As He Held My Hand

7. Once Upon A Party

7. Once Upon A Party

Gemma's POV

“Alex, I don’t think I can do this.” I tell her as we pull up in front of Rick and Jordan’s house. The two of them are twins, and I sometimes wonder how people ever tell them apart.

Cars are lined on both sides of the street, and knowing that people probably came with more than one person makes my stomach flip. “Of course you can. You know everyone inside.” she says. She hoists herself up and sticks her head out of the sunroof of her car that she just opened. “What are you doing? It’s freezing out there!” I tell her. “I’m looking for Greg’s car! He said he was here already.” she says from outside.

“Got it! C’mon, let’s go inside.” she says, slipping back into the car and closing the sun roof. She opens her door and walks around to my side as I get out of her car.

The second I’m out, I feel exposed. And cold. Very cold. Alex told me that even though it’s winter, people at the party wouldn’t dress for the cold, considering no one will be outside. So she forced me into a short and tight, long sleeved, deep red dress with lace accents. “Are you sure I look alright? I feel stupid!” I shout to her, crossing my arms over my chest in an attempt to keep them warm. Even though the dress is long sleeved, my arms are still cold.

“You look hot!” she laughs, and I smile. “Now c’mon, I’m getting cold too.” she says. I follow her towards the front walkway, avoiding the small patches of snow and ice that dot the road and sidewalks. I feel so stupid wearing this dress in the middle of winter. Alex looks amazing and I look like a child dressed up in her mother’s clothes.

Alex did my makeup for me, insisting that my simple black mascara and strawberry chapstick wouldn’t work for a party like this. So she sat me down in her desk chair and applied a smoky eye look to my eyelids and bright red lipstick to my lips. “Are you sure this doesn’t look stupid?” I asked her when I stood up and looked in the mirror. “No it looks great on you!” she insisted.

I was regretting allowing her to do my makeup. In fact, I was regretting allowing her to drag me along with her as we walked up the front steps and Alex knocks on the door.

I swallow hard as the door opens and smile when I see Rick’s kind face. At least, I think it’s Rick. It could be Jordan. “Come on in.” he says with a smiles, stepping aside to allow us in. Why did I come? I don’t like parties. Too many people. I’d nearly forgotten why I hated going to parties until I saw all the people crammed into Rick and Jordan’s house. Almost everyone carried a red solo cup, and I feared that they weren’t holding fruit punch.

Rick follows us inside, and Alex immediately begins looking for Greg. “Is Greg here yet?” she asks without looking at Rick. “Uh, yeah I think I saw him a little while ago.” he says. Rick disappears, but I follow Alex into the kitchen. “Are you OK? You look like you’re going to throw up.” Alex tells me. “Just a little nervous.” I squeak out, trying to talk over the music which is turned way too loud. I can barely hear myself think.

“Just relax, Gemma. Hey, maybe Grant’s here.” she smirks at me. She pours herself a cup of something in a bowl and then hands me one. I look at it skeptically and then back at her. “Oh my God! No, Gemma, it’s not alcohol.” she says, her eyes wide. We both laugh. “Ok, Ok.” I say once we’ve calmed down. I take a sip of it. It tastes tangy. It doesn’t smell weird, so I don’t worry myself.

“And even if Grant was here, I wouldn’t care.” I lie to her, forcing a glare. But once she brought up Grant, I suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about him. Ugh, this is stupid. I just want to go home. I sip the drink again, but when I look up from it, Alex is gone. “Alex? Alex?” I say, taking a step forward. But even if she was around the corner, she wouldn’t be able to hear me over the music.