Devlin's Secret

An Event

Andrea - In The Past

One of the best and worst days was Kay's fifteenth birthday party. She was one of the youngest in our year group; by the time her birthday came around, I had been fifteen for seven months, and Devlin for three. 

She had decided, because we were in the midst of a heatwave, to have a pool party. It was a great idea. Everyone was excited for it, and we knew that half of the kids in the year would be invited. 

I knew who wouldn't be invited, though. Devlin. 

But Devlin had a plan.

Kay passed out all her invites in person. She would go up to people in groups and hand them all, individually, a little flyer that she had made. It was pretty simple. Just the date of the party and her address, and a little footer telling everyone to "make sure to bring a swimsuit!" She advertised that there would be enough snacks and refreshments to last all night. 

Some of the invites were special. Mine came in a little black envelope tightly packed full of glitter. She made a point of handing it to me while I was with Devlin, flashing me that magnetic grin of hers. 

"I hope you can make it!" she said for show, knowing she had already had me make sure I was free on that day. "You can bring someone with you if you want but..." she slid her gaze over to Devlin, who met it with a completely neutral expression. "Well, not anyone who wouldn't want to come." She flashed her teeth towards me one last time and flounced off. 

I looked at Devlin, who was eyeing the envelope with a knowing smirk. "Can I open it?" she asked. 

I gave it to her and she carefully slid her finger underneath the seal to break it. Upon doing so, the glitter began trickling out. It went everywhere - all over the bench, all over my skirt and Devlin's shorts; all over our skin and faces; in our hair, picked up by a light breeze. We watched as it was carried away across the school grounds, shimmering in the sun.

The invite itself wasn't much different to the others. I had also been asked to come along to the cinema in the morning, something I already knew about. 

"There's something odd about a nine in the morning film screening," said Devlin.

"I agree," I mumbled. I had also been left a small message on the back of my invite, advising me that I knew who I shouldn't bring, and that if anyone Kay didn't like turned up, it would be problematic. She liked that word. 

Devlin informed me that she would like to go to the party. At my frown, her smile spread wider and she listed the loopholes in Kay's conditions. The first was that she had said I shouldn't invite anyone who didn't want to go, and Devlin did want to go. Second, she had not specified Devlin's name at all - she had only insinuated it. Third, she had told me I could bring someone with me if I wanted, and I wanted to bring Devlin.

She shrugged at the idea of something happening. "It's at her parents' house, what's the worst she can do?"

We arranged to meet after the cinema but before the official party to get ready. We would get my stuff from my house, and then get ready at Devlin's. I told her where to find my chosen swimsuit and towel, as she would most likely arrive at my house before me.

The cinema trip was, as I expected, something which I would rather not have attended. Kay used it to brag to me and her other friends about how rich her family was. By the looks of polite boredom on their faces, this wasn't the first time they'd heard it. She paid for ten of us to watch a film and fed us with hot dogs, popcorn and ice-cream, ensuring that we each had the most sugar-filled drinks in the largest size. She went on and on about how it wasn't a big deal for her dad because he earned thousands of pounds every month.