Chapter 7 - The Curse

Christopher Neil’s house looked exactly like the kind of place legendary high school parties were thrown.

The house was big and open, with a modern floor plan that made it the perfect setting for Friday night parties and other forms of teenage debauchery. The party was in full swing by the time the girls got there, as evidenced by the bass thumping through the windows and the members of the student body already loitering outside on the front lawn.

Maya was out of the car before it had fully stopped moving. Throughout the ride there, she had been thankfully more occupied with texting on her phone than trying to get under Asteria’s skin.

On her own end, Asteria texted Damian and Oliver, letting them know that she was close to the party venue and would meet them inside.

“Oakley and Gemma are inside and waiting for me.” She announced. “I may or may not need you to be my ride back home, but worst-case scenario, I’ll just get a cab back home, or I’ll ask one of the girls to drive me home. Toodles.” With that, she disappeared into the sea of people.

“You’re cool with her just… leaving you like that?” Asteria asked. “Even though she literally nagged you to come with us tonight?”

Tammy snorted. “We’re cousins, not conjoined twins. At some point in the night, we’ll see each other again. Part of having a good relationship with someone is being fine with not being with them twenty-four hours a day. Besides, don’t tell her that I said this, but she’s absolutely insufferable when she’s with Oakley and Gemma.”

“I can’t say that I disagree with that.” She said. “But are you okay? You look a bit… uneasy.”

“I’m fine.” She said quickly. “Just really excited for the party. Although, you know, now that we’re seniors, we have to worry about the curse now.”

Asteria rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me you believe in all that.”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.” Tammy teased. “But you know what the curse says: beware all as you first plant the seed, whatever follows in the ground follows too in the year.”

“It sounds like a curse because it’s worded like a curse. And a corny one at that.” Asteria corrected. “All it really means is that the first party sets the tone for the rest of the school year. If the party goes well, so does the year, but if it doesn’t, then the rest of the year would be shit. Allegedly.

“If we’re being for real, it’s more of a myth than an actual curse. A curse would be like our bodies spontaneously rotting or the literal apocalypse.”

“If you say so.” Tammy pulled her jacket tighter. “Let’s get our party on, I guess.”

They walked into the house together.

Inside, the house was packed in the chaotic way that only a first week of school party could manage. A lot of thought had clearly gone into the party, as all of the furniture had been moved out of the room. A wise decision, seeing as a small group of friends was currently rough-housing. At least that way, nothing expensive and/or irreplaceable would be broken during the party.

The attendees were mostly seniors, but there were also a few juniors who had been deemed cool enough to have been invited. Or at most, they had a popular enough sibling in senior class who had gotten them invited.

Evidently, the party was in full swing, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The students of Blackwell Academy were excited to finally be reunited. Sure, they had seen each other in the one week that the school had been in session for, but this was different. This was a party without teachers or parents around to interfere.

Like an ever-diligent host, Christopher Neil found them within the first ten minutes of their arrival. Which was incredibly impressive considering that there were tons of people there.

“Hi Asteria.” He greeted over the music. “I was surprised when you didn’t show up with Damian and Oliver earlier tonight, but it’s nice that you decided to show.”

He was easy and friendly in the way a good percentage of the football team wasn’t. He existed without most of the posturing and lewd jokes that were typical amongst the other guys.

“Well, it’s a nice party you’ve got going on here.”

Then Christopher turned to Tammy. “Hi Tammy.”

“Hi.” She answered dryly.

There was a moment of silence. Or at least as silent as things could get in a party with drunk people and loud music.

“Okay then. Drinks are in the kitchen. Right, everyone’s acting like they’re too mature for the chocolate cake pops with rainbow sprinkles that I ordered, but really all it takes is one person to take one, and it’ll all be gone in thirty minutes tops.

“There are five bathrooms, but the lines to them are already insane, so you might have to pee in the bushes and if you do, watch out for the frogs.” He said. “You two ladies have fun.”

Tammy and Christopher left in opposite directions, leaving Asteria to herself.

She had barely been by herself for a full minute when she spotted a familiar face near the makeshift mini bar station.

“Hi.” She greeted. “I didn’t see you all week. I thought you changed schools again or something.”

Kethan turned, a warm smile already on his face. “Changing schools twice in one semester? That’s social death. My folks and I just moved to New York, and there was a bit of a mix-up with the moving vehicles that needed sorting out. Unfortunately, it took all week. But here I am.”

“Here you are.” She agreed.

“I would have texted you about the situation, but I don’t have your number.”

Asteria resisted slapping her forehead. She had collected his number that day in the parking lot after school but had forgotten to click the save button after he’d typed it in. “I am so sorry. I would have texted you, but I somehow forgot to save your number after you gave it to me.”

“No worries, darlin’. Second time’s the charm, right?” He said, pulling out his phone from his back pocket. “But this time, maybe we both swap numbers? That way, we both can’t lose each other’s numbers.”

“I guess we can’t.” She exchanged phones with him and typed in her number on his phone, leaving the space for contact blank so he could choose how he saved her name.

“So is Asteria okay, or could I just save your number under ‘most gorgeous girl in New York’?” He asked as they swapped phones again.

Before she could stop blushing enough to compose herself to answer, an arm slung itself around her shoulders. It was warm, heavy, and unmistakably Damian, smelling faintly of his cologne.

Normally, parties put him in a good mood, and he’d have been all smiles, but not tonight. Because he’d noticed Kethan and didn’t seem particularly pleased with what he saw. Damian’s face bore the expression of a health inspector who’d just entered a restaurant and was already irritated by the five health violations he’d spotted from the door alone.

“Hi.” He said, pulling Asteria closer to himself. “Who’s this?”

“This is Kethan Adams. He’s new.”

“Then how did he get an invite?”

She nudged him lightly. “Damian.”

“What?” He shrugged. “I’m just asking questions. To get invited, you need to know someone, and he’s new, so how does he know anyone?”

“I make fast friends.” Kethan said.

He looked entirely unbothered by the stink eye Damian was giving him, which seemed to annoy Damian more than any actual retort would have.

“Sure.” Damian said sarcastically.

Kethan turned his attention back to Asteria, his expression softening with concern. “Anyway, I hope that guy from Monday didn’t bother you again.”

The shift in Damian was immediate. “What guy from Monday?”

Asteria tried, in the split second available to her, to communicate an entire warning through facial expression and sheer will alone that this situation would go along a lot better if Kethan just kept his mouth shut.

But Kethan hadn’t known her for that long, so he interpreted her wide-eyed, pale-complexioned look as a misplaced and unnecessary embarrassment over what had already happened rather than a plea for him to stop talking.

“What happened on Monday?” Damian asked again, quieter so that his voice was barely heard over the sounds of the party.

“Some guy assaulted her.” Kethan answered. “It was before the teacher came in for Studio Art. I think his name was Mark or Max, maybe.”

The arm around her shoulders stiffened. “Marcus Jennings?”

Still unaware of the tension in the air, Kethan answered straightforwardly. “I don’t know his last name. But yeah, his first name’s Marcus. He’s got like this overly gelled hair and obnoxiously white teeth.”

And then Damian’s arm around her was gone.

“Damian, wait…” Asteria called after him.

But he didn’t hear her. He was already cutting through the crowd with the kind of purpose and ferocity that made people step out of his way without being asked.

“Was it something I said?” Kethan asked.

“Yes.” Asteria said, dragging a hand through her hair. “Yes, it was very much something you said. But it’s not your fault. I just need to find him before he does something stupid.” She slipped away from Kethan with an apologetic glance.

Somewhere ahead of them, past the kitchen, she caught a flash of Damian’s shoulders and picked up her pace, already resigned to how the rest of her night was about to go.