What Lasts in Us

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

"HOUSE PARTY!"

"Tori, please tell me it's not my house," Mum says from the kitchen.

Tori jumps onto the couch beside my dad, who of course is reading the newspaper. Thea sits beside him, her gaze intent on her Nintendo DS.

"Tori," Dad greets, and he actually lifts his gaze from his newspaper. His ankle is propped on his knee. "Are you trying to teach my daughter to be rebellious?"

"What gave you that idea, Mr Coughlan?" Tori asks sweetly. I can tell you now, me and Lucy are definitely not related – we're not second cousins once removed, thrice removed, whatever the hell you want to call it – but we're thick as thieves, and very similar in many and eerie ways.

We grew up together. The two frumpy girls, the ones who were eternally single even when we were old enough to start dating.

Okay, so we aren't frumpy anymore. Puberty was actually alright to us, though my first kiss was at sixteen. Tori, with her curly blonde hair and grey eyes, and me, with my dark hair and hazel eyes, are chalk to one's cheese, the yin to one's yang. The only thing that can keep us apart are our classes at school.

I like history, English, literature – anything that involves words. Numbers? Stuff that. Tori's good with numbers, science, biology – all the things I suck at. So basically, if you put the two of us together, we'd make the perfect human being.

"Dad, I'm not even invited," I say. I switch off the PlayStation and spin around to face him, Tori, and Thea – the latter who I don't think knows we even have a visitor.

Why aren't I invited? Guilty by association. My parents are the resident crazies. Therefore, I am resident crazy offspring. Somehow that doesn't affect Tori's standing with me. Everyone knows the only thing that truly separates us is our parents – so it's kind of odd that she still gets invited to things, when everyone knows how close we are.

I don't really mind, though. She deserves it. She deserves to be popular. She deserves to have all the friends. I just know how to shoot a guy with an arrow right between the eyes. No biggy.

"You are now!" Tori exclaims excitedly. "I get a plus one. And do you know who's going to be my plus one? You."

"But no one wants me there!" I retort. "That's why I wasn't invited."

"And who cares?"

"I do."

"Well you shouldn't," says Tori. "We're juniors now. We need to start making memories!"

"And when does this shindig take place?" Dad asks.

"Tonight," Tori says. "So Charli, you've got ..." She looks at the invisible watch on her wrist. "Three hours to get ready."

"Tori, it's four o'clock in the afternoon! Who the hell has a party at seven o'clock?"

Tori smirks, all knowing. "Miller," she says, and just like that, I'm intrigued.

"Miller." I repeat.

"Who the heck's Miller?" Dad asks.

Tori turns to him, smug, excited. "Only one of the most popular, hottest guys in school."

Dad closes his newspaper. "Should I be worried?" he asks me, but I know he's joking.

"About Miller? God no." Tori smiles, all teeth. She glances at me. "You just need to worry about Derek."

"Who's–"

"His best friend," I reply quickly.

"Who Charli has a huge–"