Chapter 22: Chapter 22

“What’s going on?” I probe.

Lara looks up at me, “Jeremy invited Scott tonight and Anna told me Johnson invited Michael.”

I shrug, “Don’t worry about it, I’m not with either of them so it doesn’t matter. The more people at the party the merrier.”

Her eyebrows shoot up, “Are you sure about that?” “Positive,” I reassure her.

“Scott hates Michael,” Jeremy comments.

“I’m sure Michael hates Scott,” I add.

“Speaking of Scott,” Lara says looking past me.

Scott chooses the vacant chair next to Jeremy. He takes the seat and spins it around so the back is pushed up against the table.

Lara leans into Scott, “You are coming tonight aren’t you Scott?”

“Wouldn’t miss it, what time does it start?”

“Show up around six,” Lara instructs. “Do you have the address?” “No,” Scott glances at me, “Text me Anna’s address,” he orders me. “Sure,” I agree.

“The food will be ready for seven.”

“Here’s the list and the money,” Jeremy hands the alcohol list to Scott.

“Great, I’ll pick it up after school. You want to tag along Isabella?” “I can’t, mom wants to dye my roots.”

“I’ll do it Lara offers, come over to my place.” “Are you sure?”

“Wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to do it!” “Okay.”

Johnson and Anna join us at the table choosing the seats next to me. She looks at Jeremy, “Did you give Scott the alcohol list?”

Lara answers, “Ya he did. Is the pool going to be ready in time?” “Totally! What’s a pool party without the pool?” Anna squeals. “Just a party,” I responded smiling. Johnson looks over at Scott, “You know I invited Michael.” “Jeremy told me.”

“I don’t want anything to happen between the two of you,” Anna warns. “My parents will never let me have a party again if there’s any fighting.”

Anna looks at me, “Do you still have the tinted water bottles to hide the alcohol in?” “Ya, I can drop them by your house Scott before Lara and I go to Anna’s.”

Scott glances back at me, “No need, Jeremy and I will pick you ladies up at Lara’s house, so we can transfer the alcohol into the water bottles and we’ll all go together to Anna’s.”

“Sounds great,” Anna says happily. “It sounds like it is all planned!” “Too right!” I agree. The bell rings and we all go our separate ways. I text MOM:

ISABELLA: Don’t 4get Anna’s annual party is 2night. I’m going 2 Lara’s, she offered 2 do my hair.

MOM: Have fun, Honey!

ISABELLA: Can U drop the dye off on your way to work?

MOM: Sure, I can Be there in 1/2 hour.

ISABELLA: Thx, I’ll B waiting 4 U.

MOM: OK

Lara lives in a modern bungalow downtown Ikeja, so we take the Ikeja TTC to get to her house after school. Her mother’s name is Angela and she works in real estate, so her hours are all over the place. Angela was in love with this guy Nathan in her early thirties and was about to marry him when he jilted her at the altar for her best friend Suzanne. I hear the story every time Lara’s mother gets blathered. Lara is Nathan’s illegitimate kid. He never found out about her and if Angela has her way, he never will. Lara has no interest in seeking her father after her mother worked so hard to support her and give her a good life. She is happy.

As expected, we have the place to ourselves. Mom drops off the dye surprising me with a box of my original color. We run upstairs, and Lara throws me an old t-shirt before she starts mixing the dye. I put the shirt on and sit on the chair she put in the bathroom for me.

“Say goodbye to your platinum!”

“Bye!” Then the process begins, layer by layer she applies the dye to cover the blond that my mother helped me maintain for several months. When Lara is finished applying the color, the box says we have an hour to wait so we go downstairs and raid the refrigerator. I take a cheese string and yogurt before perching myself on her yellow shag rug to watch television while we wait. We watch Judge Judy until my hair is ready for rinsing.

Lara sits me back in the chair and combs my hair before brandishing the scissors, “You’re not!” I say to her. “It just grew back!”

“Let’s just try bangs! I’ll keep them long,” she suggests.

Not waiting for an answer, she takes liberties with my hair and starts brushing some forward, and begins cutting a straight line across my eyes while she tells me, “I’m breaking up with Jeremy tonight.” I watch helplessly as the long locks fall onto my lap. When she finishes her horizontal line, she steps back to admire her handiwork before smiling and says, “That’s done!”

She proceeds to the back and collects all my hair, “5 inch off?” “Fuck off! Cut five off your hair!”

“Anna wears hers short!”

“That’s Anna.”

“Three off? It will land two inches below your chin.”

“Two, and that’s it!”

“Cool, I love cutting hair.”

“When are you breaking up with him, in the end, or beginning of the party?”

“Beginning gives me a chance to land someone else! That’s what I want to talk to you about.”

“Go on.”

“Would it bother you if I hook up with Michael? He’s single right now.” “You don’t have to ask, of course, it’s okay. That ship sailed.” I know it shouldn’t bother me, but it does. For some reason, I can never imagine him with anyone but me. When she finishes with me, I lay on her bed playing with my hair while waiting for her to shower. She dresses in her bathing suit with a black floral print summer dress thrown over. Lara looks amazing. We text the guys telling them we are ready and then waited for them to come.

Scott’s car pulls up twenty minutes later. Jeremy jumps in to the back to be with Lara and I take the front with Scott. We drive to my house and they wait for me in the car while I quickly run in and change out of my school clothes and throw on my bathing suit with a blue summer dress. I go into the kitchen and grab the water bottles then smuggle them back to Scott’s car before my parents get home, “Okay good to go!” Scott studies me before placing his hand on the headrest and reversing out of my driveway. I wait for him to compliment me or make a wisecrack, but he does neither. I lose myself in his dark eyes wanting another chance to kiss him again with that six o’clock shadow he’s sporting. I need to find an excuse to run my fingers through his hair one more time. Damn it, I have to remind myself ‘never again’. I have to put what happened between us behind me.

We make it to Anna’s in record time. She lives in a white modern house with a wrap-around balcony on the top floor overlooking the pool. The furnishings are amazing. White leather sofa, white marble floors, with hints of grey accent pieces all over. The bedrooms have leather headboards with white diamond tuck. The furnishings appear crisp and clean.

We arrive right at 6:30 p.m. as the pizza is being delivered. We call up, “Anna! The pizza’s here!” She comes running downstairs two at a time in just her bikini with a wrap-around skirt. Her parents are on vacation in Abuja for four weeks, so I’m planning on spending the first two weeks with her, and Lara will spend the last two. We are going to be partying the entire time! She grabs her little purse on the table in front of the door and hands the pizza guy the money. He fishes four boxes out of his pizza warmer and hands them to her before leaving. She carries them into her kitchen and lays them out on the island opening them for us to help ourselves.

Anna and I find ourselves alone in the kitchen, once the guys have hoarded eighty percent of the pizza. They start walking around checking out the pool. Anna is looking at my hair, “I like the brown better! You let Lara cut it?”

“You know her, once she gets her mindset on something there’s no stopping her, do you like it?”

“Love it! It’s sexy!”

“Thanks, Did Lara tell you she’s breaking up with Jeremy?” I inform her.

“Oh please, tell me not tonight!”

“Tonight.”

“At the beginning or end of my party?”

“She wants to do it at the beginning, she asked me if it would bother me if she hooks up with Michael.”

“What did you say?”

“Of course, it won’t bother me. That ship sailed.”

“It bothers you.”

“Hell ya. I gave him my virginity. I don’t want any girl to be with him, it doesn’t matter who it is, but it’s worse if it’s a friend.”

Scott comes from around the corner, “Still obsessing over asshole?” “Would you like a drink?” asks Anna.

“Something strong,” he requests.

She pours him orange juice and gives him the bottle of vodka, “Help yourself.”

“Thanks,” he says. He takes the bottle and is very generous with it.

He throws in ice chips and leaves us alone.

“I sense tension,” Anna says intuitively.

“After the pool, we sort of got physical in the car.” “That’s a good thing isn’t it?”

“No, he said it can never happen again.” “What did you guys do?”

“We just got each other off.” I start pouring myself a screwdriver too.

“How was it?” “The Bomb!”

“So why don’t you guys want to do it again?”

“He doesn’t want to screw up our partnership. He’s very serious about wanting to win Gold.”

“I get that, he’s so Alpha! If you have chemistry though, why not take it to another level.”

“He thinks it will negatively impact our partnership. He doesn’t want to take any chances.”

“So tonight?”

“I’m staying stag! Men are trouble. How about you and Johnson, is everything all right? I haven’t had any emergency texts from you.”

“It’s getting boring. I plan on finishing with him too.” “When?”

“Tonight! I don’t want to be tied down if all my friends are single. I want to have a good summer too! Do you think it will look tacky if we both break up with them on the same night?”

“Ya, Hold off a few days. You don’t want to piss him off too much in case you want to get back together with him after the summer is over.”

“Good point Isabella, I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”

“Let’s find Lara and see if she’s still going to do it.”

“Too right.”

I’m on my second drink and feeling pretty fine as I socialize with acquaintances I met through Anna. Anna is busy sending mixed signals cozying up with Johnson even though she has full intentions of breaking up with him over the next day or two. I don't think she’s being fair about it considering his days are numbered.

After some time, I decided to sit down next to Scott who is parked on a lawn chair by the pool. I take a big sip of my screwdriver in an attempt to increase my courage before asking, “You didn’t say anything about my hair, do you like it?” He sits up and reaches towards me touching it. I peer into his chocolate eyes and a chill runs down my spine making me shiver. His eyes darken.

He takes hold of my wrist and brings me into Anna’s house sweeping me off my feet at the base of her stairs and carrying me up choosing the first bedroom he finds. He places me gently down on the bed but doesn’t join me. He smells of alcohol mixed with perfume, and I like it. “I want this damn it, I want to make love to you over and over again, day after day until IT doesn’t work anymore, or you can’t walk and then I want to take you in other ways. That’s what I want. But what I want and what I should do are two different things. This isn’t in our equation.” He said. “Why not?” I argue. “It’s what we both want!”

“You’re making this harder for me!” He complains.

“Am I?” I tease. “How about if I remove my dress for you?” “Stop,” he says sternly. I toss it towards his feet.

“No,” I continue sliding out of my bathing suit. Now I lay before him naked.

“Take me,” I tempt him. This is like Adam and Eve, because of the way he’s staring at me and my sinfulness. Resisting all temptation, he deserts me in the bedroom. I lay in bed shocked that he just left me, staring at the ceiling for several minutes before I hear the front door slam. What’s his problem? I get dressed and race to the front of the house to make sure he doesn’t get in his car. He left by foot and I’m relieved.