The Exchange

Chapter 29- An Unexpected Guest

It was finally the day of reckoning. The day that Sasha had been looking forward to and desperately hoping would never arrive. Julien would meet her friends, and her friends would meet Julien. She was bloody terrified.

A girl that Sasha loosely knew, and that had also attended St Michael's, had invited the entire year to her house for a pool party. Although day parties often seemed odd and heavily drinking while the sun was high in the sky could be considered a bit peculiar, it still seemed like the perfect opportunity for Sasha to take Julien up on his proposal. And besides, it was summer, a time when anything goes and the world feels as though it is open to endless possibilities.

As a self-acclaimed over-thinker however, Sasha had already attempted to line up every possible outcome in her head listed from best to worst. Polly and Cass were hard to please and Julien could occasionally be an insensitive asshole, but she had her fingers crossed that as long as everyone was on their best behaviour it would run smoothly. 

A couple of days had passed since the heated night that her and Julien had spent together and he'd been mostly absent from the house, busy with his college and peers. He left early in the morning and arrived home late at night, and Sasha (although she didn't like to admit it) had almost started to miss his cheeky face and curly hair. She missed how he made her heart skip a beat whenever she saw him and the feeling of his skin against her own. Deep down she hoped that he might have been thinking about her too while he'd been away.

It felt strange to wonder what was whirring around in someone else's brain, and even stranger to want it to be you. Sasha had never experienced this before and it filled her with an uncomfortable longing.

Without Julien she felt as though a small part of her was missing. She was present but also not present, lost in a stream of thoughts. He'd said all these amazing things to her, and would be so tender when they were together but then recently he'd almost disappeared from her life completely. Sasha knew he was busy but they hadn't even bumped into each other for a quick 'hello'.

The trail of evidence that Julien left about the house made it seem as though she always missed him by a matter of seconds; a half drunk cup of coffee, the lingering smell of his cologne, an open book left on the sofa. It was as though Julien had been sucked into the shadows, appearing only when Sasha was preoccupied or sleeping.

She couldn't read him, and she couldn't sort through her own knotted thoughts about him either. She couldn't understand how one person could make her world so much brighter? And this new desire of wanting to always be around him annoyed her. It was as though he'd stolen some of her independence and now instead of wanting to be just one, she wanted to be part of a two.

Sasha hoped that things would become clearer at the party. Maybe she just needed to see him and speak to him again for things to fall back into place? Then she could put an end to this incessant worrying.

Examining herself in the mirror for the final time Sasha decided to go find Julien. She'd opted for a floral mini dress and docs, and tied her hair in milkmaid braids. Her swimming costume hugged her body underneath her outfit since it would be easier to arrive with it already on than trying to change at the party.

As she descended the stairs she heard Julien's laughter from outside which was accompanied by french chatter. Guessing that his friends must have arrived already she took a sharp breath in and opened the french doors.

Stepping out onto the patio, four heads turned to watch her entrance; Julien, Luis, Jean-Marc and Carla.

Sasha recoiled almost instantly as she realised who was standing in her garden. She felt her cheeks become bright red and her stomach sank.