Keep calm and fly

Chapter Two

We drove in silence. Mortdecai sneaked his dad's BMW out of the restaurant's parking lot, the valet kept quiet with the green bill that was handed to him. I told him to make a stop at my house in order to change out of the dress I had on. Rosetta was in her room, her radio turned up to the max. I sneaked to my bedroom, I put on a black leather skater skirt, a burgundy lace crop top, knee high socks and a pair of combat boots. I kept my hair in it's tight curls. When I returned to the car, Mortdecai was on his phone.

"You can't text while you're driving," I said. He gave a tiny laugh. He then put the car in gear, we started driving again.

"You shouldn't be wearing an outfit like that," his voice sounded playful. I turned to face him, his jaw clenched. "Thanks for the advice, mom." He made a right turn. Even in the distance I could hear the rhythm of the loud music at Alexander's house. We couldn't find a place to park, so I told him to just drop me off at the front of the house. "Thanks," he didn't say anything back. His gaze stayed on the house, I opened the passenger door, a cold breeze welcomed me to the outside.

"Eden, sorry for what happened at the restaurant. I mean, don't act like you didn't want more to happen." I pushed the door shut, "I'll see you later." He didn't drive away immediately, I pretended to not notice him. I dialed Piper's number. She didn't answer.

The front lawn had empty bottles of beer laying around. A couple was making out on the bench. Several girls with matching bows huddled together on the sidewalk around their crying friend.A senior was asleep on the bushes. There was a game of poker going on in the living room. I stayed on the front lawn, constantly dialing Piper's number. When she finally answered, Mortdecai drove away.

"I'm on the front lawn,"                                                                                                                                 "Okay."

I stayed on the front lawn. More people arrived, I couldn't see Alexander's car. I felt like something was missing. The bizarre quietness of my phone not ringing every second, with my mom's number on the screen, made me feel like running back home. Did she notice my absence, was Mr.Aldrich in panic because of his missing car, did my dad wonder about what Mortdecai and I were up to? I didn't want to know the answer to any of these questions, but they still pondered my mind.

"Hey, you look hot!" Piper said behind me. I turned around, she wore a pair of black jeans, a see-through top, covered by a red blazer. Her hair was pulled back in a low pigtail, her side bangs were settled, for the first time. "You look hot," I said back. We gave each other a quick hug, "okay, we need to get our party on." Piper grabbed my wrist and led me inside the crowded doorway. Inside, the music was so loud, it felt like I had a boombox inside me. The stairs was occupied with couples rubbing against each other. Piper led me to the kitchen, I recognized some faces from my classes, others from assemblies, the hallways and online. The counters were topped with beer, beer and more beer. Pizza boxes were pilled high, bowls of chips were nearly empty, and someone had found Alexander's dad collection of wine. I munched on a slice of pepperoni pizza. I didn't eat at the restaurant, and now I noticed how empty I was. Piper started a conversation with a girl who looked a lot older than any of us. She had a pixie cut, that was colored with every shade of the rainbow. Her laugh was loud, I gulped down the last drop of Mountain Dew.

"Eden, I want you to meet Anah. Anah, this is Eden."

Anah looked at me with big eyes, a grin on her face.

"Hi, I heard so much about you. The girl with the fairy tale world!" Anah shook my hand, her voice screaming over the music. I looked at Piper, she tried to not pay attention to Anah and I. "Piper never told me anything about you!" I shouted. Anah shrugged, "I think that's because we just met this morning."