Life of the Party (24 page)

I hadn’t given
in easily. I thought it was a little strange that my parents were
suddenly exercising some discipline now, with only a week left of
school. It wasn’t like they cared what I did any other time—really;
I hardly ever saw them besides the mandatory
Sunday-family-day-Greg-and-Marcy-torture-day. I thought it was even
funnier that they actually expected me to go along with their
little rules. I was practically eighteen, pretty much on my own
with only four more days standing between me and sweet, total,
utter freedom. Why the hell would I listen to them now?

And yet, there
I was, walking down the old crumbling sidewalk beneath the large,
leafy poplars that lined the quiet residential street. The sun was
warm as it shone through the trees; the air was sweet smelling and
soft. I walked slowly, smoking, towards my home, my bag full of
books and binders. I wasn’t happy about it. I had put up a fight, a
good fight at that, but my parents still had won. They played the
whole “as long as you’re under my roof” card, and then started
ganging up on me, working as a “team” to ensure I knew who was
boss. It was possibly the most frustrating hour of my life. I
couldn’t wait to be old enough, to do whatever the hell I wanted
without having to listen to anyone ever again.

Just four more
days. Four more days. I repeated this to myself. My father just
happened to have the whole week off work, so he’d be home now,
waiting for me. He had looked at my schedule, he knew when my exam
was over, and he knew how long it took for me to walk home. So he
would definitely know if I turned right now and headed down towards
the restaurant where Grey was working instead. I sighed. As badly
as I wanted to screw it all and go see Grey, it was probably smart
of me to study. If I ended up having to repeat the twelfth grade
I’d … well, I couldn’t even think about it. I had to graduate. I
had to go home now. I just hated letting my parents think they’d
beat me.

“Hey Mac.” My
dad greeted cheerily when I finally made it home and slammed the
front door. “How was your first test of the week?”

“Fine.” I
grumbled. I stormed past him and into the kitchen, dropping my bag
loudly to the floor. He seemed oblivious to my attitude and
followed me with a grin. His thinning dark hair was rumpled, a
shade lighter freed from its usual gelly hair products. In place of
his ever-present suit was a pair of dark blue sweatpants and an old
ratty sweater. He looked relaxed and happy, clearly enjoying this
unexpected time off.

“Must be
exciting. Last week of school … big graduation on Saturday. I can’t
even remember my last week of school.”

“Can’t you?” I
was completely disinterested as I threw a Pizza Pop into the
microwave and hit start.

“No. I remember
graduation though. I was stylish. Big, plaid bellbottoms. You
should’ve seen them.”

“I have seen
them. In pictures.”

“Oh, right.” He
tried again. “So, what are you studying tonight?” He wondered.

I made a face
at him and crossed my arms, glaring at the floor with a shake of my
head.

“Oh, stop being
so dramatic.” Dad chuckled. “It’s one week of your life. It won’t
kill you to take a break from going out every night, will it?”

“Maybe.” I
shrugged. “I guess we’ll see in the morning.”

“You know, when
Marcy was your age—”

“Dad.” I had to
stop him. There was no way I could keep myself even somewhat
rational if he brought up Marcy’s perfection now. I remembered her
graduating year; she was the valedictorian of her class, gorgeous,
popular, and athletic. I had been young back then, maybe grade
eight, and chubby, with aspirations to be just like my big
wonderful sister so my mom would cry because she was just so proud
of me, too. How things changed. I retrieved my Pizza Pop and
slammed the microwave shut. “Spare me dad, will you, please? I
don’t want to hear it.”

Dad sighed.
“Fine.” I had finally succeeded in getting the annoying little grin
to fall from his face. “I just think she set a pretty good example
for you, you know. It wouldn’t hurt to learn a little from
her.”

“Yeah, okay.
The next time I want to get engaged to a total dick, I’ll give her
a call and get some advice.”

“Mackenzie.”
Dad warned. He shook his head in disapproval. His mouth was set in
a grim line.

“What!”

“Why …?” he
looked at me, like he was completely baffled, and his head shook
with incomprehension. “What makes you so angry all the time?”

“I’m not angry
all the time. I just told you, I don’t want to hear that shit.”

“Watch your
mouth young lady. I don’t care how mad you are, you don’t take that
tone of voice with me.” He pointed a finger. I sighed. I wasn’t in
the mood for round two—me versus them, at the moment.

“Whatever,
sorry.” I rolled my eyes. “Can I go now? I have a
lot
of
studying to do.” My voice dripped sarcasm.

My dad didn’t
answer, just nodded his head and waved me off with a rigid motion
of his hand. I grabbed my plate and my bag and huffed past him
through the kitchen and up the stairs to my room.

“Save me. Save
me please.” I complained into the phone, lying back on my bed, my
legs crossed, my foot kicking the empty air.

“It can’t be
that bad. It’s only for a few more days.” Charlie laughed at my
dramatics. “I remember high school, yeah, it’s a complete drag.
You’re so close to being done though, just suck it up.”

“Yeah.” I
twirled a lock of hair around my fingers. “So, what have you been
up to?”

“Not much, just
work.”

“How’s that? Do
you miss me?” I smiled hopefully. “Has Grey … asked about me?”

“I told him
what was up.”

“What’d you
tell him?”

“That your
parents were holding you hostage and you couldn’t come out. And
that you had to go home right after your tests everyday. And that
your exams are at the school and you’re finished at 3:15.”

I laughed.
“Wow. Good details.”

“Thanks. Oh,
so, hey, did you see Brad today?”

“Yeah.” I
frowned. “He wouldn’t look at me. He has two huge black eyes
though—maybe they were hindering his vision. Like, he got the
shit
kicked out of him.” I laughed, but a shudder ran
through me. I hadn’t forgotten the total violation of his attack. I
wondered if I ever would.

“Serves him
right. Stupid bastard.”

“No doubt.”

“I’m so glad
Grey and Zack were with me. It was Grey’s idea, you know, to go out
there. He was so pissed at me for letting you go early, before you
two could talk.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I feel
really bad about it actually. I’m really sorry, I didn’t realize
Brad would turn out to be such an asshole, I mean, he looked so
sweet.”

“Of course,
Charlie. Come on, there’s no way you could’ve known. I didn’t even
know. He was sweet. He seemed totally harmless. This was not your
fault, at all.”

“Yeah, well I
still feel bad.”

“Don’t.”

Charlie sighed.
“Anyway … I knew Grey liked you, all along. He just needed a push
in the right direction, I guess, hey?”

“Yeah.” I
sighed happily. “Oh, hold on a sec.” A knock on my door interrupted
our conversation. “Yes?” I called. The door opened a crack and my
dad’s head poked through.

“Off the
phone,” he demanded. “You’re supposed to be studying.”

I rolled my
eyes. “Okay.”

“I mean it.
Off.”

“Okay, just let
me say goodbye.”

“You have two
minutes.”

“Okay!” I
yelled. The door shut and I growled in frustration. “Charlie?”

“Yeah?” She was
giggling.

“Did you hear
that?”

“Yeah.”

“What a pain in
the ass.” I sighed. “I’ve got to go.”

“Have fun
studying. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. If I’m
allowed.”

She laughed.
“Bye Mac.”

“Bye.” I
slammed the phone down in disgust. I restrained myself from
throwing it at the door, barely. The urge was still there. I took a
few deep breaths with my eyes closed. I was tense and agitated, I
needed something—I craved something to take the edge off my mood.
I wanted a smoke, I always did, but even if I found a way to sneak
one, I doubted that would be enough. This was a deep belly craving,
like my very veins were in need.

And then I
remembered. I sat straight up in bed, my eyes wide at a sudden
thought. Could I really do that? Here? Would I get caught? I bit my
lip and looked at the door. There was no lock on my knob, my
parents’ policy on “no locked doors.” I think it was supposed to be
a metaphor or something.

I slid off the
bed and retrieved my purse from the corner of my room, hidden
beneath some rumpled clothing and CD wrappers. Charlie’s vial was
still inside it, I had forgotten to give it back to her on the
weekend. Apparently she had forgotten too, or didn’t care; she
hadn’t mentioned anything to me. I held the vial in my palm for a
moment, my hand still hidden in the bag. The silver canister was
cool and heavy, filled with promise. I went over the choice in my
head, weighing my options. Cocaine was almost impossible to
identify unless someone knew what to look for. Would my dad? For
the most part I would seem completely sober to him, maybe just a
little jittery. But I was going to be holed up alone in my bedroom
all night. There was no way he’d notice.

Screw it. I
needed to get high. I walked to the door and slid my back down it,
sitting against it to stop anyone from suddenly entering before I
had a chance to hide the evidence. It only took me a few minutes
anyway, the lid was off and the white powder up my nose in an
instant. I did a couple, then a couple more. The relief was
instantaneous, beautiful. I could feel delight creep slowly through
my veins, my tension melt and ease away. I sighed and screwed the
lid back on, hiding the vial back in the purse and hiding the purse
back beneath the clothes. I sat on the bed and tapped my foot. I
turned up the music, a little Limp Bizkit. I pushed my studying
stuff away and grabbed some nail polish.

Visions of Grey
danced in my stuttered thoughts. I wanted to be with him so badly.
I painted my toes and then did my nails. I took my two grad dress
options out of the closet and stared at them, debating. I chose the
black one—the one my mom hated—and put the other one away. I tried
the dress on, and then paired it with some shoes.

I stood in
front of the mirror, wondering what to do with my hair. I did it
up, down, half up, half down. I spun. I put together an outfit for
the next day. I picked up some deep red lipstick and painted my
lips, staring in the mirror. I practiced some sexy smiles. I took
the grad dress off and hung it up. I put some lotion on my legs. I
did not study at all.

I awoke with no
idea when I crashed. My face was stuck to the opened pages of my
math textbook; my body was crumpled in an impossible way upon the
bed. I blinked at the sunlight that stung my eyes and pulled the
textbook from my skin. I knew I hadn’t studied at all, I must not
have noticed the books piled on the mattress when I finally
stumbled to bed. That explained why I’d just been wearing one.

A knock on the
door made me jump, still on guard even though I had nothing to hide
… now. I pushed the dark mess of hair back from my face.

“Yes?”

“Mackenzie,
you’re going to be late!” My mom’s frantic voice got louder as she
opened the door. She was still dressed in her Doctor’s garb from
the night before, and she looked dead tired. “I woke you up half an
hour ago! What have you been doing?”

“I don’t know,
I fell back asleep.” I straightened myself out; my body was stiff
and sore from the awkward position. I yawned and stretched.

“There’s no
time for that.” She checked my clock radio and the frown on her
face deepened. “Get dressed; I’ll give you a ride.” Mom headed for
the pile of clothes thrown in the corner of my room, the same pile
that was currently concealing my secret stash. I panicked.

“Mom, give me a
sec!” I stood from the bed. “I can get dressed on my own.”

“Fine, just
hurry.” She snapped. “I’ll be in the car. You have five
minutes.”

“Okay, okay.” I
stood in front of the pile, ready to ward her off if she suddenly
wanted to gather the laundry or something. But Mom was too busy
storming off to worry about it.

Luckily I
already had an outfit picked out from the night before. I threw on
my jeans, a red tank top and some flip-flops. My newly painted
black toenails shone nicely. My hair was an absolute mess; I
couldn’t do anything but twist it into a bun type thing at the back
of my head. I quickly lined my eyes with black and put on some
mascara, grabbing a deep red lipstick to apply on the way. I
brushed my teeth like lightning, grabbed my purse and my books and
a black hoodie on the way out the door.

I could
practically hear my mom’s teeth grinding as I stepped out of the
house and into the warm summer morning. I shoved all my things into
the backseat of the car and hopped in the front. There was complete
silence from my mother as she backed the car out of the drive and
then zoomed onto the street.

“I can’t
believe you.” She spoke in frustration.

“What, so I
slept in.” I shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

“Tell that to
your diploma exam.” She shook her head. I shrugged again. I wasn’t
exactly prepared for my diploma exam anyway; ten minutes wouldn’t
really change things. I gripped the door as my mom took a corner
too fast. “I can’t believe you’re seventeen. You act like you’re
twelve. Where’s the responsibility?”

“Ugh ….” I
rolled my eyes and leaned against the window. “Did you and dad
like, have a meeting or something? Did you decide to drive me crazy
on purpose?”