Black Poison

12. 'Tomato' ?

12. 'Tomato' ?

Inevitably the day of the party swung round unexpectedly, and I found myself hurrying around after Lily, demanding everything was set out correctly. I hadn't had a chance to think about whether Mollie would arrive or not, I'd been too busy. My parents were out of the house, and Lily had secured a decent batch of alcohol, so everything was set accordingly.

I had time to change, then sit around anxiously for the first to arrive. I'd told Tom, Matt, and Jay to set off slightly earlier, so they got there first, Holly on Matt's arm.

"Hey guys," I smiled as they stepped over the threshold

"Look who's birthday it is," Jay grinned and dropped a clumsily wrapped present in my arms, Matt handed me a neater one

"Happy birthday Sherlock."

"So you can wrap presents," I laughed, comparing his and Jay's

"No, my Mom did it."

Finally Tom handed his obscurely packaged present over, and I left them by the foot of the stairs.

"Strange coloured card," I pointed to Tom's card.

"Tomato red."

"Tomato," I pronounced correctly, I couldn't see where the American accent coined the 'ay' sound in the middle of the word from.

"Let Lily get you a drink," I ushered them through to the kitchen "and we'll wait for the rest to arrive."

I had been slightly paranoid when thinking who to invite, and I had reckoned that at least half of those invited wouldn't come. So as a precaution I'd pretty much invited half the school, so it was a combination of relief and anxiety when I realised that half the school had actually turned up.

I greeted each batch of people at the door, and they left a card or present, and soon the party was well underway. I couldn't exactly enjoy it though; I was constantly anxious something would go wrong, I would never admit it, but it was reassuring to have Lily there.

Lily had abandoned her post in the kitchen - handing out drinks - about an hour into the party, and I had commissioned Tom to undertake the duty himself. However it had been an irresponsible thing to do; Tom and alcohol didn't exactly mix very well, and a rather large supply under his command was worrying. Everyone seemed to be having fun, and keeping the amount that Jay was drinking to a minimum things seemed to be going smoothly.

Music was playing loudly, so it took Matt to find me to tell me that there was someone at the front door. Latecomer, I thought to myself, trying to think who hadn't arrived. I pulled the door open and my mouth instantly fell agape; it was Mollie K.

After a stunned silence she piped up cooly "you gonna let me in?"

I held the door open and stood aside, my heart hammering against my chest, still unable to speak. She was dressed quote simply, but still managed to somehow carry her aura of unmatchable attractiveness. She had a quirky cream coloured top, almost like a cardigan, encompassing a small tight black top, and a short skirt of the same colour, which seemed to give the impression she was wearing a dress - which she wasn't. Whether it was deliberate or not it was clever; she looked formal but casual, something difficult to pull off. She also still looked amazing.

"Happy birthday, I suppose," he clinical tone had loosened slightly, and she handed a deep blue envelope to me.

"Thanks," was all I could muster out, before I could direct her to the kitchen for drinks.

As she walked through to the kitchen she unsurprisingly turned heads; people staring in disbelief, doing double-takes, and glancing from their alcoholic drinks to her, as if it was some kind of hallucination. But it was all very real, and Mollie was revelling in taking the centre role.