Chapter 31: Party.
Chapter 31: Party.
"You can't avoid me forever." The text on my phone reads.
Zachary just doesn't know when to quit.
I stretch on the exercise mat as I get ready to do some yoga.
"You're really out of shape." My mother nags.
"Jesus mom, you scared me." I say, startled.
"Your father and I are going out of town for a business trip. If you need anything ask Jeremy. If you want to go out you know where Andrè sleeps." She tells me before she walks away.
Great. Just what I needed. The house to myself. Now that school's out, I have nothing to do. I was thinking of signing up as a volunteer in a retirement home, but I don't want to do that alone. I'll probably ask Hannah to join me. I do a few yoga poses before I run out of energy.
I roll up the mat and head to my room. As I am about to go up the staircase Pierre stops me.
"Miss, what would you like for lunch?" He asks me.
"I'm thinking pasta. And when you're done you can have the night off." I say, smiling at him.
"Aye yai yai, thank you Miss." He says, removing his chef's hat and holding it in his hands.
"I'll be upstairs if you need me." I tell him before I head upstairs. Damn, I am beat. I walk into my room and I see Zachary holding my snow globe in his hands.
"Surprise." He says, smiling at me.
"Careful, that's expensive." I tell him. "And what are you doing here?" I ask him before I pry the snow globe out of his hands.
"I figured you'd want some company, with your parents being out of town and all." He says, snatching the snow globe from my hands.
"Give it back." I order.
"Or what." He says, looking down at me.
I hate the fact that he's so tall.
"I'll kick you in the nuts." I threaten him.
"Not from down there you won't." He laughs, teasing me.
"Ha ha, very funny. What do you want?" I ask him, folding my arms as I stare at him.
"Let's throw a party." He suggests.
"Get out of my house." I say, chuckling as I push him towards my room door.
"Just say yes." He pesters on.
"And if I don't?" I ask him, challenging him.
"You'll miss out on a good party." He tells me, raising an eyebrow and I sigh.
"Fine. We can throw a party." I give in.
"Great." He says, pulling out his phone. "Guys, she said yes. Load 'em up boys." He tells someone through the phone.
"Load what up? That's not what I-" I am cut off by his index finger on my lips.
"Relax, Vee, and live a little." He says pulling me to his chest. I gulp as I stare at him.
I hear loud chatter downstairs and I glare at Zachary.
"You did not just invite strangers into my house." I tell him, staring daggers at him.
"Shh. Let's find out." He says, taking my hand in his as he leads me downstairs.
There are about a hundred people in my living room. My sofa is nowhere to be found. The huge coffee table that sits in the middle of the room isn't there anymore. Instead, a beer pong table stands there. Loud music blares from the speakers I didn't know we had.
"What is going on, Zachary?" I ask him, annoyed
"Blake said he was going to invite a few people." Zachary says, giving me a confused look.
"A few people is five to nine people. This place looks like a club. Fix this shit." I tell him before I walk away. I make my way to the kitchen and I see two teenage boys holding my mother's limited edition China plates. They start throwing it at each other. The blonde one catches the plate but when he throws it back it falls and shatters on the floor.
"What the fuck?!!!" I yell.
"Who are you?" The brunette asks me.
"The owner of this house and that was one of my mother's china plates you just broke. Now, give it back." I tell the blonde boy.
"Too late." He says and he throws the plates on the floor.
"No!!! Oh My God, what did you do?" I cry out.
"He broke 'em, you saw it didn't you?" The brunette quips.
I just walk away from the situation. I need to shut this party down right away. Where the hell is Zachary?
"Winner." I hear someone shout and that catches my attention.
I see Zachary chugging down a bottle of beer. The girl from the camping trip is by his side and she smiles as she watches him. I feel a knot in my stomach as I watch her. She's so perfect. Her curly blonde hair sits perfectly on her head. Not a strand of hair out of place. Her bright blue eyes glisten with happiness as she just watches him. I turn away. I can't look at them anymore.
"Um, excuse me." Someone says tapping my shoulder. I turn around and I see Alicia, my best friend from Ravenswood.
"No way." I was hugging her.
"Hey, best friend." She giggles.
"I missed you. You said you'd come visit." I say, smacking her arm.
"I got caught up in that Ravenswood life. You look good." She compliments me.
"Bitch, have you seen yourself." I say scanning her features. Her dark skin is literally glowing. She looks like a painting.
"What are you doing in Langston anyway?" I ask her.
"Well, I figured with us going to college in a few, we should spend some time together before we go our separate ways." She says, smiling.
"Where are you staying?" I ask, taking her hand in mine as I lead her down the hallway.
"A hotel." She says in a 'duh' tone
"You should stay here." I offer.
"Don't have to ask me twice. I'll get my bags here in the morning." She says, excited.
"Let's go drink some shots." She yells, pulling me to the backyard. Tables are set out here with kegs on them, filled with drinks.
Alicia grabs a cup and pours us drinks. I just stand there awkwardly as I wait for her to come back with the drinks.
"Here you go." She says, handing me my drink.
"Cheers." I say, clinking my cup with hers.
The liquid burns as it goes down my throat. I think it's tequila.
"Let's go back inside and dance a little." Alicia slurs.
"Drunk already? What was that, like three minutes." I tease.
"Shut up. You know I'm a lightweight. Now, let's go." She says grabbing my arm as she pulls me inside.
"Show Me How You Burlesque." by Christina Aguilera blasts through the stereos and Alicia and I stare at each other. We performed the dance from the movie at our school's talent show. We got detention for a week but it was worth it. Alicia starts doing the choreography and I just stare at her.
There's no way I'm doing that.
"Come on. You know you want to." She urges.
"Fine." I say giving in.
I join her and the people around us cheer. This is so much fun. Zachary was right, I should live a little. I hear distant police sirens, but I block that out. Someone rings my doorbell and I swear that shit echoes throughout the whole house. I hate my mother for installing it with that loud volume. Alicia and I stare at each other in fear.
"It's the cops." Someone yells.
The whole room is in pandemonium as people run around, trying to take cover. I just stand there shocked. Zachary and I make eye contact and I mouth the words "Go check." He shakes his head and mouths back "No way."
"Alright guys, there's no need to panic. I got it." I tell them and they all cheer.
"Quiet down, okay." I say as I walk towards the door.
I smoothen my hair as I open the door.
"Miss, is this your house?" The ginger police officer asks me.
I gulp. I stare at his badge and I see that his name is Officer Mallen.
"Me no speak English." I say, trying my best to pull off a Korean accent.
Another police officer comes out of the cop car and says "Valarie, is that you?"
"Officer Higgins." I say, through closed teeth.
Curse you, the time I volunteered at the police station for the junior detective program.
"I thought you didn't speak English." Officer Mallen asks me.
"How have you been?" Officer Higgins asks me as he stands beside Officer Mallen.
"Hide the drugs, there's two of them." Someone yells from behind me.
"What's going on in there?" Officer Mallen asks me, bringing out his gun.
"Whoa." I say, alarmed.
Someone blasts their horn and the three of us look in the direction the sound came from. I see my father's Rolls Royce pull into the driveway.
Oh no.
Wait a minute.
There are a hundred people in my house. My mother's China plates are broken. I'm trying to prevent the cops from entering my house. My parents just pulled into the driveway.
Zachary is in my house.
How do you say "I'm fucked" in French?