The next day was Saturday. I woke up to the sun beating down into my face as I lay in my bed. I thought about walking around the new neighborhood or hanging out with my brother. But, then I remembered about Kristy giving me her number.
“Hi, Kristy? It’s Bre. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me today.” I said after she picked up on the first ring.
“Hi, Bre! I would love to hang out today.” She said, with no hint of sarcasm.
“Uh, really?” I hadn’t thought she’d actually agree.
“Yes! If you want, you could come over or…”
“No, I really need to get out of my house. So, its okay with your parents, I’d like to come over.”
“They don’t care who comes over. As long as I’m not getting into any trouble or arrested.” She laughed.
Kristy lived in the next neighborhood over, the one with the mansions in one cul-de-sac. In my neighborhood, the houses were decent sized, but they never would’ve compared to Kristy’s and her neighbors. Sunlight gleamed down at the mansions in the Village, as the townspeople called it. It seemed like something out of a scary movie, nobody was outside, there were no children playing out in the street, it was unbelievably quiet.
“Where are all of your neighbors?” I asked her, still looking around at the vacant yards.
She looked around too, and then shrugged. “I don’t know. Actually, I don’t think they ever come out of their houses. I’ve never really paid any attention, though.”
“Are you the only kid on your block?”
She nodded, “I must be.”
“Strange.” I said.
We made our way to her house, which was at the center of the cul-de-sac. It must’ve been the biggest house on the street. Her front yard took up the rest of the cul-de-sac, so there were no other houses on either side of the house. She opened the door to the foyer, where two little kids were chasing each other and a woman was chasing after them.
“Muffy! Kevin! Stop running in this house right now!”She yelled after them, but they weren’t listening. Finally, she stopped running to catch her breath.
“Suzie!” Kristy screamed above the kids, who had come back through the foyer and up the stairs. Suzie looked at me and grinned.
“Hello, honey. I’m Suzie, Kristy’s step-mother.”
I smiled back, “Hello, I’m Brenda.” Adults were the only people allowed to call me by my real name.
“It’s very nice to meet you.” The kids ran back downstairs. “Excuse me girls. Kristy there are fresh-baked cookies on the…” There was a big crash that had come from the kitchen. Suzie rolled her eyes and walked briskly towards the noise.
Kristy took me upstairs to her bedroom, while her siblings were getting in trouble. Before, she opened the door; I imagined what her room would look like. Pink, I thought, with lots of pictures of her and her friends, clothes everywhere, trophies from cheerleading or gymnastics. But, I was wrong. Her room was baby blue, which looked better than my plain white walls. She had two trophies for the fifth grade spelling bee and three from little league softball. There wasn’t a bulletin board filled with pictures or pictures of her and her family or even of herself. There were no pictures at all. She closed the door behind me; behind it was a poster of all of her favorite bands and actors. She had a different variety of posters up from Lil’ Wayne to Green Day to Wicked: The Musical.
“Are you going to sit down?” She asked, giggling.
I sat down on the floor and began wondering about what that girl had told me. “Do you mind if I ask you something?” I was curious as to why that girl had told me that when I didn’t care to know. But, now I did. She nodded, waiting for the question. I took a minute to word it; I didn’t want to offend her. Eventually, I gave up. “What’s up with you and Kyle? Do you like him?”
I waited for a reaction, but she smiled instead, something I hadn’t expected. “We used to date during freshman year.”
“How long did you two date?”
“We were together for a year and a half, right before summer ended.” Her smiled faded.
“What happened?”
“He cheated on me with some sk***. She moved, after me and my old friend made her life a living hell. Her name was Autumn. She had dark brown hair, really big boobs, and the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen. I knew they liked each other because every time we passed her locker, he’d look at her, a look he never ever gave me. She would smile back at him, ignoring the fact that I was walking right next to him, watching.” She sighed, putting her blanket around her shoulders. “Well, I went to this party and didn’t tell Kyle. I went to find him, you know, trying to surprise him. I found him….and her, in a dark hallway, making out. My first instinct was to cry like the baby that I was. Instead, I went up to him, tapped him on his shoulder. You should have seen his face!” She laughed. “Priceless. Well, I smiled, smacking him across the face and punched Autumn in the stomach. Then, I left. Monday morning, we broke up in front of everyone.”
“I’m really sorry that happened to you, Kristy.” I didn’t know what else to say except that.
“I hate talking about him.”
The question had burned a whole inside of my throat; it was something I had to ask. “But, are you still in love with him?”
“Let’s change the subject…”
“No, Kristy. Just answer it.”
She sighed, “Yes, I am still in love with him…Happy?”
No. I thought. I’m the total opposite.
“Look, there’s this party tomorrow night, do you want to go? You could spend the night and Suzie could take you home after.”
“Is it okay with your parents?”
“I really wish you would stop saying that. They don’t care, well, my dad doesn’t, anyway. I’ll go tell Suzie to call your mom.” She left the room, and then came back, smiling. “It’s a done deal, you’re staying.”
“So…Who’s going to the party?”
“Basically, everybody from school. The boys and girls soccer team usually throw the beginning and end of the year house parties, inviting everyone and anyone who’ll come. People try to out-do their parties, but for some reason the soccer teams’ are the best. It’s sort of a tradition at our school.”

The party was already crazy as we walked up the front lawn. People were outside, smoking weed and drinking beer. There were beer kegs everywhere, from the porch to the kitchen. The inside of the house was dark, the music was so loud you couldn’t hear your own thoughts, and the rooms smelled disgusting. I recognized people from my classes and they all said hi to me. I didn’t know what to think, though. Was I happy that they knew who I was or was I happy that I was beginning to become popular, in a way?
Then, I saw Kyle. He was in the kitchen with his friends. He looked like a model from some foreign magazine. Kyle was wearing a white t-shirt, which highlighted his eyes. His eyes mesmerized me, just like they had on the first day of school.
“Bre, let’s go somewhere else.” Kristy said, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from Kyle, just as he recognized me and waved. We ended up in the backyard. It wasn’t as crowded as it was inside of the house. People were in the pool, even though it was really breezy out. I followed Kristy to the gazebo and we sat down on the swing. “Sorry I pulled you out here. But, I didn’t want to be humiliated again.”
Sure, I had understood where she was coming from. Kristy was probably still hurting from what Kyle had done to her. She needed an apology, and she was getting one, tonight.
“I’ll be back, Kristy. I’ll go get us something to drink.”
“I want a beer and try and put some ice in it, please.”
I tried making my way through the crowd that had blocked the sliding glass door that led into the kitchen. I pushed through, finally creating a mini path for me into the house. I searched for Kyle, where I had last saw him, but he wasn’t there. I looked for him through the swell of kids in the living room, but no Kyle. I found him, though, sitting on the hood of a blue car, smoking.
“Kyle! I need to talk to you.”
He turned around, and threw his cigarette out. “Hey to you too.” He laughed.
“Look, I know about you and Kristy. I know what you did to her.” I shook my head at him. “I thought you were different. I think you owe her an apology.”
“You’re right, but also wrong. I am different. I’ve changed; I know how much pain I put her through. I just don’t think she’ll forgive me.”
“I think you should just go talk to her. She’s in the backyard.”

Kristy was drunk. Kyle couldn’t even apologize because she was acting crazy. He helped me get her into the car when Suzie came to pick us up. She must’ve been wasted before because Suzie didn’t say anything when she saw how messed up Kristy had been. Kyle closed the door after she was buckled in.
“So, I’ll see you Monday?” He asked me. His hands were in his pockets and he was staring at the ground.
“I guess so.” I told him. “Why are you acting like that?”
He looked up at me. “What do you mean?”
“You’re, you’re not looking at me. You’re staring at the ground.”
“I’m just p***ed that you think I’m this sort of player. But, I’m not.” Without another word, Kyle walked back towards the party.
We didn’t talk to each other for the rest of the month.