(I suggest going back and reading my changes. I have fully taken out the previous chapters four and five and set them aside for now, taking only what I need. On to chapter five… –Jayleigh<-one word.)
Five
The wind lifted my hair off of my shoulders and made it sway through the air. I had tried to put my hair into a messy bun several times, but it was so fine, it wasn’t long before my long brown hair was tickling my back again. Frustrated, I hit the rake on the ground as hard as I could. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t my hair that was really bugging me. It wasn’t that Fawn was in the house getting ready for a party that I wasn’t invited to. And it definitely wasn’t the fact that Foster, who I thought I had become friends with, was throwing the party.
Not at all, I thought sarcastically.
I couldn’t even fool myself. It was obvious that the violent thrashings of the rake caused by my agitated hands with the outcome of my low social status. Apparently, just because you’re twins, not just sisters, with one of the most adored students at your high school doesn’t mean you get an automatic in.
I had not really noticed until senior year just how low I was. Even my own sister, who still loved me even though I was ‘beneath her’, did not want to be seen with me at a party.
So, there I was. Friday night. Raking leaves.
To make things even more worse, a car pulled into my drive way. It was Jenna, one of Fawn’s friends.
She stepped out of her ugly Subaru and started up the walk to the door, not even taking notice to me. To be completely frank, Jenna was large. She still owned Ugg boots and a Prada purse, but she lacked the little card on her keychain that would get her into the local gym.
Hey, I thought to myself, a little harsh?
“Yo, Fayette!” she called to me in front of my door. “It’s locked.”
I rolled my eyes and shrugged.
I picked up my rake and began raking wet, muddy leaves. I turned my back to Jenna while she pulled out her phone. Seconds later, Fawn opened the door.
“Fay, I’ll be home by midnight. Tell mom?”
I nodded and continued my work.
I continued my work for the following two hours until another car pulled into my driveway. That car, however, was not Jenna’s. I did not recognize it.
The car wasn’t really a car, more like a huge SUV destined to be the source of our planet’s polluted atmosphere. I approached the car, hoping that it was someone who was just lost. Turns out the black SUV was an Escalade, an expensive, shiny Escalade.
Was everyone in this town filthy rich, I though.
Someone got out of the car and walked around to greet me. My heart quickened as I realized who it was that had come to my house.
“Hey, Warren,” I said, my voice shaky. “What are you doing here?”
Warren smiled. His hair was hidden beneath a baseball hat that was tilted to the side. His clothes were more casual than what he would wear to school, a plain t-shirt and dirty sneakers. He approached me, taking the rake out of my hands.
“Hey,” he said. “Heard that you weren’t attending the party tonight. I came to see what was more entertaining.” He looked past me at the pile of leaves. “I see we have a bit of work to do.”
“What are you talking about?”
He leaned down closer to my face to look me in the eyes. “I’m here to help you,” he said slowly.
“Why?”
He laughed and poked me on the nose. “What are friends for?”
Warren moved around me and started raking stray leaves. “What are we putting these into?”
I looked around for the brown leaf bags. “Uh,” I stammered. “Bags?”
He nodded. “Let me finish up here. You go in and change.”
“Change?” Why did this boy always reduce me to one word sentences?
He laughed again, picking up a bag. He opened it and stood it beside the pile of leaves. I felt uneasy letting him do my housework. “Really, Warren. I have it under control. You don’t need to—”
He held up a work gloved hand to silence her. “Go change,” he repeated.
I hesitated. “Change into what?”
Warren picked up a pile of yellow and orange leaves and put them in the bag. “Party clothes? I don’t know. A skirt or whatever.”
Again, I hesitated. “I’m not going to the party.”
He stopped working and turned to me, his face low. “Why not?”
“I wasn’t invited. I don’t have anything to wear. And I wasn’t invited!”
Warren laughed. “Think of me as your…your fairy god mother. Go change. I don’t do the bibbidy bopidy boo thing in public.”
My head started to rush. No, I was thinking, I am not meant to be there. Parties are Fawn’s thing. She goes, she has fun, and she starts drama, and then comes home to tell me about it. Attending such a party would only mess that chain of events up. Not to mention that it was Warren who was going to take me, the same Warren that earlier that day had an arm draped around Fawn’s shoulders.
“Stop,” I said, putting my hands up as if I were surrendering.
Warren had gone back to work while I was thinking. He abruptly stopped and stood straight up in a peculiar way. His back was completely straight and he let the leaves that were in his hands fall to the ground.
“What are you doing,” I asked again, my voice harsh.
Warren turned around, all hopes of playfulness gone from his face.
“I thought that you wanted to go,” Warren said, his voice faint.
Go to the party? I had never gone to a high school party, nor been invited to one. I could have a little fun after careful observation of the other girls around me. I’d see how they’d act and try to do the same, as if I was just playing a role in a play. Simple enough.
However, the thought of being someone else for the night made my stomach turn. I’d much rather sit in front of the television and watch Titanic, or Phantom of the Opera, or The Notebook, or something! With popcorn, soda, the works. And most importantly: no pressure.
“I don’t think so, Warren. It’s not really my scene.”
He looked at the ground and sighed. “I really wanted to see you outside of school.”
“Me?” I asked. “Why?”
He looked up at me through his eyelashes. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Before I could answer, before I could even think of some sort of coherent answer, someone pulled into my driveway. It was the ugly Subaru that I dreaded to see, especially with Warren who stood right in front of me.
“Warren!” Fawn said as she got out of the car. “We’ve been looking all over for you. Why aren’t you at Foster’s?”
Fawn gave me a dirty look, her forehead creased and her nose scrunched up, and then smiled at Warren as she approached us.
Fawn went off about how lame the party was without him and how she just had to find him. Someone had told her that he said he’d be at our house, so she made Jenna leave the party right away and come home.
I quietly excused myself and ran to my room, not even stopping as I slammed my door shut and threw my head onto the pillow.
*
It is dark, like every other night. Tonight, however, was ominous and the sky had a dangerous aura about it. I walk down the path that I feel is familiar, but I have no recollection of ever treading down a trail like this one before.
The dirt is smooth, my pace is steady, and yet my heart thumps broken beats. I pass trees beyond trees and feel as if I am going in circles, but a part of me, small and quiet, says I should continue on my journey.
I break through the trees at last and reach a small body of water. The water shimmers under the moon’s constant glow. Something across the lake, a bright light bouncing among the trees, catches my attention. In the darkness, the light illuminated the area around it.
“Hello?” I say, thinking it is someone with a flashlight. “Is someone there?” My voice trembles a little and echoes off the trees. The tingling feeling of another presence envelops me.
The light begins to move towards me. It skims across the lake; it’s movements as soft as a whisper. As the light approaches me, I am no longer afraid. The warmth the light brings is welcoming and cheerful.
The light is in front of me. But it is not a light. It is a person. A familiar glowing person.
Hehe. Man, I love this story! Anyways, I'll get on with it now. So here we go!
A bit quick, in my eyes.
