Between (8 page)

After school, I pulled up to park in the driveway; Mom’s car was already there. It was unusual for her to be home this early on a Monday. I wondered if she was sick, because it was so unlike her to take a day off from work. I clicked on my car alarm and headed inside.

“
Mom,” I called.

“
Hi, honey,” she greeted me with a hug. She didn’t look or sound sick. “I need to talk to you.” She took my hand and led both of us to the sofa.

“
What is it?” I asked.

“
Do you remember my friend, Jacqueline? It’s been a while since you’ve seen her.”

“
I recall you talking to her on the phone several times.”

“
Jacqueline is like a sister to me. She’s really sick. She was diagnosed with breast cancer some time ago and unfortunately, it has spread to some of her other organs. Doctors are not very optimistic about her prognosis and cannot be certain as to how much time she has.” Her voice was shaky as her eyes began to tear.

“
I’m so sorry, Mom,” I said, placing my hand on her arm.

“
Honey, what I’m trying to say is that I’m going to be gone for a week. Do you think you’ll be okay, alone? I wouldn’t do this, but…”

“
Go, Mom. Don’t worry. You know I can take care of myself. You can trust me. You need to be with your friend. I’ll be fine.”

“
I know,” she said, running her hand down my face affectionately. “I just needed for you to tell me that it was okay. With Gamma gone, I didn’t think it was a good idea.”

“
When will you be leaving?”

“
I was thinking Thursday night, after work. I’ll have to fly to New York, but…I don’t have to go.”

“
You need to go. Did you already forget what you always tell me, be good to those who are alive…”

She finished my sentence. “What good is it when they are…” She paused. “But, I’ll miss Thanksgiving.”

“
Thanksgiving is overrated. And anyway, I only pretended to like turkey for Gamma’s sake. I’ll be fine, but if it will make you feel better, I’ll call Patty’s mom if I need anything.”

“
That sounds like a plan.”

Even with our talk, I knew she would feel uncomfortable leaving me behind, especially because she would miss Thanksgiving, but what choice did she have? Her friend was sick.

“
It will be alright, Mom. I have school and work on the weekend. I’ll be keeping myself busy. The week will fly by in a flash,” I reassured her.

“
Okay, honey. You can invite your friends for a sleep over.”

“
Sure. That’ll be fun.” I tried to sound cheerful.

“
No boys allowed,” she said firmly.

“
I know,” I said, planting a kiss on her cheek, and stood up.
But she didn’t say no angels.

She gently gripped my hand. “Thank you for understanding.”

I smiled and headed to my room.

Chapter Six

I was all alone. Mom’s leaving the night before had left me with unsettling emotions, but thoughts of Patty’s birthday party were helping me escape the feeling. I looked inside my closet, trying to find something nice to wear. It was difficult for Patty and me to spend time together, especially since we didn’t go to the same school. Our time spent together socially was infrequent, but it made it more precious when it happened. Today was a special day and I could hardly wait to see my best friend.

While I was searching, I became excited about the party favor; I couldn’t wait for Patty to see it. Coming up with a party favor was difficult, especially since I hadn’t made one before. But one thing was certain; it had to be perfect. After hours of research and planning, I’d purchased a bunch of blank CDs and burned her favorite songs onto them. Each CD was also covered with a photo collage of her special moments with her friends. I placed them into paper jackets and carefully labeled them “Thank you for coming to Patty’s 18th birthday.” Hopefully, she didn’t suspect a thing and the party would be a great success.

Needing to be there early, I quickly slipped on a new red long sleeved, form fitting sweater that I’d bought particularly to wear for Patty’s birthday and a black A-line skirt. I tied a sparkling black scarf loosely around my neck to add a special touch, but made sure that my butterfly necklace was showing.

Since my hair is pin straight, always down, I decided to pull it back in a pony tail. Then I zipped on my high heel black boots, grabbed my black, thick overcoat and headed out the door. As soon as I stepped outside, the cold breeze stung sharply to my very core as the heavy gusts of wind pushed me back, caught my breath, and tousled my hair in a wild tumble. My face and my hands started to feel numb so I pulled out my black gloves from the pockets of my overcoat and slid them on, then hugged myself for warmth. As I struggled to get to my car, orange, brown, red and yellow leaves swirled in the air, like a mini colorful tornado. The vibrant crisp leaves danced as they fell to the ground. Though I was tempted to jump on them and hear the crunching sound, I thought twice about what I wanted to do since I would look ridiculous. Many lawns were covered with sheets of autumn colored leaves. I loved the change of seasons, and the beauty that came with it.

Though it was a long drive there, I didn’t mind since the scenic route kept my mind engaged, and I was surprised to realize I was already there. When the waiter took me back to our private room, I realized that I was the first one there. Andrew had picked a perfect restaurant. We had our own private room with a rectangular cherry wood table and chairs. The table was set for eight people, small and cozy, just like Andrew said it would be. There was even a bouquet of beautiful flowers arranged perfectly in a glass vase, placed in the center of the table. As I carefully placed a party favor at each place setting, I saw Jane and Diane.

“
Hello,” I said.

“
Hello, Claudia,” they both said, giving me a quick hug, one after another.

Jane and Diane were Patty’s friends from school. We didn’t hang out much, but I saw them once in a while at Patty’s gatherings.

“
It looks so nice! I didn’t know they had a private room,” Jane said, gazing at the details of the room. “Where should I put this?” She was holding a huge birthday gift bag. “It’s from Diane and me.”

“
You can set it there,” I replied, pointing to a small round table, and noticed Diane already seated.

Diane didn’t seem to care about the ambiance of the room as much as Jane. She had already plopped herself down. She was holding a compact mirror, and smacking her lips while gliding on some lip gloss, then casually tossing her hair back. “Do you think Austin will be here?” Diane asked.

My stomach knotted and I didn’t know why. The possibility of Austin being at the party hadn’t even crossed my mind. Austin was Andrew’s good friend; of course he would be here.

Jane looked at me and started to speak. “I don’t know. What do you…”

Jane didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence. Diane stood up with a huge smile and eagerly walked toward the door. I wondered who she was smiling flirtatiously at.

“
Hello, Austin,” she said, giving him a hug as she glued her whole body onto his.

Austin looked at me and winked. Diane curiously looked at me, certainly wondering why I got a wink.

“
I want a hug too,” Jane said, draping her arms around him.

The two girls were flaunting themselves at him, Diane more so then Jane. He ignored them as he checked his text messages. “Andrew is here. Should we get seated or hide?”

Diane and Jane were moving around the room, clearly trying to find a place to hide…it seemed we were hiding. But where could we hide? There was no place to do so. As I turned to hide behind Jane, someone pulled me in for a hug. It happened so fast, I didn’t realize it was Austin until he released me in front of him. He was standing so close; I could feel his body lightly pressed against mine. Jane and Diane hid behind Austin. Though I felt uncomfortable having Austin this close, I didn’t move, in fear that Patty and Andrew would walk in any minute. I did not want to make a scene that would cause anyone to question why.

“
Good to see you,” Austin whispered.

I didn’t respond with words. Instead, I turned slightly to give him a nod.

We waited quietly, and then we heard footsteps. Anticipation and nervousness were running through my veins, till finally Andrew and Patty walked in.

We all shouted, “Surprise!”

Patty saw me first and then looked around to see everybody else. Her mouth was wide, open in surprise, stunned by the site of her friends. Overcome with shock, she stood there for a brief second, speechless–which rarely happens with Patty–and turned to Andrew to embrace him tightly.

“
Happy birthday,” Andrew whispered, planting a kiss on her lips.

After Patty hugged all of us, we were trying to figure out where everybody was going to sit when two other girls walked in.

“
Sorry for being late,” one said.

Dead silence filled the room as all eyes were glued on her and her friend, most likely awe stricken by them just as much as I was.

“
Everyone, this is Michelle and Gracie,” Austin introduced, not looking eager to see them.

We waved hello with a smile, but Diane looked disappointed, probably seeing the girls as more competition for Austin’s attention.

Michelle had long, blonde, curly hair and Gracie’s dark brown, short hair framed her face. They both looked like they had just walked out of a Victoria’s Secret magazine–
they were
gorgeous! Their skin tight dresses, clinging to every part of their womanly figures, made me feel, to say the least
,
underdressed. After the introduction, I sat to the right of Patty. Austin sat across from me with his two female friends–one on each side.

I didn’t recall Patty ever mentioning Michelle or Gracie; I wondered if they were invited because they were Andrew’s friends. Whatever the reason, I didn’t care–I think. It was hard not to notice Michelle and Gracie flirting with Austin during dinner. Diane tried to cut in on their conversation, only to be shut out by Michelle. Patty was talking away about school and work as the waitress took our order and poured water in our glasses. Afterwards I sat there listening rather than talking. I didn’t have much to say since I didn’t know her friends that well.

“
You never told me about Michelle and Gracie,” I managed to whisper to Patty when she finally took a breather from talking.

“
That’s because I met them recently,” Patty replied.

“
When?”

“
Tonight. Austin asked Andrew if he could bring a couple of his friends.”

“
Oh.” I gave Patty a funny look, surprised by her answer. “They’re a bit flirtatious.”

“
You jealous?” she asked, giggling.

“
What? No.” I pushed her lightly. “Of course not.” But I wasn’t sure what I was feeling.

I stopped our conversation when Austin looked at me. I didn’t want to give him the impression that we were talking about him.

“
Claudia made the party favors,” Andrew said suddenly.

“
Oh my gosh!!! Thanks, Claudia,” Patty said, placing her arms around by shoulders. “So sweet of you.”

“
My pleasure,” I said. Feeling a bit uncomfortable by the sudden attention, I flashed my eyes on the party favor, feeling everyone’s gaze on me.

“
I’m surprised,” Patty said. “You don’t like to do arts and craft thingies.”

“
For my best friend, I’ll do anything.” I smiled.

“
Awww…thanks,” she said warmly. Patty opened her favor with amazement and her eyes grew wide when she saw the CD with a collage of her friends and noted the CD was burned with her favorite songs. “Claudia, I’m so touched. Thank you so much,” Patty gushed and tightly wrapped her arms around me.

When the party favor conversation was over, all ears were back to Patty, but I felt uneasy when I met Michelle and Gracie’s gaze on me. Feeling awkward and wondering why they were giving me strange looks, I was saved by the waitress who brought us our meals. We all devoured our food except for Austin, Michelle and Gracie. Though they ate, their plates were not empty like the rest of ours.