3. Party crashers
We take Megan's car to Dan's house.
"Just to make sure you can't sneak away," she says.
"What? Why would I-"
"Shut up Eli. How long do we know each other? I just know you're dying to get back to your books." Megan pushes the gas pedal a little deeper as if she's afraid I'm going to jump out of the car.
I roll my eyes. "Can't we just drop the damn things off and go to a bar in town?"
"Nope." Meg is determined. Her eyes stay focused on the road. As long as we lived here, we've never been to the suburb where Dan lives. Meg and I share an apartment. It's old, and it could use some maintenance, but it's cozy and close to the center and the campus. Our landlord is pretty lazy and only fixes things when it's essential. One time a pipe bursts and our living room turned into a swimming pool. We had to move into a cheap hotel for a week, while contractors tried to save our apartment. Our wooden floor is still bumpy because we don't have money to replace it.
This neighborhood is different. There are no apartments here, only big mansions, villas, with huge gardens and gates. Some of them have guards. How must it feel to live in such a house? Do the residents ever feel safe with all the precautions they take to keep intruders out?
When we arrive at the gateway to Dan's house, a sullen-looking guard stops us. Megan's plan seems less and less appealing. Why are we doing this again?
The guy is wearing some impressive suit. "State your business."
"We have a special delivery for Mister Roberts."
The guard frowns. I see Meg's hands tremble. "Several boxes of chocolate."
"I was expecting Jerry."
"He got called away, some emergency. We're his employees; he asked us to take care of it." In my mind, I give my best friend my thumbs up. She's good at this.
The guard slits his eyes. "It's okay, I guess. Go ahead."
The gate slowly opens, and my heart is beating so loud I'm afraid the guard will hear it.
"And now the difficult part. Ready?" Megan grins like a madwoman.
We have no clue where we have to go now. Megan just parks the old rusty car in a convenient spot, and we walk towards the main entrance.
"I handled the guard; now it's your time to shine." Meg pushes me to the door, and I almost stumble. "Come and pick me up as soon as it's safe." She gives me a wink and pushes me to what looks like the main entrance, a big wooden door.
The door opens immediately after I knocked on it. A pretty blond girl appears. She's dressed elegantly in a grey woolen dress.
"Can I help you?" She wrinkles her nose.
"I have a delivery of several boxes of chocolate," I say.
"Why didn't you take the service entrance?" She says. "Well, I'm not going to carry them myself. Come in!"
I follow her inside.
"Dan! Some girl with stuff for you!" She turns to me. "Just wait here, Dan will show you around." Slowly she sways away.
I feel a bit stupid with all the boxes I carry, and I wiggle on my heels. I look around. This house is impressive. It's not only big, but someone with a good taste decorated it.
"I didn't expect to see you again so soon." It's Dan. I feel a shiver run down my spine.
When throw a glance over the boxes, I see him smiling at me. I feel his eyes burn, and I'm glad that I can hide behind my wall of boxes. When I secretly stare at him, I notice that all the clothes he's wearing are light gray, almost white. I'm the opposite, with my black hair and black clothes. For a second, I don't know what to say. I just keep looking at him. He walks towards me and I almost jump back.
"Let me carry those." And he takes the boxes out of my hands. "Where's Jerry?"
I feel my cheeks turn red. I'm not as good a liar as Megan. "O, he had some emergency, and he asked me to drop them off."
"Did he?" Dan is raising an eyebrow. I feel like he sees right through me. He starts to walk to a door. I just follow him as I have no clue what else to do.
"Are you going to a party or something?"
"Uhm, sorry?" I say, confused.
"You look lovely. It's Saturday night. I don't think you dressed up like that to stay at home tonight." He just keeps walking through a long hallway.
"Erm, yeah, Megan and I ... er.. are going out tonight. You know, to a bar or something." It's official. I'm the worst liar in the world. Why am I acting this weird? He's just a guy. I shouldn't give a damn about what he thinks.
"I thought you had a party tonight as well?" I say. Smooth move nerd girl, just change the subject, I think to myself.
"Yeah, why are you asking?"
"Aren't you dressed a bit too casual for a party?" I look at his hoody. Some sneakers just peep out under his wide sweatpants.
"O yeah, it's not a huge party or something. Just some of my friends are coming over. I just finished a project, and I haven't seen them for a while." Dan opens the door to one of the biggest kitchens I've ever seen. He places the boxes on a table. I'm so going to kill Megan. We don't have any reason to be here. "My friends love Jerry's stuff. He used to be my neighbor when I was a little kid."
"That's why you were there this afternoon. I mean, Jerry makes the best stuff, but as soon as Megan told me who you were, I was wondering why you were there." The words leave my mouth before I know it.
"Says the doctor who makes candy in her spare time."
"I'm not a doctor yet. I have to study for several years to reach my goal." I cross my arms in front of my chest. "And I have to earn some money to pay for my classes."
"Sure, and you had no clue who I was, and now you're here all dressed up?" He's staring at me again with those blue eyes. Can he please stop doing that? I feel bad enough as it is.
"Not my idea actually. If I had it my way, I would be at home right now, studying for my final test. But Megan heard you talking this afternoon about a party, and she thought it was going to be something big, where we could sneak in, and no one would notice us." I sigh. "This just feels really wrong and I think I should be going now. I'm so sorry for all of this."
I walk towards the door. But before I can open it, I feel a hand on my shoulder. Slowly I turn around.
"Please stay."
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