Summer Long (gxg)

July 1 - "It's just a party, after all" (2)

A little less than an hour passed when
Joe announced that Leo and his girlfriend were coming down and would meet us near the pool.

"No fucking way..." He said stunned as he looked off into the distance.

I was stunned too; there were other friends of Joe's besides Leo...
who weren't definitely supposed to be here... right now... in this resort with us.

"What the fuck did you do, bro?!" Joe asked euphorically as they hugged.
"I brought you Kevin, Trav, and Mary." Leo exclaimed.
They were all longtime friends... what were they doing here?

"It's a surprise, man! We're going to have the time of our lives tonight!" Leo exclaimed to him, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

I was too shocked to be able to speak.
I was at a great loss to accept that I would probably be bored alone at the resort for that night, while he would be partying with his friends.

When he was with them, Joe would go into a kind of trance where the only thing he cared about was having fun and partying.

I sucked it up and greeted his friends as well.
"I can't wait for the big day! I'm so happy for you!" Leo hugged me.
Then he made room for himself and introduced me to his girlfriend.
At that moment I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't considered her at all.

I met her gaze for the first time and she smiled warmly at me.
"Hi! I'm Bella!" She said as she extended her hand with lots of little rings.

Her red hair was up in a kind of neatly done bun and she was wearing a white sleeveless dress that was tight to her abdomen and wider at the hips.
It reached just above her leg.

She was tall and skinny.
Her makeup was also incredibly well done, but not excessive.
I noticed the almost natural blush on her high cheekbones, and her highlighter.
On her lips, she had a dark red lipstick.
She is gorgeous.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ellie." I announced myself by shaking her hand.

I went back to staring coldly at Joe, who was making room for himself among his friends as he began laughing and joking, as always.

I felt someone approach my left shoulder.
"It was Leo's idea. He did it all. He told me he would be happy about it..."
I turned around and Bella was staring undaunted at that scene in front of our
eyes.

"Well, I should have guessed..." I said to her, making an effort to smile.

"Sorry, if it made you uncomfortable."
Bella shook her head.
She looked truly sorry for me.

"No, don't worry, that happened so many times... " I made an effort to keep smiling.
"Yes, but this is a special occasion..." She replied.

Her eyes shone a strong empathy for me.
A kind of look you encounter a few times, it was usually more inclined toward indifference or non-sufficiency.
It was as if she sensed that I had been disappointed by the situation.

"It's just a party, after all..."I responded and made a gesture of nonchalance with my hand, self-implying that it was okay.
But it wasn't okay at all.

~

As I predicted things would end... they decided to go to a disco inside the resort, dragging me with them.
And I had no other choice but to follow them.

I sat on the sofas, and Joe put his hand on my shoulder, squeezing me to him.
"Leo's great! Did you see what a surprise?!" He exclaimed in my ear looking satisfied at his friends all sitting circling in the other sofas.
The music was so loud that his voice was muffled.
I nodded in response.