Cracked Porcelain

October 17

So I met a guy and I think if I were truly capable of liking someone then I might actually like him. Pretty much like every other "hookup" or teen-aged stories it all started at a party.

First I must specify how much I truly loathe house parties? To be clear I detest them more than Bliss hates having split ends on picture day. I can cope with dinner parties, unveiling parties, platter parties and even the yearly cocktail mixer my mother host with expensive red wine but I can not stand a hoard of drunk teenagers at a house party openly dry humping each other because it's all just so typical. But yet here I am once again standing next to a completely trashed Bliss, holding a red solo cup secretly filled with coca cola. Some pop song with shit lyrics about ridiculous lives that no one really leads assaults my ears and I can't stop thinking what the hell happened to music?

You may be wondering, like any other sane person would be, that if I hate house parties as much as I say that I do then why would I be spending my Friday night at one when I could be finishing the end of some book? The answer my dear friend is because my mother thinks it is best to blend in and simply just be normal. In other words my mother made me. When I was younger she would say things like, "Your father was in the military and when they were fighting the bad guys they would dress up in camouflage so the bad people wouldn't notice them. Acting like everyone else is your camo, do you understand sweetie? You should be more like daddy." Then she would pat my head and I would scamper off delighted to be like my deceased father. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize it was just another sugar coated insult. Regardless, In the end my mother won because here I was.

Bliss giggles and bats her dramatically fake eye lashes at the two boys in front of us, while I smile beside her. I played the whole modest girl card, giving Bliss the spotlight she constantly desires. The guys introduced themselves as Nicolas and Jack Rhodes. They looked vaguely familiar with their fake smiles, tall stature, cookie cutter appearance, and slightly southern drawl. I assumed we attend some of the same house parties and fancy cocktail mixers. It wouldn't surprise me, we always ended up in locations with snooty rich kids that travel in packs, constantly comparing their parents wealth. When they showed up I was coaxing Bliss off a overpriced piece of furniture.

"We originally came over here to confront the stranger scuffin' up our furniture. However, now that we are over here how could we possibly be so rude as to kick out you two lovely ladies?" Nicolas smiled real big showing off his pearly whites. His voice was deep and soothing kind of like a lullaby, I was not amused. Too bad I couldn't say the same for Bliss.

"Oh so this is your house?" I asked.

Figures.

Nicolas nodded with pride immediately telling Bliss all about the new addition that was just added upstairs. I could sit here and disclose the whole conversation between the two but we both know that would be a complete waste of time. Everyone knows how this little game they were playing unfolds. He makes a joke, she giggles. He shows her something expensive, she points out how much her shoes cost. She flirts, he flirts. One slightly intimate touch here, and hair flip there.Then Nick makes his way up the staircase towards the bedrooms, a wasted Bliss staggering behind laughing all the way up leaving me and Jack Rhodes behind.

"And then there were two." Jack joked, or shall I say attempted to joke.

Jack was visibly different than his older brother, Nick. He was much leaner and tad bit shorter. His shaggy, faded brown hair fell into his face right on top of his dark, thick eyebrows. His eyes were the deepest shade of blue that at first glance could be mistaken for black. He had pretty pink lips that formed a crooked, childlike smile. His ears were on the larger side but not big enough to make a Dumbo joke. I assumed that's why his hair was kept long. The only bottle he sipped from was a bottle of water. He smelled like cinnamon gum and sea salt, which I thought was odd because we didn't live by any oceans. Our conversation was brief and simple, which I truthfully appreciated.

"Do you not think that two is better than one?" I mused, simultaneously throwing my hair back into it's usual messy bun. I was rewarded with a cute crooked smile from my new friend Jack.

"I've told you my name what's yours?" He asked.

"Magnolia."

"You from 'round here?" Jack asked shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Born and raised."

"What part?" He was asking if we were in the same social class, or in other words did I have money. I did.

"Is your real name Jack or is it just a nickname?" I shot back.

"Pass."

"Pass?"

He shrugged, "You gotta family?"

"Well of course I do. I have to come from somewhere." I glanced at the time on my iPhone. I was suppose to be home an hour ago.

"No, I mean whats your parents do for a livin'?"

"Pass." I glanced at the time again and then in the direction towards the staircase.

"Pass?" That's when Jack just started laughing, like really laughing. I was taken aback because I wasn't even sure what the kid was laughing at. It was like I had just reminded him of some inside joke from the past and he just couldn't stop laughing because it was that funny. Then it dawned at me that I was the object of the joke. Bliss was my ride but I decided to just walk home. I figured that since we were in Shimmer-stone Valley my neighborhood wasn't too far away. I was growing tired of playing pretend.

I made it two steps before Jack grabbed my arm gingerly, "Where ya' going, blondey? A girl as stunning as you can't just walk away without lettin' me know the next time we'll meet! You are gonna let me see you again, right?"

My first instinct was to reject any more he made on me, and to tell you the truth I almost did but then I thought about all the other pretty girls at my school and how they all had boyfriends or at least the occasional hook up and how I've never even kissed a boy and it was my senior year. I thought about how Bliss and her friends were always trying to get me to date one of those self obsessed assholes at our school that would never like me as much as they liked their own mirrors and how Jack at least showed some kind of interest. Finally I thought of my mother and how she desperately wants me to blend in. And for a second the word camouflage flashed in my brain. So I held Jacks gazed and replied with,

"Sure, if you give me a ride home."

And so he did.