Eternal Sunshine ✓

14. Pool Party

"Only you would decide to have a pool party on a chilly day, Steven."

Steven smiled and swam closer to Tasha, holding her gaze. "It's probably the only sunny day we'll get in a while," he said in defense.

She raised her brow and smiled back, teasing him, "Yeah, so you had to gather everyone for one last pool party, huh?"

"Nah, this is all a cover-up. I was just trying to get this one girl in a bikini."

She rolled her eyes at him, but couldn't help the laughter that escaped. She didn't especially mind Steven openly flirting with her, she viewed it as harmless and innocent. In her mind, his flirting wasn't exclusive to her.

"So did you accomplish your mission?" she asked him, obviously joking.

"Yeah, I sure did." He winked at her and was about to say something when someone called out his name, interrupting his words.

Tasha turned around to see a skinny guy dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, with headphones around his neck, patiently waiting for Steven to get out of the pool. She figured he had to be the DJ.

"I can't set up the cords, bro," the DJ dude told Steven, who seemed one moment away from punching the guy.

"It's not that hard, Jake."

Jake sighed with some attitude. "Yeah, then come do it then."

Steven gave him a death glare. "Can't you see I'm in-"

Tasha put her hand on his shoulder and encouraged him with a soft smile. "Just go, Steven. I'm gonna be fine."

He hesitated a bit, then he nodded. "Alright, I'll be back." Then he swiftly got out of the pool.

Sneakingly, Tasha stared at his wet back as he walked around the many chatting, eating and mingling teenagers. Averting her eyes, she brushed off the inappropriate thoughts his body had conjured up in her mind.

She'd only been at the pool party for twenty minutes, admittedly enjoying herself thanks to him and she appreciated the fact that the party wasn't too crowded. There were just enough people to make everyone feel comfortable instead of squished and irritated.

She looked around the pool, starting to feel a little lonely as other people gathered in their little groups interacted with one another.

Tasha's mind shifted to Kennedy, who couldn't be at the party because she and her family were away visiting their grandparents for the weekend. Although Tasha wished Kennedy was there, she hadn't had time to really feel alone because Steven had been keeping her company.

After a couple of more minutes of just playing with the water and continuous threading with her legs, she made a visual check for Steven. Her face scrunched up when he was nowhere near where the DJ had set up but instead was entertaining a group of girls.

Getting out of the pool, Tasha grabbed her towel and walked inside Steven's house. Finding her bag on the floor to the side, she pulled out her Next Friday crop top and put it on. Then, instead of grabbing her shorts, she just wrapped her towel around her waist.

Since her bladder decided to act up just then, she made a beeline for the bathroom. It took her a while to find one, and of course, once she got there, the line was way too long.

Knowing her limits, after waiting a minute, Tasha hastily walked away to look for another bathroom, when she saw the staircase though, she decided to just go to one upstairs.

It didn't take long for her to find the restroom, and when done with her business, she took extra long washing her hands because there were so many different soaps laid out and she had to try all of them.

After five minutes spent exploring the hand soaps, Tasha finally walked out of the bathroom. She wasn't ready to go down yet though, seeing Steven in the midst of those girls brought a feeling she didn't want to face just then.

Slowly, she scanned the pictures that hung along the hallway's wall. One picture in particular, caught her eyes. A toddler Steven, a woman and man who were most likely his parents, all standing in the sand in front of a beach, cheesing extremely hard.

They all looked so happy and carefree and excited to be there. As a kid, one could tell that Steven was one of those bad, incorrigible little boys with way too much energy.

Before she had more time to look at more photos, Tasha heard the sound of heels climbing stairs and a woman's angry words, "I told you already, Mark. I'm obviously right, the bastard's an animal, he committed the rape!"

Out of pure shock, Tasha opened the first door she could find and thanked the heavens it appeared to be a teenager's. The woman climbing the stairs was most likely Steven's mom, and more than likely wasn't going to enter Steven's room.

She took a breath when she heard the woman walk past the door she stood behind. Turning to lean on the door, she took another deep breath and waited a bit to hear any other sounds.

As if on cue, she heard the same heels hitting the floor and the same voice probably speaking on the phone say, "I've got the files, I'm on my way to the office. You better have the fucker's alibi destroyed before I get there."

Then the woman walked down the stairs and Tasha moved deeper inside the room, deciding that she'd probably never get another chance to observe Steven's room.

...

A/N: NEXT CHAPTER (PART 2) IS GONNA BE WILD AND LONGER

Thank you for reading.💜