The Mixed

chapter one : unsettled

The dust settled on the photo frames had made it harder for her to set foot in that room, making it more obvious that her sister had been gone for long enough. The thought that someone would just get up one day and decide to leave their perfect life behind and leave didn't make sense to her. Olivia had wondered about this day in and day night till her head throbbed with more questions. 

It was as if kept intensifying like a noose around her neck every second she stayed inside, her headache getting worse with her phone ringing with message notifications from Bailey asking her if she was sure that she'd go with her to the party. It troubled her more than Evan's voice ringing in her head, his tone sharp and commanding as if he had any say in what she could do and not.

Livie, you will not go to that party, got it? 

That was probably what prompted her to text back Bailey that she'd join her for sure. It felt wrong and unsettling but her need to figure out why everything didn't seem to add up was almost suffocating. 

This was the party after which everything went downhill for Sofia. And Olivia was curious to know what had spiraled down that party. She wanted to see for herself what it was that compelled Sofia to run away. 

Sofia was not one to run away. That much, Olivia knew, although their parents' constant comparison had driven them apart and she didn't know much about her sister recently. 

It was as if her sister was a different person after going there, giggly and happy. Olivia couldn't remember when was the last time her sister had stayed out of the house that often, her presence at their house slowly trickling down to none until there came a banger of news that she had apparently run away. Honestly, if Olivia really tried to put in her logic, it sounded like a story made up by a bunch of teens on a rush.

All of that had led to her here, standing on a porch of a house that vaguely looked like an overly designed horror house of an amusement park. Carved pumpkins, which looked more like plastic due to their unnatural inorganic shine, sat in a dark corner of the porch with lights strung over the door. 

As cars drove past, the shine of the headlights threw interesting shadows on the dark windows. Olivia had planned on walking into the house with Bailey, that bubbly classmate of hers who ditched her the moment they parked to find her own friends. She had an inkling this would happen because clearly Bailey just needed a ride to the party and Olivia, being in the neighborhood, might've appeared desperate enough. However, she hadn't thought she wouldn't even walk with her to the door. 

Stranded alone at the door of a frat house, even though she felt like punching Evan, she missed him so bad. So much for being each other's only friends. 

Taking a deep breath in, she stepped inside the house. The floor felt like it was moving with the music, the people along with it, who were moving asynchronously if she looked at each one of them individually, however together, it seemed put together into place. Unnaturally so, like they were placed there. 

As she scanned the area, she caught sight of Bailey and her friends, all smiles and laughs, as they danced, each with a red cup in their hand. 

The amount of trouble Olivia would get in if her parents found out she attended a party with alcohol; she couldn't even begin to imagine. But they wouldn't. They were too busy successfully managing to not care about her.

The red strobe lights made the party look like the kind Sophia would never go to. The sea of bodies and the stench of alcohol was making her dizzy, even exhilarated. It almost made her want to merge into this crowd, dance along, and just have a great time. A great way to unwind, drop all of her stress for a few happy moments, and let her body move with the music.