Chapter 16

 

        Friday came by quickly. When it was almost time for Jack to pick me up, I became really anxious. It wasn't really because of the fact that I would be riding with him there – that nervousness probably wouldn't arise until I actually got in the car with him – but because this would be my first time at a party. I just hoped that I wouldn't royally mess anything up while I was there.

        When Jack pulled his car into my driveway, I walked over to the passenger side and climbed in. I was surprised to discover that I wasn't as nervous as I was before I got into the car, but that was probably because I couldn't get anymore nervous than what I already was.

        “Ready?” he asked me as I put my seatbelt on.

        “Y-yeah, I think so,” I replied, unable to conceal the anxiety in my voice that well.

        Jack chuckled a little. “Nervous?”

        “Just a little,” I admitted, feeling pathetic upon doing so.

        “Don't worry, you'll be fine.”

        I nodded. He pulled out of the driveway before driving up the street. As we got further away from my house, I started to get the feeling that this was a bad idea. However, I didn't bother saying a word to Jack about it because I didn't want to upset him.

        “This is going to be awesome!” Jack said – almost shouting – in excitement.

        “Yeah,” I replied, unable to really say too much about it.

        “Relax, I told you not to worry, didn't I?” Apparently it was too obvious that I was still anxious. He laughed a little. “You freak out way too much. You're probably gonna have a heart attack before we even get there.”

        “Ha ha, very funny,” I murmured before sighing, trying to calm myself down a little. It didn't really work though.

        We didn't say anything else on the matter, but instead went on to talk about other things. It helped me relax a little during the ride there, but as soon as we reached the house, my nervousness returned. I started to have a lot of second thoughts about coming here, but there was really no turning back now. Besides, maybe it won't be as bad as I think?

        Both of us walked towards the house and I looked around a little as we did so. The house was somewhat big and had a second floor. Music could be heard from inside and there were a few people standing around and talking on the front lawn. Jack and I didn't join any of them, but instead headed inside. The music was much louder in there and it was a lot more crowded too. I followed Jack a little as I continued to look around. Some people just talked with their friends while others danced.

        At some point I ended up losing Jack in the crowd. I tried to peer over everyone, but I was a tad too short and there were just too many people to be able to spot a specific person. I just gave up and stood around a little until some people came over. We started to talk and joke around a little. As we did so, my nervousness gradually left me until I was perfectly fine.

        After several minutes of talking, I decided to maybe try to find Jack again. I had no idea why I even bothered because I was going to end up having a hard time being around him because of this stupid crush, but I did anyway. It didn't take too long though until I spotted him on the opposite side of the room. He was talking to a girl and I started to become a wee bit uneasy from the sight of it. Both of them seemed to be laughing a lot. It was the next thing that really got to me though; they started to dance.

        I might as well have been slapped in the face because that was exactly what it felt like. Unable to continue watching anymore, I started to walk towards the kitchen. There was a sliding glass door leading out onto a deck. There wasn't anyone else out there, so I decided to go out there. I walked over to the wooden railing of it and slightly leaned on it as I stared up at the night sky.

        “Damn it,” I cursed under my breath. I slammed my fist onto the railing of the deck out of frustration before letting out a depressed sigh. I nearly felt like crying, but there was no way I could bring myself around to doing something like that, especially when there was so many people inside the house. It seemed this party wasn't going to be fun after all, not after what I had just seen.

        About a minute or two later, I heard the door sliding open from behind me. I just ignored it though, hoping that whoever it was would just leave me alone and go back inside. But of course, it was Jack. Just my luck.

        “You alright?” he asked as he also leaned on the railing and stared out at the large hill that was before us.

        “Yeah, just dandy,” I replied. I didn't mean to sound so bitter. It just kind of slipped.

        “You sure? You don't sound like it.”

        “Yeah, I'm sure,” I said, making sure to keep my emotions from showing in my voice.

        “What're you doing out here by yourself then?”

        I shrugged. “Just wanted to get a little fresh air.”

        Suddenly, I recalled the dream I had last Saturday. I remembered the scene it took place in and it matched the setting we were currently in. My hopes began to soar. Maybe it would actually happen? Maybe it wouldn't only be a dream? All these questions started to swim around in my head as I started to become a little sure about it.

        “Yeah, I can see what you mean,” Jack replied. “It's a little hot in there with all those people in there after all.”

        “Yeah,” I said, hardly paying any attention.

        But then I recalled what I had witnessed minutes ago. My hopes instantly shattered upon doing so. There was no way Jack felt that way towards me. He was obviously into some other girl. Why would he be dancing with her otherwise? I should've known better than to bother getting my hopes up.

        “So are you having any fun?” he asked after a brief moment of silence.

        I didn't say anything right away before letting out a sigh. “Not really.” It was kind of hard to now.

        “Well, you and I could go inside and try to do something together or something.”

        “No, it's okay.” I looked towards him. “Can we just leave?”

        He looked towards me. “If that's what you really want to do, then sure.”

        It was pretty noticeable that he was a little upset by my question, but I didn't care anymore. He had upset me, and I guess I was just maybe getting payback for it in some way or another. We headed straight to the car. I stared out the window as Jack started the car.

        “Did you want to do something, like grab an ice cream or something?” Jack asked.

        “No, I just want to head home.”

        “Are you sure you're alright?” he asked.

        “Yeah,” I replied dryly. “Let's just go.”

        He sighed. “Alright.”

        We didn't say a single word to each other on the way home. When the car coasted to a stop in front of my driveway, I climbed out and slammed the door shut behind me. It looked like Jack didn't keep his promise; I regretted going to that party.