Nightfall

Chapter 5

Thea and Bonnie were having the time of their lives. With music blasting through countless speakers, sweating bodies surrounding them, and drinks galore, the two best friends just couldn't get enough of it all. They had no idea how much time had past but they did realize that it was getting real dark and real cold.

The sea breeze that kept sweeping into them had finally taken its tole after their long night of dancing. Now they sat on a couch inside the den room with the fire going as everyone around them began to relax and go mellow.

Thea was just about to pass out on Bonnie's shoulder, when she felt the cushion dip beneath her. Lazily, she turned her head to the side and managed to focus her eyes enough to notice that there was a really hot guy sitting next to her.

She smiled half-heartedly. "What's a hot guy like you sitting next to me for?"

The guy raised an eyebrow at Thea and smirked. "My apologies," he said, actually sober. "I didn't realize that you were on that list of people who I couldn't sit next to."

Bonnie looked over to see who Thea was talking to, but then realized that she didn't really care. All she knew was that she was buzzed and had a damn headache she just couldn't seem to shake.

Thea shrugged - oblivious of Bonnie's condition - not showing any interest in the guy staring at her. "I'll be sure to put up a flyer this week at the library."

The guy looked baffled at that. "You work at the library?"

Thea rolled her eyes. She really didn't want to keep talking to this asshole who, she was pretty sure, thought she was an idiot. "Don't judge a book by its cover. I may be buzzed right now but I'm not stupid or anything."

The guy actually laughed at my sorry-of-an-excuse joke, but shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I work right across the street at the diner. I usually go over to the library on my breaks."

Thea sighed, tired with the whole thing. "And why are you telling me this?"

He shrugged. "Just being friendly. Might as well get to know some of the people who walk into my house."

Thea's mouth slackened slightly. "This is your house?"

He nodded. "What's your name?"

Thea looked him over for a moment before answering. He seemed pretty weird and... and she didn't know what. The way he looked at her was the way a lion eyed bis dinner before chasing it down and eating it. In the back o her head, alarms went off and now she definitely didn't want to tell him her name.

Beside her, Bonnie cleared her throat and sat up straighter. "Thea," she said, unknowingly giving away her friends name to a stranger. "We should go. My head's frickin' pounding."

The stranger smiled in satisfaction and got up to leave without saying anything.

Thea growled in annoyance low in her throat. "Wait!" she called. The stranger turned his head. "It's only fair that you tell me yours."

He laughed and it seemed to boom throughout the entire room. "Whoever told you that life was fair?"

~~~

Thea was still bristling from her conversation with the new stranger in town on the way home. Deep down somewhere, she knew that she shouldn't have even been driving, but Bonnie's head was close to exploding and the weirdo at the party flipped her stomach inside-out, so she really didn't have a choice. Well, at least that's what she told herself.

It was silent in the car and Bonnie as close to passing out with her head on the cold window when Thea reluctantly pulled up to Bonnie's house.

"You're home, Bonnie," Thea said as quietly as she could.

Bonnie groaned but managed to lean her head away from the window long enough for her to sit up properly. "Damn," she mumbled tiredly. "I hate alcohol. Remind me to never drink again."

At that, Thea had to smile. "I promise. Now get the hell out of my car before I just open the door and tip you over."

Bonnie scoffed and then winced from the jolt in her head. "You're a horrible friend," she said as she opened the door and steadied herself on the frame.

"That's what best friends are for."

"Goodnight, Ginger."

"Night Bon."

Thea waited until her friend staggered up the few steps to her front door and slipped quietly inside before driving off. Luckily, she encountered only two cars before she drove into her regular parking spot in her driveway. At the door, she fumbled with her keys for a second, then finally fit it into the keyhole. She was barely on the second step of the staircase when she heard someone click on the lamp in the living room.

"Where in hell have you been?"

Thea grimaced and cursed under her breath. Slowly, she turned around and put on the mask she was accustomed to while around her parents.

"I was in the second to last step before Bonnie got a headache and we had to leave."

Thea's mother, Celia, frowned, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Thea groaned and it seemed too loud for 3 am in the morning. "You know," Thea sighed. "'Dante's Inferno'. The seven layers of hell. Bonnie and I were on the sixth level."

Celia stood and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. But she decided to play along for a moment. "And how exactly do you know you weren't on the last level?"

Thea shrugged. "Well we didn't get laid if that's what you mean. But we did dirty dance. And drink. And say a few choice words. But no sex here. So I'm just gonna go to sleep now if that's okay with you."

"Thea!" Celia yelled. "Don't you dare speak to me like that again!"

Thea, despite herself, laughed harshly although nothing about the situation was humorous. "Like the way you speak to dad because he doesn't have one big enough? Yeah. I think I'll pass."

Celia stared after her daughter bewildered. She felt like her heart had faltered and she sank back down into her chair, her breathing strained. She just didn't know if she could take Thea hating her anymore. She just couldn't do it. Every time Thea looked at her, it was only with disgust, and she just couldn't take it.

She held her head in her hands and cried, while her little girl stormed upstairs to her room and collapsed on the bed face down. And together, mother and daughter, cried for each other.