Last Heartbeat (3 page)

I get to my door and wonder if my roommate is here. Should I knock first? It’s my room too. I try the doorknob and it’s unlocked.
Yay!
She must be here. This makes me both a little nervous and excited. I never had a sister or brother, so hopefully we will get along well.

I enter the room and see her for the first time. I am a little shocked at what I see. Don’t know why, but she isn’t crazy looking. She is normal like me. We have talked on the phone, so I thought she would be a punk rocker or Goth. This eases my nerves even more.

She squeals and jumps out of her chair, running to me as fast as she can. “Hi, I’m Kristen! I’m so glad you finally got here!” She gives me a big hug. “I was getting ready to leave to go to the biggest party of the year and now you can go with me. It’s going to be at private beach house and everyone will be there. You need to hurry and get ready. We should leave in about thirty minutes, so we can make it there early. I like watching everyone come in the door and seeing all the hot guys.” She smiles wide at me.

I look at her surprised. I don’t know what to say. Am I really ready to go to a party since I just got here? I am a little tired from traveling. “I didn’t know there was going to be a party this soon and I just got here. Maybe I should sit this one out and unpack.”

She looks at me with a big frown on her face and says, “You can’t miss this one! It’s the biggest and best of the year. Mostly upper classmen go, but we got invited, and no one turns down Megan’s invitations. Her parents have a private beach house, and the party is mostly in the backyard, which is the beach. I know you love the beach since we have been talking about it before you got here.
Please
go! We can drive together. You can unpack tomorrow. How many classes do you have on the first day? I only have one.”

I really love the beach and I’ve never been to a beach party. It may be nice to go, just to hear the waves and feel the breeze. My classes start late tomorrow. Can I get enough rest?
Ugh
, I really want to go. Just arriving and turning around to go the beach party might be a bit much though.

I say, “I have two classes tomorrow and the first one is at ten.”

She squeals again and says, “Perfect! You would have time to sleep and still go have some fun. Please come! We won’t stay out too long. Even if you want to you can drive. You can leave whenever you need.
Please
.
Please.
” She begs. How can I turn her down?

“Okay, I’ll go, but I’ll drive. I just want to stay about an hour so I can get back and relax a bit. I hope the party isn’t too big though.” I’ve never been to a party, and if it is huge, I might get nervous around so many people.

“It will be big. If you’re staying for about an hour, not everyone shows up that early. You should be good with the crowd. I’m happy we get to go to our first party already! Now get dressed so we can go.” She smiles and turns to finish getting ready.

I go to my bags and look for something to wear, still wondering if I should go. I am a little tired and don’t want to push myself too hard. But I really do want to see the beach.

I pick out my favorite shorts and a cute top. Add in some flip-flops and I’m almost ready to go. After freshening up my make up and brushing my hair back into a ponytail, I’m all set for the beach. Just took me fifteen minutes to finish. Kristen is still putting on makeup.

“I’m ready” I inform her.

She looks up and says “Wow, that was fast. Just give me a few more minutes. You’re a natural beauty, but it takes me a long time to look halfway decent.”

I laugh. “You are a beauty and I am not. I just don’t take a long time to get ready. Doesn’t really matter how I look. Everyone will have eyes on you. I just want to hit the beach.”

“Look, I am finally ready. Do you want to follow me?”

“I will follow you. I don’t know where the beach house is and I can leave early.”

We head out to the party and I like the drive to the house. The sun is still shining, but it’s starting to set. Everything looks amazing with the sun bursting over the water. As we get closer to the ocean, I can see it in between the houses we drive by. This makes me want to hurry and get on the beach. How much farther can it be?

Luckily, I see Kristen put on her signal light and to turn into a massive beach house. Even the driveway is huge. There are a ton of cars already here. I see where Kristen parks. She gets out. I pull up beside her and ask where the best place to park would be so I can get leave early. She tells me and I direct my car there.

The front door is massive in size. That makes me a little bit scared to go to this party. I have never seen a house this big up close. These people must be loaded. I get ready to tell Kristen that I’ve change my mind, but the door opens and I am curious to see what this house looks like. Entering the front door, I can only concentrate on is the view of the ocean, through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The sun setting over the ocean makes me feel alive, and I want to walk out to the beach right then.

Kristen grabs my arm to start introducing me to some of the people she knows. I get introduced to Megan, our party hostess, but she seems to be the typical rich girl type, a little bit stuck up. That’s okay with me.

I keep moving to the back doors. Kristen hands me a cup of beer and I take it. She doesn’t know I won’t drink it. I can’t with the medication I’m on for my transplant. So I just hold on to it and pretend to sip from it.

I finally get to the beach and there are people everywhere. I look around to see what everyone is doing. Everyone seems to know each other. Some are so drunk already that they don’t know what is going on. There is dancing, a bonfire, and even a table set up with kegs of beer. Megan really did go all out on this party. I wonder what her parents think about this or how can they afford should a nice house.

After seeing the perfect spot down the beach a little ways off from everyone, I start sneaking off before Kristen spots me. It’s not that I don’t like her, but all these people are a bit too much and too loud for me.

As I get to my spot, the last of the sun finally sets with an orange glow, which makes the waves, glow just a little. “Ahhh,” I say to myself. “Now this is what I came to this party for.” I sit there for a while and listen to the waves, the music and all the partygoers, which surprisingly makes me relax. I lie back on the sand and close my eyes.
Peace at last
.

I barely have a minute to myself when, all of a sudden, sand flies in my face. I jump up quickly and dust of the sand off my skin. As I look up at the reason for my sandy face, I see him Mister Brown Eyes.
No
,
no!
Not this quick! I was hoping to never see Phillip again.

Phillip stumbles over to me and says, “I am so sorry. I didn’t see you lying there.” He’s smiling at me with a big grin. “Did you fall down and do you need help getting up?” he asks, while looking at my overturned drink cup.

Oh no
. He thinks I’m drunk. I look at him and say, “I am fine. Just go on about your business so I can get on with mine.” Where did that rudeness come from? I’m never rude to anyone, but Phillip just brings it out of me. That’s not me at all. Then I just wave him off and look away before those eyes suck me in.

He doesn’t leave me like I asked him to. Instead, he sits down next to me speaks, “Truly I’m sorry for kicking sand on you. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to do it. I was just running and didn’t see you lying on the sand. Are you here for the party? I came with my best friends Jacob and Tyler. They are already drunk, so I’m staying sober to drive them home. If you’re drunk I can take you to campus. I don’t really mind because I sort of owe you that for kicking sand in your face.”

“Really you don’t have to take me anywhere I’m not drunk, just relaxing and you don’t owe me anything. I came to the party with my roommate. I drove because I’m leaving soon.”

“Who is your roommate?”

“Her name is Kristen. I just met her, but we have talked on the phone before I got here. She told me about this party and asked me to come. I only came because I wanted to relax at the beach for a little while.” I get up and say, “Well, it’s time for me to go back and unpack. You have a great time partying.”

He grabs my hand, “You should stay awhile longer. I would like it if you did.”

I look at him and try to figure him out. “You don’t want me here I might cramp your player status.” The tension between us was growing, and I wondered why.

He laughs, “Player status? I told you that weren’t true, and you have to keep my secret. It will be our little secret.” He winks at me.

Then I hear a loud noise. I look up and see two guys stumbling over to us. They laugh at Phillip, mumble. “Who is this or which number?”

Phillip says something to himself quietly and tells them to shut up. Then he introduces me to them. “This is Jacob and that is Tyler. Guys, this is Alexia. She is starting CCU this year.”

The Jacob guy laughs, “Nice to meet you. I’m letting you know this guy gets around a lot, but I don’t so maybe we can get to know each other.”

“Nice to meet you, but I don’t need to get to know either of you,” I reply.

Tyler laughs. “This girl sure is smart and I like her already. She knows a player when she sees one.”

“Guys, be quite for a while. You also need to stop drinking so much. Your liver can’t handle much more. I am sorry for these guys acting like drunken losers.” Phillip smiles.

I get ready to respond when I hear a girls voice calling Phillip.
Oh,
that’s Megan. I remember her from the introduction from Kristen. Phillip looks up and sort of makes a face like he doesn’t like her but then smiles at her. I wonder if she saw that face before he turned on that beautiful smile in a second heartbeat.

She must not have. She runs up, jumping right into his lap and giggles. “Oh why are you all the way over here when the party is in full swing? I have been looking for you all night. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were just ignoring me tonight,” Megan says with pouty lips.

Phillip says, “Not trying to hide from you Megan. No one can do that. Just hanging out here with some friends. You know Jacob and Tyler, but have you met Alexia yet? I just ran into her sitting on the beach.”

Megan looks at me and snarls her nose up and says. “Yeah, she came in with Kristen and we have met.” She looks me in the eye. “You’re not trying to steal my man Phillip, are you?” She asks with evil eyes.

“No, I don’t want Phillip. He is all yours. I just met him, so why would I want him?” I say and get up. “Thanks for having me to your party, but I have to go.” I turn and walk away.

Wow!
What was that? I thought Phillip said that he wasn’t dating anyone. Maybe she is one of the girls he strings along. I know he is incredibly handsome, but I will not be played by anyone. I don’t have time on my hands for that, being on borrowed time, so I must make sure I make the best of everyday I have. Time for me to head out and get some unpacking before my class tomorrow.

I look for Kristen and find her dancing with some guy. I walk over and tell her that I’m leaving. Then I ask her if she will be okay by herself. She says she will be but not to wait up for her. I laugh and shake my head.

Once I get to the dorm, I’m still thinking about Phillip while I get unpacked and ready for class tomorrow. I can’t get him out of my mind and I don’t know why. He has a girlfriend too many, by the way. I know it must just be my hormones kicking in. He is too gorgeous, for my hormones to not go into overdrive. I never have felt like this about anyone before. I sigh and lie down on my bed, thinking that I will never get to sleep tonight.

The next thing I know, I wake to my alarm going off. I jump up and look around to get my bearings. I did sleep well last night and I had an amazing dream, which included Phillip. Blushing, I look over to see if Kristen is still asleep, but her bed is empty. I hope she just went home with someone and didn’t crashed her car into a tree or something, I hope she is really okay. I really like her and we can be good friends in time. I think about that as I get ready for my first day.

Chapter Four

Phillip

Jacob, Tyler and I get to Megan’s party a little later, and it is already going strong. The music is so loud that I wonder if the neighbors will call the cops. As soon as we get to the door, we walk in and see people everywhere. Bodied grinding against each other to the loud music and kegs of beer litter the party. The crowd is so thick that you can actually smell the sweat in the air along with the beer. Girls in short shorts and tank tops so small they don’t hide much from your eyes are on the dance floor. Maybe I will get lucky and get my mind off Miss Blue Eyes.

The guys head to the kegs to get started with drinking. Jacob hands me a beer and I tell him that I’m driving, so not tonight. He downs the beer in a big gulp and goes for another one. I laugh at him and tell him that I’m going out to the beach. He waves me on.

I get outside and the breeze feels good. It’s a breath of fresh air from being inside with all those sweaty bodies. Sort of makes me feel alive. The sun is just setting as I get closer to the edge of the water, and it makes the waves seem to glow. It’s so relaxing out here that almost forget I am at a party.

I turn around to go back into the party and see my blue-eyed girl, just lying in the sand, off to the side so no one will bother her. She looks beautiful and peaceful lying there. I should just leave her alone. Just turn around, go back to party, and leave now. I turn to leave, but my feet take me toward her. I fight my feet and stumble, kicking sand on her.
Oh no. Not so smooth Phillip. Now she will think you are drunk for sure
.

As I look down at her, she sits up in a hurry dusting off the sand I just kicked on her. I can’t help myself but smile at her. She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I have been around a lot of girls. Something about Alexia just does something to me that no other girl has done.