Love Lies A' Bleeding

Chapter 3: Vampire under the Bright Lights

The next morning I told my mom I would be going to Molly to bring her the promised dress and shoes. I saw her looked quite disappointed as if she thought I wouldn’t be leaving at all, as if I was going to stay with her for good. I pitied her in a way.

“What time is it?” She turned to look at the clock on the wall. “Nine? This early?” King is still sleeping in my bed, I knew she wanted to add.

My mom’s house was small compared to the house where I lived with my dad, which was a two-story house with three bedrooms, one guestroom, four bathrooms, a library, a study and two garages. Hers only has a bathroom, living room, kitchen and dining room downstairs, and two rooms upstairs. It was a rented townhouse. So every Friday King has to sleep at my mom’s room so I could sleep in his room.

I gave her a nod of my head.

Slowly, she looked back at me. “Oh, okay. See you next Friday then,” she said with a forced smile.

I wanted to reach out to her. I wanted to tell her that it was okay. I wanted to comfort her. At the main door, I hugged her. She looked surprised at first, but soon she was hugging me back. Then, I left. Even without seeing it, I knew she would cry as soon as I was gone.

~O~

Twenty minutes after seven, and it was party time. Martin Santiago’s house was lit up like Christmas. The street surrounding it was parked with so many cars that it was already impossible for another car to go by it. I had to step down the taxi a couple of houses away and walk, just so I could reach the center of the fuss without squeezing the taxi and myself to death.

Well, it was impossible. I had to walk with my four-inch heels on potholed grasses. It was just like walking straight to the gates of hell.

I was lucky when Molly saw me first when I was about to put my foot on the front steps. She went to the party ahead of me, because I had to go back home to my dad’s house to get my own dress, because someone else wore the dress I was supposed to wear.

“Queen! Not there! This way!” she screamed, waving a hand at the direction leading to the backyard.

“An outdoor party?”

“Oh, Queen. You’d be surprised!” The excitement was so obvious in her face.

I didn’t have a choice, but to follow her.

Indeed, I was surprised. It was just a regular party, of course—or that was what I knew—with barbecue on the side. Nobody talked about a pool party, but Martin clearly thought it was. He was at the center of them all, wearing Hawaiian shorts, topless. And he was the only one dressed up for a swim. And balloons? Okay, that was beyond my comprehension. The last time I saw balloons at a party was when King had his seventh birthday.

“Oh, jeez-us,” I couldn’t stop myself from saying.

Molly rolled her eyes at me. “Come on. Don’t be hard on him now. It’s his first time. He didn’t know a lot about high school parties.”

His former school is nothing but clueless, I thought. “I can’t believe it. Well, don’t go too close to him. He might rub you of his naivety.”

I started walking, but I realized she wasn’t following me.

“What?” I mouthed at her

“Just go! Mar—comfort room,” she mouthed back.

Really. Fine. I frowned, gave her a two thumbs-down, and continued to walk where the party was in full swing.

I was right. I spotted Noah and the others at the living room. He was wearing a coat on top of his v-neck shirt, holding a glass of what looked like beer. He was laughing at what someone had probably said. Then, he saw me. His laughter stopped. I heard him excusing himself as he stood up. In only a matter of seconds, he was standing beside me, a faint smell of alcohol emanating from him.