Chapter One, Part One

I walked to Kara’s front door, tired from both school and band practice. She met me outside with a cup of coffee.
“Rough day?” She asked sympathetically.
“Yes. I’m very tired. I feel like I could sleep for a week.”
“Well your parents just called to say that they’ll be gone for another three months.”
“So…I assume I’m staying here.”
“Unless you have any objections, yes you are.”
“Nope. You know how much I love staying with you.”
“Good. Tom is already inside. He invited a friend over to meet you later but he can’t come. He’s going to meet you at Leslie’s birthday party.”
“Crap. I forgot it was today. Can I borrow some-“
“Something to wear? Sure. Now come inside, I’m tired of standing out here.” I laughed and went inside to see Tom.
I threw my stuff into the spare bedroom and flopped down on the purple bedspread, not wanting to move. I ‘d talk to Tom later. Kara came in and sat on the bed next to me. I felt her move, but I didn’t want to open my eyes.
“If you want to go to sleep, I’ll wake you up in time to get ready for the party.”
“Thank you.” I yawned and curled up on my side. The last thing I remembered was seeing a rustling in the tree near my window.


“Hey, wake up Bridget. You’ve got about an hour and a half before the party starts.” I rolled over and looked at the clock. There was no way I had slept for four hours. I felt as if I had just fallen asleep a minute ago. Sitting up and stretching I saw that the sun would begin to set soon. Leslie had wanted to try something adventurous for her seventeenth birthday. She went and found an old abandoned warehouse (of course), got it cleaned up, and sent invites to all her friends to be there at eight thirty.
“Everything’s better in the dark,” she commented, when I asked her about the timing. Kara just laughed and said it would definitely be unique.
Tom came in and threw a bag on my bed the size of a duffel.
“What is that? A dismembered body?”
“Ha ha ha, aren’t you funny? No, it’s what Leslie wants you to wear tonight. She told me that I had to make you wear it. Kara forgot about it.” I sighed out loud, wary of what was in the bag. Leslie’s taste in clothes were more…interesting than mine.
I pulled out a lacy, one-shouldered black mini dress with a pair of six inch heels. Tom catcalled at me and I pushed him out of the room. I took a shower, threw on my clothes, and fixed my hair.
“Bridget, let’s go,” Kara yelled at me.
"Coming." I grabbed my black trenchcoat and clutch then ran out the door.
Kara, Tom and I tried to guess what Leslie had planned for tonight. But whatever we expected, it wasn't this. Over the door to the warehouse was a banner with "Happy Birthday Leslie" written on it. The inside was a little flamboyan, but amazing all the same. There were red and black streamers hanging down from the ceiling. Stairs led ot a second story platform where a DJ was playing MuteMath's Spotlight. The place was crowded. I saw a few familiar faces from school and around town,but I decided to stay in the back. Parties weren't my thing, but Leslie was my best friend. Kara walked off to go talk to a friend.
"Hey, you going to be okay or do I need to stay with you?" Tom looked around. "I see a couple of people I want to talk to." I assumed he was talking about the friend he wanted tme to mee. Not looking forward to the meeting, I told him I was fine.
I stood around, looking at everyone around me. I noticed that everyone was hanging with someone else. Except me, I was by myself.
"Story of my life," I muttered, audible only to myself. I decided to go and sit on the roof of Kara's car. I told myself that I'd find Leslie later and give her present to her. I pulled my knees to my chest and gazed at the stars. The moon was full tonight, and I could see the whole sky from the roof of her car.
After about fifteen minutes, I saw a person emerge from the front door of the warehouse. He began to walk towards the car, staring at me the whole time. He had pale skin that almost shone in the moonlight. His curly, dark brown hair was in a casual dissarray that would've looked like hat hair on anyone else. On him it just looked...well, flat out sexy.
His clothes were clearly expensive, though they were made to look cheap. As was the trend nowadays. Looking cheap and acting as if you didn't have the money was fine. Actually being cheap was horrible. This was Seattle after all.
As the guy moved closer to me, I noticed how hot he was. His eyes were a beautiful blue that were accented by his hair.
"Hello. Would you like some company?"