The Ways We Become Undone [ON HOLD]

Chapter Eight

"THAT'S WHAT you’re going to wear to the house party?”

That was the first thing Celine said to me in a sour tone when I picked her up at her place. It was a little bit past nine o’clock and the streets were empty. Probably because it was a Sunday night.

“House party? You never said we were going to a house party. You told me I was going on a blind—“

She cut me off, “Blind date, I know. You are. It’s just going to be during a house party.” Celine smiled to herself as she put some finishing touches on her smoky eyeliner look. She was wearing a flirtatious black dress with tiny slits that showed the supple skin of her stomach.

“Nice dress,” I complimented.

“You like it? Good, because I brought a similar one for you to wear since I was certain you were going to dress annoyingly casual.” She grinned at me as she started rummaging through her large handbag until she pulled out a similar looking dress except that it was backless and a blood red color.

I laughed. “I am not wearing that. Never. Ever. Did you hear me? Never.”  

“But—“

“—Read my lips.” With emphasis, I whispered the words once more, "Never."

Celine gave me a look and shrugged. “If you say so.”

“I do say so. Now, give me the directions to the place.” I stopped at a red light in town and noticed that instead of being welcomed to the bright dazzling radiance of city life; I was welcomed into a silent darkness.

- * -

“This is peer pressure.” I stepped out of the car stubbornly and a cool breeze hit my bare legs.

“Really? I call it stepping out of the box,” Celine replied as she slammed Ellen’s door shut.

We had parked a few blocks down from where the actual party was being held because the whole street seemed to be full of pricey BMWs, Mercedes-Benz, and even a Porsche or two. I stumbled alongside Celine, kicking rocks with my dirty black converse as we walked uphill. That, paired with my red dress, made me look like a freshman all over again. When we had stopped at a gas station to fill up the tank, Celine had literally dragged me to the gas station restroom and forced me to change into the dress. The cashier was shocked.

As we walked up the steep hill, I glanced around at the grand houses that were all similar in architecture and style, reminding me of the suburban neighborhoods back in the city. The neighborhood we were in was definitely a ‘rich kid’s neighborhood’, as people would say, or better, ‘the-perfect-place-to-party-when-your-parents-are-away’ kind of neighborhood.

“Do you always get invited to these kinds of parties?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah. Being a varsity cheerleader when I was in high school really has its perks sometimes.” She winked at me and then pointed out the house that was obviously hosting the party.

There were a bunch of people crowded outside, half of them already wasted as they stumbled inside and let the loud beats of the House music consume them. We got into line and I was surprised at the diversity of the people that were there. There were the usual crack pot teens and girls with liquor bottles, but there were also people there who didn’t look like the party type. There were the shy smart girls who needed a break from excessive studying and the band geeks who needed to release their hormones sometimes. There were the academically driven model students, jocks with their cheerleaders, the chess team, homosexuals, and heterosexuals. They all belonged from different words, but here at this moment, it felt like all those boundaries were stripped aside as everyone mingled with one another. It was a strange but equally relieving sight to see.