“Really? Darcy – you hate geography!” Claire laughed, mirroring Rena’s statement earlier, high pitched tone and all. Darcy opted to not say a word, welcoming the silence. As the girls chatted in front of her, she took advantage of the time to continue to take in her surroundings. Like her quick glance of the school parking lot earlier that day, she marveled at how beautiful all of the students were. They all seemed to be smiling and happy, and rather unsurprisingly, filthy rich. Their cars were a smorgasbord of money – ranging from BMW’s, to Mercedes, to the random Jeeps. Darcy, recognizing her brother’s car, made an A-line towards it, forgetting about her friends who were getting comfortable on a picnic bench by the massive trees that were lined up all around them.
She wasted no time in getting into the car and locking the doors. Alone, she exhaled heavily, but jumped when Claire knocked on the driver’s side window.
Claire gestured for her to open the window, looking annoyed and bothered. The typical teenage way, Darcy thought to herself. She lowered the window, the warm breeze gently caressing her flawless skin.
“Pick me up at 8 for the party?” Claire asked, or rather told her, lowering her head closer to where Darcy sat. She thought she had noticed Luke glaring at her from his perch at the picnic table not far behind from Claire now stood and immediately began to feel uncomfortable. She felt like she was never going to be able to drive away and have some time to herself and her thoughts.
She chose then to just smile and nod, which thankfully seemed to satisfy Claire who straight away turned around and rejoined her crew at the picnic bench. She briskly started the car and amped up the air conditioning. She had suddenly felt very hot and desperately needed to cool off. Without hesitation, or even putting on her seatbelt, she drove out of the lot, leaving her friends confused as to why she was behaving so strangely and out of character. If they only knew, Darcy thought to herself as she drove home.
***
As soon as she closed the bedroom door behind her, she dropped her purse on the carpeted floor and kicked off her pink ballet slipper flats. Her hands found the remote control that both raised and lowered the blinds. She happily lowered the enormous slats and welcomed the total darkness that soon enveloped her and her many, many thoughts. Now somewhat knowing how to navigate the room around her, she dramatically threw herself on the bed, welcoming the total silence that pressed in around her, as though almost in a welcoming and warm embrace.
Make things right, she heard Marina’s voice say as though the woman was in the room right there with her. You have always been the one.
She exhaled heavily, realizing that not one thing had seemed to fit into place or make any sort of sense, the least of which being Marina’s prophetic statements made earlier that day. Maybe this was part of the whole wish experience, she thought silently. Maybe things weren’t supposed to make sense, just like they tended not to do in her real life. But the whole allure for her in reading the teen fiction books that she cherished so much was the clear order of the lives that were depicted and the unclouded choices that had to be made by the novel's end. Her entire day couldn’t have been more in contrast to that. Instead of being able to enjoy the life of a girl she had so envied, she was full of questions and worries, visibly made worse by Marina’s impromptu and rather dramatic visit.
She was just beginning to nod off when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. She decided not to answer, hoping that whoever it was would just go away and leave her alone. She was in no mood to deal with her hyper-energetic mother at that moment.
The knocking continued, forcing her to get up from her comfortable stance on the bed. Grunting, she walked over to the door and pulled it open.
“I’m baaaaaaaack,” a young man said, his face a mirror image of her own. He faced her with a wry smile on his lips. “Did you miss me, little sister?”
Chapter 13
“Oh my God – I thought you were going to be away for another month!” Darcy exclaimed, turning on the lights in her bedroom. She reluctantly raised the blinds once more as her brother Mason walked in casually and took a seat on the bed.
Standing 6’2 and looming above her, Mason was clearly the type of guy that girls swooned over. He exuded just the right amount of confidence that she thought she could actually feel. His hair was the same dark shade of blonde as her own. His body was sculpted and perfect, just like Luke’s. The orange polo shirt he was wearing made his green eyes bright, almost fluorescent. She couldn’t stop staring at him.
They looked alike, that was a fact. Their eyes were large, their cheekbones high and prominent. She felt herself forging an immediate bond with her brother – and her excitement at having a brother made her temporarily forget about the many stresses that were just on her mind a few mere moments ago.
“So did I but Prague wasn’t doing it for me,” Mason replied, stretching out on the gargantuan bed that took up most of the room. He looked at the frame which housed a seemingly recent picture of Claire and Darcy on her nightstand and frowned.
“How’s Claire?” he asked, his voice dropping a few octaves.
“Fine – we’re going to Chrissy Barr’s party tonight,” she exclaimed. “Want to come?”
Mason laughed loudly, momentarily confusing her. His laugh sounded a tad cynical, almost sinister in its timbre. She mentally attributed it to his jet lag.
“You’re kidding right?” he said. “You know I wouldn’t be able to possibly handle annoying high school kids for an entire evening.”
She felt wounded but she also sort of understood. Her brother was a college man; an avid member of a social circle that while reminiscent of high school, was infinitely cooler and more serious. Mason quickly noticed her hurt expression and a smile spread across his face.
“What? You’re upset that I said no? Please, Darcy, don’t act like we’re friends because we’re not,” he said, quickly getting up from the bed and walking towards the window that overlooked their pool.
Feeling like the wind was knocked out of her, she couldn’t help but turn her gaze towards her brother.
Maybe he’s being sarcastic, she reasoned to herself. Maybe he’s just cranky. Chalk up another point to the jet lag.
“Huh?” was all she could muster. She was feeling the exhaustion of the day settling in within her once again. Glancing at the clock on her wall before her, she realized that the party wasn’t all that far away and that she’d have to leave fairly soon to pick up Claire. Secretly, all she wanted to do was just hide in her enormous bed and think up a storm, however unglamorous that would have appeared to her new friends.
Mason stared out the window a few moments longer and then turned back around to face her, his smile dissolving into a look of dismay and discontent. She once again felt confused and slightly uncomfortable, not at all like what she had imagined she would feel when looking at her brother.
“Whatever, Darcy, I don’t know what you’re on but I just came here to ask you for something.” He walked back to her bed and sat down. Facing her, she noticed his stern expression.
“What do you want?” she asked, sounding terser than she had intended. She never even used that tone when dealing with rude waiters or telemarketers and she felt quickly embarrassed.
“A-ha,” Mason replied, a smiling once again creeping across his face. “That’s more like the Darcy I know.”
He stood up again, obviously nervous and fidgety. She honestly did not know what to make of this completely bizarre interaction. She decided to just go with it, Adam Sandler style.
“Don’t tell mom or dad that I’m back. They’d seriously rip me apart if they knew that I somehow didn’t live up to their expectations of having the most perfect European getaway.” He looked straight at Darcy. “Promise me you won’t tell them.”
She felt the urgency in his words. How could she say no?
“Of course. But where are you going to stay?” she couldn't help but ask. Suddenly, they both heard the knock on her bedroom door. Mason put his finger
in front of his lips, signaling her to stay quiet. He got up from the bed quietly and tip toed into her closet that was conveniently just steps away. When she saw him close the door behind him, she made her way to the door.
“Coming,” she said, trying to sound as non-chalant as possible. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see the gardener from this morning, Charlie. He looked very different from just hours ago. His coal black hair was swept to the side and parted, and he wore a pair of dark denim pants with a tight black t-shirt, showcasing his fit body. She felt a little butterfly or two fly around her stomach.
“Hi” he said, looking at her. Not knowing what to do, she just tried to follow Charlie’s lead. The feeling she had earlier that morning came back to her in waves; this boy really did have some sort of hold over her. “This came for you in the mail,” he said, holding out a brown envelope.
The envelope that he handed her was not much bigger than a post-card. Upon giving her the envelope, their hands touched for a brief second. She felt like electricity was coursing through her body, and thought that her hair was going to stand on end. As soon as she had the envelopes in her grasp, Charlie turned around and walked away without saying a single word. He's just shy, she thought to herself.
She turned back around and closed her bedroom door behind her. She placed the envelope on her bed and walked over to her closet door to let her brother know the coast was clear. The door itself was slightly ajar, and when she peaked in, she noticed that Mason was gone.
This is a very strange group of people indeed, she thought to herself, walking over to the envelope on her bed. I hope Marina didn't inadvertently put me into a vampire themed novel. I think I can handle regular drama, but not vampire-infused drama.
She tore off the large red ribbon that was tied around the envelope, curious as to what it was, or to who would send her a letter. Seeing no return address listed on the face of the letter, she ripped it open, genuinely excited to see what it was hidden within the tiny folds of paper.
She almost screamed when she saw what she discovered inside. In fact, a high yelp did leave her mouth. Inside of the envelope was a simple note, small and black with white writing. She absently dropped the letter, the soft thump of the paper hitting the floor. She couldn’t reason why she was having such an intense reaction to a simple note but underneath the surface she knew there was more to it.
She bent down to look at the note, her curiosity getting the best of her. She grabbed the letter and quickly sat back on her bed, as though if she moved fast enough the ominous note would disappear. With trembling hands, she began to read the simple note:
“I know what you’re doing to Claire,” the letter read, short, sweet, and terrifying. She dropped the letter once more shock, and ran out of her bedroom, suddenly feeling claustrophobic and short of breath. On her way out, she nearly knocked Mason over but she didn’t look back and continued to run downstairs, desperate for some fresh air.
***
After a brief respite from the overwhelming nature of the day, Darcy was able to entrench herself onto a patio chair by the pool and went unnoticed from the flurry of activity that seemed to be unraveling inside the kitchen. Once she couldn't put off getting ready for the party that she no longer was enthused about attending any longer, she slowly retreated to her room to get all gussied up.
It did not go overlooked in the deep confines of her overactive mind that this was the first party, high-school based or not, that she had attended in quite some time. In fact, she’d venture to say that it had been a good few years since she was in a room with strangers and alcohol. She was as comfortable as the next person being thrown into the dynamics of a party, but she knew that what she was to experience that evening was something just a tad different. More than a tad, really. She was temporarily afraid of not being able to continue her charade of being a teen, but she figured that she had nothing to lose.
She didn’t see her brother again that evening, which confirmed that he wasn’t exactly lying about not telling their parents that he was back from his trip early. She had relaxed a bit after their awkward conversation and his apparently genuine dislike for her. She mentally added it to her list of things to ‘make right’ as Marina so ambiguously stated was her primary objective to be met.
Lingering over her department store-sized make up collection and closet, she soon realized that she hadn’t even looked at the clock once to see what time it was and to ensure she wasn’t going to be late to pick up Claire for the party. After noticing on her smart phone that she was indeed running late, she whipped together an outfit and threw on the barest of makeup, hoping that it would be sufficient to continue her disguise.
Literally running out of the house, and ignoring the calls from her parents, she got into the car without looking back once. She pulled out from the driveway and made her way to Claire's house, which would in no doubt, make her disdain for Darcy’s apparent new habit of tardiness very well known.
Chapter 14
She ended up being over a half hour late to pick Claire up and she had to hear about it for the entire drive to Chrissy Barr’s party. What made being late worse was being late earlier that morning. Claire was apparently used to having a very punctual friend act as her chauffer for events such as this. After her mini-panic attack earlier that afternoon, Darcy hadn’t intended at all to take her time in getting ready, it just sort of happened that she lost a total track of time. Perhaps subconsciously she couldn’t, or didn’t, want to get ready for a party at all. It wasn’t that she didn’t have the energy or will to get ready and wear some of the amazing outfits that hung in her closet; it was that she was essentially exhausted.
In just 24 hours she had taken on an entirely new identity, learned there was a master plan to her becoming 17 again, was apparently having an affair with her best friends boyfriend, had a brother who practically hated her, and that someone knew that she was cheating with Luke and decided to black mail her or threaten her, whatever the intent of the letter had been. All of these events had made her head spin, which was why she decided to just chill out by the pool, breathing, and subsequently falling asleep - another reason she was late to pick up Claire. While the last event was the least of her worries, Claire was not happy at all about her late arrival.
“…and if you think that this new being late business is ok, you’re on another planet! Or really bad drugs. I don’t know which yet," Claire yelled, partly out of anger, partly out of trying to be heard over the loud music Darcy had turned up to drown Claire’s voice out.
Claire was livid when she arrived late to pick up her up; much like she had been earlier that morning, but this time her ire definitively more serious. Darcy noticed that Claire’s long, black hair lay in ringlets around her face, her tiny waist accentuated by a black corset that made her chest look like it was going to cause a minor felony. She had begun to think she may have underdressed in her black mini dress, but she did have enough time to put her hair in a tight bun, an ode to Marina.
“Don’t you know that being late to one of Chrissy Barr’s parties' means you’re going to have to hang out in the kitchen because all of the good looking spots are already taken? God, now we’re going to have to hang out with the geeks and talk about Star Trek or whatever nerds talk about”, Claire rambled on, taking her voice down a notch. She pulled out her lip-gloss from her purse and added another think and shiny layer though her lips already looked shellacked enough to cause a fire if someone decided to light a match.
“How many times do I need to say I’m sorry? I told you I took a nap, and Mason really upset me,” Darcy decided to reply and leaned slightly forward to turn down the volume of the blaring music. The loud, thumping beats were beginning to give her a headache and she knew she didn’t need any extra ammunition to have a bad time tonight. Plus, she wanted to have a decent experience at the party and make the best out of her predicament, even if it was only for one single night.
As soon as she mentioned Mason’s nam
e, Claire went conspicuously silent. She was now putting bright pink blush on her high cheek bones. Picking up on the sudden silence, Darcy soon found herself intrigued by it. She turned the car into Chrissy Barr’s driveway, long and full of shiny vehicles that indicated how rich these kids really were and parked quickly near the end of the driveway. She turned towards Claire who had graduated to dabbing her face with powder.
Soon enough she'll look like a full-fledged drag queen, Darcy thought.
“Let’s have a good time tonight,” Darcy finally decided to speak up. She really did feel bad for being late to pick up Claire, twice at that. Claire turned to face her, a serious expression on her face, but was quickly replaced by a smile, revealing her perfectly blinding white teeth.
“Is there any other time to have?” Claire replied, a giggle escaping her mouth. Both girls got out of the car, locked arms, and entered the mansion that reminded her a bit of the Taj Mahal in its grandeur and relative tackiness.
***
If the house looked enormous from the outside, inside it resembled a palatial shopping mall. Claire made a bee line the kitchen to presumably grab something for them to drink while Darcy looked around and decided to take in the scene around her. There were at least a hundred high school kids milling about around her, mostly teenagers but some college kids loitered around here and there. There did not seem to be much furniture populating the massive living room, making the entire area appear look like one big dance floor, replete with semi-drunken kids who were also semi-naked. Girls in fluorescent tube tops bounced along to the music while guys in khaki pants and tight t-shirts pounded their fists into the air. She smiled, feeling increasingly comfortable and secure amongst the crowd, and opted to follow Claire into the kitchen, which seemed to be as big as the living room was.