Dancing on Eggshells

This is the part when I go to the most confusing party of my entire life

"So, how was your first day"? Mom asks.
My family and I are all at the dinner table, eating chicken breasts that Dad rushed home to cook whilst I've poured myself some Cherry Coke Zero. I was able to win a spot at the head of the table. Chris sits on my right side whilst Mom sits next to him, leaving dad to sit on my left side. We have a majority of space of our table left. We only use the whole table when we have guests over-which is barely ever because my dad is a very antisocial person. If we have people over, it's usually my, Mom's or Chris's friends or family members. Our family members don't come over often at all, though. My mom's brother and sister live on the other side of Boston whilst my dad's family is scattered from the New York State to Ohio.
Basically, this table we sat at now is an open invitation for people to visit .
"It-it was interesting". I answer, taking a sip of my Coke.
"You don't sound so sure about that". Chris says. "Did you,like, fall into a trash can and are now all embarrassed about it"?
"Chris, don't talk for the sake of just talking". Mom groans.
"But, Mom!" He whines, "you know that I'm just talking what I really feel".
"Yeah, it's not Chris's fault that his mind isn't developed properly".
"Keoria!" Mom snaps.
"Can everybody just stick to one damn topic"? Dad butts in.
"And you wonder why Keoria swears like Eminem". Chris mutters, who seems to be the most uninterested in the conversation which happens to be partly about him.
"Damn is barely even a curse word!" I argue.
"She swears because she listens to too much Eminem". Mom says,ignoring my point.
"What? He's a pretty cool dude".
"One. Damn. Topic".
"Okay, fine! I'll tell you guys!" I tell.
All eyes are on me despite Chris who just spilt sauce on his pants and hasn't even realized yet.
"I really like my advanced English teacher...but there's just something strange about her".
My parents look at each other.
"What do you mean by...strange"? Mom asks.
"She's just very...um...energetic". I explain.
"Maybe she really loves her job". Chris suggests.
Mom touches my hand.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but there is no reason to be afraid".
"I'm not afraid,she's awesome...but unusual".
"Keoria, the school knows what they're doing, they trust their teachers enough to let you guys be taught in a good and safe environment". Dad explains.
"Um, she invited Winona, Violet and I to tea on Saturday". I confess.
"Nothing scary about that, sounds sweet to me!" Mom says, "I'll even take you!"
"Yeah, we do need a ride, she lives in Jamaica Plains". I say.
"Definitely!"
"See, Keoria", Dad says, "I told you high school wasn't going to kill you!"
"I didn't say high school was going to kill me. That was Chris...like two years ago".
"That wasn't even me". He mutters, still not noticing the drying sauce on his pants.
"Then who was it"? I say.
Chris shrugs.
"Probably Lana".
Mom cringes and raises her eyebrows super high. Only she can do it to that extent. When I was little, I used to call it her 'superpower' as she terrified Chris and Dad when she did it. I think it still does.
"The dog"?
Lana is actually sitting under my seat. She's a Maltese poodle so she manages to get into small places. If my whole family were to just shut up for one minute, you would be able to hear her heavy breathing.
"Yeah, I bet she goes to some sort of dog school whilst we're gone".
"Then why doesn't she get any homework"? I ask.
Chris rolls his eyes , thinking: 'oh my god you're so stupid' .
"Because it's dog school! Dogs don't get homework! They would eat it!"
Suddenly, Dad claps his hands together and chuckles.
"I now remember!" He cries, "It was in one of these brilliant psychiatric novels about..."
I don't want to bore you to death, so let's just move on so I can concentrate on groaning instead of trying to make my dad stop talking. I try, but he still ignores me .

School was the same for the rest of the week. We received homework, did it, notified of test dates and most of us began to study. Everything was starting to become normal and I was on a road to letting this school become my new home. I know it's a long way to go, but I've started my engine and am ready to start driving down the road.
But then came Friday, when I was approached by Jayden, Emma and Maia. They simply strolled to my locker. I knew they were coming, but I ignored them . I don't why, but if I ever notice someone coming towards me, I pretend not to notice them. It feels like if I do , the surprising greeting they're about to perform is ruined. I've only started to notice that I do it now. I don't think I'll ever understand why I do it, I think it'll just carry on happening without my consent .
"Kori!" I heard when I was at my locker.
I closed my locker, pretended to look surprised and looked for where the voice was coming from. I realized when I saw the sparkle.
Coming towards me was a colored, tall , skinny , boy with wild hair. He wore a leather jacket with gold rhinestones and tight, tight jeans.
That's Jayden, my best male friend. We have been friends since first grade. I had always seen something different in him, something that took me years to understand. He always liked playing with my girlfriends and I , and got nervous around boys just like us. I think the teachers figured out his sexuality before anyone else, but he was lucky enough to have generous and loving teachers who didn't judge him for he was.
Then there was Emma approaching, with her camera around her neck and her tight, auburn curls and  a dark,red , wooly sweater dressing her body.
The quiet Maia was just wearing a black and white t-shirt  and jeans. She looked completely neutral as she approached, I suddenly reckoned that she was just tagging along but not aware what the motive of walking up to me was.
I smiled as I saw them approach, acting like I hadn't even seen them coming.
"Hi!" I said in a welcoming tone.
As Jayden approached me, he put his hand on the locker next to mine and smiled, I noticed that his nails were painted a beautiful black. I was eager to ask him what type of nail polish he had used, but he hadn't allowed me time.
"Hey dollface". He said in his normal flirty tone.
"So, we've talked to Violet and Winona", Emma began without greeting me, "and they said they were going to ask you but we couldn't wait".
"What? What's going on"?! I asked ,frantically.
Did someone die? Did something shocking happen? Is a teacher sick? Are we getting a free period? Is Chris hurt? Did Violet accidentally send a secretive text to the wrong person again and now Winona and I have to help her sort it out?
"Reece Forrest, that badass chick who lives across the road from me is having a party tonight. Her parents are out of town and some kids are bringing  beer". Jayden exclaimed in his nasal voice.
"Beer? Why would you want beer"? I asked.
I had grown up watching movies and read too many books which had influenced me to know how teenage parties went, and I didn't want to be part of it. Simply , I am a responsible kid (as well as an introvert at times) who just wants to be normal. I want to get through school, get good grades, prepare for a bright future. I also have no interest in getting involved in underage drinking, drugs or any of the 'will kill you slowly' substances.
"You know you don't have to drink, right"? Maia pointed out.
"Um, yeah", I mumbled, "I know".
"Then why are you acting like you have to"? Emma finally squeaked out.
"Because...it's a party...with people...drinking..."
"Kori! You'll be fine!" Jayden comforted.
With sweat beginning to perspire onto my skin and my heart beating slightly faster than normal, I kept thinking of more excuses of why I shouldn't just stay home tonight and watch Malcolm in the Middle marathons.
Jesus, I was scared. I didn't even understand this silly fear pumping in my blood all of a sudden.
"Violet knows the address, she says you're going to go with her". Emma said.
I knew by that point that I was basically being forced into this.
Now, I'm afraid.
It is now 16:00 , on that very Friday which I wish has already passed so I can say I survived my first high school party...and didn't die. I'm now at Violet's house, but I had to dress myself carefully before I left the house. To think about it, I didn't really dress myself. I stayed in casual clothes as I left the house as I planned to change at Violet.
I talked to the girls about what time we had to leave, and of course they were chilled.  They told me it's the last thing I need to stress about and that we can leave at anytime in case it gets too hectic.
To make things worse, I'm lying to my parents about this. My mom thinks that I'm going to a sleepover at Violet's house. Well...I guess it's just a white lie. I just left out the part that I'm going to a high school party.
Who am I kidding, it's not even a big fat lie- it's an obese lie!
After the last minute plans, Violet's mom, Leslie is going to take us to Mrs Waldorf tomorrow. Knowing Leslie, she probably is fretting about how unusual it is that she is taking her daughter to see a teacher...on the weekend...at her house.
But that's not important now.
Fortunately , I won't have to walk past home when we walk to Reece's house, so Mom won't spot me.
Staying in my casual clothes that I wore to school today, I packed my outfit and makeup for tonight neatly into my Barnes and Noble Great Gatsby bag so Mom doesn't ask too many questions.
But she's my mother, so of course she'll ask questions.
I was able to get an idea together of what I would say and am lucky to say I got out alive, but there was still my mother's questions that you have to witness.
"What are you guys going to do tonight"? She asked as I was getting ready to leave.
"Watching Joe Sugg and Miranda Sings videos and then a movie".
"Who's Joe Sugg"?
"A human bean".
"Is he a boy at school"?
"No, he posts videos on YouTube and lives in England".
"What does he post"?
"Videos".
"What sort of videos does he post"?
As I was becoming insanely bored in the never-ending conversation, I decided to take one of my spices filled with tricks and pour them into this boring meal.
"Porn". I replied, the spice mixing extremely quickly into the meal.
Maybe I shouldn't have used such a strong spice, Mom looked like she was on the edge of a  heart attack when I told her that. I was forced to tell her it was a joke immediately or I think she would've actually died. I simply told her  that Joe Sugg  just posts videos of himself playing video games and he brings humor to it.
Which is the truth.
"What movie are you going to watch"? She asked after calming down.
I then had this feeling that if I don't do something to end or spice up this conversation, I may drop down dead. So I added the same spice again, mixing it a little harder.
"Fifty Shades of Grey". I told her.
Mom then had another unrealistic heart attack. I decided from that point that if she asked another stupid question, I would just make an excuse to get out of the conversation completely.
I would simply tell her that Winona and Violet were waiting for me . I don't know whether she would buy it or not, but I know I would've come up with another excuse in the heat of the moment. When she asked me again what movie we were watching , I told her we were watching Benny and Joon, a movie I had watched recently .
"I don't think that is appropriate-especially for Winona. Knowing her; she'll probably force you to stop watching the movie the minute she finds out that Joon isn't completely perfect upstairs". She said.
I couldn't believe that my psychologist of a mother had used that description to describe a mentally ill person. I didn't have time to ponder nor argue, though.
Groaning, I told her we would watch some overdramatic teen flick .
"No, you'll all cry so hard you'll have to join your father's hospital as a patient".
Ignoring her weird and thoughtless reasons,  I told her we could watch Frozen, she finally agreed to that.
"So you're basically being the least sociable people on the entire planet"?
I was literally at the front door at that very moment. My hand was in action to pull the handle, but I was forced to stay frozen in the moment.
"What is that supposed to mean"? I snapped.
"You're just going to go to your best friend's house, watch a movie and then...then what are you going to do"?
"Mom! We'll figure it out! Why do you even need to know"?!
"Because I'm being your mom and trying to teach you how to have better social skills".
"First of all: my social skills are absolutely fantastic! Secondly, you don't have to teach me every second of every single day!"
"That's a very nice argument, sweetie but I'm not letting you leave this house until you tell me how you are going to improve you social skills tonight".
Rolling my eyes like a motorcycle wheel, I thought of the most simple answer I could think of:
"We'll play truth or dare". I announced.
Then Mom told me this whole story of how she played Truth or Dare when she was my age (prehistoric times) and that it was just her and her 'gal friends'. She chose a dare at one point and she was dared to go to school without a bra on Monday -as it was a Saturday night. She accepted and completed the dare...that's it.
"What is the point of this story, Mom"?
"I think my breasts would of been bigger and healthier if I wore my bra on that day".
Due to the fact my mother was just talking basic shit at that point , I told her we were going to play duck-duck goose and stormed out the door.
She screamed from inside the house that my idea was a excellent suggestion.
Imagine if she found out that I was going to a high school party with booze and drugs and freedom, she would become one of Dad's patients.