Trinity (42)

Abbey’s sister’s party is on Saturday night, and both of my parents seem thrilled that I’m finally being invited to social events.

“You can stay until ten,” my mom tells me before we go.

“Ten? Let her have fun. Eleven!” Dad shouts from the living room.

“Ten is fine,” I say, tugging at the hem of my sweater. I’m not sure what the dress code for parties is, so I had put on my light pink sweater and a pair of jeans.

“Will there be boys at this party?” my dad asks loudly, poking his head into the front hall.

I groan. “Yes?”

“Just make sure not to–”

“I’m sure Trinity knows how to behave herself,” Mom interjects. Then, quieter, she asks, “Will that boy Nicholas be there?” She’s got a playful smile on her lips.

I hide my face in my hands. “Kelly? It doesn’t matter. Can we just go?”

“Don’t drink anything unlabeled and don’t put yourself in a situation where you’re alone with a boy, ok?” my dad hollers as I open the front door.

“I don’t think it’s that kind of party!” I shout back, then stalk outside. This was a terrible idea, wasn’t it? No, it’ll be fine. It’ll be like Maggie’s party, hopefully. Charades. Beanbags. I like charades and beanbags.

But I’m not so sure, since Rachel had commented on it being ‘crazy’ last year. And I had asked Kelly about it on Thursday, but he’d just barked out a laugh. “Why would I go to that?” he’d said. I’m not sure how to interpret that.

. . .

Turns out Abbey’s house is nothing like Maggie’s modest Christian home, or Katherine’s large farmhouse. It reminds me most of Katherine’s; it’s tall and set in the center of a large property. But it’s not surrounded by fields.

First, there’s a long drive filled with parked cars, bumper-to-bumper. Then, at the base of the house, is a fountain and some pear trees and a path winding around the back. The house is intimidating, and looks like the same window was copy and pasted a thousand times on the front. It looks old, expensive, and just plain big.

I knew Abbey’s family has money, but I guess I’d never thought that much about it until now.

I hop out of the car and start towards the house, and Mom drives away just in time to miss seeing a group of three light a cigarette or something just around the side of the house. I don’t recognize any of them, so they must be college kids, friends with Abbey’s sister.

I ring the doorbell and stand on the front stoop, shifting from foot to foot, before someone yanks open the door. Suddenly I’m face-to-face with some guy I’ve never met, and he’s holding a beer bottle on one hand and a bucket in the other.

He tips the bucket towards me. It’s halfway filled with crumpled dollar bills. “No money, no alcohol, sweetie.”

A memory of Chet from YRJ resurfaces in my mind, something I haven’t thought about much at all since that weekend. But something about this boy reminds me of him.

“I’m too young to drink,” I tell him, peering past him. I can hear music coming from inside, and I see other people, but no one I know.

He shakes his head and pushes up the sleeves of his plaid button-up. “Abs!” he screams into the house.

This word confuses me until I see Abbey, who must be known to this guy as ‘Abs’. She’s got her hair tied into a high ponytail and is wearing a short red dress and eyeshadow, which surprises me. She looks really different than I’m used to.

She runs over and shoves the boy out of her way and wraps her arms around me. “Trinity!” she cries in my ear, and I wince. “Ohmygosh you came!”

She pulls away from me and frowns at the boy. “This is my brother Joe, please ignore him.” He holds up his middle finger as he takes a drink from his beer.

Then, Abbey’s pulling me into the house, saying hello to everyone we pass, even though few acknowledge her. She grins and squeals whenever any of them so much as look in her direction.

The house is like a maze. I wouldn't call it crowded, but it's not for lack of people. It's just simply too big to feel crowded. The ceilings of all the rooms are high and spacious, the walls are white and clean, the floor is wood in some rooms, soft carpet in others. The walls are either bare or lined with abstract art, all painted in the same shade of maroon that appears all over the house. Deep red curtains, red carpets, red plates behind glass cabinet doors. Everything matches.

“Is anyone else here? Maggie?” I ask Abbey when I get a chance. Somewhere along the way she’s procured a drink for herself, and I’m nervous it might be alcohol.

“Yeah, somewhere. Hey, do you want to meet Casey? I’m sure I can find her. You’ll really like her, she’s super cool.”

At the back of the house is a large room, maybe a dining room, that’s had all its tables and chairs pushed against the walls. The music is coming from in there, and I can see people dancing. Abbey’s about to go in.

“I’ll stay out here,” I tell her.

It doesn’t really matter, though, because some boy just spoke to her and she giggles into her hand and follows him into the room without a glance back at me.

I turn and wander through the house. In the kitchen, I find quite a few people pouring drinks, Abbey’s brother Joe being one of them. But behind them, at the fridge, is Maggie. She’s wearing a glittery green tank top and large matching earrings. Her pale shoulders look white in the kitchen’s bright light.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. I wasn’t really expecting… this,” I say when I reach her.

She glances at me, then back to the glass of water she’s filling up. “Oh, hey! Yeah, I know what you mean. I only come every year because Abbey would be totally mad if I didn’t.” She sips her water and leans towards me conspiratorially. “She just likes to prove to her siblings that she has friends.”

I chuckle halfheartedly.

Maggie straightens. “Water? I can’t believe the number of times I’ve already had to turn down alcohol.”

I smile. “Yeah, I don’t want to drink.”

Maggie throws up her hands. “Thank you! Mary Kate is doing shots with some college girls, and who knows what Abbey’s had already.”

“Abbey seemed fine when I talked to her...”

“Well, I’m impressed, then.”

I eye the others in the room. “Don’t they all know she’s not old enough?”

Maggie lifts her chin. “Yes, but no one cares. Plus, her parents let her drink alcohol when she turned fourteen.”

.

Twenty minutes later, Maggie and I are sitting on a padded bench on the second floor. It’s in the hallway by the stairs, and overlooks the front hall, so we can see people come and go. But no one’s really up here, so we can just observe in peace. It’s quite nice, really.

“I suspect Pearl’s not coming,” Maggie says out of the blue.

I scrunch my eyebrows together. “No, why would she?”

“You’re not still fighting, are you?”

I look over at her and sputter out a laugh. “What? No.”

She shrugs. “I get it. I fight with Mary Kate all the time. And other people too.” One corner of her mouth raises. “So, was it Henry or Kelly?”

My mouth opens with an audible but unintelligible noise.

Maggie laughs, and her earrings swing with her movement. “Just because I’ve never talked about it doesn’t mean I don’t know. I can keep a secret if I so please.”

“What secret?” I ask. She clearly has the wrong idea, and yet I can still feel my face heating, my palms beginning to sweat nervously. As if I do have a secret.

“You two were fighting over a boy, no? I guess it’s all resolved now?” She gives me a raised eyebrow, and I’m honestly not sure what she’s getting at. At my expression, she grins. “Oh, don’t look so embarrassed. I always knew you had a thing for Kelly. And Pearl and Henry are adorable, so it’s all worked out. Happy endings for all.”

I shift uncomfortably, not sure how much of her conjectures I should refute. As I've learned, denying that I have feelings for Kelly only makes people more adamant that I do. But also... do I?

I take a breath, and Maggie senses I'm about to tell her something. Her eyes sharpen and her back straightens. Suddenly alert, curious. "I don't... I mean." Her eyebrows raise, clearly asking me to continue. "I'm not sure, well." I try again. "How do you know, really, when you like someone?"

It feels like a question I should ask Pearl, not Maggie, but Pearl's not here. And Pearl... she's not like me. Since she likes girls, maybe it's different, maybe it's simpler. Or, girls and boys, rather. Either way, it's different.

Maggie looks a little confused, but her mouth is set into a grin. "Well, you just know." She laughs when I scrunch my face together. "Here's my checklist. One, you like spending time with him." She gives me a pointed look.

I laugh. I can feel my face flush pink.

"Check," she says, satisfied. "Two, he's cute. He's gotta be cute. Check. Kelly is cute, in a nerdy way. Three, you think about him too much."

I wave a hand vaguely in the air. "I don't, really. Not too much."

She laughs into her hand. "Check!" she squeals, and I look away to stop her from seeing my own laugh.

"Four, optional, you fantasize about your marriage," she says dreamily.

"Ew, no!" I insist, shaking my head.

"Not once?" she asks. She's still studying me with her blue eyes.

"We're... too young!"

Maggie laughs again. "I agree. But one day..." She hums wedding music, and my face heats again, my hands going clammy. Marriage, one day. It's true, that's what's supposed to happen. Unless I become a nun, like Sister Bertha.

“Are you good? It’s that sweater, isn’t it? You know it’s, like, a million degrees in here. Take it off!” Maggie fans herself with a hand. “Even I’m started to get hot.”

She’s not wrong, all the heat from downstairs is raising up to us on the second floor. “Yeah, but–”

Maggie’s already pulling me to my feet. “Oh! I’ve got an idea!”

Within moments, we’re down the hall, and pulling open a bedroom door. The door is covered in paper flowers, and inside there’s a vanity labeled ‘Abbey’ overflowing with nail polish.

“Put this on,” Maggie tells me, tossing a white dress at me.

“I’m not wearing Abbey’s dress!” I exclaim, handing it back. Maggie’s standing in the closet, looking through the hangers. “Should we even be in here?”

Maggie shoots me a look. “Where do you think I got these earrings and this tank top? My dad would kill me if he saw me wearing this. Oh, how about this?”

She pulls out a deep blue short-sleeve shirt with buttons up the front. I give her pleading eyes, but she says, “It’s just a shirt, Trinity.”

Already slightly sweaty in my sweater, I give in. Once it’s on, Maggie clasps her hands together and grins. “Wow, look at you. Too bad Kelly isn’t here, right?”

I get a glimpse of my reflection in Abbey’s vanity. I think Abbey’s smaller than me, so the shirt is tight and form-fitting and slightly cropped. “It’s too small,” I whine, pulling at the hem.

Maggie grabs my sweater away from me. “It’s supposed to fit like that. It’s cute,” she informs me.

Someone bumps into the door, which I closed when I decided to change, and we both look over at it. The doorknob rattles, a male laugh sounds from the other side of the door, then the door opens. A boy and a girl I don’t know basically fall into the room, their arms wrapped around each other in a seemingly uncomfortable way. They’re kissing, and giggling, and I look away.

Maggie waves her arms at them. “Out! Out!”

They part from each other and breathlessly apologize before leaving, presumably to find another room. A wave of anxiety passes over me. I guess that’s what it’s like in college, but the whole scene made me uncomfortable.

For once, Maggie looks shaken as well. She stutters out a laugh when I meet her eye. “Wow, people are so annoying. Can you imagine? These people are disgusting.” I just nod. “Well, let’s get out of here. I know Abbey said they’ve just gotten a pinball machine, maybe we can find it.”

.

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(first part: https://theprose.com/post/432343/trinity)

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