It was clear which house had the party in it, looking at all the cars. She didn’t know much about Bruce Radner, he was a sophomore, a friend of Dave’s. She wondered if he even knew of her existence, that she was coming.
Jeez, this was going to be embarrassing.
Dave jumped out of the car, pulled out a six-pack from the trunk. A boy and a girl she didn’t know opened the front door, waved at Dave. The minute he heard Pink’s ‘Get the Party Started’ streaming out the door, he started dancing his way to them, holding the six-pack over his head.
‘Wait for us!’ Ash called out to him, checking her makeup one last time. Lavanya wanted to add some more lip gloss but was too self-conscious to do it. She quickly turned towards the street and applied the strawberry gloss.
Ashley looked at her, adjusted her hair a little. ‘You look nice,’ she said, considering her.
‘Whatever. It’s too late now anyway.’
‘C’mon, it’ll be fun, I promise!’ Ash said, grabbing her by the hand and dragging her towards the house. Dave had already gone in with his friends.
She probably didn’t know anyone but these two. And Chip. And she didn’t really know him. What would she even say to him if he spoke to her? She should have just stayed home.
Laser lights were on, creating strange patterns on the walls and floor. Ashley was already dancing, singing out the lyrics, as Dave stood near the table that made up the bar. A bunch of his friends, all sophomores, were there, taking swigs out of red paper cups. No sign of Chip anywhere. Ash called to her to come and dance. She gestured to say ‘You carry on, I’ll join you later’. In a minute, Dave joined Ash on the floor, bottle of beer in hand.
She wondered what to do. There were some chairs arranged randomly on one side of the room. But no one was sitting. Everyone was talking to someone, knew someone. She felt really stupid. Why on earth had she allowed Ash to persuade her? If she sat there, she would look like a real loser. She wondered if she could walk around the house. It was huge. She guessed the parents were out of town. Mom would kill her if she pulled a stunt like this. American parents were much cooler about stuff. Where had they managed the alcohol from? Dave had an older brother, she knew. Good thing no one knew Dad made bourbon.
More couples wandered on to the dance floor. Usher was on, singing ‘Yeah’. Some people were trying out the steps from the music video. The coolest dancer was, of course, Corey, everybody in school knew who he was. He made the others look dumb, but they were laughing and dancing all the same, trying hard to imitate him. ‘Fall to Pieces’ came on. Several couples started slow dancing. She looked at them, then grew red in case any of them thought she was staring. Ash and Dave had disappeared. She wondered if she should go looking for them. Still no sign of Chip.
She wandered through the house to the back, on to the deck. There were steps leading down to a massive swimming pool below. A couple of people sat there, their legs in the water, paper cups in their hands. She wished she had gotten herself something to drink. You needed something in your hands not to attract any attention at a party. But she had been too self-conscious to go near the crowded bar table, afraid that no one would know her well enough to even say hi. She sat down on the top step, hoping no one would come by. She looked at her watch. It was nine-fifteen. What the heck was she going to do till Ash and Dave were ready to leave?
She shrank back as a couple came by, making space for them to get past. They were wrapped around each other. ‘Hey,’ they said vaguely to her as they walked down the steps, ‘having a good time?’
She nodded, hoping they couldn’t see her flushing. ‘Thanks.’
‘We should’ve brought swimsuits,’ she heard them say. ‘That would’ve been cool!’
How relaxed they were. You had to know people at a party. If you didn’t, it made you feel that everyone was watching you, wondering what the heck you were doing there. There was probably nothing worse than being alone at a party. Luckily, no one was around. The kitchen door opened and there was a blast of Britney Spears. Good to dance to.
Someone came and stopped next to her. She looked up and was startled to see Chip Burton smiling down at her. He had a red paper cup in his hand.
‘Hey, what are you doing here, all alone?’ he said. ‘Mind if I join you?’
‘Sure,’ she said a little shyly, making space. Her heart felt like it would pop out of her mouth. She hoped he wouldn’t notice. What the heck was she to talk to him about? She could feel her tongue tying itself up.
‘Not drinking anything?’ he said.
She shook her head, tongue stuck to palate.
‘Shall I get you something?’
Before she knew it, she blurted out, ‘A beer?’
He paused. ‘Have you had beer ever?’
‘Sure, tons of times,’ she said as airily as she could. What a fool she was. ‘What are you drinking?’
‘Coke,’ he said.
She was mortified. But pride made her go on. ‘Well, a beer would be good.’
He nodded, got up and went back in the house to fetch her one. He was back in a few minutes. ‘Here you go,’ he said, handing the open bottle to her, and sitting down beside her.
‘Thanks,’ she said, and took what she hoped looked like a casual swig. Bllrrrrr! It was disgusting. She had to try hard to keep the beer down, appear as if she was used to doing this.
‘So what were you doing here, all alone?’ he said again, taking a sip of his drink.
‘Waiting for you!’ she wanted to say but said instead, the words coming out all in a rush, ‘I don’t seem to know anyone at this party except Ashley and Dave, and I can’t seem to find them.’ What a dork he would think she was.
He laughed. ‘You probably won’t till it’s time to leave! Good I came along, then.’
She nodded, not being able to think of a single thing to say. So he hadn’t been expecting her? Had Ashley made that up? She reddened, wondering if he could read her thoughts.
‘So…’ he began.
‘So…’ she began at the exact same time.
They both laughed. ‘You first,’ he said.
‘No, you go ahead!’ she said, reddening some more. She had nothing to say, nothing that could be said.
‘I was just going to say, you and Ashley are freshmen, right? But you’re the one who takes the advanced math class. Smart Indian girl, huh?’
Oh, no, not that stereotype again. ‘I guess,’ she said, face down.
‘So you wanna dance?’ he said, changing the subject.
She took a long swig of beer to steady her nerves. Bad move, she felt kind of sick. ‘Sure,’ she said, belching. She blushed, hoping he hadn’t noticed. Why in heck had she asked for a beer, show-off.
He pulled her up to her feet, kept her hand in his, and led her back into the house. Her pulse raced. She felt as though a current was passing through her body. The beer was making her feel strange. Oh, god, oh, god, she hoped she wouldn’t make a fool of herself on the dance floor.
Cascada was playing ‘Everytime We Touch’. He smiled a little. It was not a slow song but he danced close to her, almost as if to hold her up. Did he think she was drunk? She tried to dance normally. The floor was really crowded. Someone knocked into her, apologized. She swayed and almost fell. He grabbed her, then said something to her but she couldn’t hear what it was. He led her away to one side. They continued dancing.
Hoobastank came on. God, it was a slow song. Her heart beat fast. Would they continue dancing or would he lead her off? Chip looked at her enquiringly, then pulled her close and held her by her waist. She put her arms around his neck. She wondered if he could feel her heart trying to jump out. She hoped and prayed she didn’t smell of beer. Why the heck had she drunk the wretched stuff? He smelt wonderful, warm and clean. She sneaked a peek at him. His eyes seemed closed. She felt deliriously happy.
‘The Reason’ got over, bringing her back to earth. Another slow number came on.
‘Enough dancing?’ he said.
She nodded, not really wanting to let go of him. He led her back to the steps at the back. They sat down. She saw the bottle of beer, finished it.
‘I’m going to get some Coke. Want another beer?’ he said, probably thinking she would refuse. He probably knew this was the first time she was drinking beer.
She nodded, just because she had lied about drinking before, knowing it was a bad idea.
‘Ok-ey, if you’re sure…’ he said, getting up.
She wasn’t sure at all. But the beer was making her feel relaxed. She wouldn’t have been able to say a thing to him otherwise. Not that she had said anything. Mostly she was giving him one-syllable replies. What an idiot he must think her.
He came back, gave her the open bottle, sat down. It seemed as though he was sitting closer to her than before. She felt her heart speeding up. She quickly took a swig of beer, larger than she had planned, then rubbed the foam moustache off in embarrassment. Where was Ashley? What was going to happen? She wasn’t prepared for this.
He half-turned towards her. The lights around the pool caught his spectacle frames, making them glow. He looked at her. God, how cute he was! She stared, not realizing what she was doing, then looked away in confusion. He must think her a freak.
After a moment, he put a shy arm around her shoulders. ‘May I?’
She nodded, tongue still on vacation. She could feel his warmth stealing into her. She stayed still, not daring to breathe. They stayed like this for a few moments. She wondered if she would die of joy.
‘Lavs…’
‘You know my name?’ she burst out, looking up at him.
He laughed. ‘Of course I know your name – La-van-ya – what did you think?’
Oh, god, her heart was definitely going to burst.
‘Lavs…’ he said again very softly, looking down at her face, ‘may I?’
The door leading out to the deck was thrust open and someone came out. They drew away from each other.
‘Who’s La-vun-ya? There’s someone at the door looking for La-vun-ya, some Indian woman…’
‘Mom?’ Lavi sprang to her feet, and almost fell down. Chip caught her, held her. She felt a wave of nausea rise up in her. Oh, no, she was going to throw up all over Chip. It couldn’t be Mom, she wasn’t even in town, how the hell had she found out, had she not gone at all? She felt the beer wanting to come out. He walked her to the door as if she were made of ceramic.