The Soul's Mark: FOUND (11 page)

“Okay, spice complete.
 
Now take the clothes from the bed and get
dressed,” Angelle ordered like a drill sergeant.
 
“But do not go into the bathroom.
 
I’ll turn around.
 
You can’t look yet.”

Amelia hustled over to the bed and looked
at the clothes that had been laid out for her.
 
It all looked so basic.
 
A pair of
dark vintage blue, boot cut jeans that had the worn-in details on the thighs
and a snug looking black cashmere scoop neck sweater.
 
“I can’t wear this,” Amelia said, a tinge of
disappointment in her voice.

“Will you just trust me and put it on!”

Against her better judgment, Amelia pulled
on the clothes as Angelle had instructed, trying not to mess up her hair.
 
“Okay.
 
I’m dressed.
 
Can I look yet?”

“Nope,” Angelle chimed.
 
She went back into the closet and returned
with some accessories.
 
“This is for a
touch of color and
it’s
so hippie chic.”
 
Around Amelia’s neck, she draped a colorful
scarf like a woven tapestry of the rainbow.
 
“And this will give you a little bit of edge.”
 
Then she placed a charcoal gray fedora on her
head.
 
“Just put on these boots and then
I’ll let you look.”
 
She handed Amelia a
pair of black leather ankle boots with three-inch heels and Amelia pulled them
on.
 
“Perfect!” Angelle gushed as she
looked over her masterpiece.
 
“Okay, now
go into the bathroom and look in the full length mirror.”

Amelia tried to move slowly and act like
she didn’t care, but she was just a touch excited.
 
She looked in the mirror and gasped.
 
Wow.
 
It’s amazing what the right clothes and
make-up can do
, Amelia thought, as she looked herself over.
 
She barely recognized herself.
 
Her normal, straight body was all curves and
she looked… sexy.
 
She broke into a big
glossy smile and made a mental note to ask Angelle to show her how to do the
smoky eye thing later.

“I told you you’d look fantastic,” Angelle
said from behind her.

“Thank you.”
 
Amelia could feel the tears welling up, and
she cursed under her breath.
 
When had
she turned into a blubbering baby?
 
She
didn’t know and she really didn’t like it.

Angelle squeezed her shoulder and smiled, a
friendly energy packed smile.
 
“Enough of that.
 
No
tears allowed.
 
You’ll smudge.”

On impulse, Amelia turned around and flung
herself at Angelle, giving her a big hug.
 
“You’re the best,” she whispered, trying to keep the joyful tears from
falling.

In the kitchen, Eric and Luke were standing
at the door, deep in conversation.
 
Amelia took a moment to admire them.
 
Even in their casual jeans and knit sweaters, they were a sight for sore
eyes.

Eric noticed her first and she was thrilled
to see his jaw actually drop and his eyes travel over her, taking in every
detail.
 
After what he had put her
through, taking off, leaving without so much as a goodbye, it was nice to see
she had some kind of effect on him.
 
She
felt the beginnings of a flush rushing hotly up her neck.
 
“Wow.
 
You look…” he said, looking her up and down.
 
“Wow.”

Luke cleared his throat loudly, ruining
Amelia’s moment.
 
“You look great,” he
said, smiling at her.
 
“We all thought we
would tag along if that’s alright with you, since its past curfew and all.”

“Fine,” she said, keeping her calm.
 
She didn’t want them to know that she was
glad they were coming because truthfully, she still really didn’t want to go.
 
But with them with her, maybe it wouldn’t be
so bad.
 
And she was sure Angelle would
be a blast.

Eric grumbled something unintelligible,
clearly not happy with her lack of enthusiasm, and stomped off, out the door.

****

If Amelia had been worried they wouldn’t be
able to find Erin’s house, she was wrong.
 
The glow was visible from four blocks away.
 
When they reached the house, she saw
why.
 
Lights adorned every corner: bright
white spotlights lazily circled on the roof, tiki torches lined the walkway,
blue and red strobe lights flashed.

Erin’s home looked like, well, it was hard
to tell really what it looked like between the flashing strobe lights and all
the drunks spilling out all over the lawn.
 
It could have been anywhere from white to black in its color scheme but
Amelia just couldn’t tell.
 
It was
smaller than her house, maybe an eighth of the size, but then she lived in an
enormous castle so comparing it was hard, and it looked, Amelia thought, well
used, not run down, just well lived in.
 
The sight reminded her of all those frat party movies she had seen.
 
Red plastic beer cups littered the lawn and
the line of people waiting to get in had formed their own party outside.

Luke parked the car, miraculously finding a
spot right in front of the house and the second Amelia got out, people rushed
to her, greeting her, complimenting her.
 
She felt like she was walking down a red carpet.

Her friends were on it and faster than she
could follow.
 
They moved in front of
her, blocking the drunken mob from getting too close.
 
And Amelia was grateful.
 
All through high school, she had wanted to be
popular.
 
She had prayed for it.
 
She had wished for it.
 
But wow, she had never thought it would be
this much work.
 
It was exhausting having
people like her.
 
Amelia never thought it
would be possible, but now she was starting to wish she could be that girl no
one liked again, because this smiling and being happy thing was not as much fun
as it looked.
 
Why did anyone care she was here?
she
wondered, and looked at her friends.
 
They were the ones that should be noticed.
 
She lived with them and still had a hard time
not gawking.
 
They were just so perfect
it almost hurt her eyes to look at them.

Angelle noticed her hesitation and linked
arms with her.
 
“You ready?” she asked,
and before Amelia could answer, Angelle was pulling her forward through the
crowd and the four of them strolled up the walkway straight to the door.

It was quite a sight, the four of
them.
 
People, drunk and sober, jumped
out of the way to let them through.
 
She
guessed that was one plus of her new status.
 
She didn’t have to wait in lines.

They made it to the door just as it banged
open and the low thumping of music spilled out mixed with chaotic laugher and
slurred hollers of people having a good time.
 
A couple staggered out more involved in each other than anyone else, and
Amelia wasn’t really sure how they were walking.
 
They were wrapped around each other like
pretzels.
 
Well that’s new,
Amelia thought, blushed and turned away, letting
them by.
 
They didn’t make it far, landed
in a heap on the lawn, and kept right on going.

“Millie, you made it!” Erin cried from the
door.
 
She reached out, snagged Amelia’s
hand and pulled her in not paying any attention to her friends.
 
“Let’s get you a drink,” she suggested, looking
back at Amelia’s entourage.
 
“Come in or
stay out but shut the door,” she yelled over the music and pulled Amelia down
the hall, through the living room and straight into the kitchen.

By the time they pushed their way through,
Amelia felt filthy.
 
She had been groped
God only knows how many times, had a least one drink spilled on her and she was
covered in sweat, which wasn’t all her own.
 
Her boots felt sticky, like suction cups taping her to the floor.
 

The kitchen was a little slice of heaven
compared to the crowded living room that had been transformed into a dance
club.
 
There were still too many people,
talking way too loud, but the noise level was down about six decibels.
 
She could actually make out the words people
were saying in there.

Erin snagged two beers, popped the tops and
handed one to Amelia.
 
“Thanks,” she
said, and hesitantly took it and looked at it, not sure if she should drink it
or not.
 
She had never been much of a
drinker, or actually had alcohol before.
 
Amelia took a quick glance over her shoulder, noticed Eric was already
flirting it up with some trampy looking thing with a huge, bulging chest and a
skimpy little skirt that shouldn’t even be legal, and all caution rushed away.
 
She tipped the beer up and gulped a
mouthful.
 
It was sour and fuzzy and it
tickled her nose but she took another gulp anyways, hoping the taste would get
better.

After she forced down half the beer, she
looked over at Erin, who was watching her as if she had never seen her
before.
 
“Better slow down, lush,” she
said.
 
“I’m betting you’ve never drank
before and you don’t want the hottie to know he’s getting under your skin.”

The beer was hitting her hard.
 
Amelia already felt a bit tipsy and she
couldn’t stop the giggles from erupting.
 
Her ears were ringing and pleasant warmth was spreading through
her.
 
“What, Eric?
 
You’ve got to be kidding me.
 
Didn’t even notice him,” Amelia said with a
tight smile plastered on her face.

“Sure you didn’t.”
 
Erin rolled her eyes and took a dainty little
sip of her beer.
 
She looked too young
and innocent to be drinking, Amelia thought.
 
But then, she was too young to drink in the grand scheme of things.
 
But Erin looked like a kid with her bleach
blonde hair tied up in little spiky pig tails—like usual—and she was wearing
overalls and a spaghetti strapped ocean green tank.
 
She had a purely “little girl” kind of
cuteness.
 
“Bet you didn’t notice that
skank he’s hanging onto either,” Erin added.

Amelia took another swig, downing the rest
and banging the empty can onto the counter.
 
She glanced around, noticed that Angelle and Luke were chatting it up
with some people she vaguely recognized and she thought one of them might have
been Justin, one of the Barbie Squad’s boyfriends, but she wasn’t sure.

In the corner, some kind of drinking game
was in progress.
 
It didn’t look that
complicated.
 
There was a ping-pong ball
and six red beer cups in a triangular formation on each end of a table.
 
“What are they playing?” she asked Erin,
nodding towards the game.
 
Amelia watched
as someone tossed the ping-pong ball, bouncing it off the table and into one of
the cups.

Erin laughed.
 
“You really were a sheltered kid.
 
It’s called beer pong, Millie.”

There was a bunch of hooting and hollering
coming from the game and Amelia looked back to see Tyler chugging a beer.
 
Maybe it was the beer, but he was looking
pretty yummy in jeans and a button up long sleeved denim shirt.
 
He had the shirt open half way down his
sun-bronzed chest and she watched as a drizzle of beer splashed onto it.

As if he knew she was watching, he finished
the drink and looked over at her with a brilliant smile.
 
“Millie,” he called, waving her over.
 
“Didn’t think you were
going to make it.”

Erin giggled, bringing Amelia’s attention
back to her, and she blushed.
 
“He’s got
it bad for you,” Erin said, grinning like a fool.

Amelia raised her eyebrow.
 
“Really?”
 
She glanced over at Eric, who was now sucking
face with the blonde tramp.
 
She pulled
her eyes away, grabbed Erin’s hand and with a great deal of focus, walked over
to Tyler, swaying her hips with every step.

She was relieved that the kitchen wasn’t
too packed and she made it to the table without tripping over anyone, because
that one beer was making everything a tad fuzzy.
 
But she made it, hoping she had pulled off
the sexy walk she had been aiming for.
 
And by the look on Tyler’s face, and every other guy around the table,
she had.