The Party Crasher

The Crash

"I can't believe you guys seriously made this party, not only, a costume party, but a Harry Potter party." Now, my two best friends are huge Potterheads. I'm sort of the odd man out, having never seen any of the movies or read the books. Just not my thing. But I had mad love for my buddies, so there I was dressed as Harry Potter himself during our going-away-to-college party. We were celebrating that, the end of summer, and our upcoming separation as we headed off to school.

Jordan, Rhys, and I met in fourth grade when we were the only three on the playground during recess not playing. We began our friendship discussing books and all of our favorites up until that point. Jordan, a girl by the way, was the resident know-it-all on the best scary things to read. Rhys, sounds like Reese, was our sci-fi nerd. Some might had thought it odd for a girl to be best friends with two boys, but she was quite the tomboy and just bossy enough to keep us in line. She had great taste in books (other than Harry Potter) and we all just clicked. Ever since that first day, we'd spent every spare minute, in and out of school, together.

So, back to the party. Rhys was, of course, dressed as Ron and Jordan was dressed as, none other than, Hermione. OK, so I wasn't so versed on who everyone was and what they were known for, but I've heard enough conversation between my friends to know that there were three main characters: HP, Ron, and Hermione. But excuse me for feeling a bit uncomfortable as I stood against one of the walls in the living room of Jordan's house, watching all of our school friends walk around in costumes that I couldn't actually place. The only one's I recognized were the ones dressed like the three of us, and there was a ton of them.

"Take it easy, man. Who cares what everyone looks like, just mingle and have some fun," said Rhys.

Jordan had to throw her two cents in and said, "Suck it up, buttercup!" Maybe we can finally sway you to our side."

"Ha! Not gonna happen. But I will have fun, just let me scope out the scene first."

Most of the furniture was removed from the room, making it seem so much bigger than it was. It wasn't crowded or anything in there, because a lot of our friends were outside by the pool too. Actually, I was looking into a sea of black robes with the touch of red from the Solo cups the guests were carrying.

I decided to walk to the backyard, so I could sit by the pool. As I was exiting through the sliding glass doors, a slip of a girl nearly bowled me over. The strength on that redhead was impressive. She had passed me and I had to turn around to get a better look, and, surprise, the girl was already facing me with cheeks as red as beets.

"Oh, man... I'm so sorry. I was on a mission and wasn't really paying attention to anything else. Are you OK?"

I tilted my head to assess her better. " I think the better question is, are you OK? And, what's this mission you were on?" I asked.

"Ah, yeah, sure. Um, well, I was looking for my cousin. He's around here somewhere and I'd like to go home." Her bright blue eyes wouldn't look at me directly, as if she was shy or something. She was acting like a skittish deer and ready to bolt again at any minute. But there was something about her that just called to me, so I had to keep here for a few more minutes.

"I'm Alex. If you'd like to go, I can give you a ride. I don't mind. I'm not that comfortable here either," I said. She was acting like I felt, uncomfortable in this crowd.

"You? Why would you do that? We don't even know each other?"

I put my hands up, palms out, in a surrender position. "Precisely why I want to, I'd like to get to know you better. By the way, you haven't told me your name yet."

She looked at my face and my eyes good and long before she nodded. I placed my hand on her back and escorted out the front door to my car in Jordan's driveway.

I opened the car door for her and just as I was about to close it, she said, "Florence."

With a huge smile on my face, I ran to my side of the auto and slid in. I looked at her as I turned the key, hoping she'd relax a bit.

"Beautiful name!" I told her. She did grace me with a small smile. Progress.

"So, where to?" I asked.

She ducked her head. "Right. Um, do you know where Jason Felix lives? On ..." She snapped her fingers a couple of times. "Myrtle Street?"

"Sure do. I know Jason well. You guys are cousins?"

"Yeah, our mom's are sisters. I'm here for a week then I go back home to get ready for college."

I nodded while keeping my eyes on the road. Delaying her drop off, I took the scenic route to Jason's house. My goal was to get her to accept a date with me for the next day.

"Tell me, Florence, which Harry Potter character are you dressed as?"

Her eyes went wide and then I heard the most beautiful sound ever, her laughter. My hands began sweating on the steering wheel as I waited for her answer.

"What? You don't know?" More laughter. OK, I was beginning to feel a bit stupid.

I needed to explain and redeem myself. "Look, my best friends are the fans. Me, not so much. I have never read the books nor seen the movies. Not my thing. I know the bare minimum: Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Oh, and they're Hufflefluffs."

Nice. She grabbed her stomach and bent over as she laughed even louder. I hadn't really cared about my lack of knowledge of all things HP, but at that moment, I felt like a loser.

"I assume you're a huge fan? You'd get along with Jordan and Rhys."

Swiping her fingers under her eyes, she said, "It's Hufflepuff!" More laughter ensued. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make fun. It's just that you're dressed as ..." She waved her hand up and down toward my costume. "And, you said your best friends are huge fans, who threw that party? I'm just surprised." Releasing a breath, she continued. "I'm dressed as Ginny, Harry's love interest. I've always been told I look like her a bit, you know, with the long, straight red hair, freckles, and fair skin. So, since this was a last minute thing for me, I just decided to do the easiest costume. And, no, I'm not a fanatic or anything, but I have read all the books. They're really good."

Harry's love interest! My love interest, maybe? Time would tell and I had only a week.

Pulling up to Jason's house, I stopped the car and turned to her.

"Florence, I'd love to take you out tomorrow night, bowling and dinner. Would you go with me? I'll pick you up at five and talk to your aunt and uncle. They know me, and I'm sure they'd approve."

I wiped my palms on my robe while waiting for her answer. She looked at me again with those shining blue eyes. I supposed she was looking for sincerity or maybe she was trying to figure out if she even liked me.