THE MURDERER AND I

chaper twelve: the party

It was 4:00. Charlie would be here in an hour, so I decided to get ready. I remember he had said nothing fancy, so I picked out a pair of jeans, fishnet tights, and a black long-sleeve crop top. I did my hair and makeup. 4:50. I sat on my bed, waiting for Charlie to arrive.

I heard him honk at 5:02. I ran down stairs and slipped on my black combat boots.

"Where you going?" My mom asked behind me.

"A party" I replied, waiting for her to ask who's.

"Alright," She answered, not caring. "Don't come home late." She obviously knew I would be coming home late, but she only said this to seem like a good mother. I think she too, wanted to hold on to how our family used to be, caring, before my dad left.

Charlie honked again. I almost forgot he was out there. I slammed the door and ran to his car. An obnoxious red corvette.

"You look nice." Charlie said softly

"Thanks." I replied, but I really didn't care what he thought. Not to sound rude, but I just wasn't into him.

We drove for a while, until we finally arrived to Bryan's house. We parked in front. Music was blasting, and I could see there were lots of people already inside. There were tons of cars, but the first one I saw was a black corvette. Dean? I thought absentmindedly, as Charlie locked arms with me. It couldn't be you right? You didn't even know about this party.

I walked in, feeling like I was being stared at by everyone. I could only focus on you.

"Who you lookin' for?" Charlie asked.

"No one." I lied. Where were you? Were you even here?

I left Charlie with his friends for a while. Walking away, I heard them congratulating and patting his back for taking me out. I don't know why they were so happy. It wasn't even a date. I spotted Step from behind and started to make my way over to her. I stoped when I realized who was with her. Gross, Bryan, I thought, and walked away as they started to make out. I turned around and bumped right into Charlie.

"Hey I lost you for a second." He gave me a dashing and goofy grin. He put his arm around me and pulled me close, which frankly, made me extremely uncomfortable. I went stiff, but as persistent as he is, he pulled me closer. Before I knew what he was doing, he kissed me. Hard. As his lips touched mine, and he deepened the kiss, I noticed a dark figure in the crowd of drinking teenagers. Dean. I pulled away, eager to find you.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worried.
"Nothing." I lied again. I always seemed to lie to him.
"Do you want some punch?"
"Yeah sure. Thanks" I replied. This was the perfect opportunity. I watched him walk towards the punch bowl, and I made my way to where I last saw you.

"Bella!" Oh no. Beth and Charlotte.
"Omg! We totally saw that!" Charlotte giggled.
"You and Charlie are so cute together!" Beth added, grinning.
"Thanks." I replied, not at all focused on them or what they were saying. I turned around to leave and bumped into a dark figure which pulled me into the dimly lit hallway.

"So that's the way you wanna get my attention? Because I'll let you know right now, I don't like when people play games."

"Dean..." I whispered absentmindedly.

"Yeah it's me," You replied, "Happy to see me? Or were you too busy with that guy?"

"I didn't think he would do that," I explained, my voice desperate, "I don't even like him."

"That doesn't matter know, as long as you're with me. Always." You whispered back, kissing me softly. I kissed back, and you cupped my face. Typical teenagers making out right? I broke away, needing to breathe. You smiled slyly. I was about to kiss you again when I heard something.