Chapter 39

I look at myself one more time in the mirror, adjusting my eyeliner. For once, I'm proud it didn't take me five hours and a half and a gazillion times to apply it, thought I'm close to taking two hours to get ready. My eyes go down to look at my outfit, a white top under a large black shirt I stole from Savannah, sleeves rolled up, and large black jeans with two chains attached to my black belt.

I take a deep breath, trying not to break down the way I always do when I've just looked at myself change. I can do this. I'll be able to start again, to move on. Maybe. If I'm not too tired. Right now I kind of am, I don't really have the energy to stay with so many people, especially people like them. But I want to stay with Sav so I guess it'll be worth the weight.

I leave the bathroom and head to the back garden, opening the French door and leaning on it, watching Savannah deal with the grill.

As much as 'she wanted to have alone time with me,' she said Ava forced her to have a barbecue and invite the girls and the guys. To Sav's great pleasure, Tyler will be here soon.

He turns out to be a really kind guy, we texted the past few days and he's actually way nicer than what I thought. First of all, he's way shyer than what he appeared to be, he likes talking about his perspective and viewing other perspectives, though he doesn't like talking about himself, unless it comes to simple things like his music taste or his favorite food. He likes talking about his deeper interests, for example astronomy, a topic we chatted about a lot, only when it comes to facts, though sometimes some thought slips, and it makes you realize he's the kind of person who falls completely in love with something. I don't really surely know why he doesn't give any personal information, but I have the feeling we both know we don't want to talk about ourselves for the same reason. I still do sometimes. I think, in a way, it balances us out.

He is also quite of a joker, he likes to make little comments and tease people once he has a connection with that person. He has now acquired me a nickname, which is Nugget because I told him that once, in Italy, a kid tripped and toppled all his chicken nuggets, ketchup included, on my white dress, which I then had to wear to a wedding. Yes, it was embarrassing. No, I don't want to talk about it.

When I showed him a picture he said my dress was so dirty the nuggets might have though I was one of them and proclaimed me their queen.

"Ava texted me that they're almost here. If someone rings, may you get the door please?" Savannah says, jumping away from a flame about to burn her just after finishing her question.

"As long as you don't set yourself on fire or accidentally commit arson." I reply.

As if on cue, I hear a clearly recorded bell ring. I walk indoors, cross the house, and spot people from school out in front of the entrance from the window. I open the front door. Ava's loud voice is the first thing I hear.

"Hi, sweetheart! How are you? Your fit is stunning, is that Sav's shirt? I could swear I saw her wear it just a few days ago. Is she in the back? She's always in the back. Did she set anything on fire yet? Oh, hope you don't mind I brought Jane with me. And a few extra guys. And Tyler!"

While she says all this she kisses me on the cheek, checks me out, points to Jane, random people behind her, and Tyler, and walks inside, towards the smoke which is starting to cloud the house. Oops, should have closed the windows.

People flow inside, but Jane lets go of her 'friend' and pins me against the wall.

"Just to be clear, I'm over the Savannah thing, and I'm kind of thankful for what you did. The past few weeks I've been acting the same way I would have acted even if you didn't get in the way. I like you but I also want to punch you in the face." She tells me, just above a whisper, in my ear. Savannah said she's like this. Oh well.

She walks towards the back with all the other people.

"What was that about?" Tyler, the last one to come in, asks.

"I have no clue. Hello by the way."

"Hello Nugget, you look cute." He ruffles my hair, I shove my shoulder playfully in his ribs while closing the door. I laugh when he gasps.

"I thought you were the big man, able to take the pain." I say, smirking.

"I can. You just caught me off-guard." I snort.

The garden is crowded, and someone got their hands on a speaker and is putting party music on. Even though we're a bunch of teenagers in a garden with a barbecue and a parentless house, it still looks quite not-chaotic. But then, less than a minute has passed from when they all got here.

Yup, there go Mark and Alex, fully dressed, in the pool. Oh wait, there's a pool. Huh. Didn't notice it.

"Ya know," Tyler says, coming from behind, looking at the scene beside me, bottle of coke in his hand. "I like people who don't need to switch others off to shine. And you, little Nuggie, are a black dwarf."

Black dwarfs are stars, the bodies with most concentration of density in the world. Scientists think that they take so long to form that currently there aren't any in our Universe. I think what he meant to say was that I shine with my own light, though black dwarfs don't emit any light, maybe that I do so by staying in the shadows. In my opinion, black dwarfs are one of the most interesting things ever.

He turns around, walking backwards and facing me, saluting me, turning around again and cannonballing into the pool, thankfully leaving his bottle in my hand before he hits the water.