Bad Memories

Chapter 5

—Sat. | October 12, 2019—

I wake up suddenly to my grandma shaking me. "Kyle, you've been sleeping for five hours. You should get ready for that party, shouldn't you?" I look at my clock. It's 5:15, and the party starts at 6:00.

I trudge out of bed mumbling, "Yeah... I guess I should." My mind is still half asleep, causing my shoulder to knock against the doorframe. "I'm okay," I say without much thought.

Getting ready was the easy part. I brushed my teeth, fixed up my hair, and put on another layer of deodorant, just in case. The hard part was getting the clothes on. There is one thing that I absolutely hated about long pants. Unlike shorts, my foot doesn't get stuck halfway through the clothing as I stick it in the leg hole. It probably took me two minutes just to get it on.

I decided to wear a shirt underneath the button-up I saved for tonight. Regardless of whether I wore one or two shirts, I would probably end up sweating. The one thing I don't need is for that to show.

I grab my phone, keys, and wallet before I prepare to leave. My grandma is practically waiting for me to come out. Her hands are clasped together as she grins at me in my nicer clothes. "Ohh, look at you! You look so handsome and mature. Can you do a quick spin for me?"

I stare at her, completely perplexed. "What did you say?"

"Do a spin." Despite the immense confusion, I spin around once and my grandma goes behind me to grab a piece of lint I had. "There. Now you're ready to party."

We share a long hug before I begin to open the door. Out of some strange instinct, I run back and embrace her again. "Just one more."

My grandma says to me softly, "I love you, Kyle."

"I love you too, Grandma."

I begin to make my way to the address that Lyla sent me, but I'm forced to use Mapsides to know where I'm going. It annoys me a little bit when I have to use the app, since it's always, "Turn right here, turn left in 50 feet, do a 360 and jump."

After about 20 minutes of mindlessly following directions, I see a house filled with people. The atmosphere wasn't what I imagined to be a party. I imagined strobe lights, silly spray, and dancing. This was just people talking and hanging out. A setting I'm more comfortable in.

Lyla's standing at the front of the porch, seemingly waiting for me. She's wearing a dress that drops to her knees with a jacket covering the top. Her reaction becomes instant joy when she sees me. "You actually came?"

"You thought I wouldn't?"

"According to Tyler, you have a habit of doing that. I got a bit worried you weren't gonna show."

My face turns bright red from that statement. "W-Well, he's not wrong. This is kind of my first non-family party."

"I'll try to make sure you don't feel too awkward." She grabs my hand to lead me into the house, as if that in itself wouldn't make me feel awkward. If I'm being honest, a part of me kind of likes it. I try not to dwell on that part, and instead focus on the fact that I'm about to enter a party.

When we enter, we see a boy, around our age, greeting all of his guests. He then notices us and strolls in our direction. "Lyla! You made it. Great to see you." He embraces Lyla with a hug, then he turns to me. "This your boyfriend?"

"What?!" I say anxiously. "No, no. We're just friends. That's all."

"Relax, man. I'm just kidding." He holds his hand out for me to shake. "I'm Caleb. What's your name?"