To Call My Own

Chapter Twenty Eight

"Seven o'clock, be there." I told Felicity as we parted ways after chemistry class. She just nodded and gave me a thumbs up.

Carmen and Kent were having a giant bonfire at their cousins place out of town and I was told to invite any friends I wanted to. Of course Bea was coming and I was able to talk Felicity and Mason into coming. Although, Felicity is always eager to do anything.

Of course the usual group would be there, plus a couple more guys from West's team. Going to events and hangouts used to make me terribly nervous, but slowly, I've come out of my shell and become more comfortable with the feeling. Between Felicity and West, I've learned that simply being myself was enough to make a good impression. And I was forever grateful to them for teaching me that hard to learn lesson.

Fridays had certainly become one of my favourite days. I used to dread them, knowing Piper was going to drag me out somewhere with people I didn't know. But lately, I've spent them either with West, friends or Bea. I treasured the time I had to spend with my younger sister, it seemed like all too soon we were going to have separate lives.

The school day seemed to fly by, and that was an unusual thing for a Friday. Typically it seemed like the hours merely crawled along. I was always grateful for a quick paced day that kept me interested.

After school, I headed to pick up Bea. She had made sure to help me pick out the perfect outfit for tonight. Although I didn't see the sense in looking my best. It was simply a bonfire with some friends, but I decided not to bring it up and just let her have her fun.

Once we arrived home, I followed Bea up to my room where she tore open my closet and dresser searching for the outfit she had pictured. Eventually, she threw a pair of skinny black jeans, red Roots hoodie, light jean jacket and a grey toque in my direction. The outfit all went together very well and thanked her for her zealous effort in making my appearance 'perfect'.

I made my way down stairs and collected the cans of pop and bags of chips that I had purchased for the bonfire. Bea skipped happily down the stairs wearing a cute plaid hoodie and jeans along with a black baseball cap.

"All ready." She chirped, grabbing the bag I was extending for her to carry. "This is going to be so much fun!" She added as we were walking out the door.

"I think we are both due for a fun evening." I smiles as we slid into my jeep.

It took almost half an hour to find Kent and Carmen's cousins place that was tucked away in endless miles of farmland. I parked behind Felicity's car and we both eagerly walked to the back side of the property where a tall column of smoke was rising and happy voices were laughing.

Since it was nearly six, everything around us was completely dark. At leasr thirty people were sitting and standing around the huge fire illuminating the empty darkness around us.

I saw West stadning talking to some boys, so with Bea off with Luna, I made my way over to him. I reached him and wrapped my arms around him from behind, I felt him flinch in suprise but once he saw it was me, I was greeted with a smile.

"So you finally decided to show up." He teased, positioning me at his side with his arm wrapped around my waist. "Liam, Zach, I want you to meet my girlfriend Mila." He introduced with a smile. I extended my hand to shake theirs. "They're some friends from the team." He explained, I nodded in reply.

Liam was a very tall boy with sandy blonde hair that most hockey players would refer to as 'flow'. He had a defined face and deep blue eyes. Zach had a mess of red hair atop his head, he was shorter than Liam and had a younger appearance.

"We finally get to meet the girl West goes on and on about." Liam said with a laugh. West just shook his head with a smile. "But I've heard all good things. Apparently you're quite the hockey fan." He added with a genuine smile.