“I’ll take the same.”
“Hey, Alex.” Phil came at him again, leaning an elbow against the glass counter. “Did you hear about the party I’m throwing this evening?”
Alex saw where this was going.
“No, actually,” he said. He paid, took a lick of his ice cream, and then turned away, Natalie walking beside him.
“Well, I wanted to invite you,” Phil persisted, catching up with them and arriving on Natalie’s side.
“You” meaning Natalie.
“Starts at eight p.m.,” he said. “I’ve got a massive back yard with a pool.”
“An American pool party?” Natalie breathed suddenly, as though the idea was almost sacred. Her eyes lit up as she turned to face Alex.
“It’ll be cool,” Phil jumped in, capitalizing on her interest.
Alex stopped walking and looked at him reluctantly.
“Lots of people are coming,” he went on. “Even your pal Colin might show up.”
Somehow, Alex doubted very much that Colin would be showing up.
Still, Natalie had gotten all excited about it now. She clearly wanted to go, and as her host, he figured he should probably acquiesce. It was her first day here, and it was unlikely that he was going to get any serious work done today anyway.
“Okay, Phil,” Alex conceded with a sigh. “Count us in, I guess…Thanks.”
“Awesome!” Phil slapped Alex on the back, before taking the liberty of giving Natalie’s shoulder a quick squeeze.
“Awesome!” Natalie mimicked with a giggle as Phil left to return to his friends.
Alex smiled faintly as they took a seat on a bench in front of one of the indoor fountains. He watched the four boys retreating from the parlor deeper into the mall.
Digging back into his ice cream, he thought forward to this evening and realized he could barely remember the last time he’d been to a party…
Touché, Mom. Touché.
Chapter 3
So, what was he going to wear for this thing?
He and Natalie had returned from their tour just after 2 p.m. Natalie had been feeling tired by then from her long journey, so she’d decided to take a nap before the party. That was several hours ago—now he could hear her in the shower, getting ready for tonight. His mom, of course, was delighted to hear that he had accepted the invitation and had given him her blessing to stay out late.
He examined the clothes in his wardrobe and ultimately decided to wear a slightly smarter shirt, while keeping his jeans. Then, seeing that he had some downtime, he figured he’d put it to good use and started on his homework—until a knock came at his door.
“It’s Natalie,” came her voice.
“Come in,” he said.
She pushed the door open and stepped inside, bringing with her that heady floral scent. She had changed into a red dress that went down to just above her knees, and she had done something to her hair to make it look curly. She looked stunning, Alex couldn’t deny that.
He rose to his feet, realizing that this was the first time she had ventured into his room. She gazed around at his bare walls, her eyes traveling over his single bed, then to his desk, chair, and bookshelf—the only four pieces of furniture he kept in the room.
“Wow. Minimalist.”
Alex smirked. “That’s one way to put it.” The truth was, he just didn’t like any form of clutter. It crowded his brain, and he could think much more clearly without it.
“And your bookshelf”—she walked over to it—“is alphabetized.”
“Yeah.”
“Interesting,” she remarked, pulling down a book on marine biology and flipping through the pages. Alex noticed her eyes glossing over the text completely and focusing on the vibrant pictures.
He let her continue perusing his books for another minute, and then since they were due to leave in only five minutes, he suggested they head down to the car.
His mom came to the door with her walking support and kissed them both goodbye on the cheek.
“Have fun!” she said as they closed the door.
“Will do,” Alex murmured, sucking in a breath as he led his pretty French date to the car.
As Phil had promised, the party was packed. Natalie stuck close to Alex as they milled through the teeming living room toward the back garden. She turned almost every guy’s head they passed, but seemed completely unfazed by it as she chatted away to Alex about how excited she was to be here.
Phil strode over as soon as he spotted them by the pool and, predictably, angled for a dance with Natalie. To Alex’s surprise, she blew him off, albeit very politely—citing jet lag as an excuse.
“He’s not my type,” she informed Alex with a grin as he walked away. Which left Alex to wonder exactly what her type was. From his experience, most girls seemed to fall over themselves for butch guys like Phil.
Alex searched the crowd for Colin, or someone else he was close to at school, but couldn’t spot anyone. So he and Natalie found themselves sitting together by the pool, continuing to snack and talk. He guessed that she would expect him to ask her to dance at some point, but she still seemed to be happy talking, so he decided to delay that thought a little longer. It had been a while since his last dance.
About two hours into the party, Natalie needed the bathroom. She claimed she could find it herself, which left him sitting alone for the first time.
He took a slow sip from his drink, feeling the cool crackle of carbonation trickle down his throat, then lowered the can to his knee again. He focused on the scene around him now that his attention wasn’t consumed by Natalie.
He actually liked parties, in general, even when he found himself alone. There was something intriguing about the ways people let their guard down; he might see some of them every day at school, but at a party he got to see a completely different side of everyone. In the darkened room, with music blasting its throbbing bass through an expensive PA system and colorful lights pulsing rhythmically, dancers dropped their inhibitions and personas, becoming freer, wilder.
Though most likely nobody could tell from his relaxed demeanor, he found the room’s energy engaging, observing the scene with bright, interested eyes.
His eyes fell on a girl named Sarah, who was glowering darkly on the sidelines of the pool. Not unusual for Sarah, but a little out of place amid the revelry surrounding her. He followed her gaze to Josh, who he was pretty sure was Sarah's boyfriend, dancing closely with another girl. Mindy, he thought, from the basketball team. He felt a jolt of sympathy for Sarah, but it quickly dissipated when she seized Terry, a small boy with thin brown curls and bad posture, and pulled his arms around her. Hm. Interesting.
Dull, ghostly light was filtering up from the splashing water, throwing shadows of the swimmers up across the house like contorting dancers. The air was hot with the last embers of summer, and it hung heavy and wet against his skin as the smell of smoke drifted into his nose. Alex closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the earthy nighttime scent.
“Hey, Alex.”
Alex turned to see Phil approaching him again, his face dappled with watery light. Alex raised an eyebrow, wondering what he wanted.
“So,” Phil said, drawing close and putting an arm around Alex, turning him so they were both surveying the party. “Got your eye on anyone, seeing that Natalie is just a friend?”
“Uh, no, not so much. Just hanging out tonight. I'll bet you do, though."
"No, no, no. I'm here for you tonight, bro. Gonna show you how to live a little."
"Is that so?" Alex had to stifle a chuckle. He'd always thought Phil something of a brute, and they had never been what he would call friends, but in this more liberated environment, he found his behavior amusing. "All right then, do your worst." He was actually morbidly curious to see who Phil thought was his match.
"Okay," said Phil. "Well…" His gaze swept the sea of figures, and he frowned a little as he tried to decide how, exactly, Alex should live a little. "All right," he declared a
fter a moment. "There's your girl. Constance. She's smart, right? Like you." He boldly pointed straight at Constance, who was seated primly at the pool's edge, chatting to her friend Jamie in an undertone.
Alex was surprised. He'd expected a much less thoughtful match from Phil. Constance was indeed smart, and quiet, and pretty. But she was also terribly shy, even now keeping her arms close to her and talking only to Jamie. And she was a little odd, too. Alex doubted Phil had noticed, but Constance often wore tiny pentacle earrings and a leather hex bag, or something like one, around her neck. Someone like Constance was unlikely to appreciate being bothered by a guy like Phil, and Alex threw out an arm to stop Phil lurching over to her. Luckily, she was too absorbed in her conversation to notice.
"Woah, Phil." He clapped Phil companionably on the back and steered him around to face the Jacuzzi instead. "Constance is pretty great and all, but—"
"All right, all right," interrupted Phil. "Tough customer, okay. Let's see…yeah! Check out Julia!"
Julia was sitting by the Jacuzzi, a towel drawn around her shoulders, bare legs glistening with pool water. Her laugh tinkled prettily, the noise clear and carrying, but Alex detected a note of insincerity. She was clever, friendly, and beautiful, yes, but a little self-absorbed. Nothing out of the ordinary for a girl her age, he supposed, watching the practiced way she flipped a shiny lock of golden hair.
He glanced at Phil again, noticing the way his eyes lingered on Julia's legs, the way his pupils dilated ever so slightly. He smiled to himself.
"Yeah, Phil, that's more like it. I think she's perfect for you."
"For me? Nah, I'm not—"
"She's looking over here! Go on, go talk to her!"
"What? Is she really?" She actually was, to Alex’s delight. She flashed them a smile before turning back to her friends, chatting a little more animatedly than before.
"Yeah, go on, man. You got this."
Phil collected himself fairly quickly and started for Julia, but stopped mid-step, seeming to remember he was supposed to hook Alex up.
"Okay, buddy, but come on…You really are going out with the French girl, right?" He grinned widely and gave Alex what was probably meant to be a light nudge before squaring his shoulders and heading in Julia's direction. At least Julia could handle herself if she wasn't as interested as she seemed.
Alex recovered quickly from the "nudge" and, upon straightening, immediately scanned the crowd for Natalie. She’d been longer than he’d expected her to be.
He spotted her as she stepped out of the house, looking a little flushed. Just as she began making her way toward the pool, he noticed something behind her that made him do a double take.
In a sea of flashy colors and swirling lights, the figure behind Natalie was almost comically different. Dressed all in gray, tattered clothes, the man stood three full hands taller than the girl he followed, who was seemingly oblivious to his presence, though she turned in his direction. His long fingers clasped and unclasped in front of him, stretching out toward her, and his chin tilted out as his papery lips moved as if to whisper. He moved slowly, hunching over and then straightening, swiveling his head back and forth.
"What the…?” Alex breathed, and jolted forward—just in time to collide with two dancing couples who swerved in front of him, blocking Natalie from view. When he searched for her again, to his surprise, she was moving toward the opposite side of the pool.
The man was still following her.
Alex surged ahead, grabbing Phil as he passed by him. “Hey, who's that weird guy following Natalie?” he asked, pulling him along.
"Uh, what?" Phil said, blinking. He looked where Alex did. "You mean Ben? He's not following her, he's just—"
Alex shook his head. Ben was following her, using the pretense of walking over to the drink stand, but that was beside the point. “Not Ben. That tall man in rags!”
“Rags?” repeated Phil, now sounding utterly confused. “I don’t see any…”
The figure was following Natalie along the side of the pool now. Nobody else seemed to be reacting to his presence.
Alex left Phil behind and continued pushing past people.
He had his answer: either nobody else could see the figure, or they were pretending they couldn't. Possible explanations flashed rapidly through his mind—it was a prank, it was a trick of the light, he'd been drugged—as he cut through the crowd, trying to keep Natalie in view. The worst-case scenario was that the girl had been in this country less than a day before managing to pick up a creepy stalker. And he'd promised to look out for her.
She was just around the pool's corner from him, just through another throng of people. He had almost reached her, but before he could push through, there came an enormous splash, followed by whoops of laughter. The crowd tightened around the pool, hollering and cheering, and he lost sight of Natalie once again. He craned his neck, but the teeming mass of people was now impossible to penetrate. Panic rose in his throat, humming there like a swarm of bees.
Suddenly, Natalie slipped through the crowd, appearing quickly at his side with a look of concern on her face.
"Natalie!" Alex sighed, trying not to appear too relieved. There was no sign of a figure in rags anywhere around her. It must have been some bizarre hallucination after all.
"That poor boy!" she exclaimed anxiously. "Did you see? The big one, right there, he just threw him in."
She gestured beside them, where a fully clothed Terry floundered pathetically, presumably dumped there by Josh. His embarrassment would be all over social media within seconds, judging by the dozens of phones aiming their bright flashes at him.
Alex bent to the pool, offering Terry his hand. "Come on, I'll help you up. Just ignore these guys."
Terry clutched at him, trembling a little, and ended up half-soaking Alex, too. He hauled the bedraggled boy out of the pool, sitting him down away from the thinning crowd.
He stood up, and while Natalie made sure Terry was okay, he found himself looking around again for the apparition to make sure it hadn’t reappeared. It hadn’t, but the experience had left a queasy feeling in Alex’s stomach he couldn’t shake. What had caused the hallucination?
They’d been at the party for over two hours, and now that Terry had managed to soak his clothes, Alex figured he had a legitimate excuse to suggest they head back now.
He’d expected Natalie to be disappointed by the prospect, but as she turned away from Terry to face him, her face was traced with exhaustion—a stark contrast to the bright, well-rested girl he’d arrived with.
“Shall we leave now?” she suggested. “I’m tired.”
“Yes,” Alex replied, already leading her back to the house. “Let’s leave.”
Chapter 4
Natalie stayed in her room for almost the entire next day, chilling and trying to fight off jet lag, presumably. Alex’s mom thought it was a wise use of the rest of the weekend and hoped she’d feel fresh for school on Monday.
Alex slept in later than usual too, and then took the opportunity to catch up on his homework and spend some time on his business. The apparition at the party still bothered him, but he figured that, whatever it was, it was unlikely to happen again so he should just forget about it.
On Monday morning, Natalie was looking sprightly again. He drove her to school and guided her to the reception, where he left her to have a meeting with the school’s exchange program liaison.
Then he made his way to the classroom where his first lesson of the day—history—was due to be held, and found it empty. He sat down and pulled out a book on marketing, which he read while students trickled in, until Colin sat down next to him and started telling him about a surprise weekend camping trip his parents had taken him on.
When their teacher Mrs. Lambert arrived, she was followed by Natalie, who waved at him.
And then the gray thing in rags stepped in behind her.
Alex almost choked on his tongue.
It was the same as before. Its skin
was still sickly gray beneath the bright, fluorescent glare, the rags hanging off it yellowing and frayed, fluttering in an unseen wind. Alex’s eyes bulged as the claw-like hand raked slowly through the air, reaching for Natalie, clasping for the back of her head.
This can’t be happening.
He glanced quickly around, but once again, nobody else seemed to notice anything was wrong, and the thing in rags slid into the room after Natalie. Mrs. Lambert tied her graying shoulder-length hair back in a ponytail, introduced Natalie to the class, and then grabbed a marker. Alex gaped as she calmly wrote out the day’s lesson plan on the whiteboard, then quickly looked back to see the thing shuffling along in Natalie’s wake, following her to an open desk before hunching to whisper in her ear.
Somehow, seeing this creature here, in a perfectly ordinary classroom he visited every day, right in front of Mrs. Lambert, unnerved him even more than seeing it at the party. He must be out of his mind. Hallucinating—definitely, yes, but why was his hallucination so…specific? So focused on Natalie?
Mrs. Lambert began the lesson, oblivious to the corpse-like figure whispering into her pupil’s ear. Alex, mind whirling, did his best to follow her lecture, but couldn’t refrain from shooting his eyes over to Natalie every few seconds.
The thing didn’t move much, save for its lips. It crouched now, rags spilling out around its feet like a pool of gray liquid, jagged hands grasping the sides of Natalie’s desk. It was whispering incessantly, almost feverishly, into Natalie’s ear, and caressing the desk as it spoke.
“Alex?”
Alex blinked, looking up. Mrs. Lambert was smiling at him expectantly, her marker held between two fingers.
“Yes?”
She looked a little surprised. “I was just asking,” she said, “if you could explain to the class what the Hobbesian state of nature is?”
In the corner of Alex’s eye, the thing’s lips were fluttering as it whispered, as distracting as the buzzing of a fly. He answered Mrs. Lambert absentmindedly, his attention on the apparition.