My Life In Pieces (Book #1)

Chapter 28

The weekend was too short as usual. Ari and I were back to normal so I was happy overall. Before I knew it a couple of weeks passed, Tyler and I presented on our circle of Hell which meant it was no longer really kosher for us to hang out. I actually missed hanging out with him in the library.

I tried not to think about it and focus on the next three weeks. Elle's party and winter vacation were finally here. I had gotten to know Jensen well enough that I felt comfortable inviting her to the party. She was more than willing to accept the invitation. That left me with four open spots. I told Ari and Aaron that they were more than welcome to help me fill those slots.

I invited Jensen over Elle's to get ready for the party. The theme was the eighties. We had to enlist Mrs. Evans help to tease our hair high enough. I found a neon yellow tutu and paired it with blue tights and a pink crop top. Elle went for more of the Madonna look. Jensen wore a pink tutu and paired it with yellow tights and blue crop top. We looked like twins.
I left the room as the girls were putting the finishing touches on their looks.

I knocked on Ari's door. I had to keep myself from laughing as I looked at Ari's idea of the eighties. He had gone for the hair band look. His tight leather pants were something to be seen for sure.

"You like, Gorgeous?"
I just nodded. He pulled me in and held me to him.

"You ready for tonight, Ari?"

"Yep."

I pulled him along with me and we got the others. I was happy that Ari and Elle had really taken a liking to Jensen. I had yet to meet her other friends but she seemed to enjoy hanging out with me and mine. Plus, I still thought she and Declan had a thing for one another.

We all walked into The Garage and it was packed, just like Elle envisioned it. For someone who wasn't into crowds and loved being labeled a loner, Elle's smile was lighting up the room seeing everyone there for her party. The crowd instantly started singing happy birthday to Elle when they saw her enter. She held on to Aaron and me as we made our way through the crowd. I made the rounds with her after looking to make sure Ari and Jensen were taken care of. Jensen started hugging and talking with a group of girls that looked like they had stepped out of a Molly Ringwald Movie. Ari had found his way over to Reese and Ryan.

Everyone kept saying, "Happy Birthday Elle! Hey Alex!"

I was surprised that anyone, much less almost all of the one-hundred and fifty people here, knew my name.

Elle kept using their names when she said hi back and it felt like that was partially for my benefit. There was no way I knew them all and she knew that. I recognized a lot of their faces from the classes we had together. That made me feel a little less like a freak.

We stopped for a moment so Elle could hug the neck of a guy. I looked at him, trying to place where I had seen him before. A moment later, Brenna had her tongue down his throat and I remembered that it was the new guy she was seeing, Nick or Dick or Rick or something like that.

Finally, we seemed to have said hello to everyone. It was almost time for the band to play. Elle grabbed my hand and pulled me on stage so she would not have to introduce the band alone. I wanted to vomit. I thought being the center of attention was more Brenna's thing, but here Elle was, loving the limelight. Being stared at by this many people made me sweat in places that should not be sweaty and I was starting to get blurred vision from the panic attack that was starting in my stomach.

The Deejay cut the music so we could speak. I squeezed her hand signaling her to talk. She beamed and started speaking.

"How is everyone enjoying my party?"