Don't get me wrong.
I didn't mean to make what happened happen, it just sort of...happened. Everybody claims that they'd feel sorry for you, that they'd help you if you were in a position like mine. Piece of advice: they're probably lying to you.
I...
This is going to sound like an oscar acceptance speech but due to the fact that I don't care, I'm going to carry on anyway. Thank you for being there for me on the night of the party. I knew that I shouldn't have gone and I knew that I was pushing the buttons of fate but I thought that since Eli invited me, I'd be okay. I'd hang out a little bit and then leave but no.
Okay.
This is totally sounding like a teen fic.
I drove myself to the party, and yes, I expected a huge mansion with palm trees and modern technology welcoming everybody with a robot standing outside giving people pina coladas as they went in. But the party wasn't even at a house, it was just an abandoned wareehouse in the middle of nowhere. I felt more than anxious. And it didn't help that I kept beating myself up over the fact that I should have taken my friends with me. Despite all their mighty awesomeness (you're awesome too so), they'd never been to a high school party before even though I had. TBH, I think it's because they didn't really like being around sweaty bodies and drunken mistakes...and neither did I.
So why did I go to high school parties again?
I had on some modest yet cute clothes. Wait, I think I have a picture of my outfit that night.
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Ignore the Polyvore logo, I had to set it out in the app so that I could see what it looked like before buying it so. Don't judge.
I was unsure of whether to go in at first, no doubt Michael would be there. And so would Donova. And probably Toni. And you. But I manned up anyway. As soon as I walked in, everybody surrounding me moved away, which, sort of brought my confidence down a little, but I plastered a huge smile on my face and carried on walking in search for Eli. Juice was on and I seriously had to fight the urge to head to the dancefloor and get my groove on because I'm pretty sure that that would have failed even more than the rest of the night. I spotted a girl at the back of one of the rooms, she seemed quiet and studious, not someone that I would have expected to be at a party like this one but then again, I didn't really know what I was doing there either.
'Hi.' I said, and to my relief, she smiled and said hi back.
'Have you seen a boy called Eli?' She gave me a blank look. 'Host of the party...'
She shook her head. 'No.' She muttered. 'Sorry.'
My heart sank but I nodded anyway. The girl was clearly lying, she had to have seen him somewhere. I walked into another room, one with more light, hoping that there'd be someone I recognised. But then I wondered why? It wasn't like I was welcomed here anyway, I could just leave. I should have just left. I'd rather seem more like an anti social pessimist than to stay there.
No.
He wasn't in that room either. I sighed and got my car keys out. I wasn't willing to spend an entire night with people I didn't know. I was grateful for the invite- at the time- but I thought that it was time to go home. And then, just as Work From Home came on, I saw Eli. I sighed, a sigh of relief, and pushed through sweaty bodies to get to him. He was talking to another girl, that brought my spirits down since I knew that not a lot of people at my new school liked me, but, I am so glad- and fortunate- that that girl was you.
'Hey, Eli.' I said.
'Oh, hey!' he replied, flashing me a smile. 'I've been looking for you everywhere!'
Hmm...I'm no Spencer Reid, but I could sorta tell that he wasn't exactly telling me the truth. He pulled me into a hug and, despite the fact that I certainly wasn't expecting that, I hugged him back anyway.
'This is Danie,' he said, 'My sister.'
'Nice to meet you.' You said, smiling brightly at me. I smiled back. From that moment on, I already knew that we were going to be friends. That smile you gave me was genuine. I hadn't gotten one of those in a long time.
And then he came.
I saw him out of the corner of my eye, walking towards us. And just my luck, the whole crew, Donova, Toni, Alexis were behind him. All headed for us.
Yay.
'What's up Danie?' Michael asked, wrapping an arm around you. Eli glared at him, and Michael slowly removed his arm, remember that? He put his hands up as if to say 'Don't shoot' and then playfully winked at him as he got glared at in return. I know it seems like an awful lot of detail right now, but I want you to remember every detail. Imagine being in my position, watching somebody be all friendly and happy and then as soon as they see you, everything changes. The smile in his eyes turned to a solemn glare, and I knew that I was in for some trouble.
'You invited her?' He asked. It seemed like everyone in the room stopped doing whatever they were doing- dancing, kissing, whatever- and turned to look at us. To see the drama. The giraffe being eaten by the lion. The predator and his prey.
You gently elbowed him.
'Be nice.' You hissed, thinking that I wouldn't hear. I did.
'Fine.' Michael said, turning his attention away from you and onto your brother. 'Didn't know you liked to invest in prostitutes. What,' he looked at me, 'Do you do drugs too?'
I tried to laugh it off. I wanted to laugh it off. I wanted nothing more to come up with a good comeback and fire it at him. Even if I did, everyone around would just turn against me and say that I totally started it. I'm trying to be strong as I write this. I'm actually listening to Pumped Up Kicks right now which is just making me even more glad that I...did what I did to Michael but, the song isn't helping me feel better about myself. Especially after all of the (insert swear word here) that I had to go through at Hunterfields. Nobody had ever said anything like that to me. And I think he knew that I wasn't going to stand up for myself, he knew I wasn't going to say anything. That's why he said it. I just walked away. I didn't...I didn't want to deal with that stuff. I had come to the party looking for fun. I just wanted to have a good time but no. He couldn't even let me have that. Even though I had done absolutely nothing to him, he hated me and he just had to act upon that. He's one of the reasons I hate people. Because they'll never leave you alone. I'm much better where I am. Not much of a life here but I'm fine. Even if the police find me, it's not like they could do anything to me Danie. Michael isn't getting avenged. Ever. He deserved to die. I'm just sorry that you're the one who found his body.
