Chapter 5 - Party

The days of rain seem to have come to an end and the sun has started to shine oh so brightly every day here in Northwood, yet I haven't seen Perth for two whole weeks now. I wear a bright white cotton sundress which is buttoned up in the middle with a bow in the back. Today we have a summer party organised by Mr Pristin for everyone at BFL. We have this thing at Batt for Life where Mr. Pristin hosts a party in the name of her four year old daughter who was born in April. Unsurprisingly, her name is April too. She's lovely to say the least. She has Mr Pristin's eyes and her wife's wavy hazel hair. Her wife passed away last year due to a sudden cardiac arrest, and it's thought-provoking to see how Mr. Pristin has been holding everything together so well. He has never been off putting, or displeasing in any way. If anything, he's been really calm and collected with everything, kind of like he knows in his heart that everything will be alright. Mr. Pristin is expecting everyone to show up and Misha will literally drag me out of my home and even endure Lira's scratches if I don't come.

I put my sunscreen on, wear my pearl earrings, and white wedge boots to go with my sundress, and finally tie my chocolate brown hair back. Speaking of chocolate, I reach for a piece of chocolate cookie, grab a few bites and feel the release of dopamine. I'm starving from all the running I did today. It's kind of strange but whenever I think of the possibility that I may never see Perth again, I can surprisingly run faster and with more intensity. There goes with every rain it pours, a rainbow will eventually form; rain being Perth's disappearance and rainbow being my cardio progress.

Mish. I search for the contact number of my favourite person lately. Ring ring. "Ciaraaa! Before you say anything, can you let me know if you have an extra pair of Ugg boots?!"

"Ugg boots in April, that's you for sure." I say contemplating the chaos that she brings but the joy that comes with it.

"Ssh, trust me, it works with my outfit, okay? You'll see", she says.

"Yes, I have the light brown ones. I'll get them for you, Mish".

"Thanks, you're the best. And hey, Perth was asking if you were gonna come today."

Perth, will I see you today? "Ohh, okay. Is he coming too?" I ask, trying to sound casual.

"He said he wasn't sure. But I bet he's coming. Anyway, gotta get ready now. See you soon. Say Hi to Lira for me." The phone clicks.

The party is venued in Rosie Avenue, six blocks from Batt for Life. It looks ridiculously pretty. Much prettier than last year, almost as nice as a wedding. I step on the silky smooth velvet-like green carpet that nearly looks like fresh cut grass. "Hey, cutie". I hear Mish's voice from behind, a glass of red wine in her hand. My jaw drops when I see her shoulder-length black hair turn into chin-length pixie white hair that looks almost like a wig.

"Is that a wig?", I ask her.

"Um, no!".

" Whoa!" I say completely taken back.

"I know right?!" Misha says in awe, partly because of the shock that she witnessed from me and partly because she is tipsy from the wine which I'm guessing is not her first glass.

"You look -"

"Crazy, I know!", Misha yells out in her squeaky drunk voice, wide eyed and pupils dilated with the most spacious smile ever.

"You look great, Mish." I say smiling back at her.

The melody of the acoustic guitar in the background fills my ear with delight. I hear the clinking of glasses and the sounds of voices that are familiar but not enough to give me the jolt of energy that I could have gotten if only it was him. Okay, maybe I need to forget about him. My chance to be a social butterfly today isn't going to be ruined by the thought of him.

"Hey Ciara, right?". I turn around to see a 5 ft 9ish guy that I'd never seen before in a black silk shirt, black tie and his sleeves rolled in. He looks young, maybe in his teens or early 20s at most.

"Yes, do we know each other?" I ask with a nervous smile and pursed lips.

"No, but I kind of do. I'm joining BFL as a junior assistant starting this Monday. I've seen you a few times before at the BFL building. Not from this close though. You go for a run three times a week right?" He chuckles as soon as he sees my startled expression.

"How'd you know?". I ask, my eyes wide open.

"Oh, I'm a psychic. I can tell things about a person just by being around what our community likes to call 'aura'."

I can tell that he's just goofing around but I keep quiet just so he fills in the silence and tells me the truth.

"I see you running a lot in Hallie Square. I go there too sometimes. Guess you didn't notice me". He says lifting one of his brows and a smile on his face.

Such a warm smile.

"I guess I was too focused.. Mr?", I ask, waiting for him to fill in his name.

"Heath, and 3 months away from turning 20."

"I'm Ciara with a C", and a few weeks away from turning 22". I say smiling at him.

I just realised that we've been smiling the whole time.

"What's it like being 21?", Heath asks.

"Just like being 19, but older, and maybe a little wiser. Sometimes maybe not so much. Have you gotten familiar with other people here?"

"No, but I was hoping to befriend you here the first thing though". He smiles and then caresses his glossy brown hair which is so wavy like the sea.

I hear the violet hour by Sea Wolf play in the background.

"Do you want to dance?", he asks politely. I can tell he's already pumped up, his leathery black shoes in sync with the tune as he reaches for my hand.

"Sure." I say giggling as I swiftly give away my hand to him.

"Please don't drop it". I say.

"Drop what?" Heath asks, his eyebrows tensed.

"My hand". I say signalling my joke that's out of whack.

"Never", He says, chuckling and revealing a light snort.

After a few sips of red wine, Health and I danced like there was no tomorrow. I'm usually never this extroverted and I am acquainted with the fact that he is a total stranger for now, but he's like one of those people you meet in life where you just feel like you've known them for years. Kind of like we built a sand castle at that beach together, or I threw up after getting drunk at a party and you were there by my side kind of bond.

We jump up and down, side by side, you name it. My white dress constantly bob upwards as I pull it back down every three minutes. We did the most amateur salsa dance and sang "la la la" to every song we didn't know the lyrics to.

"Shall I get you another glass of red wine, Miss C?", Heath asks politely like a gentleman would.

"This time I will have a glass of white wine, please.", I emulate his gentlemanly intonation.

"Sure, m'lady". Heath says with his tender voice.

As I sit and wait for Heath while searching for Misha whose hair is now pixie white and not black, I remind myself, I feel a gentle tap, almost like a light brush stroke against my left shoulder. I feel a mild surge of magnetic energy like vibrations inside my body.

"5 bucks say the espresso machine has at least 10 scratches from Lira" I get chills hearing the voice that I had longed to hear for so long.

Wait, how did he know about Lira? Did we ever talk about her?

I turn around to see a gleaming face that I hadn't seen in weeks. He looks so much bigger than the last time I saw him. How can that be? His eyes sparkling, lavender like I remember, hair, jet black, skin porcelain like a doll, except on his right cheek, I see a slight crack on his right cheek; I don't remember the scar existing before, his eyes I remember seeing universe in them, his lips so red like strawberries.

"Strawberries?" I see Perth glancing right at me with a smirk on his face. My face gets flushed, red almost like his lips when I realise I had uttered the word "strawberries" out loud.

"Yeah.. I wanted to drink some of that… strawberries..infused tea like that one guy is drinking there". I point to a guy sipping iced tea in a glass jar with a straw. Strawberries infused tea? Why didn't I just say Strawberry instead?

"How can you tell that it's a strawberry from here?"

"I had a chat with him earlier, and that's how I know." I come up with a lie.

Taking an interest in my beverage selection, he says, "So you've switched from being a coffee junkie to a strawberry tea girl".

"Maybe." More lies.

"How are you? Where have you been?", I ask, completely forgetting to filter my emotions.

"I went back to my mom and dad's place in Southwood. I'm back now though." I can tell that he is happy to see me by the way his eyes are gazing at mine, so inviting.

That scar on his right cheek. Should I ask or will I sound intrusive?

"That's good to hear". I stand on my tip toe and reach over his cheek to gently touch his scar.

He impulsively steps back and looks away "'What's wrong?", I whisper.

"It's nothing, just a small accident." He says, his eyes avoiding mine.

"White wine for you, m'lady", I turn around to see Heath with a glass of white wine in his hand. Heath, who has a much softer disposition and features than Perth, gazes at him suspiciously, almost.

"Thanks!", I say, attempting to break the tension.

"Hey, Heath, this is Perth. He works at BFL as well, and is also the nephew of Mr. Pristin.", I briefly gaze towards Perth who looks visibly unimpressed. Does he not like Heath?

"And Perth, this is-"

"Yes, I'm aware. Uncle Samuel has let me know". Perth says with an ice-cold demeanour.

"Um, okay", I say, not knowing what to say.

"What happened to your cheek?", Heath asks out of curiosity, as I was a few minutes ago.

"It has nothing to do with you." Perth snaps back. Whoa, no need to be rude, Mr.

"Looks nasty", Heath says, with a little bit of fear and mockery in his tone.

Perth steps towards Heath and grabs his hand and all I remember in that moment was Heath's wide open jaw and his hand trembling , almost like a surge of shock from electricity went straight into his veins.

I run towards Heath and ask him if he is okay. "I'm okay, just a little weirded out by him.", Heath says, staring at his hand that Perth grabbed onto.

"He's not a bad guy, I swear. I don't know what's gotten into him". I gaze towards where Perth stood but there remained no trace of him anymore but only a fluorescent street light flickering scarcely.

I need answers, Perth. Despite my desire to avoid your mess, I can't help but be drawn to your absurdity. What are you?