Chapter 12

                “Colette, let’s get going!” Mr. Rosenfeld called at Everett’s mother, who was in the process of putting a pearl earring in her left earlobe.

                “Hold on a minute, would you?” Mrs. Rosenfeld muttered under her breath, smacking her cherry red stained lips together. “Just wait out in the car. I’ll be down there in a minute.”

                Everett and I were snuggled up on the couch, a thin blanket over the two of our bodies. The warm fireplace was on beside us, and we were watching some reruns of an old cartoon that the two of us use to watch when we were younger.

                “Are you kids going to be okay?” Everett’s mother asked for the third time tonight.

                It was her and Mr. Rosenfeld’s ten year anniversary today, and they were running late for their dinner reservations in the town besides ours. Mrs. Rosenfeld’s dark hair was fluffed up in nice, loose curls, and she had on minimal eye makeup, but a stunning red lip color. She was wearing a new black dress that had a gold neckline. She was even wearing the pearls that her mother got her for her sixteenth birthday, over two decades ago.

                “We’ll be fine, mom.” Everett rolled his eyes, his hands interlining with mine under the blankets. “And we aren’t kids anymore. Riley and I are fourteen!”

                Mrs. Rosenfeld snorted, before hurrying over to the two of us to plant a kiss on each of our foreheads. While Everett groaned and wiped his kiss away, I smiled. I’ve always loved Mrs. Rosenfeld as a second mother. “Take care.” She smiled softly. “Call me if you need anything!”

                “Have fun!” I called out, before the front door shut.

                Once Everett’s mother was gone, and we heard the sound of the car pulling out of the driveway, Everett let out a long breath of relief. “I thought they would never go away.” He sighed, his hands squeezing mine gently.

                I rolled my eyes, as Everett suddenly pulled me closer to him. My eyes widened, as I felt my heart hammering against my chest. The two of us had just started dating a month ago, but I still wasn’t used to the signs of affection and all. Everett and I had only kissed a few times- and they never lasted more than three seconds. The two us were still young and naive- innocent.

                “What do you want to do now?” Everett whispered gently, his hands suddenly running through my hair.

                A small smile appeared on my face, as I shrugged. “I don’t care.”

                I honestly didn’t care what we did at that moment, as long as I was with Everett, I was happy. I was beyond happy.

                Just like that, the two of us started kissing. It wasn’t like any other kiss we’ve shared before. This time, it wasn’t slow, and Everett wasn’t being patient. It was fast, full of passion and need. He held onto me firmly, but not too tight. He held me gently, as if he made one bad move, I would shatter into pieces- like glass. His hot lips left a burning sensation wherever they touched me, as I closed my eyes, falling into his arms.

*

                “Riley,” a chillingly evil voice suddenly spoke, sending shivers down my spine with fear, “do you have a minute?”

                I licked my dry lips, turning around so that I was facing Katie. This time, she wasn’t surrounding me with her group of followers, though. I cringed, not knowing whether it was better or worse that it was just the two of us this time. Katie was an intimidating, and gave off an aura about her that could scare anyone in a five mile radius of her.

                “Oh come on, Riley.” Katie flipped her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder, hissing. “You don’t have to hesitate to answer me. If I want you to talk to me, then you will.” Katie’s face was nearly an inch from mine, as her dark blue eyes burned into mine. Katie looked at me as if she knew everything about me and all of my dirty little secrets. She snickered, before raising an eyebrow, obviously satisfied at my fear for her.

                “What do you want?” my voice came out barely a whisper.

                Katie suddenly backend away from me, as she twirled her blonde hair in between her two fingers. “I don’t know,” she shrugged innocently, before a vicious smirk appeared on her lips, “I want you to come to my party this Friday night.”

                I frowned, raising an eyebrow. Katie wanted me to go to a party of hers? Was that it? I shook my head, noticing that something didn’t seem right. There was obviously something else that Katie wanted from me. “And what else?” I asked.

                Katie laughed, before placing a scrawny, manicured hand on my shoulder. I shivered under her icy touch, as her eyes engulfed in mine. “You’re bringing Everett with you.”

                I cringed, still remembering the last time I came to a party with Everett, which wasn’t too long ago. I ended up getting me knee scraped by a chipped log from running away from the cops that had busted the party. But, what confused me more was why Katie wanted me to come to the party with Everett. I knew that she had feelings for him, hell- she was possessive of him, which made me wonder why she would want me, out of all people, to go with him.

                “If I don’t see you at my party with Everett before ten,” Katie paused, taking her index finger up to my left cheek. Her long, sharp nails began to trail along my cheek with force. Her nails dug into my skin, as I winced, “you’re not going to like what I have to tell everybody.”

                Oh God, no. What could Katie possibly be talking about? As far as I know, she knew nothing about me that would be a threat to me. My eyes widened, as a sudden realization hit me. Back in junior year, just a little after three months after I met Max, we accidently broke her thousand dollar heels that were in her locker while she had gym. We ended up burying it in the dirt outside of school, where there was a vegetable garden that was grown by the gardening club. But, on one cursed, rainy day, the mud got all washed up, and Katie’s heels were revealed to me ripped up, broken and messy. An ear deafening shriek left her lips, as she stormed into the principal’s office, demanding that she wanted whoever did this to her heels to be expelled.

                “I swear Katie, it was just an accident!” I quickly said with panic. “Max and I didn’t mean to break your heels!”

                Katie’s face suddenly went blank, before it turned bright red. A scowl appeared on her face, as steam shot out of her ears in fury. “That was you two who broke my heels?” she hissed under her breath dangerously.

                Crap.

                “N-no! I was just kidding. Yes, I was totally, one hundred percent, just kidding.” I stuttered, plastering a forced smile upon my lips. I began to back away from Katie, who looked as if she was about to explode in any second now. “Listen, I’ve got to get to class now, see you at your party!”

                A shrilling shriek suddenly echoed through the empty hallways, as I sprinted to my next class.

                “You’re out of breath.” Cassandra whispered, as I snuck my way into class, which I was literally fifteen minutes late for, all thanks to Katie. “Why were you running?”

                I hadn’t even realized that I was breathing heavily until I settled down in the seat beside Cassandra. I pressed my hand up against my chest, feeling my heart pound against my chest from running so quickly away from Katie. “I just got stopped in the hallways by Katie.” I mumbled.

               Cassandra’s head suddenly snapped towards my direction, as she gave me a look with a mixture of fear and worry. She seemed a bit fidgety, as her shaky hands went up to her right cheek to brush a strand of blonde hair behind her ears. “K-Katie?” she bit her lower lip. “What did she say to you?”

                I raised an eyebrow, wondering why Cassandra seemed intimidated all the sudden. “She just told me to come with Everett to some party that she’s hosting this week.” I muttered, before turning to Cassandra with furrowed eyebrows. “Is everything okay?”

                Cassandra’s eyes were focused somewhere else, before her attention snapped back towards me. A smile appeared on her face, but it never met her eyes. “Everything’s fine.” She breathed, before letting out a weak laugh.

                I stared at her curiously, before nodding slowly. “So, are you going to the party?”

                Cassandra hesitated, before nodding. “I am.”

                I gave her a smile, turning back to the teacher, before I got called on for talking in his class. I barely paid any attention in his class, though. All I could think about was, how the hell was I going to convince Everett to go to Katie’s party with me?

                You’re not going to like what I have to tell everybody. Katie’s malicious voice played back in my mind, sending shivers down my spine. I didn’t know what Katie meant by her threat, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. Katie had a reputation at this school- for ruining other’s reputations. I wasn’t going to risk being humiliated by whatever Katie had against me.

*

                Maria and I had grown pretty close throughout the past few days. Since Max and Cassandra were always off in their own world, I was left out with Maria. Not that I minded, though. I actually liked Maria, contrary to the judgment I’d made about her when we first met. Maria was calm and collected, and sometimes brutally honest.

                “I didn’t have a lot of friends in my old school, because everyone thought I was a bitch.” Maria snorted, rolling her eyes. “Whatever the hell that meant.”

                “When did it all start?” I asked, sitting on Maria’s bed later that afternoon. We had our last classes together, and the teacher was absent, so Maria invited me over to the Rosenfeld’s household. Nobody was home except for us- Mr. Rosenfeld and Maria’s mother both had wedding preparations, and Everett was still at school. I licked my lips, suddenly remembering that I had to ask him to Katie’s party when he gets home.

                “Everyone decided to call me a bitch once I told a girl straight up that she was a slut for sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend.” Maria groaned. “I was just being honest, but everyone took me the wrong way. They said I was an instigator, who fed off of drama to entertain myself.”

                I raised an eyebrow, before blinking. “Wow.” I muttered, awestruck. “That’s pretty pathetic.”

                “Tell me about it.” Maria chuckled bitterly. “I’m a bitch for being honest? Please.”

                “Oh, I was talking about the girl who slept with her best friend’s boyfriend.” I gave her a grin, as Maria shot me a glare. “But, what you said was true, too.”

                Maria held my gaze for a moment, before a laugh escaped her full lips. “I like you, Riley.” She nodded slowly. “You’re different from most friends I’ve ever had.”

                “Didn’t you say that you didn’t have friends?” I pointed out, a grin playing on my lips.

                Maria shot me a glare, before rolling her eyes. She leaned over from her seat to punch me gently on my shoulder, before smiling. “I didn’t say I was a complete loner, Riley.” She corrected me. “I just said that I didn’t have a lot of friends.”

                We suddenly heard the front door creaking open, as Maria peeked out of her window. “I guess Everett’s home.” She muttered under her breath, as we heard footsteps coming up the staircase. “Everett! My mom and your dad are out doing wedding shit!” Maria hollered loud enough for Everett to hear.

                Maria’s door sudden opened, as Everett stood by the doorway with an impassive face. “You don’t have to yell, Maria.” He groaned. “I’m right here.”

                Maria rolled her eyes, as Everett’s gaze suddenly reached towards mine. He raised an eyebrow, before giving me a short nod. It wasn’t much of a greeting, but it’s the most I’ve gotten out of him in the past two years.

Everett left shortly afterwards, as Maria tossed a pillow towards my direction. The pillow hit my chest with a thud, before falling onto my lap. “What the hell was that for?” I asked, frowning.

                Maria suddenly gave me a suggestive smile, as she wiggled her eyebrows teasingly. “Did you see that?” she said in a sickly sweet tone. “The chemistry that was in the room between you and Everett when he came in was insane.”

                I snorted unattractively, before rolling my eyes. I tried to act like what she had just said didn’t affect me at all, but in all honesty, it did. I felt my palms getting sweaty and my cheeks warming up, but I wasn’t going to tell Maria that. “You’re hilarious, Maria.” I said in a sarcastic voice.

                Maria’s grin suddenly fell, as she gave me a stern look. “I wasn’t joking, Riley.” She paused. “I was serious.”

                I stared at Maria for a long moment, before the sound of her phone went off. She groaned, rolling her eyes, before reaching over her nightstand to grab her phone. She scanned her eyes over her phone for a second, before pressing it up against her ear. She gave me a weak smile, before stepping out of her room to answer her call. “Is everything alright, mom?” I heard her faintly say, before the sound of her voice died down.

                With Maria gone, I took the opportunity to think things over about asking Everett to go to Katie’s party with me. No matter what, I had to ask him, because only the Lord knows what kind of deceiving threat Katie had against me. After debating for a minute, I hesitantly got up to make my way towards Everett’s room.

                He saw me before I got the chance to knock on his door. His blue orbs stared at me curiously, before he raised an eyebrow. “Can I help you with something?” his voice shed no emotion.

                I felt a shiver being sent down my spine, before I licked my dry lips. “I need you to do me a favor.” I started off, earning a frown from Everett. I cleared my throat, before starting off my statement again. “I need you to come to a party with me this Friday.”

                Everett stared at me with surprised eyes, before he registered in what I was saying. He blinked, before pressing his lips into the tight line. “Why me?”

                Oh, great. I was afraid that he was going to start questioning me, but I had it coming. I didn’t expect Everett to just agree with me right away. I was always bad at lying, and ever since I was little, Everett would see straight right through me. Everett used to always catch me on my lies. I rubbed my elbow sheepishly, gnawing down on my lower lip. “Well, there was this thing this morning, and then something happened, and now if I don’t come with you, then something bad will happen and I really don’t want something bad to happen.” I began to ramble, as my cheeks turned bright red.

                Everett stared at me, long and hard, as if he was trying to figure me out. I gave him a weak smile, never daring to remove my gaze away from his.

                “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

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