The Aldean Chronicles: Hidden

I dress up in black skinny jeans and a thick burgundy sweater, I pair it with a black jacket and black boots. I also put on a dark blue headband that I borrowed (stole) from Kat. I arrive at the house, a beige mini-mansion and brace myself for the party.

It doesn't look like the one in movies. The lights are on, the music isn't too loud and I'm sure at least half of these people are high.

I remove my jacket and hang it in the crook of my arm. "Cassandra, you're here. I wasn't sure you were coming." I hear Colton say.

He walks up to me. "Wasn't planning to but here I am." I raise my hands in surrender. "The party looks nice."

"Yeah. Let me take your coat." He offers. "Would you like a drink?"

"Thanks." I hand him the coat, he drops it in a closet and takes me to the kitchen. "I'll take that one," I say when he offers me two different types of beer.

"So tell me, how's your new school, how are your classes?" He opens a beer for himself. "Are they anything like what we do in America?"

I laugh, not in the slightest. "Yeah, same curriculum and everything."

"That's nice, so how long is the school? When are you graduating?"

"It's five years." His eyes widen. I chuckle. "It's a really good school, the extra year is worth it."

"I didn't ask you which European country it's in."

"Luxembourg."

He scoffs. "You're making that up, Luxembourg isn't a real country."

"Google it, it is a very real country." I challenge him. He gives in and googles Luxembourg on his phone.

"It is real, wow. I haven't heard about it till today." He nods. "Country sounds fun. Maybe when I go on my European tour in a few years, I'll stop there."

I nod eagerly. "Sounds like a plan." I'll cross that bridge when I get there. "So how's high school? How different is it from middle school?"

"It's bigger, more intense. But I love it."

As we're talking, a group of girls enter the kitchen, Eliza is with them. The main girl looks the same as I left her, same brown hair and same brown eyes. She looks between me and Colton. "So this is where you've been all night." She comments and cocks her head to the side.

"Cassandra, what are you doing here?" Eliza demands.

Sophie exclaims. "Cassandra, Cassandra Flores?" She looks me up and down. "You look different."

In their defense I do. Lucky for me, late puberty made me pretty the summer before I started Brimstone. A few months before and I truly wouldn't have had as many friends as I do. Over the summer, I grew an inch taller, my boobs got bigger, my waist smaller and my hair shinier. I was no longer the awkward redhead, I became the hot redhead.

"Hey, Sophie, great to see you again," I say unenthusiastically.

She rolls her eyes. "Really Colton, this is who you're moving on to. Pathetic."

"What's your business, you broke up with me," Colton argues. "I can date who I want."

Wait what? How did I become a part of their fight?

"I shouldn't have come, I'm going home." I drop my can and get off the island.

"Probably for the best," Sophie says softly. "You might have gotten prettier and gone to Europe but it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, you're still a loser that nobody wants to be associated with. Thank heavens Eliza saw the light and got away from you."

I don't walk another step, I turn back to look at her. This is the girl who tormented me for years and made my life miserable. The worst part is, I let her. I missed out on so many things because I was scared of what she'd say.

"You know what, Sophie." I start and she arches her eyebrows. I'm so angry. I want to burn her. I want to burn Colton for bringing me here and I want to burn Eliza for being friends with these people. But most importantly, I want to burn myself for caring about what they think.

Sophie snaps her fingers. "What were you going to say, Cassie? You've been quiet for so long. I'm getting worried." Her voice drops. "Is your special school really a 'special' school?" Her friends laugh.

I squeeze my palms and feel them heat up. In a flash, I see how this will end. I'll burn the building down, even if no one is hurt, there will still be serious damage. Toby's parents will come back to a burned house and that's not fair to them. Also, it just doesn't seem worth it.

I glance at Sophie. "Your shoes are really pretty," I say simply before walking out of the kitchen.

"What did she just say to me?" Sophie asks with a chuckle. "She's so sad, your shoes are really pretty." She mocks as her friends laugh.

I ignore them not because I agree, but because for the first time, I realized that I'm better than this, it's time to grow up and stop letting other people dictate my actions, time to stop being petty. I get my coat from the closet and head for the door.

"Cassie wait," Colton calls as I open the door. "I'm sorry about Sophie, she just gets like this sometimes."

I shake my head. "And you're still defending her. It's fine, Colton. I don't care."

Sophie and her friends come out of the kitchen and join us in the foyer. "You went after her, how charming."

Colton rolls his eyes. "Seriously Soph, can you not kick her when she's down." Not that down but ok.

"Why do you care, you're just after her because she's the only one who'll be with you." Sophie says. "The other girls are smart enough to stay away."

"What do you want from me? Do you want to be with me or not?" He asks in a loud voice.

She walks up to him and takes his hands. "Of course I do, I just wasn't sure you were serious about us." She gives me a side-eye.

"So what, now you want to get back together?" He asks.

She responds by kissing him. Her friends cheer and the rest of the party comes to the foyer to see what's happening. Sophie sighs and wraps Colton's arms around her.

"I don't know what mind games you think you can play with me but it's not going to work." She sneers. "You think you're so much better than me, don't you? But at the end of the day, Colton still picked me."

I glance at Eliza and she can't even look me in the eye. That hurts more than everything Sophie said to me tonight. I walk out of the house and slam the door.

I walk down the drive feeling very defeated. I turn back and see figures dancing and talking through the curtains. I sigh, I might not have dealt with them the way an Illyrian would, but I'm from America first. I bring out my phone and make a call.

"Hello, officer." My voice is teary. "There's a problem, my friend, she just passed out...yes, she was drinking and I think she took some drugs."

"What kind of drugs?" The 911 dispatcher asks.

"I don't know." I sniff. "I don't think she knows either. She just took whatever they offered her."

"Where are you, how old is your friend?" The officer asks.

"She's 15 and we're at 22 Bumper street, uptown." I imitate crying. "Please get here as soon as possible. All the kids here are drinking and doing drugs and I'm so scared."

"We're on our way, just stay where you are." The officer says.

"Thank you." I cry before he hangs up the call. Maybe I'm a little petty.