I sit on the sidewalk, frustrated. I'm lost. I am so lost. I made Jerry drop me off the wrong corner. Where the hell is this party supposed to be?
I stare at the piece of paper in my hand. In Sebastian's neatly-written cursive is the address to the place where they're holding David's party. But it's no use. And it's not like I can just call any of them. This is what I get for not having a phone. There's no way for someone as directionally challenged as me to figure this out.
Standing up, I walk a bit, hoping for some of the street signs to enlighten me. But I'm in some kind of a commercial district in the wealthy part of the city, and none of the streets look familiar to me. Damn this. Maybe I should just call a cab and go home.
"Hey, girl!" a man hollers at me as I walk by him and his friends. Without looking, I gave him the finger. I would have loved to give him a kick in the nuts, but I have no time for catcallers right now.
Suddenly, an arm pulls
"You're here! And you're late." Ari greets David and me as we enter the massive gates towards Kier's front yard. Brad, Sebastian, and her are by the parking lot, obviously waiting for us. "Bro, your lip is bleeding. What happened?" Brad asks David, but his friend ignores him, shooting him a glare. "You said the party was at Buzz," David tells Brad, quickly letting go of my hand. He then leans towards me, whispering, "Remember what we talked about." "What are you talking about? We changed the venue this morning, and I made sure to text you." Sebastian argues. I nod at David. They're all lying. David and I had spent thirty minutes in the diner when he got a text from Calvin asking when he was going to Kier's house for the party. That's when we realized that his friends were on another scheme again. Calvin told us it was to make David and I meet and make up this time. Obviously, we came up with a plan to get back at them. "I picked this straggler
David's back is turned towards me, facing someone in the car. I don't even bother asking who he is talking to as I wrap my arms around him. He turns his head to look at me, grinning. "Hi," I whisper. "Hi. Missed you during the weekend." David seems disappointed, and I completely relate. We didn't get to see each other at all after Kier's party. It couldn't be helped, though. He got busy with his family, and so did I. I roll my eyes as I remember my harrowing weekend, "My Mom wanted to spend some quality time with me." I make a quoting action with my fingers. "So I had to go shopping with her." "That's nice. You had fun, right?" David smirked, knowing that I felt the exact opposite. Our relationship has changed so much in the past few days. But I guess he still likes to pull my leg. I consider calling him out on it, but then I am reminded about his parents. He doesn't even get to see them anymore, and here I am whining about spending time with my M
"Why is David at the hospital? Is it his grandmother? Did she try to escape the hospital again?" I ask Britanny in panic, then my stomach sinks even further, "Wait. It's not him, right? He's not hurt?" Britanny rolls her eyes at me, "He's okay, and Grandma is okay too." Oh, Thank God!"You should've told me that sooner! Do you have any idea how scared I was?" My fingers are still shaking, but I manage to text David using the number Britanny gave me. Britanny looks heavenwards again as she shifts gears, speeding up the car. I fiddle with the seatbelt across my chest. "But...you looked so scared, though. I thought for sure something horrible happened.." I tell her. "Something horrible did happ
I am scaring myself. I am fully aware of that. Ever since I saw Jon at the 7/11 last night, waving and smiling with that demented face, I’ve been hypervigilant of my surroundings. I don’t tell David because I don’t want him to worry. But now I think that I probably should. If we can play our cards right, Jon can be our way to finally apprehending Uncle Fern. Suddenly, an arm loops around my shoulders, and I reflexively hit the person in the jaw, “Ow!” David yelps in pain, and my hand comes up to my mouth in shock. “Oh my God. I am so sorry!” I stammer, taking his face in my hands as I check the damage. “You just scared me. I thought you were someone else.” David grimaces, moving his tense jaw from side to side. I hear whispering from the students around us. Nice, Dina. Way to punch y
“What took you so long to visit me?” Ari pouts as I near her, and I laugh, returning her quite awkwardly. I try not to cringe at myself. “I’m sorry, I just got a little busy with things,” I tell her truthfully. “You mean busy with Dave,” Ari says, waggling her eyebrows. “I’m so happy for the both of you.” Ari gives me an enormous smile, but for some reason, her eyes suddenly fill with tears. “Oh. Oh, no. What’s wrong?” I ask her worriedly. “Sorry. It’s these damned meds. They told me they had nothing to do with my hormones, but somehow, I feel like I’m PMSing.” Ari giggles, wiping at the corner of her eyes. I give her a sympathetic smile, “How are you feeling?” “I’m great,” she tells me, but I notice that she swiftly hides her right arm under her comforter and out of my view. I wonder what that is about. I have a feeling that it's something to do with the reason why she passed out. But I decide not to ask. I’m not o
David did not answer my calls yesterday, and a gnawing fear grew in me, stronger than the frustration of him keeping secrets from me. What if he went out and looked for Uncle Fern himself again? If he couldn't trust me to go with him, I hope he had the sense to leave it to the police. Not like last time. I shudder at the thought of him getting hurt. "Dina Matthews!" a voice calls out to me as I bend down to get a few books that I left in my chemistry lab drawer. I frown. It's a Saturday so I wasn't expecting anyone to be at school. I wasn't expecting myself to go to school, either. But my previous excursions left me with a lot of catching up to do when it comes to schoolwork. "Yes?" I politely answer at the voice, straightening up from my crouching position. I freeze. Three girls block the exit from the lab with a menacing look my way. One of them was the girl who called me a bitch in class days ago. They're dressed like they're headed to the mall or just came from t
I just had my first break-up yesterday and now I completely get how it can ruin someone's mood for days. Maybe for years, if you truly loved the person. I saw it happen with my Mom, and I honestly see it happening to me now. I still stand by my decision, though. David and I are no good for each other. Even if we make each other happy, there will always be so many things in our way because of our shared past. Hopefully, we can both put it behind us. I'm not sure how we can achieve that, though, when we go to the same school and have the same set of friends. Like now, Ari has summoned me to the Student Council Room for some unknown reason, and he surely is going to be there. Talk about an awkward situation. True. I could've easily said no. But Ari used the 'I just got out of the hospital' card so fast I didn't have time to blink. Apparently, they really needed help with preparations for the Winter formal. "Dina! Hi. So glad you can make it." Ari calls out to me as I pe
"Are you sure you don't want me to confront those girls?" Britanny told me as we walked towards campus. I try not to laugh. From our chaotic sleepover last night, I've learned some pretty interesting things about Britanny. She's the leader of the bullies here in school and unleashes them towards her enemies on a regular basis. Which makes total sense considering her personality. Which also means I'm no longer her enemy. That's good to know, I guess."Yes, it's fine. I mean, I beat them up pretty well last time. They'd be stupid to try again." I tell her. "So this is really happening. We're now friends. You're not mad at me for breaking up with David?""Yes." she replies, "I mean, you guys are just gonna get back together anyways."I scoff at her. "We are not getting back together." She sounds so sure, I am taken aback."Oh, you totally are. Brit has a knack for these things." Olive whispers beside me."That's how I know you're the one, babe," Brita