Bloom (5 page)

9:17.

The party of the century had already been raging for nearly twenty minutes. Haven tried not to think about all of the girls throwing themselves at Jason, begging him to pick them instead of some girl who didn’t care enough about him to show up on time.

She smiled when she remembered their conversation during lunch. The embarrassment of her blushing face and stupid comments (“
Uh, fine”
) dissolved into the background when she focused on the fact that he had asked her to go to the party.

Haven fell back onto her pillow and wriggled her head impatiently.

Then she heard it: the unmistakable sound of her parents’ bedroom door closing. The latch
clacked
into place loudly and was followed by nothing but sweet silence. She quickly threw off her covers and picked up a pile of dirty clothes.  She laid them on her bed in the shape of her own sleeping body. Haven covered the clothes with the sheets and fluffed up the shape to make it look a little more realistic. She looked at it and shrugged—good enough.

Three soft knocks sounded from her bedroom door.

Haven froze and was about to throw off the clothes on her bed and climb under the sheets before she realized that she hadn’t yet done anything wrong. She could always just say she was having trouble sleeping and was organizing her room.

She smoothed down the front of her shirt as she walked over and opened the door. Noah stood in the hallway rubbing his eyes sleepily. His dinosaur pajamas were twisted sideways on his small frame.

“I had a scary dream,” he said.

Haven knelt down next to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. “Aw, Noah,” she said. “I’m sorry. It’s over now.” She pulled him close and hugged him, then twisted his pajama shirt back into place. “Do you want me to sit with you for a little while?”

He nodded and walked back to his room. Haven quietly closed her door and followed him. Every once in a while he would get woken up by a nightmare, and the only way to calm him down was to stay by his side until he drifted off to sleep.

Haven said a mental apology to Kayla as she sat down on the edge of Noah’s bed and pulled his covers up to his chest. His chore that day had been to clean up the floor of his room by moving all of his toys into the dedicated toy chest sitting in the corner next to the closet. He had managed to get most of them into the container, but a few of his favorites were still scattered around the floor.

Small glow-in-the-dark stars were stuck to the ceiling directly over his bed. Noah looked up at them while Haven patted down his wild hair.

“I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about going bald,” she said.

“You mean like Daddy?”

She laughed. “Right, like him.”

“His head’s shiny.”

“Like a cue ball.”

He chuckled. “Yeah!”

“Just don’t tell him that,” she said.

“No problemo.”

He held up his right pinky finger and waited. Whenever one of them asked the other to keep a secret, they made a solemn oath of silence by sealing the promise with a pinky swear.

Haven wrapped her own little finger around Noah’s and shook once, then bent down and kissed his forehead.

“You going to be okay, squirt?”

He nodded and turned away, yawning as he settled into the bed. Haven stood and walked to the door. She stepped into the hallway and left the door to Noah’s bedroom open a few inches so he would have a little light if he woke up again. Before she even reached the end of the hallway, she heard him quietly snoring.

She padded down the stairs quickly and tiptoed to the front door. Before her father got home from work earlier that day and while her mother was upstairs trying to get Noah to clean his room, Haven found a small can of WD-40 in the kitchen cupboard and sprayed the sliding deadbolt, thumb latch, and hinges on the front door. There was no sound as she slowly unlocked the deadbolt and pressed down on the thumb latch to open the door. She smiled as it swung open silently.

After she closed the door behind her, Haven carefully inserted her key into the lock and turned it until she felt the
click
of metal hitting metal. She stuffed the key in her jeans pocket and hurried across the lawn, looking back over her shoulder at her parents’ bedroom window to make sure they weren’t peeking out at her from behind the curtain.

“About friggin’ time,” said Kayla as Haven hopped into the passenger seat and gently closed the car door.

“Sorry! They stayed up late and then Noah had a nightmare.”

Kayla fired up the engine and winced at the loud, metallic squeal as it warmed up. “That’s why it pays to be an only child, like me.” She put the car into gear and turned around in the middle of the street.

“Because you turned out perfect.” Haven rolled her window down a couple inches and closed her eyes as the cool night air blew through her hair.

“
That’s
what you’re wearing?” said Kayla. Haven opened her eyes to see that her friend was sneering at her simple t-shirt and faded blue jeans.

“What’s the matter with this? It’s a classic combo.”

“If you don’t want to get laid, you mean.”

“Hey! Gimme a break. This is only our first date. And excuse me for not showing the whole world what my body looks like underneath my clothes.” She pointed at Kayla’s low-cut blouse. The hem around the bottom of the thin garment went down only as far as her belly button. Haven didn’t want to give her friend the satisfaction of knowing she looked great in what she was wearing.

“Maybe that’s why you’ve only had one real boyfriend,” said Kayla.

“Like that’s a bad thing.”

“Isn’t it?” She turned a corner sharply, tires squealing on the pavement.

Haven sighed and looked out the window. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Well, at least find out how many kids Jason wants before you give in. If it’s more than two, I say don’t do it. You should see what having three did to my Aunt Charlotte’s body. Whoo, man!” She puffed out her cheeks and crossed her eyes.

Haven laughed. “I just want to have a little fun tonight, you know? I just want to relax.”

“Hey, now! Miss Perfect Grades wants to have a little fun! Everybody watch out!”

It took another ten minutes before Kayla turned away from downtown Scottsdale and drove slowly through the wealthiest neighborhood in the city. Haven thought that her own house was nice, but it was a shack compared to the mansions lining both sides of the street.

They passed a sprawling two-story home on the left. Cars were parked on the perfect lawn at angles that would make them nearly impossible to move later.

Kayla drove by the house with her mouth open, staring through the huge glass windows at all of the people inside. “Oops,” she said. “We’re here.” She pulled her car into an empty spot on the side of the street a block away, then opened her door and started to get out.

“Wait!” said Haven. “What if my parents wake up and find out I’m not there? What if Noah has another nightmare?”

“Oh, come on. It’s a little late to be thinking about that now, isn’t it? You’re just nervous about Jason. Forget about it and relax.” She got out of the car and shut her door.

Haven sighed and did the same. They walked across the lawn, navigating around teenagers they recognized from school. Everyone had a red cup in hand and seemed to be having a great time.

“What are they drinking?” asked Haven as they walked into the house.

“Shh! Don’t be a dork! Did you think they’d be serving fruit punch?” Kayla looked up and spun around to take in the view. “Wow, this place is great!”

Haven saw a massive chandelier hanging down from the ceiling thirty feet above. A spiral staircase ascended around it and led to the second floor.

“That probably cost more than my whole house,” she said.

The place was packed. Haven saw a few people she knew from her classes, but there were just as many that she had never seen before. Most of them moved to the constant, steady thumping of loud music. Small spotlights swiveled and flashed from their mounts atop bookcases and cabinets to paint the crowd in a rainbow of bright colors.

“Come on, let’s get a drink.” Kayla grabbed Haven’s hand and pulled her through the mass of people.

“But we don’t drink!”

“Keep your voice down! Just soda or something.”

Kayla waved to friends she knew from school as she moved toward the kitchen. There was an opening at the drink table and Haven waited while Kayla filled two red cups with soda. She turned back and handed one of them over.

“There!” she said. “No one will know the difference.”

“I’ll know!” boomed a loud voice behind them.

Haven turned around. Jason stood on the other side of the table, smiling at her. He had a cup in his hand and his cheeks were flushed red.

“You made it!” he said. “I thought you were gonna stand me up!”

Haven leaned closer to shout over the music. “I just had to wait until my parents—”

Kayla reached out and quickly pulled her back. “We had to ditch another party!” she said loudly, squeezing Haven’s arm.

“Oh, right,” said Haven, finally getting the hint. “This one is way better!”

“Yeah it is!” said Jason. He walked around the table and stood between them, turning his back to Haven. The smell of alcohol filled the air around him as he took the cup out of Kayla’s hand and leaned toward her. “Let’s get you something a little more apopriate—perpropriate—a little more tasty!”

The group of teenagers around the table shouted their approval as Jason tipped a bottle of clear brown liquid over Kayla’s cup and filled it to the brim. He passed it back to her and took a long chug from his own cup. Kayla smelled her drink and wrinkled her nose.

“Drink it!” he said happily. “Drink it, drink it, drink it!” He started a chant and everyone standing by the table joined in.

Kayla shrugged and started to lift the cup to her lips.

“Kayla!” said Haven.

“Oh, come on,” said Kayla, leaning forward and speaking just loud enough to be heard. “I thought we were going to have fun?”

Haven crossed her arms. “You remember the car crash two months ago?”

Kayla sighed and her shoulders drooped. “Yeah,” she said.

“Haley Jones and the other kids? All five of them died because they were drunk.”

“Yeah, I know. You’re right.” She sighed again. “Alright, fine.” Kayla put down the cup and looked at Jason. “No thanks,” she said over the music. “We’re good without it.”

Jason shrugged. “Okay.” He put one arm around her shoulder and steered her away from the table.

“Hey!” said Haven.

Jason turned back, looking surprised. “Haven! How rude of me. Please, make a drink and mingle. There’s a ton of guys here, so don’t be shy.” He took a sip from his cup.

“He’s drunk,” said Kayla. She pushed his arm off her shoulder and stood next to Haven.

“So what?” said Jason. “It’s my party.”

The people around them fell silent but music continued to thump loudly from the den. Colored lights swooped over the still crowd.

“I thought you asked me to come here,” said Haven. “
Me.
”

“Psssh, what?” said Jason. “You drew my name on the wall so I knew you and your friend would show up if I asked you.” He burped and pointed at Kayla. “But she’s really
hot
.”

Haven opened her mouth to say something but the words caught in her throat. Everyone was staring at her. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she reached out and slapped Jason’s face.

“Whoa!” he said. He blinked and shook his head, then he laughed. “She’s feisty!”

Everyone standing near the table laughed and suddenly the party was back on.

Haven knew she would cry if she stayed in that room a moment longer, but her feet felt like they were frozen to the ground.

Jason shrugged and finished the rest of his drink while Kayla put her arm around Haven’s shoulders and turned her toward the front door. She looked back and made a face at all the people staring at Haven. “Yeah, real great party!” she shouted sarcastically, giving the crowd a crooked thumbs-up as she and Haven walked out of the house.

“Thank you,” said Haven softly as Kayla opened the passenger door to the car and guided her into the seat. She sat unmoving, staring straight ahead.

Kayla walked around the car and got into the driver’s seat. The engine squealed to life and she pulled out onto the street. “Forget him,” she said. “You can do way better.”

“Yeah, right!” said Haven. She sniffed and looked out the window. “Why did he have to do it like that? He should have just asked
you
during lunch, and I could have tagged along like the pathetic loser I am.”

“Don’t say that. He’s the loser, Haven. Not you.”

“Yeah, but I’m still single.”

“Not for long,” said Kayla. “Do you know how many sympathy dates you’re gonna get after what happened back there?”

Haven smiled and punched her in the leg.

“I’m serious! The boys will be lining up around the block to try and make you feel better. You’re beautiful, even if you don’t think you are. Maybe just put on a little lipstick every once in a while, you know? I’m
kidding
.”

Haven sighed. “We’ll see.”

It was just past ten o’clock and the streets were mostly empty. Kayla turned onto the road which led to Haven’s house and leaned forward over the steering wheel.

“What’s that?” she said, pointing toward the horizon.

A red glow lit the night sky a mile away. As they drove closer, the glow intensified and flickered like a giant, red candle.

“It looks like a fire,” said Kayla.

“Drive faster,” said Haven.

Kayla sped up and drove down the middle of the street. A black car with tinted windows and no headlights appeared under a streetlight, moving toward them fast. Kayla screamed and jerked the steering wheel to the side. The black car zoomed past, barely missing them.

“Did you see that?!” she said, breathing hard. “That guy almost killed us!”

Haven was barely listening. She stared at the fire ahead and swallowed hard as her throat slowly tightened.

Through the car’s windshield, Haven watched her house burn.