The Game Changer (22 page)

“Thanks,” he answers as she whispers something in his ear that makes him smile.

“Well, I better get back to my friends, it was nice seeing you. Happy New Year,” I say as I hurry away, giving myself an escape from that uncomfortable moment.

As I head in the direction of Deanna and Timmy, I glance back over my shoulder in Blake’s direction. He has joined his friends, along with the model looking girl, still tightly holding on to his arm. He’s still watching me and gives me a smile, or a smirk, really, and holds up his glass to me. I return his smile and quickly turn away.

Timmy still has his arms wrapped around De. They look happy together.

“I’m so happy your back. I’ve missed you.” I give her a hug. “You look beautiful. How do you feel?”

“Thank you, so do you. I’m exhausted. I’m happy to see you guys, though!” I hand her the drink. “I think I’m starting to get my second wind. This is great, isn’t it?” She asks while looking around and taking a sip.

“Unbelievable,” I answer.

“How do you know Blake Christiansen?” she asks curiously, looking over in his direction.

“Oh, he’s in my Art class. This is actually the first time I spoke to him. How do you know him?” I ask as I glance back in his direction.

“I don’t really. He’s in your Art class? Wow. I wouldn’t have guessed that,” she says surprised.

“What do you mean by that? He’s actually really good. Honestly, he has me beat.”

“This is his house. You know that, right?” She laughs.

“Oh, my God, no, I didn’t. I asked Cathy whose house this is and she said it was some guy named Brian or Billy.” Now it makes sense, why he thanked me when I said it was a great party. “Do you not like him or something?”

“Like I said, I don’t really know him. He just moved here about a year ago from Manhattan, he was in one of my classes last year. He doesn’t hang around anyone from school. I’ve heard he’s trouble and only hangs with his New York City snobby friends... but to be honest, I don’t know that for myself. It could be a rumor, you know our school.”

“Well, he’s nice enough to let all of these people hang out at his house for New Year’s Eve,” I answer defensively.

De starts laughing. “Okay. I just said I didn’t know for myself. I’m just relaying what I heard.”

I’m laughing with her. “I know. I just feel bad that all of these people are in his house, me included, and not one of us is a friend of his.”

“Do you want to leave?” she asks teasingly.

“Hell no, I’m having fun. Besides, at least I talked to him and told him I was having a good time.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t count. You didn’t even know it was his house.”

“True.”

“He keeps looking over at you,” she says, glancing in his direction.

I peek over. He is watching and I quickly look away. “Probably because this is the first time we’ve seen each other outside of Art class,” I answer casually, not making too much out of it. Then, I switch topics. “You made good time getting here.”

“I did. I got ready so fast. I jumped in my mom’s shower and Mikey jumped in ours. I don’t
think I’ve ever gotten ready so fast in my life. He drove me over while Luke showered.”

She looks gorgeous for getting ready so quick. She’s wearing a stunning dark blue halter dress; her long black hair is slicked back into a sleek pony tail. Her skin is perfectly tanned. Everyone stares when she walks in a room. God, I even stare at her. She and Luke get that reaction from a lot of people. In the back of my mind, I’m wishing Luke would have dropped her off and stopped in to see me. Oh well, I’m here to have a good time and, so far, I am. Everyone is.

The DJ is doing a great job keeping everyone moving. We walk down to the first floor whenever we feel like dancing, but keep a pub style table on the third floor to hang at in between. It’s somewhat quieter up there and at least we can hear each other talk. Every now and then I will take a walk around the party by myself. The more Eddie’s friend, Jason, drinks, the more touchy feely he gets with me; he’s somewhat obnoxious. Then, I have Stephen, who is with Timmy’s group of friends. He seems to notice that I don’t want to be bothered by the Jason kid, so he tries his best at striking up a conversation with me. He’s nice, but I don’t want to lead him on.

On my last trip to the bar, I look for Blake, but don’t see him. Now that I know this is his house, I take notice of the artwork hanging around the house. I’m sure some of it is his. I want to ask him about it.

As I’m wandering around on the second floor, I notice that everyone is holding little plastic flutes of champagne. I look up at the huge plasma on the wall and notice that there is only a minute till midnight. I grab a glass of champagne from the bar and start to make my way towards the stairs; my friends are still on the third level. I at least want to be with them when the clock strikes twelve.

***

(Luke)

“Why do you keep checking your phone?” Mikey asks as we are driving to CJ’s.

“I’m not,” I annoyingly answer, changing the subject, as we pull into the lot. “Wow, the parking lot is crowded, isn’t it?”

“What did you expect? It’s New Year’s Eve,” he answers, pulling into a spot in the back of the lot.

It’s already after eleven, due to the late start we had today. Our buddy is working the door when we walk up, but there are a couple of others that we don’t recognize. I guess, since it is New Year’s Eve, they have extra guys on staff. A bouncer we don’t know asks us for I.D., Mikey calls over to Lou, the doorman who knows us. He waves us along and stamps our hands.

It is packed and the band is playing. Normally, I would have loved this, but tonight, I just can’t get in the mood. We make a beeline for the bar and order two beers. As we push through the crowd, we find our friends at the usual spot, standing by the back bar. It’s a little less crowded in that particular area. By the time we arrive, most of them are already wasted. Megan finds Mikey. She is with one of her friends. I’ve met her before, but can’t remember her name for the life of me. She was with Megan the night she met Mikey. I recall her giving me her number at the end of the night, but I tossed it. She walks up to me and kisses me hello. She tries to strike up a conversation, but I’m not really interested. I’m not in the mood for some chick I don’t know, clinging to me as soon as I walk in the
door. When she turns to say something to Megan, I make a bee-line towards our friends. They’re being obnoxious, as usual. I actually have a few laughs. They’ll probably end up getting thrown out before the night is over.

Suddenly, I feel someone tugging at my arm and I turn to face the annoying person. Oh great, it’s Alexa. Drunk. She puts her arms around my neck and leans up to kiss me. “Are you still mad at me?” she asks.

“No. I’m not mad at you. I’d actually have to care to be mad,” I say cockily as I untangle her fingers from around my neck and push her arms away. Just what I wanted. Drunken Alexa is worse than regular Alexa.

Again, she ties her arms around my neck. Apparently too drunk to register what I have said. “Haven’t you missed me? I’ve missed you. How about we get out of here?”

“I just got here,” I answer, pulling her strangle-hold from my neck once more.

She tightly holds the front of my shirt. “Okay, we’ll wait till after midnight,” she slurs.

“I don’t think so,” I say, removing her hands for the third time.

It takes her a minute before she realizes that I am treating her like shit. Like I said, she’s drunk. “You’re an asshole, Luke. Who do you think you are? You’re really not that great anyway!” She begins babbling and cursing me out.

“Yeah, okay… whatever. Why do you keep coming back for more then?” I probably shouldn’t provoke her, but I can’t help it. She continues rambling in my ear as I turn away and walk towards Mikey.

He’s cracking up. “Dude, what the hell did you say to her?” he asks as she continues yelling at the back of my head.

“I don’t know. She’s drunk,” I answer. “I should have stayed home.” I’m in a foul mood and it’s showing.

“Ah… Man, you’re pathetic. Here.” He dangles his keys in front of my face.

“What?” I ask.

“Take them. Go find her. I know that’s what you’re dying to do anyway.” He laughs.

“No, man. I’m not going to leave you here with them.” I look over in the direction of our rowdy friends.

“You’re not leaving me with them. I’m with Megan. Go.” He hands me the keys.

I don’t have to think twice about it. I put my half empty beer down on the bar and take off. The party is only a few minutes from CJ’s. I can still make it there by midnight. As I head over to the party, I start thinking that maybe I should try calling her first, instead of surprising her. After all, it is New Year’s Eve, maybe she’s with someone else. That would suck, but I’m willing to take the chance. I really want to see her. We need to talk. I’m done with this hiding bullshit and I hope she is, too. Besides, after this week, my whole family pretty much knows the way I feel about her. It came up in Florida while Mikey was busting on me for texting her.

There must be a million cars when I pull up, I can’t even get close to the house. Once inside, it is worse; it will take me forever to find her. I look at my phone, five minutes till midnight.

I do a quick sweep of the first floor, there seems to be a thousand people dancing. I eagerly look through the crowd and I don’t see her or any of her friends. I make my way to the second floor. I start on one side of the room and work my way to the other. Shit, this house is huge and I have only a minute till midnight. Just as I’m making my way to the steps to head up to the third floor, the counting begins, 10, 9... and then I spot her near the stairs. She is by herself and looks to be in a hurry. Thankfully, a couple making out on the steps has blocked her path. God, she looks hot. This is exactly where I want to be tonight ...5, 4… I come up behind her and slide my arms around her waist, pulling her close to me as I whisper in her ear... 3… 2…

***

(Jesse)

Everyone is shouting, 5, 4… Suddenly, someone grabs me from behind. I hear his voice as his lips brush the side of my ear. My stomach drops and chills run through my whole body... 3… 2... Slowly I turn to face him, not quite believing that he is actually here, but he is. He wraps his arms tightly
around my waist and pulls me closer, causing me to drop my glass. I throw my arms around his neck. Our eyes never leave each other’s as our lips meet. In the background, I can hear everyone screaming,
Happy New Year!

When we are finally able to pull our lips apart, he looks at me and smiles. “Happy New Year,” he whispers, still holding me close.

“Happy New Year,” I say as we kiss again. When I finally get over the shock of seeing him, I ask what he is doing here.

“Mikey gave me his keys. I wanted to be with you tonight. Man, I didn’t think I was going to find you in time with all of these people.” He looks around at the crowded room.

“I really can’t believe that you did, with seconds to spare, too!” I say happily.

“I was determined. See what I can accomplish when I want something,” he jokes as he pulls me down a hallway that is somewhat more private. He places my back to the wall and we kiss again. We’re interrupted by the ringing of my phone.

“Hello? Happy New Year... Okay. Yeah, we have the room at the hotel... Everyone. Love you, too. See you tomorrow.”

“David?”

“Yeah, he’s staying at the casino tonight. He just wanted to say Happy New Year and make sure I was okay. Everyone is upstairs. Do you want to go up?” I ask hesitantly. There is nothing I want more than to be alone with him, but I’ve been missing now for a while and I know everyone will be wondering where I have run off to.

“Whatever you want. Are you okay with walking up together?” he asks.

I probably wouldn’t have said yes if I wasn’t tipsy, but I am, so I really don’t care. I’m just so happy he’s here. “I’ll just say I ran in to you on the stairs. It’s not really a lie.” I grab his hand and pull him towards the steps.

He pulls me back and brushes a piece of hair away from my face. “We need to talk. I would like a few minutes alone, okay?” He looks serious.

“Okay” is all I say as we head for the stairs. My heart is pounding and I have a million things going through my mind. Is this good? Is this bad? I need to talk to Deanna. I can’t keep doing this without her knowing.

Luke is practically on my heels when we meet up with everyone. They are busy snapping pictures of each other with their cell phones and having a good time. Then, it feels as if everyone turns to look at me as if to say,
where have you been?
But, then they spot Luke standing directly behind me, his hands resting on my waist and think,
Oh, that’s where
. 

“Look who I found,” I say, trying to act as if it is normal he’s here with us. I then make my rounds to kiss everyone and wish them a Happy New Year.

Deanna doesn’t seem surprised to see Luke. She walks over to give us each a hug and wish us a Happy New Year. She seems a little more concerned as to whether or not he came with Mikey. I can’t be sure, but she looks a little disappointed when Luke tells her he stayed with Megan at CJ’s. Cathy walks up, tells Luke and I to smile and snaps a picture. I know what I have to do, even though the timing isn’t what I have planned.