Chapter 48: A Familiar Song
I just sat down by the pool waiting for Malo and Sasha to be done with whatever they are doing so I can get the fuck home.
The tiles near the water were still wet. Someone must have jumped out of the pool not long ago because droplets were scattered everywhere. My legs nudged the edge of the water and small ripples moved outward.
I watched as everyone was just having fun. The whole place was a bit quiet now. Soft music was playing, and the DJ was snoozing on the ground.
A few people were still in the pool. Not as many as earlier. Someone floated on their back while two others talked near the ladder. Laughter came and went in short bursts.
The lights around the pool flickered gently against the water.
"Hey," the birthday girl’s sister came to sit down beside me.
Her voice came out of nowhere and I didn’t even bother looking at her immediately.
"What do you want?" I asked, because I don’t want to do anything with her.
I kept my hand in the water, moving my fingers slowly. The cold felt good against my skin.
"Thank you for what you did earlier," she thanked me with a smile.
I finally glanced at her.
"What did I do? I did not do anything. Your girlfriend was the one who saved me from you. It was like she knew what you were doing... please I want to be alone."
She shifted a little closer on the pool edge.
"I did not know you were Princess Kings’s girl. You saved me from that."
I scoffed. Princess Kings’s girl. I am not her girl. The words tasted bad in my mouth even just thinking about her.
"No, I am not her girl or girlfriend. I am nothing to her. I am just the girl she knocked up...."
For a moment the girl beside me stayed quiet. Then her eyes widened slightly.
"Wait, you are pregnant. So you are the pregnant girl they have been talking about."
I leaned forward slightly, resting my elbows on my knees.
"Yeah, guess I am still the topic."
The girl kicked her feet lightly against the tile.
"People are just like that, they always talk. But the only talk that I have been hearing is wow, I can’t believe she is the one." She looked at me.
I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, the one who got knocked up."
She started laughing like she was mocking me. Not loud.
But enough that it made my jaw tighten.
I splashed the water lightly with my fingers again.
"Wait here, I have to show you the yearbook from six years ago. You are going to laugh when you see it."
She stood up quickly and jogged back inside the house while I just played around with the water. Her footsteps faded into the music. The night air felt cooler now.
While I was waiting for a yearbook or whatever, a song began to play. It was a Spanish song.
The beat started softly. Guitar first. Then the voice.
There was something familiar about the song, like I had heard it before. My head tilted slightly.
The melody pulled at something in my memory.
I stood up from where I sat.
"Mi primer amor, te recuerdo con passion...." I tried singing it, trying to remember where I heard that song from before.
My voice came out low as I tried repeating the line.
But I just couldn’t remember, yet I was still trying until...
"Okay, let’s go, I am ready to go home."
Malo’s voice distracted me. I turned quickly.
He was adjusting his waist bag like it had moved during the party.
His hair was a mess now and his boxer waistband was twisted slightly.
"Have you heard this song before?"
He blinked at me.
"Which song?" he asked, looking at my face.
"This song...."
The song ended quickly.
The next track started almost immediately and the moment was gone.
Malo grabbed my hand.
"Come on freshwolf let’s go, Sasha is waiting for us outside. We should be lucky she is driving us home."
I followed him outside and Sasha was half naked.
"Hello guys, how was the party? Did you get it done, yo yo?" She was half wasted.
Her words dragged slightly. Malo immediately stopped beside the car. He looked at her. Then looked at the keys. Then back at her.
Malo suggested to drive. He didn’t want to risk Sasha driving them into an unknown cliff with that state of hers.
He held out his hand for the keys.
While Malo was arguing that he did most of the work while she was busy drinking and making out with people, he was demanding a raise. Sasha kept calling him an errand boy, saying that was what he was made for.
Their voices started rising.
He even threatened to drive towards a cliff but said he wouldn’t do it because of me.
And Sasha threatened to rip his heart off if he didn’t shut up and focus on the road.
The argument continued all the way to the car.
Doors slammed. The engine started.
And I just watched the two of them, shaking my head, wondering why I followed them to the party.
Street lights slid past the windows as we drove.
The attempt to hook up with someone went south.
What a waste of attempt.
The next day during breakfast, my mind was still on the song I heard last night.
The memory of that melody kept repeating in my head.
I was busy searching the Internet for the song, but it just brought out multiple songs with the same title.
My thumb kept scrolling. Another result. None of them sounded exactly right.
"Young lady, are you not going to eat your breakfast?" Eriko said.
His voice came from across the table.
"Yes I am going to eat, I just need to find something real quick.." I said, scrolling.
Before I could react, Eriko collected my phone and kept it by his side of the table.
I stared at him.
"Eat your breakfast and you get your phone. Come on, you don’t want to be late for school...."
I stared at him, biting my toast. The bread crunched loudly.
After he made sure I had finished my food he gave me my phone, and he drove me and Kaye to school. The car ride felt quiet.
I looked at the phone again but still couldn’t find the right song.
It was time for the first class of the day.
I entered. My face was still on my phone.
My thumb kept moving across the screen.
I didn’t even realize where I sat. I didn’t even realize when someone sat down beside me.
The classroom noise faded behind the phone.
My mind was still on the phone scrolling until the annoying voice.
"So did you get to fuck someone last night."
