The Party Scene Got The Best Of Us...And Look Where We Ended Up.

With the dishes from dinner finished, Kara and Rian were sitting on the couch, watching old Lost re-runs together. Rian was slouched down into the cushions, feet on the ottoman in front of him, while Kara leaned against him, feet curled underneath herself. Just as the show flipped to a commercial, the kitchen phone rang, startling both a half-asleep Kara, and a wide-awake Rian. Zoey, too woke up, picked her head up, looked at Kara and then pointedly to the kitchen, and then put it back down. Sighing, Kara pulled herself up off the couch and Rian’s shoulder and hurried into the kitchen to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Oh, uh, hey Mrs. Dawson. Uh…Is Shae there?”

Kara smiled to herself. “She’s in her room. Let me just go give her the phone.”

“’Aight. Thanks, Mrs. D.”

Kara climbed the steps carefully, phone in hand.

Shae was just looking out the window, admiring how clear and cloudless the sky was. Each star was a sharp pinprick of light, and the moon was perfectly full, casting a dull white shine to everything in the backyard. It was the perfect night for stargazing, which was exactly what Shae planned on doing. Pulling a sweatshirt out of her closet and over her shoulders, she walked to her closed bedroom door, only to find her mother on the other side.

“Phone for you,” Kara told her daughter, holding the phone in question out.

“Who is it?”

Kara only smiled and handed the phone over, then turned around to reclaim her place on the living room couch.

Shae was curious who would be calling her at almost 10:00 at night. If it were Soraya or Emmy or Bryony, they would’ve called earlier and on Shae’s cell phone. With some confusion evident in her voice, Shae answered, “Hello?”

“Shae? It’s Ian.”

“Oh, h-hey Ian.”

Not knowing what to say, Shae instead said nothing at all. Cue awkward silence.

“…So, wh-what’s up?” She asked finally.

“Eh, not much. Just finished writing a little bit.”

“Oh, that’s good. Right?”

“Yeah, it is. So, I was wondering…”

“Yeah?”

“Er, I was thinking actually, that we could go out later?” They way he said it was more a command, but Shae failed to notice.

Ian’s words literally froze Shae in place, sitting on the corner of her full-sized bed. “I-I’d love to!”

“Great, see ya later, then.” Ian smirked as he hung up the phone, and as Shae did the same, she sighed almost dreamily and flopped back onto her bed.

Trying not to smile too much, Shae crept out of her room to carry the phone back downstairs. Her mother and father were both cuddled up on the couch, sleeping soundly as the first of a series of late-night TV shows played. She put the phone back on the charger in the kitchen, grabbed a glass of ice water, and silently returned to her room, all thoughts of stargazing forgotten. Not too long after, she heard footsteps heading up the stairs, signaling Kara and Rian were on their way to bed for the night.

Shae turned her radio on, hoping to lull herself to sleep and briefly forget the excitement of her date. Just as she was about to close her eyes for good, she remembered her open window, and quickly crawled to the end of her bed to close it. What she saw peering in from outside the window shocked her, and she froze mid-reach and opened her mouth to shriek, only to have it covered with a calloused hand.

“Shh,” his voice whispered, “Shae, it’s only me.”

Shae instantly relaxed, then glared at Ian and slapped his shoulder. “You scared the hell outta me!”

“Sorry? I didn’t think I should knock this late.” He grinned, obviously not bothered by either the glare or the slap. “
Well, you gonna help me in or what?”

Only then did Shae realize he was clinging to her window frame with the tips of his fingers and his toes were barely on the top of the window below. She blushed and nodded, scrambling to pull the screen out so Ian could clamber through.

“So, um, why are you here? N-not that I care or anything.” She did, actually, considering she was only in yoga pants and an almost too-small camisole.

“I said I was taking you out, didn’t I?”

“I-I just didn’t expect it to be so late. It’s not a problem, though.”

Ian flashed her another grin, “That’s good. Let’s go?”

“Yeah, sure. Let me just…” she debated going and waking her mom up, but decided against it. If Rian heard, she wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near Ian ever again. “…grab shoes and a sweater.”

She came back out of her closet in jeans and a too-big hoodie that at one point had belonged to her dad, along with a beat-up pair of sneakers. She just hoped her hair wasn’t completely repulsive.

Ian eyed her new attire, smirking slightly. “Those jeans look nice.”

Shae turned bright red, knowing they were from last year and a little tight. “T-thank you. Um…can you go back out through the window? Just in case mom and dad wake up. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

In a flash, Ian was out the window, and Shae took an extra minute to run a brush through her hair and to clip her bangs back before creeping down to the front door.

Ian met her on the front steps, waiting patiently for Shae to make sure the door was closed and locked behind her.

They began walking, shoulders barely brushing. Ian was looking straight ahead, and so was Shae for the most part, though she did occasionally steal a few glances in his direction. They walked in silence; Shae didn’t know what to say, and she had a feeling Ian didn’t either.

After a few minutes of silence, Shae asked, “Hey, where are we going, anyway?”

Ian, refusing to tell her, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and said that she’d find out soon enough.

Just as Ian promised, they stopped soon after Shae’s question. She recognized it to be a park, one she was sure she’d taken the kids she babysat for to at least once. It looked totally different at night, more peaceful and less childish somehow. The only streetlight was out, meaning the only light was coming from the bright moon, which cast everything in a dull white glow. Ian drew away from Shae and grabbed her hand, leading her to the playscape in the center of the park. He climbed up to the first level, and then helped Shae, who he told to keep climbing, always making sure he was there to help her up if she needed it.

“Alright, now close your eyes.”

Shae did as he said, very unsure about standing so high up, in the pitch black, with no one around but a boy she’d known since she was born, but never really got a chance to know at all.

“And...open.”

There were a few candles place on the flat tops of the pillars surrounding the platform they were standing on, as well as a few beneath them. There was a blanket spread on the ground in front of Shae, and Ian was already sitting on it, patting the space next to him. She sat down beside him, still unsure of his plans for the night. Ian pointed up at the sky, mumbling something about clarity and stars, and Shae leaned back on the palms of her hands to look up at the constellations. Ian was fumbling around in the dark behind him, seemingly trying to find something before Shae noticed and asked what he was doing. In seconds he produced two clear plastic wineglasses, along with an uncorked bottle of wine and quickly poured two full glasses.

“I…” Shae didn’t want to seem like she was a goody two shoes, so she thought twice about protesting. The last thing she wanted was for Ian to think she didn’t want to break the rules or that she hadn’t drank before, and decide he wouldn’t waste his time on her. “I think you’re only supposed to fill the glass halfway. That way you can swish air into it and get the full flavor.”

Ian grinned and picked up the glass he’d set in front of her, draining half of it in a single mouthful. “Better?”

Shae nodded and picked up the glass, taking a tiny sip and trying not to cringe at the taste. The second sip was less bitter, and the third was even less. By the time her glass was empty and Ian was pouring more –past the halfway point this time, with no protest from Shae– it almost tasted good. She finished the glass and another half of one, then collapsed back to lay down and look at the sky, giggling girlishly as she pulled Ian down, too.

“You see that one,” She hiccupped, pointing to a cluster of stars. “That one’s, uh…that’s…Oh! That’s Leo.”

“Really now?” Ian replied, putting an arm around Shae and pulling her closer.

“Yup. It’s a lion,” she giggled and pointed to another group. “And that’s…Lupus. That one’s supposed to be a…wolf. Yeah. Wolf.”

They laid there in silence after, with Shae giggling to herself and Ian smiling slightly to himself. He’d only had a two glasses of wine, and it was cheap, so he didn’t feel any effects at all. Shae, on the other hand, obviously had more, and didn’t drink much if at all. Her thoughts were fuzzy and she knew the wine probably wasn’t such a good idea, but at that point, she’d didn’t much care, either. She was laying next to Ian, star gazing. As far as she was concerned, it was her idea of a perfect date. Just when she thought it couldn’t get any better, Ian pressed a kiss to her hair, then her temple, then her cheek. She giggled some more, and turned her head just in time for one of his kisses to land on her lips. More came after that, and Shae had quickly gone from only been kissed once or twice by a boy to full on making out. Ian’s one hand was tangled in her hair, the other at her waist and slowly creeping higher. When she felt his rough hands on the skin of her waist she pulled away, though, knowing that it wasn’t right despite the fact she was slightly intoxicated.

“I um, I think I should get back,” She said, sounding much more sober and rubbing the back of her neck. “Dad’ll sometimes get up in the middle of the night, and I don’t want him to wonder where I am and get you in trouble.”

Ian said nothing, but nodded and started blowing out candles before hopping back down to ground level, this time not bothering to help Shae down. He did walk her home, though he didn’t touch her, and didn’t wait to make sure she actually got back in the house successfully.

Shae did make it back through the door and crept up to her room, where she collapsed on the bed fully clothed and knowing she’d regret the wine in the morning, though at that moment, she couldn’t have been happier.