Chapter25. You

I've always thought parties were cliché. People dress up, try to look good, only to be the same boring person the next day. I didn't get it.

Staring at the painting above the stage though, I began to acknowledge that maybe there were more to parties. Maybe it wasn't about having the nicest dress or winning an award for that night. Maybe you just wanted an image to go with the memories. Like the teacher was saying on the microphone in front.

"Our theme for tonight is friendship."

I tore my eyes from the painting long enough to see that the students who had gathered in the gym were listening to the teacher. All of them had taken the time with their hair and clothes. Most, if not all, were in groups. It's only been months and the freshmen have already found friends.

"You'll spend the next four years of your life in Bear Creek High," the teacher drawled on. "You can't always do it alone. You need people by your side, people who have the same passion to push you to your goals. That's what the painting behind me symbolizes. It was made by one of the students who, like you, had experienced different things in this school. She continues to survive through the help of friendship."

"She makes it sound like a battlefield in here, huh?" Ester went to my side and folded her arms. She'd tied her long dark hair for tonight to complement the slicked back style of his twin.

"I can't believe you really came in heels." I elbowed her. "Are you making yourself pretty for that fictional character you were talking about?"

"Nope. He loves me even if I'm in drag. That's the cool part about him." A mischievous smile was on her lips when she turned to me. "Aren't you surprised to see your face up there though? It's a miracle she got the teachers to agree to have it displayed. Then again this is Genesis we're talking about."

The butterflies I've been trying to control broke free from their cage and flew all over my stomach. "It's embarrassing," I murmured.

"Genesis doesn't care about that," Ester said. "You remember in fifth grade when she raised her hand in the classroom to say something?"

The memory was dark, blurry, yet when it came to Gene I didn't have trouble pulling the files out of the cabinet. It was just surprising that I didn't recall it sooner.

"She said. . ." I grinned at Ester. "She said, I think Destiny is really pretty."

Ester snorted and nodded. "Yeah, and when the teacher asked what that had to do with the lesson, Genesis shrugged and took a seat. I had to stir the topic back to science so no one would get called to the principal's office. You kids have been giving me trouble since grade school."

"I'm sorry about that."

"No problem." She kicked a stray balloon that had drifted from the ceiling, her eyes now fixated on the decoration in the gym. There were shades of blue, purple, and white, accentuated with rotating lights from the corner. I recognized some of the designs as the ones the Welcoming Committee has made at the beginning of the school year. Our project, short as it was, had not gone to waste.

"Sometimes I wonder what Genesis is thinking," Ester murmured. "Her actions are not logical."

"Says a person who reads instruction manuals for fun."

"That's only because I want to understand how things work. But you and Genesis? I don't know exactly how you work."

I sighed and tried to shove my hands in my pocket. Remembering that I didn't have one, I tucked them under my arms. "To be honest, I don't know what's going on with us too. Genesis is as big a mystery to me as she is to anyone. I mean, I thought I knew her. But her life in the city- I wasn't part of that."

"Yeah, but Genesis obviously thought you were. That painting says so."

"I thought you don't understand how she thinks?"

Ester gave me a smile that was a little too placating. "I said sometimes I wonder what she's thinking. I didn't say I was totally oblivious to it." She pinched my cheek. "Her eyes are an open book when she looks at you, and I'm slowly learning to read it."

"Well tell me what you see."

I nursed the sting on my face when she let go.

"There's only you, Des. You're the main character in it."

The teacher had stopped talking in front and had left the stage to the capable hands of the DJ. From the mic on his booth, he said, "Let's get this party started."

A song I didn't recognize played in the background while the students shuffled along. Ester, still looking like she was thinking things, tilted her chin to the person behind me. "You're popular in most books, Des. Even my brother writes about you."

I cringed. "Is he behind me? I thought he'd gone to get some drinks after we entered the gym."

"He did. I saw him there. But I was talking about a different person." Ester pointed her thumb to the stage. "I'm going to ask the DJ about his gear. I've always been fascinated to know what the buttons do." She turned around and started to walk away.

"Care to dance?"

Warm hands took mine before I replied, and twisted me to face her. Woody had worn a necktie over her usual flannel shirt, but she didn't smell like shavings as she drew me closer. She'd actually worn a perfume this time, something that made me think of new things right after you'd bought them from the store. It was enlivening.

"How are you here?" I asked. Last time we've spoken, she didn't tell me she was attending the party.

"I have my ways." She twirled me around.

I couldn't help but giggle. "You should have told me earlier so I didn't have to go through the dilemma of thinking I'd be a wallflower all night."

"You wouldn't be a wallflower all night," she said. "People are lined up to dance with you."

"Who are these imaginary beings you're talking about?"

"Too many to mention."

"Too many to mention," I repeated. "Sounds like a lie."

"I never lie. I think we've established that." Woody stopped trying to coax me into a dance and pressed her palm at the small of my back. I shivered. "Cold?" she murmured.

"A little."

She pulled me closer. "How about now?"

The gesture made me think of something, or someone else. I pulled away and smiled. "Thanks, Woody, but I think I need to eat something now. I'm about to fall on my feet." I motioned to the buffet table. "Want to join me?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Okay, see you in a bit."

Her perfume lingered on my clothes long after I've walked away. The smell was good. I couldn't deny that. But like a comfortable jacket I learned to love, I couldn't get rid of my old things. Especially when it made me warm for so long.

The wind was blowing hard when I got outside. There were too many people on the buffet line, too many hungry people who wanted to get their fill. I just wanted to be alone for a while.

The thought of the painting made me smile, then frown, then hug myself as I traveled the length of the grounds. Why had Genesis made it? What was she trying to prove? Was she saying that she wasn't over me, or was it the opposite and she was?

There were too many possibilities. Too many turns it could go. It sucked to be a female who couldn't even understand how females think. I was overanalyzing things again.

"Ouch!"

"What the?!" Genesis was laying on the grass when I looked down. She was barely visible through the darkness, but I'd recognize those lips anywhere, especially when my happiness came attached to them. "You almost gave me a heart attack. What are you doing there?"

"Hiding."

"From who?"

"It doesn't matter." She tugged at my ankle. "But now that you're here, why don't you join me? The stars are beautiful."

"O-okay." The grass tickled my legs, then my arms, after which they poked my back as I lay down. It smelled earthy and sweet. I giggled. "At this rate, someone else would step on us."

"We'll eat them," Genesis said.

"Great idea."

The stars above shone like many colored lights. The ones in the gym were nothing compared to them.

Genesis must have thought the same because she moved closer and whispered. "We used to watch them from your telescope, didn't we?"

"Yeah. We should never have stopped. Why did we?"

But the answer was simple. Because she moved away. A lot of bad things could happen where distance was involved.

"We should have fought for it." I broke the silence. "We should have called each other even if your dad forbade it, and looked at the stars from different places."

"We would have been lonelier," she said.

"We would have made it through together." I glanced at her. "Genesis, I don't know what happened to you while you were away. You blocked me out. You shouldn't have."

"Are you mad?"

"Yes." I sighed when she sighed. "But I forgive you. I always will."

It could have been the perfect time to tell her how I felt. I could have easily told her I loved her, and I wanted to hold her hands the way other people couldn't. But I didn't.

Two sides of me were waging a war inside my soul. One was the brave Destiny, the person who just told Genesis that we would have survived the distance and the challenges. The other side, the weaker Destiny, was afraid. She didn't want to break this moment of me and Gene just lying on the grass listening to each other's breaths. She didn't want to be rejected.

"That painting you did," I said after a while. "Did you have any help for it?"

"No. I just asked Rox for additional supervision." She put a hand on top of mine which made me still. "I'll tell you more about it when we have the time. We've been found."

Laughter and footsteps alerted me that other people had located our hiding place. Lifting my head, I saw Spencer and Ester, plus Woody and Rox heading our way. It was an unlikely group.

"Are we that obvious in here?" I asked Gene. "How come I didn't notice you earlier?"

Her smile was as radiant as the moon peeking from behind the clouds. It shone to us like a bulb from a lighthouse. "You don't notice a lot of things, Destiny. That's the fun part about you."

"Maybe you're just good at hiding, Gene."

"Maybe I've been showing you all along and you just didn't see it."

The group had reached us before I could reply, ensuring that all talks about us were discontinued. I concentrated at the stars while our friends invited themselves on the grass. Beside me, obscured by the dark, Gene entwined our fingers.

The following week on Monday was a time to say goodbye. They told me that morning that Rox was leaving for the city again. She had her own responsibilities to go back to.

"Isn't it strange that we're saying goodbye from the school grounds? I feel like she's been living here." Spencer had brought his lunch with him on the driveway while Ester, Genesis, and I agreed to just eat later on the second break. Bertha should give him an award.

Ester, whose fingers were typing on her cellphone, murmured under her breath. "That's not nice, Spence. Apologize."

"To who?" He stared around wildly. "The guard by the door is not paying us any attention, and Genesis and Rox are still inside to say goodbye to aunt Maggie." He tore a piece of bread and threw it to his sister. "Oh, look at that. I apologize."

"Just wait for me to finish texting my lit club, Spence."

"Lit without being lit. Get a boyfriend."

Ester was tucking her phone in her pocket when I saw Genesis and Rox approaching. The sight of them together still unsettled me. Gene never did say if they had a thing or not.

"Did we take too long?" Genesis' eyes narrowed at the twins. Ester didn't usually get upset, but on the few times she was, Spencer would be shown to his place. Currently, she was yanking his hair and forcing him to kneel.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Rox had left Gene's side and was motioning for me to follow her.

"Uhh, sure."

I didn't know if anyone noticed how we slipped away from the group to go behind the corner, but no one questioned our disappearance or looked for us, even Genesis.

Rox leaned against the wall and tucked her hand in her pocket. She looked every bit a member of a boy band without being a boy. How strange was that?

"Did you tell Genesis how you feel?" she asked without blinking.

I staggered back like I've been shot. "W-what?"

Rox's grin was contagious. If she hadn't asked that question, I'd be smiling too. But I began searching for an escape route instead.

"Relax," she said, as if that would make me relax. "I know you're into her as much as I was into her. It's no big secret."

I stopped trying to claw my way out of the battle and looked at my enemy. "So? Did you single me out to say fuck my life or something?"

She chuckled. "Goodness, no. I don't fight that way."

"Then how do you fight?"

Rox considered for a moment while looking at her shoes. Even her Nike's were as perfect as her face.

When she looked up again, she wasn't as composed or as perfect as a few seconds ago. She was just bothered. "Look, Destiny, Genesis and I met at school before when I saw her painting. That painting was of you. I knew there wouldn't be much competition."

I bit my lip and shifted my weight. What was she trying to say?

"There's not much competition now," I mumbled. "Genesis has given up on me in the love department. Did she tell you that?"

"I won't tell you what she said or didn't say. I'm not that kind of friend." Rox straightened and pulled her hands from her pocket, but she didn't stop there. She unzipped her blue jacket and showed me her scar. "I've been hiding in the school because of this. My aunt's protection is the only thing keeping me safe."

"From what?"

She zipped her jacket again to hide her neck. She was shaking her head. "Genesis is a special girl. Tell her how you feel. All I'm saying is, be careful too."

Rox was about to move away when I yanked at her sleeves. "Be careful from what?" I said. "Don't leave me hanging with all these questions. Did someone hurt you? You said your scar came from an accident."

"It was." She sighed when I let go, then pulled her sleeves so it would be nice and straight again. "Just be careful, okay? Be glad that my unfortunate event became your fortunate event. It lead her back to you." She tilted her head to say goodbye.

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