In the Beginning

The Town Party

I went back inside and to my dismay, everyone was staring. Their glaring eyes almost made me insecure, but I lifted my head up and walked over to Helen and Zach. I guess they have never have had anyone new come to their town parties.

Once I reached Helen and Zach, they weren't alone. They were with Henry and another man who I didn't know, laughing. All of them seemed a bit much tipsy, almost on the way to being full on drunk. I didn't peg them to be these type of party people, the ones who get super drunk, but here we were. Helen turned to me and grabbed my hand to bring me into their little circle. "Stephanie dear, come here! Don't be a stranger!" Zach was staring at me again, as well as the man who seemed to be his brother because the resemblance was canny. Zach gulped down another sip of his drink, and started talking: "Stephanie, let me introduce you to my brother, this is Damon." I pulled my hand out in order to shake his hand. "Stephanie? You look amazing, doesn't she, Zach?" I was thrown off. The brothers started laughing while Helen hit Zach on his shoulder. Henry pulled me by my waist and brought me to another room. There were so many rooms.

We had reached our destination, which was the dining area where there were a bunch of strangers. "I told you I would see you again. And you look stunning," I rolled my eyes, I was tired of being looked at as a piece of meat. "Stop it, the mayor and his pig brother have given me enough 'compliments' for one night." He laughed. "Stephanie, why don't I introduce you to more of our town's residents." He waved his hand and four people walked over to us. They seemed much better behaved. They each introduced themselves to me. The woman of the female and male twin duo started first, "Hello, you must Stephanie. I heard you're a friend of Hayes, so let me introduce myself. My name is Aiden and this is my twin brother, Jackson." Jackson nodded and quietly said hello. The other woman went next, "My name is Amy, it is a pleasure to meet you Stephanie." And finally the last man went, "Stephanie, my name is David. And I love your dress. You look great." They then all chimed in, "Yes! You look wonderful." I responded, "Please stop, but thank you all. It was great meeting all of you. Can I ask how you all know the mayor?" Aiden answered me first, "Well, we're actually all his children. From different moms of course, except for me and Jackson. " I was in utter shock, no wonder Helen always seemed to be yelling at him. We all laughed and continued a conservation in which I could tell David was the life of the party, Jackson was much more calmer and was very handsome in an ethereal way. Amy seemed very strong, like almost as a masculine energy, while Aiden was very loud and passionate. We kept talking about the town, but I kept trying to find Hayes. Every now and then I would peak around Amy's shoulders to see if I could spot him. He was no where to be found. Shocking.

I had to cut the conversation short, because I wanted to try to find Hayes. "This was lovely, but if you all would excuse me I have to get another drink." They all didn't mind and so I left all of them. I went to find Hayes, he has to be here. There is no way that he isn't here. I walked in almost every room and they were all packed, while trying to avoid seeing the mayor and his brother. I was ready to go back to Henry and his group of people, until I saw a door opened just enough to see the light was on. I walked in and it was a library. What else could these people possibly have? The books were dusty and stacked tall on these beautiful wooden shelves. The light was dimly lit and I couldn't see the whole room because part of it was pitch black. I started reading the titles of some of the books, until I was stopped. "Hey stranger," came from a familiar voice. I quickly turned around and there he was, Hayes. I was furious. Now he decided to show up? "You?!" "Me!," he said. I pushed him by his shoulder to the wall. I had him pinned up against the wall and my hands were resting on his chest. I could feel my heart pounding and his eyes were exploring my body. He bit his lower lip and looked directly into my eyes and I could see the amber starting to appear once again. We stared into each other's eyes again for what felt like an eternity. Until I let my hands rest at my side and he fixed his shirt. "I like you in red," he said calmly. I started to get mad again. This was all he was going to say? "I can't believe you. You gave me a book that made me believe I was Persephone, which can't be true. And then you had a P.O. box made for me and then you drag me to this town where I know nobody? What was the point of all of this?" "From what I can tell you have been getting to know virtually everyone and they all seemed to like you." He continued, "You wanted to get to know your real mom, don't you? I mean if you don't want to then I can end all of this." I went quiet with this. "No, I want to know my biological parents, but how do you know all of this? You knew where to find me. You knew my name, even though I never even told you. Why me? Surely there are thousands of other people out there who don't know their parents. Why didn't you just chose one of them? This is all so amazing, but-" He leaned in and grabbed my hands and put them onto his waist, then he cupped my face into his hands. I didn't realize how big his hands were until then. This was different than before. I didn't feel anxious or like there were butterflies in my stomach, but instead I felt safe. As if this was the place I was always met to be. He started talking softly, "What makes you think you don't deserve all of this. You deserve so much more than this. When I look at you, I know instinctively, despite everything that has happened to you or that will happen to you, you will getting the ending you've always wanted." He leaned in even more. His lips were in a centimeters reach of mine. I could feel the heat radiating off of his body the same heat I felt the day I met him in the book store. I thought he was going to kiss me, but he turned my cheek so that he could speak into my ear, "You drive me crazy, Stephanie," my name rolled off of his tongue like honey. It felt right. I want to kiss him so badly. To taste his lips on mine while I touched the rest of his body. He turn my face back facing his eyes and he kissed my forehead. "Stephanie?," came from a distant woman's voice. I turned to see who was calling me and Hayes let go of me. I couldn't tell who called me and when I turned back around Hayes was gone.

I left the library to see yet another new person I had to introduce myself to.