Angel's Wings

Chapter Seven: The Party

"Only my heart knows that my head is lying." -Panic! At the Disco

The beat of a bubblegum pop song was playing through the incredibly large speakers. I stood awkwardly with my sandaled feet deep in the grass, hands behind my back. Everyone was already flinging themselves around to the music energetically, but I, being born with two left feet, was not accustomed to being so open in public places. So instead I stood awkwardly in my flowy dress and watched the chaos.

Tyrone had worked his miracles again, making me look beautiful and altogether... different than how I always look. My hair was in waves down my back, and my eyes looked bigger due to natural-looking eyeliner. My skin was dewy and light, with a slight blush, and my eyes were accented by the blue of my summer dress. It was reaching fall, but it was warm enough for me to still wear spaghetti straps.

Another loud booming sound came from the speaker, then lots of feedback. A voice spoke into the mic, "Mic check, one, two..."

"Okay it's working!" A perky cheerleader was projecting into the mic from a platform framed by the trees behind her. "As you know, Alfredo Jones is back in town, and he was kind enough to volunteer to sing at this bash. So without further ado, welcome to the stage... Alfredo... Despacito... Jones!!!" Everyone started cheering at a deafening volume as the mentioned popstar strutted onto the stage. I inwardly groaned at the fake perkiness of the girl, but at the same time felt a weird feeling in my stomach like... butterflies. That's what Alfredo Jones' face could do to you. Make you feel all fluttery and beautiful inside.

He smiled into the crowd, but said nothing. Without any fanfare his band joined him on the stage and began playing. Just like that, one of Alfredo 's chart-topping hits began flowing into the crowd's ears. Instantly the crowd jumped back into dancing again, belting along to Alfredo's smooth voice. "And I know, you are the one. It's alright, it'll be fun. Just let me take you to the sun and higherrrr..."

A bunch of boys were bouncing around to the beat only a few feet away from me. They were all intoxicated, and maybe high on top of that. I couldn't really tell, but it made me slightly uneasy. Only a few feet away from them was a boy... a boy I recognized. He had earthy eyes and hair, with a smile on his face. He was sitting on a bench reading a book, but something told me he wasn't really reading it. His eyes glinted at me, but then he looked right back down to his book.

Something about his presence felt comforting and familiar. He seemed like the exact type of person who would never come to one of these parties—or ragers as Tyrone referred to them. Sadly that meant he was attracting the attention of the group of boys not far from him.

Hooting and hollering, the boys approached him. "Oh you reading a book?? This boy came to a party to read a book!" one of the boys pointed out. "Probably because he can't get a girl," one of them added, "he has a horse face!!" That brought about a round of chuckles from the buffoons, but I only frowned. Why be so needlessly mean?

"Hey," one of them slurred (a particularly drunk member of the gaggle), "maybe it's not because he can't get a girl, but because he doesn't want one. Maybe he's gay! He's probably a f—" the noise got too loud for me to hear what he said, but I used the context clues to put the pieces together.

Oh no. He did not just go there.

So what if he was gay? That was no reason to make fun of someone!! I had to do something to put these thugs in their place.

I stepped forward and got in between the jerks and the other boy. "Who do you think you are?" I almost had to yell over the blare of the song, but my righteous fury fueled me. The boy being bullied looked almost calm in the face of this cruelty, but also something else. Almost... awed.

The ringleader of the boys guffawed as he sized me up. "Umm," he said, "I think we could ask you the same question." One of the other boys chimed in, "Who even invited her?" My face flushed red as I got ready to start yelling, but suddenly someone almost as unwelcome chimed in.

"Is there trouble over here, boys?" Joesephe drawled, his arms crossed. I rolled my eyes and muttered, "I can do this myself." I was surprised to see that the bullied boy was glaring at Joesephe too.

Finally, someone else who agrees.

The gaggle of boys seemed to listen to him, though. I was surprised by this, but not enough to actually care. The boys tried to argue back, but Joesephe bared his teeth at them.

In that moment, something about his face was terrifying. It was more than just mildly scary or intimidating, it was almost... evil. Suddenly I felt cold, but I felt someone touch my arm and bring warmth back. I looked over and it was the boy with the warm eyes. He was actually really nice-looking up close.

"Thank you for that," he said, "it's not everyday that someone cares enough to stand up to people like that." His smile was genuine and kind, and I instantly felt like I could trust him. Really, truly trust him.

"My name is Vaelyumme," I said, offering him my hand. He took it and replied, "Blake. Blake Johnson," with a lopsided smile. Suddenly, there were butterflies again...

But all at once they were ruined by Joesephe. "You're welcome by the way," he said. I rolled my eyes, and saw Blake's face do the same. I could really learn to like this boy.

Luckily I didn't have to deal with Joesephe for too long, because Alfredo suddenly joined the party. "Did you like the song?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at me. Delylah's Hot Boy Radar must have been highly sensitive tonight, because she was suddenly there too.

"I liked it," she said, fawning over Alfredo. He grinned at her and flung his arm over her shoulder. He brought his nose close to her ear and whispered, "I like to hear that." Delylah was known for not blushing often, or at all really, but in that moment her cheeks flushed deep pink.

Even when she's embarrassed she's pretty.

Without another word, Alfredo pecked her cheek and ran off back to the stage. My jaw dropped, and so did Delylah's. If she'd been pink before, she was now deep red.

Squealing, we both started jumping up and down. "He kissed me!!" she shrieked, "A real pop-star just kissed me!! Me!!!" I nodded and squeaked along with her, "I know!!!"

Alfredo's music started up again, and this time it was a slow song. Delylah grabbed my arm and pulled me to the front of the crowd, beaming up at Alfredo's face. The music floated and he started to sing... and my heart almost stopped.

I froze, even while Delylah danced next to me. Because while Alfredo's silky voice was carrying the tune without a care in the world, I suddenly was struck dumb. I knew where the song in my dreams was from... and it was coming from Alfredo right now.

The voice in my dreams belonged to Alfredo Despacito Jones.