Page 67 of Treasured Secrets
Jared studied me, seeming to notice my tense... everything. "Aria, we can leave. I can tell your mom we were here. I'll just leave out the details about how long we stayed. If she prods for more information, I'll turn on the charm and lead her to think we stayed longer. I can be rather convincing."
I was instantly very fond of that idea. "Let's hang out for a minute so I can tell her I was here and then we can bail. I'm not as good at lying as you claim to be."
He chuckled a little. "Alright. Sounds like a plan."
We walked up to the enormous house and went in, narrowly avoiding the two hyenas. I breathed out in relief when I saw them veer right instead of following us. There were kids my age everywhere. We could hear splashing out back as if there was a pool. We were almost back there when I saw Elaina.
Bile rose to my throat when I saw the malice glaring from her eyes. She looked away from me long enough to appraise Jared, and then the frosty stare was back.
"Well, well, well. She did show up," Elaina snarked, her lips curled up in a wry grin.
Her hyenas laughed, acting like the sheep they were. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one hip. Then she continued. "And she brought yet another new boy toy."
Jared put his arm around me protectively, seeming bored with Elaina and her mignons. When my knees grew shaky, rattled with stress and nerves, I leaned against him for support.
"He's hot," one of her giggly, drunken mignons blurted out.
Jared just rolled his eyes as he pulled me away from the girls. Elaina wasn't the type to let someone walk away though, so she took another stab at me.
"I guess he's in a hurry to get what she gives out so freely." Then she and her hyenas cackled in unison. Several of the drunken partiers joined in, some of them laughing without even knowing why.
I bet if my mother knew there was a bunch of underage drinkers here I'd never have to go to another social function again. Of course, she'd also call every parent of everyone she knew was involved. That certainly wouldn't help my status at school.
Jared turned around with a dangerous smirk playing on his lips. "No, I'm just too old to hang out with trash. I'm used to being around a more attractive crowd. Quite frankly, your thunder thighs are a total buzz kill. Gonzo's nose over there isn't doing anything for me either." He pointed at one of the girls standing beside Elaina. She grabbed her nose quickly and her face blushed with humiliation.
I stifled a laugh, even though his insults were absolutely terrible. He really needed to brush up on current cut-downs. Too old to hang out with trash? Gonzo? Thunder thighs? Sheesh. He sounds like my grandfather insulting someone. Ew.
Elaina snarled at him, suddenly looking rabid. She was about to say something else when he turned back around. There was an oversized, pretentious portrait of her and her family on the wall. If I had known that this was her house, I would have never come.
Before I even knew what was going on, the portrait was on fire, blazing uncontrollably. There was no smell of smoke though.
My mouth hung unhinged as I stared in shock. A few gasps rang out as others took notice, but Elaina's back was to it. She had no clue.
Jared smiled menacingly, popping candy in his mouth so casually as he brought it to her attention. "I don't suppose you have a fire extinguisher, do you?"
The burning smell finally crept around as the smoke seemed to double, but she still didn't notice.
Elaina looked confused as she replied. "No… Why?"
He smiled as he continued popping the candy in his mouth. "Because you're going to need a damn good one to put that out. It's a scorcher." He pointed at the picture behind her.
Elaina whipped around to see her oversized, obnoxious family portrait blazing. The walls were scorching and the floor was starting to singe, much to my twisted delight. She and her hyenas were panicking and some of the other party members started laughing at their frantic attempts to put it out.
I elbowed Jared slightly in the waist and whispered to him. "Put it out before you burn the whole house down. You proved your point."
He just laughed as he flicked his wrist. The fire was extinguished as quickly as it had started, but the scorched remnants and smoky haze remained. The portrait was destroyed.
"My parents are going to kill me," Elaina wailed, tears filling up in her eyes.
Then Jared smarted off before we walked away. "Personally, I'd say the place looks a lot better now."
He pulled me away from the party quickly before anyone else could say anything to hurt my feelings. I felt like a spineless wimp once again - a pathetic cause for rescue.
We got back out to the car and he held the door open for me, grinning smugly as he ushered me in.
Everett came running up, sounding panicked. "Jared, was that you?" Jared nodded. Then Everett continued, relief covering his face. "Thank God. I was worried there was a blazer here other than you." Then realization settled in and he tilted his head, bemused. "Why did you blaze up the house?"
Jared kind of laughed lightly. "They were giving Aria a hard time. I thought I would distract them a little and wreak a little havoc on their perfect little lives. Mission accomplished."
