Page 54 of Boundaries

Ten

That dreaded Saturday arrived and thankfully Mattie had explained that he hadn’t asked Alex to come. If he had, I’d have been the butt of McKenna jokes for the entire night and that wasn’t the party’s intention. The idea was to somehow get rid of the bad vibes and try and do something our parents and grandparents had never been able to achieve; become bum-chums with our neighbours. Personally, I couldn’t see that happening any time soon.

I had started to talk to Alex again through Facebook Messenger, knowing that I couldn’t remain mad at him. Especially as he was now officially seeing my brother. So far, they had kept themselves to themselves so as not to rub my nose in it, and I was thankful for that.

Chrissy had managed to get out of coming to the party, moaning to Jenna that old people were boring. When I explained that Seth would be there, that put her off even more. She said she was saving herself for our night out on Monday. Whatever, I took that one with a pinch of salt.

I looked at myself critically in the full-length mirror in my bedroom. Tonight, I was going all out girlie girl. I had chosen a strappy yellow sundress. It was fitted and clung to my body showing off my curves, but it wasn’t overly revealing. No cleavage or anything cheeky, but it was short and showed off my toned legs. I left my long hair loose and it fell down my back in waves and I applied a minimal amount of make-up. After that day when I’d gotten heatstroke, my face was now quite tanned and the sun had brought out my freckles.

Although I felt like I’d been summoned to attend the party at gunpoint, I had decided to attempt to enjoy it. The strange thing going on between Mason and I needed to do one, so I would focus on the other boy’s present and indulge myself with some essential flirtation. Anything to rid myself of that incessant attraction I was feeling toward him. I still couldn’t believe we’d almost had sex in the Kipling’s barn!

As I applied the finishing touches to my face, rock music floated up from outside. My bedroom faced the back gardens. I hadn’t helped with the set-up; I’d dodged that bullet and had left that to Jenna and Nixon, allowing them to play their insane mummy and daddy grown-ups game.

Jenna had decorated the entire garden with fairy lights. I’d checked out the area before my shower and it looked good. I hated that she’d made such an effort and I’d done fuck all, but I was there under duress.

I took my sweet time to go down there, I certainly didn’t want to be the first to arrive and appear overly keen. So, I left it for about an hour.

Like our house, the back garden was quite large. As you stepped out of the sliding patio doors there was a large Yorkshire Stone paved section. This stepped down onto grass which was split into two sections by a path that ran down the centre. This, in turn, led to a large decked area at the bottom of the garden which sat under a pergola saturated with honeysuckle and clematis. Several trees surrounded the garden which meant there was always a mix of both sun and shade. The sun however had gone down now and Jenna’s lights added a romantic glow. On one side, there was a large hedge with a section cut away. This led to a summer house where the speaker system had been set up. There was a variety of seating and several large bean bags spread out in sections. We had an old bronze bathtub which had been filled with ice and bottled beer and a table was set up to the side containing varying brands of alcohol and a few large bottles of coke.

I wasn’t sure how many people were coming, but I hoped there were enough guests to allow me to ignore the McKenna Boys for the entire night. Bonding exercise, my arse.

As I stepped out onto the patio, the place was rammed and there were quite a few people I didn’t know. Older, so I imagined they’d be Nixon’s friends. The cheek of the man. How dared he invite his fucking friends to my house? I sure hoped nothing went missing or this part-truce was screwed.

My intention of having some fun started to dwindle and I wished I’d invited Betty for backup. For a moment I felt a sickening sensation as I glanced around at the McKenna brothers, and how at home they looked in our garden. I wondered what my dad would feel if he could see us now, deeply betrayed probably.

Nixon was cooking burgers on my dad’s ancient BBQ which was set against the house and Jenna was standing with our cousin Wynter. Boyd lurked beside Nixon, watching the food with an impatient eye, and laughing at his own jokes. Stupid dickhead.

On the patio, there were three guys and one girl, none of whom I’d met before. Their hair was extremely neat and tidy which made me think they’d be squaddies and possibly worked with Nixon. The girl was plain with cropped dark hair but she seemed friendly enough. I returned her smile, I wasn’t a bitch to my own sex, just annoying boys.

Sitting on the wall that ran along the opposite side of the hedge was Wynter. She was petite, and quite pale with crushed rose petal lips and bright blue eyes. Her hair was jet black and fell in a river over her shoulders and partway down her back. We used to call her Snow White as she looked a bit like the Disney character. She and Jenna were talking, and so I grabbed a beer from the bathtub and moseyed on over.

I cast a glance over a few of the other pockets of people. Wesley was there with two of his volleyball friends and a female redhead I recognised, but couldn’t place. Wesley was showing them something on his phone. At the bottom of the garden, there was unfortunately Seth and two of his friends from the village, Miles, and Stuart. They were all underage and drinking. I most certainly wouldn’t be cleaning up any vomit if they couldn’t take their booze. Mattie was with them and they were laughing and joking. Talk about turning the knife.

The Proctor boys had come which was a surprise. They appeared to be fiddling with the speaker in the summer house. They didn’t fit in, they lifted right out. I wondered who’d invited them. They had suspicious faces and always seemed to be where there was trouble. Jonathan also had a manky hand; it was covered in scars. Betty once said she’d heard he used to self-harm. I kept my distance, as I didn’t enjoy indulging in dialogue with people that were difficult to talk to.

“Sup?” I said, joining the girls. They were talking about Wynter’s outfit. Wynter’s style was bohemian and the dress she wore fell off one, milky white shoulder. It was drawn in tight at the waist by a belt and then fell to the floor in floaty tiers.

They both greeted me and then carried on talking about fashion. I usually loved talking about clothes but I felt on edge, and where the heck was Mason? Maybe he’d decided not to come. I hated the disappointment that lurked at the thought. So, what, I looked nice and I wanted him to see me having fun with other men. Why on earth I suddenly felt the need to make him jealous was anyone’s guess. Talk about mixed emotions.

The music thumped, people chattered and the laughter flowed and I started to relax, now perching myself on Mattie’s vacated chair under the pergola. I’d left Jenna and Wynter and was listening to Stuart talking about a girl he’d matched up with on Tinder. I even conversed briefly with Seth. He was sitting right there; I couldn’t exactly ignore him.

He spoke about his last year of school and what exams he was doing. He must have been intelligent enough as his mock grades sounded quite high. Seth said he had every intention of moving to London as soon as he could. This didn’t surprise me, life in the country wasn’t for everyone. I thought about mentioning his father but decided against it.

Suddenly Boyd omitted a whoop as if Elvis had just arrived and I turned to peer up the garden toward the house. Mason stood on the patio by the sliding doors and he wasn’t alone. I suddenly felt like I was going to be sick.

He’d almost had sex with me and he was seeing someone? The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth. I suddenly felt more cheated on than I had after the Mattie and Alex saga. The absolute rat! How dare he bring a girl to my house! The bunny boiler in me needed a rabbit it appeared.

His date’s presence sent such a surge of discomfort through me that I physically had to clutch my chest. Fury and humiliation burned into me.

Ways of making him pay circled my thoughts like a shark’s fin. She was pretty if you liked that sort of thing. Graceful and thin, like a runway model. She was much taller than me which meant she’d be able to tower over me and look down her nose. Not a thought I relished. Bring it bitch! Frustration clawed up my spine.

After burgers, chat, and a card game which was going off in the corner, I’d met most of the guests. The black beefy guy from the fight was there and his name was Aaron, he was quite nice, although he appeared to have a death wish by staring at Jenna for most of the evening. Luckily, Nixon didn’t seem to notice.

Mason and whatever the heck her name was were now sitting with Boyd and the short-haired girl who’d been with the squaddies early. And I was right, they were part of Nixon’s regiment and were introduced as Michael, Frazer and of course, the mysterious Jaxon (the name from the beach and Chris’s brother). They were nothing alike in colouring or size. Jaxon was as big as Nixon and he fashioned the same sleeve of tattoos but only on one arm. Nixon’s were on both and most of his back. Nix was sitting on the wall with Wynter, and Jenna was standing between his legs. I caught his gaze a couple of times but blanked him. And I’d strictly kept my eyes away from Mason.

Another hour or so drifted by and I mingled well considering the jealousy racing through me. The girl Mason had brought was now sitting at the other end of the L-shaped rattan sofa on the decking. Mason and Seth were positioned opposite her on chairs which accompanied it. There was a glass rattan table in the middle of them which was strewn with cups and bottles. I ran my tongue over my teeth, telling myself to get a grip. Why did I suddenly feel petrified that this was his new girlfriend? My gut curdled.

My annoyance that Mason had brought a girl to my house increased with every beer. Her appearance impacted me physically, like a punch to the gut. She was quite touchy-feely and kept leaning over and putting her hand on his knee. Each time she did so, her top gaped open, revealing the tops of her breasts. To say she was so thin, her breasts were quite large. More than a handful there. The thought of Mason touching that area, made me feel ill. OMG, I was so jealous. I ground my molars so hard that there probably wouldn’t be anything left in the morning.

---