Lights on the Lake

"You can't just leave!" Mackenzie said as Alana paced back and forth in her father's now virtually empty house. They were in Alana's old bedroom and Alana was taking turns between the pacing and throwing some things she left behind in a large duffle bag.

"Oh, yes I can," Alana said, fury still extremely prominent within her. Her body was basically shaking at the thought of the slowed down play by play of Kelly standing on her stupid tippy toes to kiss Leo on his stupid lips.

"Can you just tell me what happened to make you freak out like this? I thought you were finally getting used to being back here." Mackenzie asked and took a step forward. She grabbed the duffle bag from Alana's hand and held it in front of her.

"Mackenzie, give it back," Alana said, holding a random article of clothing she found in the back of her closet that she was going to put into it.

"I'm holding this bag ransom until you tell me what the hell happened," Mackenzie replied, her dirty blonde hair getting into her face. She blew her hair out of the way triumphantly and continued to hold the bag in front of her.

Alana sighed and sat down on the bed.

"Fine," She huffed. "Leo is back together with Kelly Paltron," She added quietly. Mackenzie dropped the duffle bag straight on the floor, her mouth slightly ajar as she stared straight back at Alana.

"You're kidding right?" Mackenzie asked with an awkward laugh. "Like you must be joking."

"I wish I was," Alana replied and leaned backward, staring up at the ceiling. "I guess it just goes to show that right when we think we've got Leo Cronin at least somewhat figured out, he'll go off and surprise us."

"But she's a total bitch!" Mackenzie retorted. "She was terrible to you in high school when you told him about all her little escapades she did when she claimed that she was going off to Cedar Rapids with her rich dad on his business trips." Mackenzie scoffed. "We all know what she was really doing."

Alana sighed again, her eyes never moving from a small spot on the ceiling. "I remember only a few months after he first started dating her, him and I were lying on my dad's rooftop and he told me that she was the only girl he felt he could ever be in love with."

Alana finally took her eyes off the spot on the ceiling and leaned forward to look at Mackenzie who was staring back at her.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything to him all those years ago," Alana continued. "Maybe then he would have found out himself and my last three months of high school wouldn't have been so miserable, and..."

"You possibly wouldn't have left?" Mackenzie asked quietly.

There was a pause before Alana decided to speak.

"I think leaving was always in the back of my mind, Mac, and there were plenty of other reasons I used for inspiration that didn't involve them," Alana replied. "but I guess I just needed Leo and Kelly to make my decision final."

Mackenzie sighed and plopped down on the bed right next to Alana. "Just because they were a large reason for you leaving last time, doesn't mean that they should be again this time. Plus, your aunt needs you. Paul is still in the hospital and they decided not to let him out for a few days and he won't be returning back to work for a few weeks, and I think your cousins are finally getting used to having you around. You can't just leave again. You can't."

Alana looked over at Mackenzie who almost looked like she was about to cry, but was hiding it by refusing to meet her eye to eye. Alana couldn't help but feel guilty. Mackenzie and her had been best friends since they were old enough to talk, and they had plans for a road trip right before Mackenzie started college, when Alana finally got her license back. But Alana couldn't bear to think of taking a road trip only to turn right back around and come back to Lake Vedleu. She knew that if she got a glimpse of the outside world, she would never have wanted to come back, and she was right.

"Well, I guess... I guess I could wait until the house is sold and then officially move back to New York," Alana said slowly, knowing that each word that left her mouth in that sentence was instantly regretted right after.

Mackenzie smiled and stood up off of the bed.

"My persuasion skills have never been at their finest," She quipped and then grabbed Alana's hand to pull her up. "And it's a good thing yo're staying because my family is having a welcome home party tonight for my older brother. My mom and dad are so excited about it, and they want everyone to come, which obviously includes you."

"Please tell me this excludes Leo?" Alana asked hopefully, even though she already felt she knew the answer.

"Unfortunately, je ne peux pas. My mom invited Leo's dad and said he was all excited to see Ariston return home, mainly because Ariston worked at Mr. Cronin's shop since he was old enough to use a wrench."

"Of course," Alana said bitterly and glanced up at Mackenzie. "At least Ariston isn't bad to look at. But still, Mac, you'll be my wingman, you understand? Everywhere I go, you make sure that Leo is at least 15 feet away, or else I am not responsible for any physical injuries that he may succumb to."

Mackenzie laughed. "Don't worry, tonight is going to be perfect. Ariston is finally coming home safe and sound, and you're here. It's going to be great." Mackenzie reached into the large duffle bag, it's contents now all over the floor from when she dropped it. She grabbed a pair of bright red pumps and handed them to Alana. "Wear these tonight, it's formal. You'll look amazing and a lot of Ariston's old friends are coming, maybe you'll meet someone!"

"Mackenzie, I have a boyfriend!" Alana responded.

"Oh, right, Tyler, from Germany, right? I completely forgot about him!" Mackenzie replied with a laugh. "For a serious boyfriend, you don't really talk about him much."

"His name is Trey," Alana replied, and decided not to respond to Mackenzie's second statement. Instead she held up the red heels and kept her mouth shut, even though she knew that that was what Mackenzie was just criticizing her for.



"Okay, you didn't say that your parents invited the whole entire town!" Alana exclaimed after she walked in the front door of Mackenzie's rather large, yet modest home. There were cars parked everywhere and a huge sign that was hung above the door that said "WELCOME HOME, ARISTON. AMERICA IS PROUD OF YOU."

"I told you my parents are excited! You know how stoked they get even about movie nights in the backyard. This is ten times bigger." Mackenzie replied. "Ariston just got home a few hours ago and they wasted no time making sure he knew how happy they were that he was back."

Mackenzie tugged at her short white dress that layered at different spots and Alana couldn't help but realize that she looked stunning. It was obvious that Mackenzie was extremely excited about Ariston being home from being deployed overseas, and it saddened Alana to know that she wasn't here when he had been. Alana could tell that Mackenzie was thinking the same thing, but neither of them said anything.

Alana glanced around at everyone as they walked through the crowed toward the backyard. Everyone was dressed to impress and Alana recognized a lot of people from her old high school that were three grades higher than her at the time, just as Ariston was. The twinkling lights in the backyard illuminated an even larger banner that was hung between two trees that said the same phrase as the banner above the front door. Alana smiled, and suddenly everyone raised champagne glasses and raised them upward toward the back door of the house.

Alana turned to see Ariston at the doorway, grinning as the backyard clapped loudly for him. His dark blonde hair was cropped short to his head, but it suited him as his blue eyes glistened at his neighbors, old friends and family applauded for him.

"All right, that's enough!" Ariston said while grinning even louder. "You guys are all too kind, and it's very obvious my parents put you up to this."

The crowd laughed as Ariston turned to look at his parents. Mackenzie's dad had his arm around his wife's waist as they smiled back brightly at their son.

"Enjoy the party!" Ariston said, and then took the steps down to be greeted by his many friends. Alana always remembered Ariston being extremely popular in high school. He was a senior when she was a freshman, and he was always just Mackenzie's good looking older brother to her. He was always a gentleman though, and was always nice and selfless to anyone he met, which was probably why there were so many people at this party applauding his homecoming, and Alana couldn't help but think about the fact that her homecoming was the absolute opposite of his.

"I'm going to go talk to him," Mackenzie said to Alana. "But I have to warn you, this town is all about the gossip in regards to your uncle's accident. So beware of any housewives coming up to you asking you about how your good looking uncle got attacked by a pipe."

Alana laughed and Mackenzie squeezed her shoulder before walking away and grabbing her younger brother and sister and walked up to Ariston. They enveloped him in a hug as their parents came forward and did the same as well. They looked almost as perfect as a Hallmark card, Alana thought, seeing Mackenzie's mother's perfect blonde hair and her father's strong chin and classic good looks. They all looked like the perfect family, and Mackenzie was positively beaming.

Alana glanced over the people of the party to see Weezer standing off to the side, wearing what Alana predicted was his father's suit. He stood next to Abigail and her boyfriend Jason, but Alana's eyes were right on Weezer. He was beaming right back at Mackenzie, watching her, but Mackenzie was too engrossed in her brother's return to notice the way Weezer was looking at her.

"You look great."

Alana felt breath hit her shoulder by a whisper and turned to see that Leo was standing behind her in a nice black fitted suit, his hair actually neat for once. He was holding a champagne glass with one hand, and his other hand rested coolly in his pocket.

"I'm wearing too much make up and heels that are making my feet feel like they're breaking in half, but I'm glad my pain has resulted in a 'you look great. It means a lot coming from you," Alana replied bitterly and very sarcastically, causing Leo to raise his eyebrows and letting out a chuckle.

"Whoa there, sassy," Leo replied and took a calm sip of his champagne. "No need for hostility."

"Oh, there's plenty of need for hostility," Alana snapped back. "Why I chose Mackenzie out of all people to be my wingman at her own family's party to keep me away from you, I have no idea."

"What?" Leo asked.

"Nothing," Alana replied and sighed. "Go away. Isn't Kelly here? Maybe you guys can go sneak off and make out like you did at the Festival of Lights the summer before senior year. Remember that night? When I came up to you upset because I heard my dad talking on the phone with a woman and was convinced it was my mom, until he had to sit me down and tell me that it would never be my mom. You told me you'd stick by me the whole night and then snuck off to make out with Slutty Paltron."

"You did not come up to me upset!" Leo retorted. Alana shot him a look. "Alana, your version of upset in high school was usually a spout of anger resulting in either a car accident or someone's dog being nowhere to be found at your hands. Whenever anything remotely bad happened to you that would have affected you, you just laughed it off. Just like you did that night."

"So you think me coming to you telling you about that incident, even if I was laughing it off or not, didn't it - I don't know - spark some type of plug in your head to show that you leaving me alone wouldn't have been the best idea?"

"Alana, I was in high school. I only cared about a select amount of things," Leo replied with a laugh, obviously trying to lighten the mood. "And those select amount of things were the only things that mattered to me at the time. Kelly Paltron had boobs, that's all that I cared about."

"I had boobs too, Leo!" Alana yelled. A few people looked over in their direction and Leo raised his eyebrows in slight shock. "Ugh, damnit, you know what I mean."

"Well... maybe I don't, enlighten me though." Leo said slowly with a tint of amusement in his voice, his mouth curving upward. Alana's heart was beating hard in her chest and she realized that he would just never get it.

"Just go back to your girlfriend," Alana spat.

"I'll go back to my girlfriend, if you go back to your boyfriend," Leo replied. Alana looked up at him and her mouth opened slightly.

"Is that why you're back with her?" She asked incredulously. "Because you found out I have a boyfriend?"

Leo laughed, hard. "Please, Alana, I'm not in high school anymore. Kelly and I have been back together on and off for months, I just never chose to tell you until now."

Alana started up at him, feeling a mix of emotions between anger, embarrassment and hurt. "Well... you should probably tell her about how you kissed me then," She said angrily under her breath.

Leo smirked. "You know that kiss was to prove a point. It meant absolutely nothing at all."

Alana's breathing became heavier and she felt her eyes sting without really knowing why. She didn't need to say anything else to him, and instead she angrily turned her back and walked away from him and through the crowd.

By then, the people had scattered and so had the Platt family, making it much harder to find Mackenzie. Alana's throat felt like it was about to give away when she ran straight into Weezer. She almost fell backward but he grabbed onto her arms to keep her steady, and the end of her heel sunk into the grass.

"You okay?" Weezer asked, helping her keep her balance. She lifted her heel up and out of the ground before pulling Weezer into a hug.

"I hate Leo Cronin," Alana mumbled into his chest. She could feel Weezer chuckle as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"I know," He said and she knew he was slightly smiling. "I know."

Alana pulled away and looked up at him. "You clean up well," She said, eyeing him once again in his suit.

"You think?" He asked and did a small turn. "It's my dad's."

"I know," Alana replied with a small laugh. Weezer smiled.

"Let me grab some champagne, and we'll talk about the newest addition to your's and Leo's feud while getting drunk like the rich people do," Weezer offered. Alana smiled.

"You've got yourself a deal."

Weezer walked away and came back a few minutes later with two champagne glasses. The two of them sat down at a table among many set up in the backyard and for the next half hour, she told Weezer about everything. He didn't say a word as she vented and continued to vent about Leo, and Trey, and New York and everything else until that half an hour turned into forty five minutes.

"I just can't believe he's back with Kelly Paltron. You know how evil she is," Alana continued when the topic of Leo came back up.

Weezer stared back at her and Alana took a deep breath.

"Okay, I'm done," Alana said with a final breath. "That felt good."

"Good," Weezer replied with another chuckle. "And as an impartial person who is neither here nor there in this situation, I'd like to say that Leo is very good at making very bad decisions. My advice is to just let him make them. Because his defense mechanism when someone judges his decisions is to put that person down, you should know that."

"I know," Alana replied and took a deep breath. "All right, let's go find miss Mackenzie. She's probably overloaded on champagne by now and as happy about it as ever."

Weezer grinned and nodded as the two stood up and walked through the backyard and into the house, looking around for Mackenzie, they finally found her upstairs coming out of the bathroom.

"Hi, guys!" She said, somewhat loopily. "Isn't tonight just great? This champagne rocks."

Weezer and Alana exchanged a small smile and Mackenzie almost stumbled but leaned against the wall, still grinning ear to ear.

"Well, howdy, Weeze! I haven't seen you all night!" She exclaimed.

"Howdy..." Weezer replied and Mackenzie pulled him into a hug.

"Let's go back out to the party, yeah?" Mackenzie offered. They all nodded and started to walk back toward the front of the house.

"Oh wait, I forgot the shawl that came with this dress in my parents room when I was getting dressed before the party!" Mackenzie said quickly, almost stumbling over her words like it was a tongue twister. She turned on her heel and walked back down the hallway while Weezer and Alana stayed at the end of the hallway to wait for her. They watched her walk toward the farthest door away and open it. They then heard her gasp loudly, which sounded almost like a small scream. She then quickly turned on her heel again, her hand covering her mouth, her eyes widened and watering.

"Whoa, Mackenzie, what happened?" Alana asked.

"Let's go," Mackenzie replied under her breath. Grabbing Alana's arm.

"What happened?" Weezer asked.

"Let's GO!" Mackenzie yelled through her tears.

"Mackenzie, wait!" They all heard a voice say from her parent's bedroom. Mackenzie bolted into a run, pushing through her two friends, down the staircase and out of sight. Alana and Weezer stood in shock and looked back at the door where they saw her father had just appeared, his tie loose on his neck, his shirt slightly unbottoned. "Mackenzie!" He exclaimed again. He glanced at the two of them while quickly adjusting his tie and buttoning up his shirt. "Wait!" He yelled again and ran straight through Alana and Weezer just like Mackenzie just had.

There was a thick silence as Alana and Weezer stood in the dark.

"What just happened?" Alana asked. And suddenly they heard a movement from the bedroom. Alana snapped her head in the direction and her mouth dropped in shock as she saw a man she did not recognize facing them, his shirt unbottoned, and his tie loose, just like Mackenzie's father's had been. Alana's eyes widened as he awkwardly faced them.

"Sorry, excuse me, sorry," He said and walked quickly past them, his head down. They watched him bolt down the stairs and out of the front door of the house.

"Oh my god," Alana said while looking up at Weezer.

"Mackenzie," He said.

They both turned and ran down the stairs quickly. They entered the living room and kitchen where all the party goers stood around, obviously not aware of what just happened. Alana had tears in her eyes, thinking of how Mackenzie must be feeling after walking in on her father with another... man.

Alana and Weezer pushed through the people, looking around, trying to find Mackenzie.

"I'll check the backyard," Weezer said and Alana nodded while turning the other direction. She pushed through the crowd until she felt someone grab her arm.

"You all right?" Leo asked her and Alana's breath quickened. She didn't even realize she was crying, but she knew that the tears were that of desperation, trying to find Mackenzie. Alana yanked her hand from Leo's grasp. "Look, Alana, I didn't mean to upset you or make you cry..."

"Oh shut up, Leo," Alana spat. "Not everything is about you."

Alana then turned away from Leo to push through the crowd again, looking for her best friend.