’t even get them on the board?” 

She laughed. “That was forever ago. Maybe you’ll do better this time.” She took my hand and pulled me across the kitchen to where Jeremy waited, not giving me a choice.

As we walked down the hall I looked around to see if Drew had arrived yet, wondering what was taking him so long. I finally spotted him sitting around a coffee table in the great room with Danielle, Brandon, and a few other seniors playing a game involving a deck of cards laid out in a circle on the table. He leaned back into the couch, watching them play. My steps slowed as I walked by and he looked up, pausing when his eyes met mine. I didn’t want to wave with Chelsea behind me, but there was a mutual understanding between the two of us before he returned his attention to the game.

“Drew’s here,” Chelsea whispered as Jeremy opened the door leading to the game room. “Did you see him?”

I contemplated telling her that I didn’t, but there was no need to lie about something as simple as spotting someone at a party. “Yeah,” I said, figuring it was best to say as little as possible. Chelsea was already acting weird, and the more she talked about Drew, the guiltier I felt. “Just ignore him. Let’s go play.”

CHAPTER 32

Members of the soccer team and groups senior girls crowded inside of the game room. The dark hardwood floors and billiard table looking more conducive to businessmen then high school students—not like that made anyone act more mature than usual. At the billiard table, Steven Ericson, the goalie of the soccer team, took a shot and landed two striped balls in separate pockets. A cluster of girls in the back cheered over Warren and Brad battling it out in a game of foosball on the side of the room, and a few other people stood in small circles chatting and sipping on drinks in red plastic cups. Amber stood in front of the dartboard, yanking the darts out to prepare for another game. 

“Liz, you’re Keelie’s partner,” Jeremy said, spinning a dart in his hands as he walked to stand next to Amber.

“Maybe it would be better if I just watched,” I said in an attempt of getting out of having to play, not wanting to embarrass myself in front of everyone in the room, or worse, injure someone with a dart.

“You’ll do fine.” Chelsea pushed my shoulder, forcing me to take a step towards where Keelie stood gathering the white darts.

“Don’t worry,” Keelie said, smiling in encouragement. “It’s not hard, and no one’s even watching.”

Apparently she’d never witnessed the atrocity of me trying to do something that involved catching or throwing. “Right,” I answered, testing the end of the dart on my finger to see how sharp it was. I pulled my hand away after touching it, hoping for everyone’s sake in the room that my aim wasn’t as bad as I’d remembered. 

Jeremy explained how the game worked before we started, since it had been a while since I’d last played. It didn’t sound complicated.

“You can start,” Keelie said, handing three darts to me, all with white feathers on the end.

The first dart didn’t stick on the board, and the other two didn’t land in the right triangles. Amber gathered the darts and handed them to Keelie, not bothering to call a score. It went unsaid that I didn’t get any points.

Keelie’s first shot hit the wrong triangle, but she got the next two in.

“Two points,” Jeremy called, twisting the darts out of the board. He handed them to Amber. “Ladies first, of course.”

She spun around herself to look at me, a triumphant smile plastered on her face. Only one of her darts made it into the right section, but it was in an area that gave them three points. Jeremy got three more on his turn.

“Awesome job!” Amber congratulated him, throwing herself into his arms. She probably expected him to pick her up and spin her around like he did for me at the Derryfield soccer game after he scored the winning goal. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her for a second, letting go a moment later. She looked annoyed, but she shook it off.

By the beginning of the ninth inning, Jeremy and Amber were beating us by a significant amount.

“Is the game over after this?” I asked, preparing to take a shot at the sixteenth triangle. I missed.

“Nope,” Jeremy answered, watching as I missed the second shot as well. “There are three sets in a game.”

The next set passed quickly, and I was surprised to discover that while I wasn’t going to be a professional dart player anytime soon, it was fun to play. Amber and Jeremy won, but it wasn’t by as many points as the first time.

I looked around the room to find Chelsea, but she must have left sometime in the middle of the second set. “Do you know where Chelsea went?” I asked Keelie, even though she had been just as absorbed in the game as I was. She shook her head no. I did another glance around the room to make sure I didn’t miss her, but she definitely wasn’t there.

“She left a few minutes ago,” Jeremy answered, glancing at his cell phone and putting it in his front pocket. “I’ll help you find her.”

“That’s okay.” I shook my head. “I can go by myself. But thanks for offering.”

“I don’t mind,” he said, walking to my side. “We’ll find her faster if we both look.”

“What about the game?” Amber whined, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting in a way that she must have thought looked endearing. “We still have one set left.”

“I’ll fill in,” Steven volunteered from behind us. He flashed a huge smile and rushed to Amber’s side before she could respond. I had no idea where he came from, but apparently he’d finished his game of pool and had been watching us play. “Just until Jeremy gets back.”

Amber narrowed her eyes at me like I’d arranged the entire thing to get Jeremy away from her. A girl I didn’t know offered to fill in for me, and Jeremy led the way out of the room. He seemed intent on helping me find Chelsea, and it wasn’t worth it to cause a scene by arguing.

“Thanks for letting me come with you,” Jeremy said as we walked through the hall. “I needed an excuse to get out of there. Amber’s cool and all, but she’s kind of … smothering.”

“I can see that.” I laughed, surprised at how easy it was to talk with Jeremy after everything that had happened. “So, did you let us do better on the second set?” I asked. “I know I’m not
that
good at darts.”

“Maybe a little.” He shrugged and turned to look at me. He wasn’t acting arrogant, or angry like the time in the French classroom. He seemed happy. “It was fun hanging out with you,” he said. “Like how we used to be.”

I looked down at the ground, not knowing how to respond. “It’s good that we can still be friends,” I said, pulling my sleeves over my hands. “But we should find Chelsea. I think she wanted me to stick with her, especially since Drew’s here.”

He nodded and navigated through Shannon’s house, trying to ignore my dismissal of his hint that he wanted to get back together. As we passed the great room I glanced inside to see if Drew was still playing cards, but while the same group from earlier was still there, the couch where he sat before was empty. Perhaps he went to get a drink.

Jeremy stopped in front of carved double doors that looked like they led into a library, or some room that was equally as fancy. “Maybe she’s in there,” he suggested, moving to the side so I could walk by.

The room seemed quiet. “Maybe,” I said. It wasn’t likely, but I was interested to see the rest of Shannon’s house. A peek couldn’t hurt.

I turned the brass handle and opened the door, gasping in surprise at what I saw, freezing in place as I tried to make sense of the scene in front of me.