“You would be drinking and partying. I know. I just don’t feel like it,” I cut him off to say.
“I won’t push you into going, but I think it would be good for you. If you don’t like it there, you just leave and walk across the street to come home,” he says, making it sound easy.
“Aren’t parents meant to stop their teenagers from going to parties?” I ask as Dad walks to the stairs and pauses at the end to smile back at me. I almost ask what the flash of sadness that crosses his face is, but I know it’s about mum. He still loves her, he always did apparently. Our old house used to be full of photos of mum and dad at university together and then, later on, their wedding. Dad is lost without her here, and he never talks about mum to me. I will never be able to forget his heartbroken face when he told me mum had left us. She left him a note. A single note to say goodbye to her husband and daughter.
“Ura, you are a smart kid, and I trust you. The fact you didn’t even ask to go to the party, which most teenagers would have done or snuck out, tells me I can trust you to make the right decisions,” he tells me.
“I did eat all the leftover cheesecake you left in the fridge, so I’m not that well-behaved,” I mutter, and he only laughs as he runs up the stairs. I unpause the TV, watching the boring show and hearing the music in the background as I try to forget about the party. I find myself turning to stare at the window every few seconds rather than the TV as I keep going over my dad’s advice. Landon would love it if I went over, and if Maxx is a dickhead, I can just leave. I go over and over the decision for ten minutes before I finally turn the TV off and run up the stairs to my room.
I pull my wardrobe open, searching for something decent to wear. I pick up my short denim shorts and a black, glittery crop top that shows off my flat stomach. All that swimming should be shown off, or at least that’s what I told myself when I bought this outfit over a year ago. I pull the clothes on and let my hair down, shaking out the waves from the tight plait it was in. I put a little makeup on before standing in front of the mirror and looking myself over. The tight black top bunches on my shoulders and gets tighter around my ribs. The denim shorts come up quite high but show off my long legs that need a tan. I run my fingers over the blue glowing swirls on my stomach; in the middle of them is a flower that resembles a rose. Part of me wants to see if Iris can see the marks after that glowing incident, but the other part of me doesn’t want to see her at all. I run my fingers through my hair, wanting to make sure it isn’t too frizzy before telling myself that I need to get moving. I walk out the door as my dad comes out the bathroom and he nods.
“Not a fan of the clothes, but have a good night,” he grumbles and goes to mess my hair up with his giant hand, but I step out the way.
“Too slow, old man,” I tease.
“Too cheeky for your own good, Ura. Remember this old man feeds you and picks up your dirty clothes off the bathroom floor,” he grumbles.
“Love you too, dad,” I grin at him and turn, running down the stairs. I slide on my black, flat shoes before leaving the house and walking across the street. I squeeze between two closely parked cars to come out the other side and see the mass of students outside the house. Most are drinking, illegally I bet, and others are smoking as they chat with their friends. I scan the crowd and don’t see anyone I recognize. I walk up the steps to the front door, which is wide open, and I walk into the busy hallway.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Abby says, walking over to me and stopping at my side. “If you’re going to stay around and cause trouble, we might as well get you a drink.”
“Who said I was going to cause trouble?” I reply.
“Dressed like that…trust me, when Maxx sees you, and Iris sees his reaction, it will cause trouble,” Abby says and hooks her arm in mine, leading me into the kitchen.
“Not being funny, but I was under the impression you don’t like me,” I tell her as she pushes a guy out the way to get to a counter and picks up a bottle of vodka.
“Iris doesn’t like you because she is jealous. I’ve told her it’s a hopeless cause with Maxx and her, but she won’t listen to me. I don’t know you, but seeing as you’re going to be around, I want to change that,” she says.
“I’m not sure if I trust you,” I tell her.
“I wouldn’t trust me, if I were you. I get it,” Abby grins and hands me a cup. I sniff the strong vodka and orange juice as Abby downs her drink. “But you are going to break my sister’s heart, and then she will finally move on. In the long run, you are good for her. Also, Landon needs a friend who doesn’t fancy him,” she tells me, somewhat making sense even if she is wrong about me, Maxx and Iris.
“When you aren’t being a mean bitch, you’re kinda alright,” I say, and we both laugh. I sip my drink as I look around the room full of teenagers, most drunk and dancing, others just chatting with their friends. They all look relaxed, and slightly older than me. I don’t recognize any of them from around school.
“Maxx is in the garden, filling the pool up last time I checked,” Abby finally says to me, flashing me a wink before walking off through the crowd. That girl is confusing. I keep sipping my drink for a little bit before deciding that I want to go outside and find Landon. He will be near Maxx. It’s not that I want to see Maxx. I slide through the people in the kitchen, making my way to the backdoor and leaving my drink on the side. The burn of the few sips I had is still tingling in my throat as I open the door and step outside. The back of the house has a deck with steps leading down to a lawn where someone has a massive pool set up and fairy lights hung all around the trees, lighting up the garden. I feel nervous as I look around the garden and lock eyes with Maxx, who is holding a hose pipe and filling the pool up. He isn’t wearing a shirt and has water dripping down his chest, stopping at his dark blue shorts that hang dangerously low on his hips. His eyes drift up and down my body, before locking on mine again. Before I can get to the bottom of his expression, a cold hand clamps onto my arm, and I turn to see Landon smiling down at me just before he pulls me into a hug.
“Ura! You came!” Landon shouts, letting me out of the hug and glancing down at my outfit. I watch Landon’s reaction, and notice how it is so much different from Maxx’s. He just looks impressed. I glance at Landon’s blue tank top, black shorts and then around at most of the people out here, seeing they are all in swimming wear.
“Maybe I should go back in the house, as I can’t swim like this,” I say.
“Nope, you can’t, but you look amazing, and you’re staying out here,” Landon says, putting his arm around my shoulder and walking us across the decking towards the garden.
“Alright,” I chuckle, knowing I don’t really have a choice. “You seem a lot happier now,” I state and Landon nods.
“Maxx sorted out the issue, or he is about to anyway,” he explains as we get to the bottom of the steps, and I briefly glance at Maxx who is openly glaring at me for some reason. “I’m sorry I’ve been quiet this week with the family stuff, but I would love it if we could plan that movie night we talked about?”
“I’d love that too, but I’m choosing the movie,” I say and grin up at him just as a guy comes over to us.
“Aura, right? I’ve seen you around school but never got a chance to say hello to the new, beautiful girl,” the guy says, holding out a hand for me to shake. I go to slide my hand into his when freezing cold water sprays all over my stomach, my chest and my hair before stopping. There is dead silence as I blink the water out of my eyes and look over at Maxx, who is holding the hose and not looking one bit sorry. I knock Landon’s arm away from my shoulders, ignoring the guy, and storm over to Maxx, standing right in front of him as he holds the hose in the water.
“You looked like you needed cooling down,” he says with a big smile, his eyes drifting over me and then to something just behind me. The fact he doesn’t even claim it was an accident or that he is sorry just makes me more mad.
"Try that again...I dare you," I growl at Maxx, holding my hands on my hips, glaring up at him even as water drips down my face into my eyes. I must look like a crazy person with my makeup running, my hair wet and my clothes sticking to me.
"What? This?" he smirks before turning the hose towards me and spraying me with freezing cold water. Again. That's it. I'm going to kill my freakin' neighbor. I don’t even think as I grab the hose out of his hand, and he doesn’t let go as I turn it towards him. He only laughs as the water soaks him too and then pulls it away from me, throwing it on the ground. I look down at his hand on my shoulder and gasp as a strange tugging feeling makes me want to move closer to him. Maxx stares down at me in shock, and then pain etches across his features and his eyes seem like they glow blue. When the feeling gets stronger, he quickly stumbles away from me.
“What was that?” I ask, feeling breathless.
“Nothing,” he snaps.
“Liar,” I reply, and he sighs.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. I thought…” he drifts off as Iris runs over to his side and wraps her arms around his chest.
“What happened, baby?” she asks, resting her head on his chest, but he keeps his eyes locked on me, and I don’t look away even as Landon wraps a towel around my shoulders.
“Why don’t we go back to yours?” Landon asks.
“That would be a good idea. Leave,” Maxx says, his voice cold and back to the asshole I have grown to know. As I turn to walk away, I thank Maxx in a way, that the tears escaping my eyes are hidden in the water. If I don’t stay away from Maxx, he is going to destroy me.
Chapter Twelve
“Dad, have you seen my blue swim cap?” I shout as I open the last box in my room and chuck all the things out of it onto the floor. I wanted to get to school a little early today because the coach told me the swimming baths are open early on Thursdays, so I could come in then. I also have a free period first, so I could get an hour of swimming in. Unfortunately, my old swim cap got caught in the washing machine because I accidentally put it in and it got ripped, so I need my spare one. I kinda wish I had unpacked all these boxes now. I glance at my party clothes, washed and folded on my dressing table, and hate how they remind me of what happened. Landon brought me back home and tried to make things better by watching TV with me and telling me silly jokes to make me smile. It didn’t work though, and I haven’t been able to shake the look in Maxx’s eyes as I walked away. Or the empty feeling I have felt since.
“No, but I have to go as I overslept and I’m going to be late,” he shouts angrily, and I sigh. I should have woken him up or something.
