“You’re fucking kidding me right?” she
screamed all of a sudden and I jumped. “You think you’re going to
dump me on New Year’s Eve? I don’t think so. Consider yourself
dumped, asshole,” she shouted before she threw the phone at the
wall. It ricocheted off of a couch and bounced onto the floor.
I didn’t want to enrage her any further, but
it was my job as a friend to ask.
“What happened Naomi? What did that dick just
do to you?” I walked over and put my arms around her.
“Fuck him, Ari, fuck him. I don’t need a man
to have a good time tonight. He said that I was too clingy. That’s
such bullshit,” she said, wiping a few tears away from her eyes. “I
refuse to mess up perfectly good make-up crying over some loser.
There are plenty of hotties downstairs right now. I need some more
vodka, come on, let’s go.”
I cringed as she grabbed my arm and marched
me back down the stairs to the kitchen. This was about to get
ugly.
More and more people arrived, crowding the
downstairs. Naomi and I wove through the crowd of partiers to the
kitchen where the liquor bottles took up the entire island. She
elbowed a few people out of the way and grabbed the cranberry juice
and the vodka bottle. She poured each of us a fresh glass and added
even more vodka. I’d have to try and sip more lightly. I didn’t
want to get totally wasted. I hadn’t even seen James yet. I checked
my phone but there were no missed calls. Naomi shouted something
about going to find someone to dance with and disappeared into the
crowd. I figured I better follow and keep an eye on her, just in
case.
I turned to walk through the mass of people
in the hallway and felt someone slide their arms around my waist
and kiss me on the neck.
“Hello, beautiful,” a warm and familiar voice
murmured in my ear. My heart melted away and landed in a puddle on
the floor.
I turned around and without another word
threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, just like you see in
the movies. It felt like we were kissing forever. Someone shoved us
and laughed. “Jesus, get a room!”
“Here, let’s go somewhere a little more
quiet,” I said, grabbing his hand and dragging him up the stairs to
the loft. This was perfect. We still had a view of the party, so I
could try to keep an eye on Naomi and we wouldn’t have to worry
about being bothered by anybody else. We sat down on the couch and
it was a matter of seconds before we were kissing again. I just
wanted to drown in him.
“Oh god, I’ve missed you so much Ari,” he
whispered, caressing my face with his hand.
I looked into his eyes. He was everything I
wanted. Cute, funny and warm. I felt so comfortable in his arms.
The rest of the world just melted away around us and there was
nothing, no stress, nothing else to distract us.
“So, did I miss anything so far?” he asked,
picking up my fingers and looking at each one carefully, studying
it.
“What are you looking at?” I asked. “My
complete lack of expensive manicured-ness?”
“I like your hands. They’re,” he paused,
scratching his head, “cute.”
“Well thanks. Anyway, you missed Naomi and
Dean having a total blow out. He dumped her, well she dumped him
first, but I guess he tried to dump her, but she beat him to it,” I
said. “And now she’s on a rampage, drinking everything in
sight.”
“Oh man, that’s not going to be good for
anybody. Those guys down there better watch out.” He laughed. A few
more stories about his flight back and how his mom was mad that he
was running out so fast to come to the party and my mind started to
drift towards Naomi. Where was she? Was she okay? I figured it was
best to go take a look around and make sure everything was all
right.
“James, as much as I’d love to stay here with
you the rest of the night, I should go check on Naomi,” I said,
kissing him again.
“Really? She’s a big girl, I’m sure she’s
just fine,” he said, locking his arms around me.
“I know, I’ll just feel better after I see
that she’s fine,” I said, pulling back.
“Cool. I could use something to eat anyway. I
saw a huge table loaded with food downstairs. Let’s see how much of
it I can put away,” he said, patting his stomach as he got up.
“You know, that’s gonna catch up with you
someday,” I said.
“I’ll worry about that someday. But right now
I’m gonna go smash some food!” He took off down the stairs and I
had to run to keep up with him.
Naomi’s house was more crowded than when we’d
disappeared upstairs. People were everywhere. I had to push through
bodies just to make a circle around the huge first floor. In every
room kids from school stopped me, wondering the same thing I did
(where Naomi was) or something stupid, like where the liquor was or
how to get to the bathroom. I circled the main level twice. I also
had to stop kids from locking people out of rooms so they could do
it, stop people from using the dishes in Mrs. Standish’s china
cabinet and take back the bottles of liquor that some idiot
underclassmen (who probably weren’t even invited) were trying to
walk out the front door with. So far, aside from my make-out
session with James this party sucked! Where the hell was Naomi?
I squeezed through the crowd back to the main
hallway and living room and something in the loft caught my eye.
Naomi wore nothing but her bra and undies. Oh, and the stilettos.
She had her back to me and the railings and it looked like she was
kissing someone. Found a willing victim, I guessed.
She pulled back for a minute and my heart
exploded. I was frozen to the spot. My brain could not wrap itself
around what I was seeing. Naomi was kissing James in the loft. In
front of me. In front of the whole damn party. In her fucking
underwear. My stomach lurched.
I ran to the nearest bathroom and pulled it
open, pulling some chick who was waiting out of the way and
slamming the door behind me. I flipped up the toilet seat and
proceeded to empty the vodka-soaked contents of my guts. I was
crying at the same time, it’s like my body was trying to purge
itself of the awful image I had just seen. I puked until there was
nothing more in me and I sat down on the floor. Sweat poured down
my forehead and the room spun. Why would they do that to me? Naomi
was my best friend. And James…I really thought he liked me. The
nausea rose through my core once more. I moaned and leaned back
against the wall again.
“Are you all right in there,” someone said
through the door.
“I’m fine,” I said, my voice barely a
whisper. They probably didn’t even hear me over the noise of the
party. It wasn’t true anyway.
I wasn’t fine. It wasn’t the truth. I was
lying. Lies. Lies. Lies. My whole life was becoming one giant lie.
What did I really expect? That I could do bad things and everything
would just go right for me? That Mister Right would really pick me?
I was damaged goods, my friend. Maybe he had some kind of sixth
sense and could tell.
Maybe this had been all my fault. It had been
too soon. James and Naomi had been together so long. They’d only
been apart for a couple months. I told him that Dean and Naomi had
broken up. Maybe he saw his chance to get back together with her. I
was the rebound girl. That’s it. Just a rebound.
I couldn’t stay here. I had to get out. All
of a sudden a panic crept over me and I was a caged animal, frantic
and wild-eyed. I crawled up from the floor and splashed some cold
water on my face from the Standish’s fancy pedestal sink. I dried
off with some fancy paper towels and looked at myself in the
mirror. I looked pale. But it was time to go. I just had to make it
down the hall to the front closet and grab my coat and escape out
the front door.
I opened the bathroom door slowly. Nobody
noticed me slip out except the chick who was waiting to go in next.
I didn’t know her, but she gave me the evil eye. Whatever. Fuck
her. Her boyfriend wasn’t upstairs doing god-knows-what with her
best friend. They’re probably rekindling their relationship right
now. Ugh, wave of nausea. I pushed through the crowd to the foyer
and managed to get into the closet and pulled my coat off a hanger.
I kept looking around; worried that James would see me and I would
have to talk to him. I couldn’t face him, or her for that matter.
And I didn’t want to.
I threw open the front door and felt
refreshed as the icy air hit my face and closed in around me. I ran
out to my car and was glad I had parked in the easy-exit spot. I
jumped in and shoved the key in the ignition. I felt like they were
after me, the specter of what I had seen was still chasing me and I
had to get away. The car roared to life and I took off down the
road.
I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go. I
took a deep breath. It was only ten o’clock. On New Year’s Eve. I
felt like such a loser. No friends. No boyfriend. Alone and driving
by myself while everyone else was surrounded by someone that loved
them. Or at least liked them.
I was headed in the direction of Slate Park.
Home called to me. But I didn’t really want to be alone. I couldn’t
sit in that shitty basement and cry my eyes out into the New Year.
There was someone I could call, and I knew it was a bad idea. There
was one person who liked me, even though it was all sorts of wrong.
Yet it didn’t stop me from pulling my phone out of my purse and
finding Javier’s number in the phone book. Before I had a chance to
think about it, I hit the send button.
I almost hung up. It rang so long I figured
it was going to go to voicemail. Then he answered.
“Aren’t you out partying with all your preppy
friends?” he asked.
“Nope. Not any more. What are you doing
tonight?” I asked.
“I’m going to this party in the city, I’m on
my way there now. I was doing some business in the ‘burbs at my
houses. We can pick you up,” he said. “You at home?”
I hesitated for a minute. Was it what I
really wanted?
“Uh, yeah, that sounds fine. I’ll be there in
a few,” I said. I hung up the phone and was shocked to see I was
already down the street from home.
I pulled into the parking lot and Javier’s
Mercedes pulled in right behind me. He rolled down the window and I
could see Junior in the driver’s seat.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I muttered, getting
into the backseat.
I didn’t say much on the ride downtown.
Junior and Javier were busy talking business or answering phone
calls. I felt awkward. Maybe I should’ve stayed home. My phone
started ringing as we flew down the expressway, the Sears Tower
looming ahead. I pulled it out of my purse and my heart started
beating wildly as I read the name on the screen.
JAMES
My hand shook as I pressed the end button and
turned the ringer down. I didn’t want to hear him calling any more.
Who else did I really need to talk to tonight?
“Who’s that?” Javier asked. “If it’s one of
your hot friends, you should tell her to meet us down here.”
“It’s not,” I said.
“What’s with you anyways? Why are you so
fucking pissy? It’s New Year’s Eve. You should be ready to fucking
party,” he said, turning around to look at me.
My face was stiff. Stone. What did he see?
Could he read the pain? I hoped he couldn’t. Change the subject.
Change the subject.
“So whose party is it?” I asked, trying to
bend my face into a smile. Something pretty. But stone doesn’t
bend. It cracks.
“This dude I know. He’s got a phat place and
always throws some bomb-ass parties. I know we’ll have a good
time.”
We drove down straight streets, streetlights
and buildings flashing by the windows as we passed them. It was so
bright it could’ve been daytime. And they say Las Vegas is the city
that never sleeps. After a few turns from the main road, we drove
through a residential neighborhood, past blocks of apartment
buildings, brownstones and new buildings built by yuppies hoping
they were in an up-and-coming neighborhood.
My phone flashed in my hand. I’d forgotten I
was holding it. I looked down and saw that I had a text
message.
Where RU? I can’t find you in here.
James texted.
I hit the End button and buried the phone in
the bottom of my purse. I swore to myself I wouldn’t look at it
again. I was going to party. And I was going to have a good time.
James and Naomi were not going to ruin my night. At least not all
of it.
We pulled up in front of a three-story
brownstone in the middle of a nice neighborhood. Junior parked the
car and we got out, heading across the lawn to the front door. It
wasn’t hard to tell where the party was, there were people all over
the front porch and loud music and bumping bass oozed out of the
house. Javier grabbed my hand as we got close to the porch. I
looked down at my hand. It felt like someone else’s, not mine. I
let him drag me up the steps.
“Who’s the chick?” One of the guys on the
porch nodded in my direction and smiled. He wore a puffy winter
coat over baggy jeans and gleaming white tennis shoes.
“This is Ariceli,” he said, shaking the guys
hand. “Ariceli, this is Paco. This is his place.”
“Hi,” I said, not sure what else to say. I
wasn’t feeling super social.
“Why don’t you guys go in and grab some
drinks,” he said, opening the door for us.
“Thanks bro.” Javier slapped him on the back
as we passed.
I was glad the music was loud; it was
impossible to have any kind of conversation. Javier took my coat
and tossed it into a bedroom we passed by on the way to the
kitchen. The house was really nice. I could tell that Paco made a
lot of money. I wondered if he was in the same line of work as
Javier. The kitchen reminded me of a smaller version of Naomi’s—all
gleaming granite countertops and appliances. There was a small
crowd around the kitchen island where a huge bar had been set up.
They definitely had more liquor than Naomi. I walked up to the bar
and grabbed a cup. There was a margarita machine next to the
bottles and I pulled the knob and filled up my cup. I felt a hand
on my back and found Javier with a drink and followed him back into
the living room.