One Chance

The second incident was halfway through the summer.

Gina was holding the party. Getting busted the previous year did nothing if not make her parties even better. She was from a wealthy family, had her own credit card, and a better fake ID than everyone else. This resulted in not only a wide variety of alcohol to choose from, but it was also some of the best quality. Even though Gina knew no one would truly take the time to appreciate the high-price and designer labels, she bought it anyway. It wasn’t like her parents were going to care or like she couldn’t afford it.

Other than smoking outside, there was one other rule that everyone followed at Gina’s: they dressed to impress. And that didn’t mean shorter skirts, higher heels and tighter tee shirts; it meant nice dresses, fancy shoes, styled hair and clutch purses. Or for the boys, it basically meant something that wasn’t stained.

Even Noelle followed this rule. She arrived on time, wearing a knee-length, two-tiered dress with corset-like detailing, dark grey ripped leggings, and matching flip flops. She left her hair down, and took her makeup off.

She arrived exactly seven minutes after the official start of the party; still early enough to be considered on time. There was already a small crowd gathered outside of Gina’s house, eagerly waiting to be let inside. Most of the girls, much to Noelle’s surprise, were dressed tastefully in short cocktail dresses and shiny black pumps. All the boys were in dark jeans with a tee shirt under a sports jacket, though most refused to let go of their ratty sneakers.

Gina opened the double-wide front doors with a smile, greeting everyone and ushering them inside. The house was bare on the inside once you got past the foyer, though instead of being pushed against the walls, the couches and chairs and tables were completely removed. The only thing remaining in the living room was a massive TV and stereo system, housed by solid wood shelving. There were no stools in the kitchen, and the only thing on the counters and island were the massive amounts of bottles. The dining room held all of the wine, and judging by the exotic colours and pictures, it was imported and expensive.

Alex’s night didn’t start off well.

First, he couldn’t find his jacket. Then, his car keys went missing. When he arrived at Gina’s, there were only a few people still arriving. Which meant he’d have to search the entire house for the one girl he actually wanted to find, while fighting off countless others. It also meant that there was a good chance she’d already found someone else, in which case Alex would have even less of a chance. And his chances were slim to begin with; last time he and Mystery Girl had talked, it seemed like he pissed her off. Actually, he knew he had pissed her off –she had thrown her cigarettes at him, stormed off and minutes later he heard tires screeching down the road.

Music was blasting as he stepped into the kitchen. He glanced at the alcohol on the counters, the supply of which was barely dented. He passed it up for now, choosing instead to ask around if anyone had seen Mystery Girl. The first one he found was Jack, who looked to be on his third or fourth beer, who was no help whatsoever. He replied to Alex’s question with a slurred, “I dunno, Bro. There’s tons of pretty girls here.” and a sloppy half-hug and kiss on the cheek. Zack couldn’t be found, and Alex vaguely remembered being told Zack was grounded and couldn’t go out for anything other than band practice for some reason or another. Rian, who claimed he was only on his first beer, was the most helpful.

After waiting patiently for Alex to describe Mystery Girl, he said, “Oh, you mean Noelle Lyons? Dude, you don’t have a chance. You’re way too late to get her.”

Noelle hadn’t had a one night stand since Brian’s party.

She was determined to change that at Gina’s, though. She threw herself into the crowd of people in the living room, letting the smell of the alcohol take over her senses and letting loose completely. It took a while –and a few unsuspecting boys to be teased –before she found a boy she liked well enough. He was cute, with short fluffy brown hair, tight jeans, and a faded tee shirt. She figured he was the type of boy who would’ve had a girlfriend, but either Noelle was wrong, or he was too drunk to care. Whichever it was, Noelle sure didn’t care. If he had a girlfriend, she was probably equally as drunk and equally as close to some stranger. And if not, then both the boy and Noelle made out in the deal. Noelle was tugging on his hand, half pulling, half being pulled up the stairs when someone called out to them. She assumed it was his name, because he turned, and with an apologetic smile and a sorry that was lost in the noise, he walked off, waving his hand.

Noelle sighed in frustration. If the person had waited two more minutes, she would’ve scored, and gone home happy. She’d already made out with the majority of the male population that was currently on the dance floor, so she decided to wait a while before going at it again. She fished he cigarettes out of the small bag she had looped around her wrist, along with the matches, and walked out back to light up. Grabbing a mini water bottle out of the cooler, she slid down against the side of the house and drew her knees up to her chest, alternating between taking gulps from the water bottle and drags off the cigarette. The water bottle was gone quickly, so she resorted to smoking by itself, leaning with her head tipped back and her eyes closed.

Alex hadn’t danced or drank at all.

For a while he just paced around the first floor of the house, looking. Then he’d gone to the backyard, looked near the coolers and the keg before walking around the backyard. He scanned the few fully-clothed people in the pool, and even the very edges of the trees. After he finished, he started the loop again, still with no luck. He stopped to talk with Jack as Jack rambled on and on about absolutely nothing, and saw Rian leave to go to the car with his girlfriend. No one was able to hold his attention for long, though, because each time he made some excuse and hurried off as quickly as he had appeared.

He finally gave up on his search, after asking numerous people if they knew a Noelle Lyons and/ or where she’d be. No one seemed to know. Sighing in defeat, he sloppily kissed a random girl on the cheek and asked her to dance. She pushed him away, and Alex just hoped the girl assumed he was drunk. Giving up completely, Alex made his way to the kitchen. Most of the variety set out on the counter was gone, so he grabbed the first bottle he could reach, not caring what it was. He decided he’d wait outside. Noelle smoked, he’d remembered, so she was bound to come out sometime. On his way out the French doors, he stepped on an empty mini water bottle and kicked it aside. Someone was smoking, and with the slight breeze, if blew in his face. He coughed, used to the smell but still disgusted. Pissed off already, the smoke was not helping, so he looked to see who it was from. There was a girl, sitting down, head tipped back with her eyes closed. It took him a minute to realize this wasn’t just any girl, but Mystery Girl. Noelle.

He smirked to himself, happy to have found her. “Hey,” He nudged her foot with his sneaker, “That’s not a very ladylike position.”

Noelle cracked one eye open to look at the boy the voice came from. She recognized it right away, but didn’t want it to be true. Raising her eyebrows she answered, “Does it look like I care?”

He sat down beside her, mimicking he position, just with his elbows on his knees and holding a bottle. “Not really,” He admitted, glancing sideways at her.

“What do you want this time, Alex?”

He didn’t answer, but shrugged instead. To be honest, he really didn’t know what he wanted. Sure, he wanted to find her, but he wasn’t sure what after that.

“Company?” He said, though it was more of a question.

“You’ve got alcohol and girls galore. What more do you want?”

“I’m not drunk yet,” He held up the unopened bottle, “And all my friends are. And I’m not fucking some random chick when I’m still sober. I do have some morals, y’know.”

He expected her to cringe at his language, but she rolled her eyes instead.

“Mm-hm. Sure you do. You keep telling yourself that, Gaskarth.”

“Oh, we’re only on last name basis now, are we?”

“This is only the second time we’ve talked. And I’m not even sure you know my name.” Noelle resumed tilting her head back and closing her eyes. She could feel a headache coming on, and pulled out another cigarette.

If Noelle was watching, she would’ve seen him blush. “Noelle,” He said. “Noelle Lyons.”

“…and you know that how?” She opened her eyes again, and looked at him for the first time he’d sat down.

“Rian.” He said simply.

Noelle groaned, and hit her head repeatedly on the wall. “God, remind me to kill that kid next time I see him.”

“Wait,” Alex sounded surprised. “You know Rian?”

“Yup. Stepdad number seven’s cousin’s son. Rian, the lucky bastard he is, didn’t even have to go to the wedding.”

It was Alex’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “Stepdad number seven?”

“Yes Alex, stepdad number seven. My mother got the divorce because he was ‘too clingy’.” She put air quotes around “too clingy” with her fingers.

“Wow. Seven ex-stepdads, huh?”

“Eight, actually. Mom’s on hubby number nine, now.” She was silent for a minute, staring straight ahead before speaking again.

“…Wait. Why am I telling you all of this?”

“Because I needed company and you’re a nice girl?” Alex said it hopefully, willing her not to get up.

She didn’t.

“Y’know, I moved here from Essex when I was seven.”

When Noelle didn’t answer, he too stared straight ahead and unscrewed the cap off of the bottle. He took a big gulp, relishing in the familiar taste.

“What did you mean, last time?” He asked suddenly, looking back at Noelle.

“What did I mean about what?” she answered, blowing smoke rings towards the sky.

“You told me…you told me ‘you can’t find what doesn’t exist’. And then you left.”

“I…”

“Want some?” Alex cut in, offering his bottle.

Noelle shrugged. “Jaeger again?” He nodded sheepishly. “Eh, why the hell not?”

She took the bottle out of Alex’s hand, gripping it around the small neck. She sniffed at it first before bringing it up to her lips. She downed a large mouthful, cringing as she handed it back.

“You actually drink that?”

Alex grinned, taking a sip himself. He felt accomplished, somehow. He knew Noelle didn’t drink, but somehow he had gotten her to. “Hell yeah. Pretty soon you’ll be so drunk you won’t even care anymore.”

“Fine with me.” She took the bottle back, grabbing it right out of his hands and drank some more. “So, I guess you want me to explain myself?”

Alex blushed and nodded, taking the bottle again.

“I…I meant that when you asked me if I was looking to fall in love…I meant that I wasn’t. Because I can’t find what isn’t there.”

Alex furrowed his eyebrows as they passed the Jaeger back and forth. The disgusted look on Noelle’s face gradually disappeared with each sip she took. Noelle remained silent, despite the looks of confusion on Alex’s face. She stared straight ahead, no longer paying attention to anything other than what she was going to say, and the alcohol she was now drinking.

“Because love doesn’t exist, Alex. If it doesn’t exist, how the hell am I supposed to find it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you not understand?” She said, loudly. Alex realized by the way she was no longer quiet and thinking before she spoke, that she was at least three-quarters of the way to being drunk. “Love. Isn’t real. Why do you think my mom has gotten remarried nine times? She’s searching and searching, but she’ll never find it. She wants to fall in love, Alex. She wants to live happily ever after. She doesn’t understand that those things only happen in fairy tales. That happily-ever-afters are made up for little girls to dream about. Do you get it now, Alex? This is real life. Not some stupid movie.”

Alex guessed that then was a bad time to mention he thought he was falling for the very girl who didn’t believe in what he was feeling.