Freshman Year

Chapter Nine

Chimera's P.O.V

Griffin, Phoenix, and I pulled up outside of Maya's house in our mom's Grand Cherokee at about 9:05. Phoenix was driving, since he was the only one of us who had their learner's permit. Maya and Cari were waiting on the front porch when we arrived. Now, they were hopping into the back seat, next to me. Maya was sitting in the seat next to the window, and Cari sat next to me, in the middle. The ride to Wilmington was about 3.5 hours long. During the entire ride, I couldn't help but sneak a few quick glances at Cari. She looked beautiful as always. She was wearing a blue and black, plaid shirt, dark jeans, and black, motorcycle boots. Her long, blond, hair fell over her shoulders. God, she's beautiful. I thought. I'm pretty sure that Maya's figured me out. She kept looking in my direction every couple of minutes to see if I was looking at Cari. Am I really that easy to read? At one point we made eye contact, but instead of turning away, like I thought she would, she stared at me, and motioned her eyes towards Cari. I guessed that she was asking if I liked her. I figured, I might as well just tell her. I nodded my head, subtly at her. She smiled, and then she turned and looked out of the window. 

After that, it wasn't long until we arrived at a gigantic, mansion. The house was made of various shades of gray bricks, and it had a Victorian design. There were at least twelve windows; six on the top level, and six on the main one, from what I could see. Every other window was stained glass. The entire estate was right in front of the beach. I mean, if you walked out of the back door, you could walk off of the deck, and you'd be stepping in sand, and toward the ocean. The door was wide open, when we got there.  When we stepped inside, there were probably sixty or more people there. Most of them were dancing in the living room, and the rest were either heading upstairs or out back, where there was a bonfire going on. Maya and Griffin made their way towards the dance-floor, while Cari went to get a drink in the kitchen. I didn't want to look like a stalker, so I headed out back,along with Phoenix. 

" Hey guys. Glad you could come." Grey said, walking past us. " Well, we're glad you invited us!" Phoenix yelled in his direction. He just nodded and kept walking down the beach. I wonder where he was going. He seemed like he was in a hurry. I looked at the time on my watch, 11:50. I shrugged my shoulders. I thought that Phoenix was still behind me, but when I turned around, I saw that he had wandered off somewhere. Great. He left me alone. I had no intention of joining in the festivities, that included limbo, dancing by the fire, and going in the water, so I found a beach chair on the deck, and sat there, watching everyone.

 Cari's P.O.V

I was in the kitchen, sipping a cup of Sprite when I heard the clock chime twelve times. It was midnight. Time to meet Chimera by the water's edge! I decided to go out of the back door, because that was the quickest way to the water. I made my way out of the kitchen, and out of the back door. When I stepped onto the back deck, I felt a body sitting next to the door, but I didn't look back  to see who it was. I was too busy trying to get to the water! When I got to the water, nobody was there yet. I saw that where I was standing, there were a lot of people around. Then I remembered that Chimera is pretty shy. He wouldn't want to ask me out in front of everybody, so I decided to go to the left, and walk down the beach. I was about twenty feet away from where I was previously standing, when I saw a boy with dark hair, who was wearing a white polo, and light khaki shorts. I could barely make out the outline of his body, since it was so dark out tonight. I figured, who else would be out here at this time of night? I didn't want to startle him, so I slowly sat down next to him. He looked so cute by the moonlight. " Hey." I said, right before I got the shock of , my life.

" Hey doll." Grey said. GREY???? What on Earth was going on? I was so confused. I mean, how could this happen? I guess he figured that I was confused since I had taken such a long pause. " I've liked you since the first day of school. I always thought that you were so beautiful." He said. I still had no response. I was frozen in shock. " What's wrong?" He asked. I finally regained my composure and developed a response. " Nothing... Just a little... You know, confused." I said. " Why are you confused?" He asked. " Well, first of all, I thought that you liked Maya. She seems like she'd be more of your type. And, honestly, I wasn't expecting you to be here tonight." I said. " Oh. Actually, I can't stand Maya. She's kind of, you know... A b****. But you, you're an angel. Who did you think was leaving you notes?" He asked. " Maya is not a b****! She's my best-friend, and I don't date guys that won't put up with her! When you date me, you date her as well." I said, before storming down the beach, toward the house. " Hey! Wait! Come back! I'm sorry... I can try and put up with her! Will you go out with me?" He called after me. " When pigs fly!" I shouted. I was back where I was standing, before I met Grey when I felt him grab me by the shoulder. " Get off of me!" I yelled at him, while throwing punches at him. Then, he started pushing me, trying to get me into the water for some reason. But then I remembered that I couldn't swim! How would he know? I tried pushing back, but it was no use. Within seconds, I was in the water. " Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Chimera's P.O.V

I was still sitting in the same spot, next to the door when I heard screaming. At first, I brushed it off as some more people yelling in joy, but as it went on, I realized that it sounded more like panic. I looked around, and saw that someone was in the water. I decided to go and help since nobody else was around. I ran from the deck, straight to the edge of the water. Once I located where the tide had swept the person away, I dove into the cold, choppy, water. The person was about ten feet out. I got there in a little under a minute. Once I reached them, I saw that the drowning person, was Cari. I put my arm around her, and swam to shore. When we got there, she wasn't conscious, so I gave her CPR. It took about five minutes for her to open her eyes. " Hey. Are you alright?" I asked. " Yeah. Thanks." She said, breathing heavily. " How'd you get into the water?" I asked. " Grey." She said. I couldn't believe my ears. This was crazy, but I figured that now would be the best time to make my move. I helped her up to her feet. " Thanks again." She said. " No problem... Uh, I know that this is really awkward timing, but do you want to go out sometime?" I asked. " That'd be great." She said. Yes! " So, do you wanna go inside?" I asked. She nodded her head, as we walked towards the house.

When we got inside, we found Maya in the kitchen. She looked upset. "What's wrong?" Cari asked her. " Griffin! He dumped me!" She said, crying. " Wait! What happened? Could you explain?" I asked. She nodded. " Okay, so Griffin and I were in the living room dancing, and then he went to get us drinks. I stayed in the living room, waiting for him. He was gone for like half an hour, and so I went looking for him. I checked the kitchen, out back, and the car. He wasn't anywhere in sight. But then, I had to go to the bathroom, so I went upstairs. There was a long line for the hallway bathroom, so I went to find the master bedroom to see if that one was unoccupied. When I found the bedroom, I walked in on Rae and Griffin, making out on the bed. When he saw me, he pulled away, and pushed her off. Rae just stood there smirking. As you'd expect, he was like " Baby, this isn't what it looks like! She kissed me!" I didn't even listen to him. I left the room, and came down here. He tried to follow me down here, but I pushed him away." She explained. " I'm so sorry." I said. I really was. That's just sad, to see such a good relationship end that way. Plus, it's weird that Griffin would do something like that. " I'll be back." I said. Cari stayed with Maya, while I hunted down Griffin. I found him upstairs, still in the master bedroom. " Dude! What's wrong with you!" I yelled.

He didn't say anything. I punched him in the cheek as hard as I could. " Ouch! What was that for?" He asked. " What was that for? You know what that was for!" I said. " You finally got the girl of your dreams, and you cheat on her!" I said. " Okay, that's not what happened! Just listen, okay?" He asked. I nodded. " Okay, so I originally went to get drinks, but then I had to go to the bathroom. I definitely wasn't waiting for the hall bathroom, so I looked around until I found the master bedroom. I had just finished doing my business, when I noticed that someone had closed the door to the room. At that point, I'm like whatever. But then, I felt arms wrapping around me. I thought it was Maya, so I kissed her. Then, she got a little more aggressive, and so I fell back onto the bed. Before I knew it, Maya came bursting through the door, yelling and screaming at me. I tried to explain, but she wouldn't let me!" He explained. I couldn't help but believe him. Why else would he waste his time, sitting up here alone, sad, if he was lying. " Okay, I believe you. But two things, before we gather everyone and leave. One; never kiss ANYONE in the dark again. Do not assume it's Maya. And two, I'll help you get Maya back." After that, he got up, and looked at me. " Thanks man. I really screwed up this time. After that, we went downstairs, and found everyone else in the kitchen, laughing and drinking soda. We left after Phoenix finished his last cup of Coke. 

The ride home was filled with awkward silences. It was weird, how one couple being separated effected the whole group. I was glad that the ride home was a lot shorter than the ride to the party. Griffin might have been speeding half of the time, but I couldn't wait to get out of that tension-filled car. We got home around 3:30 a.m. Nobody except for Cari and I said goodbye to each other. As I got into bed, all I could think about was how I was going to help Griffin get Maya back. I hate to look on the dark side, but I don't think that it's possible. But at least I've got my dream girl.