Thanatophobia

Fiesta

Read author's note first, por favor!!

"Yeah, so that's one medium, deep-dish pizza with olives, banana peppers, bacon, anchovies, tomatoes, extra cheese, and pineapple?" repeated the girl on the other line.

I dabbed more of my favorite O.P.I. pink nail polish onto my toenail and counted off the toppings in my head. "Sounds about right," I told her before she hung up.

Painting my nails was one of the many devices I used to distract myself from less desirable things in my life. Like the incessant rain that seemed to be drowning me from the moment I woke up this morning. Like Cam and the stupid car accident.

Who did I think I was, anyway, to suggest that he take me home instead of Lucy? I was way more than shaken up (granted, it took at least an hour after I got home for me to literally stop shaking) so I guess I could blame that on my insanity. I don't know why I wanted to talk to the kid, as if you could even call our stupid conversation "talking." He basically just screwed me over with a bunch of accusations and reprimands.

"Fuck him, anyway," I muttered, and the doorbell rang. Startled, I flinched and sent the nail polish brush flying out of my hand and onto the disgustingly pale yellow comforter on my bed. Honestly, though, the smear of shimmering fuchsia polish was an improvement.

I rushed down the stairs, waddling on my heels so as not to get nail polish on the posh carpeting. I could smell pizza before I even opened the door.

"Woah, dude," I remarked, swinging open the heavy oak door. "You weren't kidding when you said twenty minutes or less..."

My voice trailed off when I caught sight of the soaking wet pizza guy holding... about eight sheet pizzas. My mouth fell open and the guy peeked over the mountain of pizza boxes.

"Can I set these down somewhere?" he asked desperately, dripping with rain.

"Uhm, but they're not mine," I protested.

He sighed quietly, probably not wanting to seem rude (but he was totally coming off as rude, for the record). "This is Nick Hamilton's place." He said it as a statement, not a question. "It's Friday. The pizzas are for here, I know it."

I was a second away from slamming the door in his face when Nick's silver Prius rolled down the driveway.

"What the fuck is this, Nick?" I yelled past the pizza guy when Nick hurried out of his car.

He patted the guy on the shoulder, causing him to buckle under the weight of the pizzas, and handed him a wad of cash from his wallet, trying not to get it too wet from the now pouring rain.

"Sorry, man," he said. "Keep the change."

The pizza guy handed off the pizzas and pumped his chest with his fist. "Hey, thanks, bro. Have a nice party, man."

"Sure," Nick said, nodding his head in that cool-guy way. "Maybe you can stop over later, grab a drink."

"Yeah, sure, man!" he agreed and ran back to his car.

I just gaped at Nick, moving out of the way so he could bring the pizzas in.

"Hey, Shelb," he said in a rushed tone. He rustled my hair, which majorly pissed me off, and headed back out to the car. "You mind helping me bring this beer in?"

He flashed me his winning smile that made most girls wild (but made me want to hurl) and started running case after case of beer from his car to the house.

"You're kidding, right?" I yelled from the doorway. "One, I'm not going out in the rain to help you load booze into the house that I'm not even allowed to drink on a daily basis; and two, what makes you think that Sheri's gonna let you have a party while you're babysitting moi?"

He waved me off. "I have parties every weekend. You can stay in your room or something, right?"

"Are you kidding?" I screeched, holding myself back from stomping my foot. "I want to come to the party! It's my house too!"

"Ah, ah, ah," I wagged his finger in front of my face, dropping the last case of beers on the floor. "No way, Jose. This is one party you're not invited to, Princess. Now go to your room and talk to me when you're in college."

I groaned and stomped my way back up the stairs, making sure to get as much polish as I could on the white carpet.

♥♦♣♠

About an hour after the pounding music had started up below me, I couldn't take being in my room any longer. I'd painted my nails three different times, changed outfits twice, and straightened my abundance of hair. I felt like a frigging modern- day Rapunzel or something. There was no way I was missing out on a college party at my own house. I had been to plenty of parties at boarding school- Meghan and I were the queens of partying. And I wasn't stupid; I knew better this time than to get drunk off my ass like I used to.

Just as I reached for the doorknob to head downstairs, a couple stumbled into the room, knocking me to the floor. They were making out furiously, falling onto my bed and already starting to undress. I rubbed my head and got to my feet.

"Oh, hell no!" I screamed over the pulsating music from downstairs. "Off of my bed, perverts!"

The girl pulled away from her little sex toy (I doubted they were even dating, from the smell of alcohol on them) and screamed when she saw me. She quickly grabbed her shirt and darted out of the room, the guy following groggily after her.

"Bitch," he muttered when he passed me by. I rolled my eyes and closed my door behind me on my way downstairs.

The smell hit me before anything else. There was a wall of people everywhere I turned- smelling like a mixture of sweat and alcohol, thrashing in every direction like a hurricane or something. Beer was sloshed on the walls, lights flashing every color, and the bass from the huge speakers installed in every room was pounding so loud I could feel it splitting my chest open. People were grinding blindly against anyone and everyone, flailing their arms and spilling beer and wine coolers on my favorite sequined tank top. I bet if I looked outside, people would already be throwing up in the bushes.

I smiled. This was just like boarding school, only better.

One of my favorite Sleigh Bells songs was blasting throughout the house while I made my way to the kitchen. I flipped open a pizza box and ate two slices. Then I got really thirsty. And I kind of forgot about how I was supposed to be strong. And the music was really, really loud. And I reached into a cooler. The lights were flashing so bright. I wanted to dance.

I popped open the can and started gulping down the beer. And then I realized how similar the flashing lights were to police lights.

I clutched my stomach and set down my beer on the counter, just in time to be slammed up against the side of the kitchen island, cold marble digging into my side.

"Ow, FUCK!" I screamed and the little brunette that slammed up against me slid to the floor, laughing hysterically. I was about to start cussing her out, but my stomach turned and I suddenly found my self pushing people out of the way desperately to get outside to the deck.

I slid open the glass door and stumbled out into the cool, pouring rain. It was really dark out, and a lot quieter. I threw myself up against the railing of the deck and blew chunks all over the lawn. I sat there like that, throwing up my guts for the next five minutes, then slid down into a puddle. I didn't care.

I put my head between my knees and sobbed, feeling each cool raindrop soak me from the inside out as if I was sitting in a shower. Then I felt the presence next to me and lifted my head. The little brunette that slammed into me in the kitchen was staring at me with wide, guilty eyes and fiddling with the Monroe piercing above her lip.

"Lauren?" I asked with disbelief. It was the girl from my cooking class. She looked way different now, with her hair that was now soaked but probably done up really nice for the party. Her makeup was dark and smokey, but smudged down her face from the rain.

She cocked her head to the side. "Shelby? What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

Her breath smelled like beer and pizza, and I was glad that there was nothing left in my stomach to throw up because I probably would have. Instead, I bent my head between my legs and breathed slowly.

"Sorry I bumped into you," she said sweetly. "I'm lotsa drunk!"

She put a hand on my head, proving that she was "lotsa drunk" because she was probably aiming for my shoulder. "Um," I sniffled. "Not to be mean, Lauren, but who invited you here? This is a college party."

She stretched out her arms and yawned. "My sister, Millie, takes me every week. Us Merklovs like the booze..." she trailed off, staring at a puddle at the edge of the deck. "Millie's goin' out with Nicky. He owns this house."

I nodded. "Wait, Millie's your sister?"

She gazed off into the distance, where the dark pond sat in the back yard. "We should go swimming. It'd be fun!"

She started to get up and I pulled her down. I was about to protest when the glass door slid open.

"Speak of the Devil!" Lauren shouted. "Hey Millard!"

Lauren's sister laughed adorably at her quirky nickname. For a second I was ashamed of myself for not making the connection sooner. Millie and Lauren looked almost exactly alike- same brown hair (except Millie's was longer and had a little wave to it), same wide eyes, both incredibly skinny and tall, and they even dressed alike. They probably shared clothes.

Nick trailed out after Millie, taking her hand and assessing the situation. Those two looked like the only sober ones at the party.

"Hey, Laurie," Millie greeted her sister. "Hey, Shelb! I haven't seen ya in forever!"

I forced a smile, but didn't want to look at Nick. He was fuming.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" he yelled. Lauren jumped back and hiccuped with surprise.

"Sorry, sir, it was my fault!" Lauren said, winking very obviously at me. "I made Shelby throw up! My fault, sir."

He ignored Lauren and raised an eyebrow.

"I told you to stay upstairs," he said more calmly.

I snorted. "Well that was kind of tough to do while some idiots were trying to get it on in the comfort of my bed," I spat.

"Did you drink?" he asked, pulling me to my feet.

I yanked my hand away. "You act like I have no control," I defended, praying he couldn't smell it on me. "I didn't drink."

"Bullshit," he sneered, his face inches from mine. Millie pulled him away from me and put a hand seductively on his chest.

"Come on, Nicky, it's just a party," she said sweetly.

I wanted to gag had it not been for Millie saving my ass.

"It's not just a party for her," he told her in a nicer tone. "There are rules for her. She's a kid."

"I'm a kid, too!" Lauren interjected sluggishly, proving his point perfectly. I sighed.

"I'm going up to bed, Nick. I'll see you in the morning."

With that, I left them in the rain and trudged back up to my bedroom, soaking wet and praying to God that there was no one having intercourse under my hideous duvet.
♠ ♠ ♠
Okay guys, so thanks to that weird server crash, this chapter was deleted originally... but I'm taking that unfortunate circumstance and turning it into a blessing, i.e. a chance to rewrite it into a better chapter. Honestly, I like this version a lot better. You get a lot different view on Lauren and Shelby's personalities. There's less fluff. More hard core shit to deal with! And also some of the same stuff.. But basically what I'm saying is if you've already read this READ IT AGAIN(: I love you guys! Thanks for your comments so far and support and such(: happy April, and listen to some Sleigh Bells, I beg of you! ♥ They are great!