Inevitable, page 10
“Would you look at this place,” Willy gasped, distracted. “I told you it was worth the babysitter!”
They left Nathan and I alone at the entranceway. He finally closed the front door, leaning his back against it and glancing at me enticingly. There was some noise from the people and the music in the other room, but I could still hear him fine.
“So what do you want to do?” he asked.
“I don’t know. What do you have in mind?” I answered, hoping he would choose something he wanted to do. He blinked hard, embarrassed, as he took a strong step closer to me. His head drifted to the side a bit so he could examine my features, and he raised his hand.
“Would you do me the honor of joining me for a dance?” he inquired, his luscious eyes making the proposal all the more endearing.
“It’ll be my pleasure,” I agreed, placing my hand in his and hopping forward so I could tug him toward the ballroom. He seemed to enjoy that I was taking some of the initiative, although I was secretly terrified because I had no idea how to dance. As luck would have it, the song ended and a much slower one started to play. It was “Crash Into Me,” by The Dave Matthews Band, and all I had to do was relax and enjoy the music and his company.
When we settled somewhere in the middle in the small crowd of dancers, Nathan took me by my sides to nudge me a little closer. I put my forearms on his meaty shoulders and clasped my hands behind his neck. He softly rested his along my lower back as we started to sway in tune with the music. Being pressed so close to the tight fabric wrapping over him felt more soothing than a bubble bath.
“You’re about to bust out of that thing, aren’t you?” I teased, rubbing his shoulders. He chuckled.
“Not on your life. I’ve had this thing forever!”
We engaged in more small talk, but mostly it was just about us being there together. Sometimes he would look at me in a way that made me think he knew I was from somewhere out of this world. There was something approving in his cheeks and eyes that struck me, and I felt strange because I wasn’t sure if I was worthy of that kind of affection.
To give myself a chance to think about it, I lowered my head onto his chest as he pressed against my back. There was music and there was laughter, but there was also the beating of his heart, which I could somehow hear through this strangely shaped hole in the side of my head. I couldn’t tell for sure or not, but I let myself believe this heart of his was beating for me.
I was sad when the song ended because it seemed to take our beautiful moment along with it. We still had a great time dancing though. It turns out the trick to dancing really has nothing to do with how you move. You can be making the most idiotic movements imaginable, and it’s completely fine as long as you stop being self-conscious about your body, which was good for me because I wasn’t too concerned about my body to begin with.
Hours rolled by and we danced to fast and slow songs. I danced with Steven a little bit, and other groups of friends joined us on the dance floor. It seemed like the fun would never end, and it made me think that maybe I’d been foolish about my apprehension when Nathan first asked me to join him here. Everyone just wanted to have a good time, and so I stopped worrying that I would get drilled by a lot of personal questions. If I’d somehow passed Cammie’s test, I doubt anyone here could be any worse.
But then someone worse showed up, and I could immediately see the change devastate Nathan. He stopped moving at all, craning his neck to see if he could see who he thought he saw. Any last trace of happiness vanished from his face, and instead a stony grimness consumed it.
Through the archway and halfway to the dining room, Nathan’s ex-girlfriend Sasha and ex-best friend Mark were holding drinks and talking to other guests. Sasha, a stick of a girl though strikingly beautiful, had her hand on Mark’s hip just beside his butt. He was a very clean-cut guy of moderate build. His suit looked perfect, and altogether he appeared as though he’d just walked out of a stockholder’s meeting. To put it mildly, the whole scene infuriated Nathan.
Steven sensed the sudden shift and tried to slip away from our group before the eruption broke out, but Nathan grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him back around.
“Why are they here?” he growled, putting special emphasis on every slowly delivered word. Flustered and tipsy, Steven shrugged and muttered.
“We’ve known them forever, man. What was I supposed to do, tell them they can’t come? We invited everybody,” he quibbled.
“I can’t believe you’d do this to me,” Nathan shook his head, hurt.
“It’s not like I went out of my way to make sure they’d be here. Dude, you know what would really piss Nate off? Bring Sasha! No, but of course they heard about the party.” Steven rambled, and Nathan looked fed up with him. I couldn’t stand that just when I thought Nathan was finally enjoying himself it all seemed to disappear in an instant. Why did happiness have to be so ephemeral?
“Just forget about them,” I said, pulling him away from Steven and tossing my hands back on his shoulders. “We were having a perfectly good time.”
I flashed him a bright smile and I wanted him to take me by the waist and dance the night away, but it quickly became clear he wasn’t having any of it. Staring at me and fighting something internally, he just shook his head and I had no choice but to let him go.
“I can’t. I just can’t. I’m done here. Let’s go.”
The way he said it left no room for argument, and in an instant we were heading for the door. We plowed through other dancers, some of whom thought it was a joke until they saw the stern grimace on Nathan’s face. Sasha and Mark had been over by the dining room, where the foyer from the front door led. It seemed like we would be able to slip by without them seeing us, until we didn’t.
“Big Nate! There’s my boy! How come you haven’t been returning my calls?” Mark’s chipper voice rung through the air, and Nathan tensed up, gritting his teeth. His hand was already reaching out for the door, and part of me hoped he’d just keep on going. Nothing good was going to come from this.
“And you didn’t have any idea why that might be?” Nathan spat, twisting around to glare at the two people approaching us from behind. His head low and his face as hard as granite, Nathan’s eyes looked like they could breathe fire.
“Come on, man. You’re not going to let a woman get in the way of our friendship, are you?” Mark gasped, appearing perfectly happy and content. Sasha was right by his side, a funny smirk on her face as she analyzed me. “Sometimes things don’t pan out between people, and she has to go find someone better. It’s not like it was ever going to work out between you two anyway.”
It was hard to tell if Mark was just tipsy and insensitive or purposely being abusive, but Nathan looked like he was at a breaking point. He clenched his fists, begging for the opportunity to make a move.
“I’d never been able to say I had a bad friend in my life until you did that to me,” Nathan seethed. “What made you think it was ok to make a move while we were still going out?”
“I told you we waited until after we’d broken up!” Sasha growled, already incensed. She put her hand to her head, and then cast another glance at me through her fingers before straightening herself out. “Besides, it looks like you’ve been doing pretty well for yourself. Who’s this little cupcake?”
The condescension dripped from her voice, and I almost expected her to try and pat me on the head. Instead, she drifted a little closer so she could squint at my jewelry.
“My name’s Apoxy,” I said directly enough to get her to back off.
“That’s a name and a half,” Mark smirked.
“Her parents were probably hippies,” Sasha said into his ear, making no attempt to quiet herself.
“That’s enough!” Nathan snapped.
“Relax, Nate. We’re just kidding,” Mark frowned, looking offended. “So what college do you go to,” he asked me.
“I don’t go to college,” I answered shyly, knowing this was a horrible direction for the conversation to go. Sasha slapped herself on the forehead as if it all made sense.
“Of course! Why go to college when it looks like daddy’s taking care of you just fine. I told you you’d find someone right for you, Nathan, and it turned out she’s a bimbo who doesn’t understand math well enough to know you’re broke!”
“Keep talking, Sasha, and I promise you’ll regret it,” he sniped, stepping forward in front of me. “Say whatever you want about me, but leave her out of this or else.”
I was impressed how confidently and easily he’d decided to protect me. He hadn’t even needed to think about it. Looking out for me just came naturally to him.
“Say whatever we want about you?” Sasha scratched her chin.
“Don’t worry. We already have,” Mark burst, and the two of them shared a brief moment of laughter until Nathan grabbed Mark by his jacket and jerked him closer. The two started to scuffle for just a second until I reached in and pulled them apart. Mark was already breathing hard, the goop from his greasy hair dribbling onto his forehead.
“You’ll get what you deserve,” Nathan pointed, starting to turn back for the door. “Let’s go.”
“You’re leaving already?” Mark moaned. “I thought this was just the foreplay before our epic beer pong match. Oh wait, you only spent a week in college so you probably don’t know what that is.”
Mark’s latest shot made Nathan wince. He hated that he hadn’t been able to go to college, and so that raw nerve stung something awful when Mark hit it. Nathan had already cracked open the door, but now he was overcome with scorn. His strong face was a little bit red from the embarrassment.
“You know, you toss a ping pong ball into the opposite team’s cup to make them drink it. First team to eliminate all the other team’s cups is the winner,” Mark explained to draw out Nathan’s hesitation.
The game gave me a funny idea. How much would Nathan love it if we demolished them in this silly little game in front of all their friends? He’d be riding high for weeks. And considering what I could do, there was no way we could lose. I quickly took Nathan by the hand to get his attention. We locked eyes and I raised an eyebrow at him.
“We could beat them,” I stated, and Nathan breathed in deeply. Seizing the challenge and showing some of that competitive spirit that made him so charming, he nodded slightly.
“Let’s play!” he demanded, brushing between Sasha and Mark as he led us to the basement. That left me struggling to catch up, walking alongside the vicious pair in his wake.
“I hope daddy taught you how to hold your booze,” Sasha sneered at me.
“Why, did your dad get you drunk a lot?” I said. “Actually, I don’t drink.”
“What?” Mark gasped, finishing his own drink and tossing the red cup onto the floor.
“I don’t eat either,” I added.
“I’ll drink for our team,” Nathan said from the front as we turned toward the basement steps between the kitchen and the dining room. A few other partygoers followed us down the thin wooden steps that led to the half-furnished basement below. There were Christmas lights hanging on the low ceiling. All of the walls and the floor were cement. It had couches, patches of carpet, and a pool and ping pong table where a few other teens were playing beer pong at that very moment.
“Your game’s over!” Mark barked, snatching the tiny orange ball out of the air. Despite some grumbling the players dispersed, and Sasha started to fill more red cups a quarter full with beer.
“Get ready for the beating of your life,” Mark warned once each side had six cups in a triangle shape and we were ready to start.
“You have no idea what you’re in for,” Nathan snickered, and he couldn’t have possibly been more right. Once Mark leaned over his side of the table and let the ball slip into the air, I was in complete control.
A game of chance and a game of skill like this might seem very different, but to me they are the exact same thing. Whether it’s dice rolling along a table or balls flying into little red cups, there are odds and probabilities that dictate what will happen. What’s the difference between a ball that drops right in the cup and one that veers to the side, nicks the rim, and falls onto the floor? The answer is me.
Mark’s throw landed right in the center cup. It was a pretty good shot, and Nathan had no choice but to remove the ball and slug the contents. Just like when we were gambling, I decided a massive come-from-behind victory would do the most for Nathan. Ok, maybe I wanted to make it heartbreaking for Sasha and Mark too, but they deserved it. So that meant we’d have to miss for a while so that we could pull the rug out from under them.
“You do know you’re supposed to aim for the cups, right?” Mark mocked as Nathan’s ball fell short. Nathan shook his head, disappointed, but I comforted myself knowing it would all be worth it. Sasha had no trouble landing her shot too, and Mark gave her a quick kiss while Nathan drunk, glowering. They would have to pay for that.
Taking the slimy, moist ping pong ball, I reached back and slung it like I was pitching a baseball. It made a beeline for the last row of cups against the edge and knocked one back, spilling beer onto Sasha’s feet.
“Hey, you’re not supposed to throw it that hard,” Sasha squealed. Nathan flashed me the biggest grin, absolutely loving it, and a strange tingle coursed through my heart. Sadly, my shot wasn’t good though since it didn’t land in the cup. Mark made another shot, and Nathan missed his. Sasha sunk hers too, and that meant they had all six cups and we had two.
“There’s no hope now. You know that, right?” Mark goaded after I “missed” my shot. We just had two cups side by side, and Mark sent his into the right one. Nathan started to look despondent, sensing the end that was coming. I turned, putting my hand on his shoulder before he threw.
“This is just a silly game, Nathan, but no matter what happens I believe in you.”
He nodded, gaining a little fortitude. I hope he knew I meant it. Letting the ball leave his fingertips, he watched it sail into one of the cups. Sasha and Mark just looked down at it.
“It’s no big deal,” Sasha comforted her boyfriend. She fished out the ball and chugged the cup, ready to take her chance at ending the game. But the ball seemed to slip from her fingers, not even making it over the center net.
“What was that?” Mark laughed at her, and she shot him a dirty look. I had as much luck as Nathan when it came time for my throw. It arced high into the air and landed in the beer with a satisfying plunk. The people who had been watching started to cheer, sensing that the tide was shifting.
“I’m going to put an end to this right now,” Mark declared, adjusting his shoulders and stretching his arm. His throw drifted through the air to the single remaining cup on our side. It tapped the rim, seeming to hang right on the edge. Mark let out an agonized groan when it fell outside. He looked broken, but both Nathan and I were snickering. When I handed him the ball, the sensation of his touch made me gasp.
Nathan made his toss, and we were halfway to our comeback victory. Sasha missed again, and I sunk my shot. They were getting frustrated, bickering with each other, and I loved it. When Nathan made his next throw and they had only two cups left, there was a clear degree of worry on their faces. The other people in the basement were cheering. Everyone loves an underdog.
“Who has no hope?” Nathan gloated, swaggering a little. Sasha failed to make her shot, and that meant it was my turn again. Just two cups left, and I easily placed the ball in one of them. We were even, and now all I had to do was let Nathan finish them. He was already so thrilled. He threw his hands up in the air when I made my shot, and then his arms were wrapped around me, lifting me just off my feet. I felt the warm press of his lips when he gave me an unexpected peck on the cheek, and a sudden flush rushed through my entire body.
I hadn’t even recovered when Mark, desperate and bitter about how the game was going, took his next shot. He sent the ball sailing through the air toward our last cup, winning and losing hanging in the balance. He was going to miss. Every part of me dictated that he should miss. Despite the whole of my being forcing that orange ball to go anywhere but near that red cup, it landed right inside of it.
Paralyzed, I couldn’t move a muscle. I couldn’t believe what just happened, and it shook me to the core. Sasha and Mark jumped and celebrated, and some people in the crowd cheered too, but I couldn’t think of any of that. This wasn’t about the game or even Nathan. Something inexplicable had happened to me. I was suddenly in danger.
“Are you ok?” Nathan asked, obviously unhappy about losing but equally concerned about me. He had no idea how not ok I was. I couldn’t even bring myself to breath.
Just to see if I could, I made as many things happen as possible. One kid peeking out of the corner of his eye while he took a drink dumped it all over himself. The leg of a stool snapped suddenly, sending someone onto the floor. Anything that could happen did. The Christmas lights above us started to burn out. The music skipped. A crack formed in the wall.
I was doing all of these things, but nothing comforted me. Something terrible had happened, a disaster beyond anything I could comprehend. I could only grasp one thought. I had to get out.
Staggering back, I lurched for the stairs. My legs could barely support me. Sasha and Mark were laughing, but I didn’t care. I had to get away from all these people.
“Hey, wait!” Nathan called as I stumbled up the stairs, eventually dragging myself out of the basement. All these people around me suddenly felt so crowding. This body was so claustrophobic. Gasping for breath, I ambled for the door, Nathan right behind me. I was bumping into people, clawing my way past. None of it mattered.
“Is this about the game?” Nathan called. “Because I really don’t care.”
His hand closed around my wrist to hold me back, but I shook it off without a word. I was too busy wheezing, fumbling for the door handle in my incoherent daze. I finally got it open, slipping through, but Nathan was right behind me. I had no idea what was happening. Something had gone terribly wrong.
