Where Two Collide

Chapter Forty-Nine - Alice

Chapter Forty-Nine

Alice

"What's the point of a pre-party party," muttered Rachel from the back seat of Tia's car. "Won't that mean people are too hungover to enjoy the actual party?"

I'd managed to pull the closeted front passenger seat with not too much trouble from Rachel, from here I could grip both sides of my seat and not just one. Though it didn't seem to be too much of an issue with Tia at the moment as she'd just had her hair done and was driving pretty slowly to keep from ruining it.

"I'm not sure," I admitted, catching a glimpse of her annoyance in the wing-mirror. She didn't want to go, neither did I to be fair. "But it wasn't like I could say no to Jess, she seemed surprisingly excited about the idea."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "It's not even her house, its Dan's. How can she throw a party at Dan's house?"

Tia threw me a look of distress, tapping her nails lightly on the steering wheel as she cruised us back from our last-minute shopping trip. Of course, I already had me beach party outfit, having had the party in mind for several weeks now, but Rachel and Tia had waited right until last minute to have a sudden panic that they had nothing to wear. So off we went to peruse the racks at our local shopping centre.

"Rach, you're not going to pull some stupid stunt like you did at cross country, are you?" Tia asked accusingly. "These nails are not made for breaking my fall."

"Not unless she starts something first."

I laughed. "I'd place all of my birthday presents on it being you throwing the first punch."

Rachel leaned forward from the back seat, placing her elbows on both mine and Tia's seats. "Hey, that bitch is every bit as devious as me, why do you think Dan likes her, he has a type, you know?"

I turned my head to gaze at her over my shoulder. "Don't you think it's time you moved on," I said giving her a purposeful look. "It's been a few months now, I don't think Dan plans on getting back together, and I really hate to see you like this."

"Like what?"

Tia grinned, catching her eye in the rear-view mirror. "Desperate. Pathetic. Angry. Bitter." She paused thoughtfully. "You know I think those are the names of some of the seven dwarves."

Rachel narrowed her eyes and thumped Tia on the shoulder.

"Hey, don't attack the driver, or you can walk," said Tia, sticking out her tongue at Rachel.

"Actually," I continued, ignoring their squabbling as I usually did. "I was going to say sad. You aren't supposed to feel sad all the time, if you do, there's clearly something wrong."

"Pot, kettle much?" Rachel replied.

"Rachel!" Tia muttered the warning under her breath.

"What? Are we supposed to just never talk about her bi-polar mood swings?"

My jaw went slack. "What do you mean?"

"You've been all over the place since the accident. That's what. You have good grades, awesome friends, you are a total stunner and have a great boyfriend, which neither Tia nor I have by the way. And yet, you are not yourself, and nobody knows what's going on with you."

Rachel's staring at me so hard I had to look away.

"Rachel stop!" Tia exclaimed. She stopped her car on the road outside of Dan's house, and turned off the engine, twisting around so she was facing us both. "If she wanted to talk to us about it, she would have. You can't force people to open up by being an asshole to them."

Rachel crossed her arms. "Pfft, if you have all the answers, then how else are you supposed to?"

Tia tilted her head to the side. "I don't know. Patience and understanding, I guess. That's the job of friends." She placed both of her hands on my shoulders and gave me a little shake. "We are here for you whenever you want to talk to us."

Rachel nodded in agreement. "What she said."

I let my jaw close. I hadn't realised I'd been acting so strange, let alone that people had noticed. I bit my lip and nodded too, because in that moment I was so emotional that they cared so much, but also because there was nothing I could say in response. My brain was a closed off jumbled mess and even if I wanted to, I couldn't voice what it was that was sending me into a spiral. I couldn't explain myself in clear words because I didn't know how I felt, other than that there was something wrong and I couldn't fix it.

The pre-party party was in full swing when we walked in the door. The usual crowd was there, plus a few more faces from our year and the year above us, most of which were also invited to our beach party. I pulled the hairband out of my hair and let my hair fall from its ponytail, brushing one side behind my ear reflexively.

"On a scale of one to ten, how nice do I have to be tonight?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms as she came up behind me on one side.

I smiled at her and pretended to mull it over. "About a seven," I said tipping my head in Dan and Jess's direction. "Just don't upset the hosts or they might retaliate and ruin mine and Cat's birthday party."

Tia moved to stand at my other side, her long skirt swishing pleasantly with her hips as she walked. "Hmm," she said, shaking her head and sniffing. "I don't think she can do it. You're asking too much of her, I mean, at best she could do maybe a four."

I wrinkled my nose, still smiling. "You're probably right. It'd be a four... at best."

"Rude, much?" Rachel swept her hair over her shoulders. "Right then, fine. If that's how it is."

Tia and I watched her sweep the room before her eyes settled on Ashton. She was so easy to wind up, it was hard not to.

"You're done with him, now right?" asked Rachel, jutting her thumb in Ashtons direction.

"Absolutely done," Tia said with cast-iron certainty. Tia wasn't one to revisit old flames. Once she was done with a boy, she extinguished those flames for good.

"Okay, how about this for moving on, Alice," said Rachel as she stalked across the room straight to Ashton, placed her hands either side of his face and drew his mouth to hers.

***Rachel certainly has a flair for the dramatics! The next a part will be a little longer than this one as this was the best split of the Chapter, which left this part somewhat shorter. Love this book so far? Please vote and comment to support my writing***