My feet bounce off the floor one by one as I dance on my faded skinny jeans with holes in the knees, slip on my flat black tennis shoes, and throw on a cute black tank top. I grab my all-black sweatshirt to take in case it drops in temperature and to cover up if I get uncomfortable. I’ve never been to a graduation party but I’m assuming they can go pretty late.
Sprint hopping down the stairs, I say nothing to my parents and nervously take off to my first party experience.
Chapter Ten.
His house is insane. This place is practically a mansion, with its three stories, floor to ceiling windows on each level, a huge pool already filled to the brim with people and a huge backyard surrounded by woods.
I knew Jared was well off, but I didn’t know he wasthisloaded.
My God.
A valet greets me at the end of the driveway, stating they’ll take my car to the lot. I’m nervous handing some rando my keys, but then again, I’ve never had a valet service before so I don’t know the rules. He gives me a number to call when I come to pick up the car and drives off.
The doors to the mansion are wide open, adults and students filling every space. The entrance opens into a large room with a view straight to the pool through theback of the house. A large chandelier hangs in the middle of what I can only assume is the living room surrounded by a fur rug on the marble floor and white semi-circular couches on each side. A fireplace is stationed on one side and a big screen TV is drilled on top of it. I can only imagine what the rest of the house looks like.
Before I can walk to the backyard to look for Shirley, pressure appears under my chin and pushes my mouth closed.
“You are the definition of what a jaw drop looks like there, Charlie.” Jared’s hand pulls my face to his and he smiles down at me, his expression full of excitement. “You had me worried you weren’t coming,” he says, his smile softening as he meets my eyes.
My cheeks burn under the intensity of his stare, but this time a touch of nausea accompanies it. Shirley comes into view, walking toward us, an unquestionable expression of hurt on her face. I quickly remove his hand and step back.
“Hey Shirl,” I exclaim as enthusiastically as I can manage.
“Hey,” she says with a forced smile. Arms thrown behind my back, I turn to Jared attempting to rectify what she might have interpreted from afar. Iimmediately move into wing woman mode and start the conversation Shirley and I previously agreed to.
“Jared, did you know that Shirley has been infourbeauty pageants?” Glancing at Shirley, I nod to encourage her to finish the rest of the conversation.
“Uh, no, I didn’t,” he replies with a confused chuckle. A brow rises as he strokes his chin.
“Yeah,” she says beaming, moving in front of me to bring the focus more on her. I gladly side-step back and allow her to take charge. A promise is a promise.
Jared kindly keeps up the conversation with her even though I catch him watching me out of his peripherals every now and then.
Each time the conversation fizzles, I start up the next topic Shirley and I had agreed on to keep it going. I caress Shirley’s arm and step beside her.
“Jared, did you know that Shirley is going to Jenkin’s University as well?”
Both eyebrows raise in interest.Bingo. “Oh, really? No, I didn’t know that. What are you going to major in?”
Her face lights up in excitement at the now fully drawn attention from him. I give myself a mental pat on the back. His eyes no longer veer to me in any capacity, so I assume my job is done and walk away, the ghost of his hand where it caressed my chin still lingering quietly.
Luckily, I’m quickly distracted by the magnificence of this place and I happily explore with my new freedom, wanting to see more of it. I walk to the back pool area and stare in awe at how large their pool is. It’s not exaggerating to say it’s the size of a small lake, shaped in an ongoing curve like fashion with beautiful clear water. A large black W for his last name, Wallace, is painted on the bottom of the it.
The pool overlooks a monstrous backyard with perfectly mowed green pathways on the sides in between two lines of trees. About a mile back, the backyard ends into a small wood where an extravagant water fountain sits, spraying water out of some type of statue in the middle. I stroll along the green pathway, taking my time and enjoying the nice weather and quiet away from the noise of the party, soaking in the beauty.
It takes me ten minutes to get to the fountain, but it’s worth it as I stop right in front, admiring the beauty of it in the setting sun. The light hits the female crystal figurine in the center of it, splitting into rainbows under the mists coming out of the spouts in her hands. Two large stone dogs sit on each side of her.
“My dad had this built in honor of my mom’s dog training career. She was a legend back in the day.”
I whip around, my heart racing. I was so lost in thought, I forgot other people were here.
“Jared, you scared me!” I huff, gripping my hand to my chest.
His expressions apologetic. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I saw you admiring the fountain, so I wanted to tell you what it was about. Not many people know about my mother’s professional dog training background. It’s pretty cool, the work she did. She traveled all around the world, won some medals and even helped train military dogs there for a while.”
I stare in awe at the crystal woman in front of me. What an amazing woman. Such power…over herself, animals and likely people.
“Why’d she stop?”
