The Aldean Chronicles: Hidden

It's been three weeks since the funeral and the only 'good' thing' that has come out of it is our approval ratings. It's been higher than ever, especially mine. The guard that approached me at the funeral did an interview and kept thanking me for saving her life. So did the other male guard, clips from the scene proved all this and now people think I'm a hero. I certainly don't feel that way.

It's hard to ignore headlines in a school so obsessed with gossip. News has been finding its way to my brain involuntarily and the whole thing is getting on my nerves.

I stay awake at night thinking of everything that's going to happen this summer. The first day of July is the pledge, I'm not sure if I'm attending. My birthday is also coming up. It's June 12th and I'm finally turning 16, it's a big year back in America and I've always imagined some lavish sweet sixteen party.

I slowly count down the days till summer. Kat's birthday is soon. She's turning 18, it's a big deal back home but not that big of a deal here. She can't have it at the palace, so Seb tells her she can throw a smaller, responsible party at the manor.

Kat told me I can invite a few of my friends but they better not ruin her party's vibe. The day before the party, Derek will not stop bothering me.

"Come on, please." He begs. "Just think of all the great times we've had. We're practically besties. Just invite me."

"No."

"It will be the biggest party of the year, every popular kid in school will be there. And also, it's at the Stratford manor, that place is legendary. Please, Princess."

He doesn't stop when class starts. That's pretty bold considering professor Harding is very strict about disturbances during lectures.

He keeps disturbing me even after class and I see him wherever I look for the rest of the day.

"Fine," I yell in frustration during dinner. "You're invited."

He grins. "I want to see you put my name on the list now, wouldn't want to look stupid tomorrow."

I roll my eyes and text his name to Kat. "Happy?" I ask. He ruffles my hair and prances off.

"You invited him, tomorrow just got less fun." Axel groans. "Michelle says she isn't going but Derek is, not fair."

Michelle sighs from his side. "I just don't feel comfortable around large crowds. I'll make the party worse just by being there."

"You can hang out in my room if you feel overwhelmed. Everyone is going, you have to come."

"I'll think about it."

"Don't worry, I'll get her to change her mind. She'll be there." Paisley says reassuringly.

True to her word, she does get her there. I see all of them arrive at the house Saturday evening for the party.

"Cass, your house is crazy," Paisley says, looking around.

I laugh. "The party is just down that hall, go to the pool out back, refreshments are in the garden and try not to get lost. Also, I'm required to tell you that if you try to force open a locked room, alarms will go off. Enjoy the party." Lilian locked all the doors that held important paintings and artifacts. She didn't want anything stolen, she took every precaution.

Kat doesn't want any pictures of this getting out so she had security search everyone at the door for phones and locked them away. I take my friends to the pool where music is blaring and people are drinking and dancing.

"Nope," Michelle says when she takes the scene in. "Cass, hide me in your room."

The rest of my friends go get drinks, I laugh. "Just stay for a minute, then I'll take you." I drag her around. I spot Kat yelling something at the DJ over the music.

"Happy birthday," Michelle says to her. Kat looks at her strangely. "I mean happy belated birthday, I know your actual birthday was Wednesday. Your pictures were everywhere."

"You're one of Cass's friends, didn't you win unity day, I think."

Michelle nods. "Yeah, it's not a big deal."

Kat laughs. "Enjoy the party. And Cass, I need to talk to you."

"I'll be back soon, will you be fine by yourself," I ask Michelle.

She looks alarmed. "What no, of course I won't be fine by myself."

I look around and spot Grey sipping a drink by the pool, he's talking to one of Kat's friends. "Grey," I shout to get his attention. "Can you watch her for a minute?"

The girl beside him laughs. "Watch her, what is she, five years old."

I ignore her. "Just keep her company." I push Michelle in their direction.

"Cassandra." She protests.

"Sorry." I mouth and run after Kat. I catch up with her in the house. We go to the kitchen, it's empty. "What is it?"

"It's Jamie, he's not here yet. Did you casually invite him like I asked you to?" She's pacing around.

I think back to my conversation with Jamie on Thursday. "Hey, Kat's party is on Saturday. Can I count on you to be my date?"

He laughed briefly before his face turned serious. "I'm not going."

My skin turned cold. "You're not, why not?"

"I have a date that night."

"Oh, you're still dating Chiara." I couldn't help but sound disappointed. "I'm sorry for saying it like that, that was wrong. Um, what will I tell Kat? Okay, I cannot do this."

"Sorry Cass, with all these new restrictions, this is the only time I can meet up with her. I'm not coming to the party."

"It's alright. Have a nice date, I guess." He smiled sadly before walking away.

I stare at Kat's hopeful face and my stomach feels hollow. "He's not coming." I break the news to her. "I wanted to tell you but you've been so excited, I didn't want to bring your mood down."

"Oh." Her face deflates. "Well, that's too bad."

"I'm sorry Kat, but it doesn't matter. You threw an amazing party, you should enjoy it."

She leans against the incredibly large kitchen island and clenches the edge for support. "He never misses my birthday. Even that time we were in this big fight, he was angry but still came. Why wouldn't he come now?" She takes a deep breath. I hug her and she cries into my shoulder. "I shouldn't be crying, I spent hours doing my makeup."

I stroke her upper back. "It's okay, don't cry. It's your belated birthday. And the greatest party thrown this year is going on outside. Don't stay here missing it."

She sniffs. "I only threw this stupid thing because of him. I wanted us to spend some time together. Now it's a waste."

"It's not, people are having fun. Come on, let's get your make-up fixed then we'll go back out there."

She nods and we sneak up to her room. When we get back, she's her usual cheerful self.

I find Michelle where I left her with Grey and the girl I finally recognize as Lexi. "Sorry I left you, had to take care of something. Still want to go."

She stands up, she looks upset. I look back at them and Lexi is laughing while Grey at least looks sympathetic. Michelle walks ahead of me to the house and I follow after her.

"What's wrong," I ask, trying to catch up.

"Nothing, I'm just sick of parties. And people." I don't ask again and take her to my room. She plops down on the bed and stares up.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" I ask, floating at the doorway.

"No, go enjoy yourself. Besides, how will I try on all your clothes if you're here." She says.

I go back down to the party and search for the rest of my friends. "Hey, Cass." I turn back to see who called my name and come face to face with Tristan.

"Hey," I reply. "You're here."

"Yeah, Kat invited me. Obviously, we've been friends since before we could talk."

"I knew that, it's just Jamie isn't here." I lower my voice.

"Um, yeah he's sick. Said sorry he couldn't make it, he's already given Kat his gift though."

"It's okay. I know he's on a date with Chiara."

"He told you that." Tristan looks shocked. "Wow, thought I was the only one who knew." He sighs. "Please don't tell Kat, Jamie really likes Chiara."

"You know I won't do that." I can't help but smile. "Are you enjoying the party?"

"Yeah, it's a billion times better than mine." He chuckles.

"Your party was nice." I cringe remembering it.

He notices this and laughs. I remember it like it was yesterday, it was actually two weeks ago.

I was still pretty down from the funeral. I walked into the shed and felt immediately out of place. The shed is an actual abandoned shed decorated with fairy lights. The walls are soundproof so you can play music without drawing the attention of staff, I got why it's such a popular spot.

Everyone looked so grown up and mature. I didn't want to be the odd one out, so I got a drink. Then another, then another, then a few more.

Ten minutes to midnight, Tristan pried me away from the building. "Come on, Cassie. Why don't we get you back to your dorm?" He wrapped his arm around my waist and helped me back.

I sat down on the front steps of my building. "I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"I don't know, I feel like I should apologize. If anything, I drew you away from your party."

He sat down beside me. "It was overrated, I like seating with you here."

I placed my head on his shoulder, closed my eyes and took deep breaths. The continuous ringing of his phone made me open my eyes. "It's 12," I said staring at his phone screen. "You're officially 18."

"Yeah." He said, switching off his notifications.

"I wish you were still 17." I blame the alcohol. "I've been dreading this." I took a deep breath. "Seb said you're too old for me."

"Maybe he's right."

"Yeah."

"Yeah." He repeated.

He called the next day when I was fully sober and we decided to pause our relationship for a while.

I smile. "I should go check on my friends, it was nice seeing you here."

He nods. "See you later, Cassandra."

"Later." I leave him and find Paisley dancing happily in front of the DJ's stand. She's drunk. "Cass, how are you? This party is amazing."

I nod. "Have you had anything to eat, you should sit down for a while. Where are Sara and Axel?"

She shrugs and I wrap my arm around her waist and take her with me. I find Axel talking to some second years. "Hey Axel, have you seen Sara?"

"She might be in the garden, what happened to Paisley?"

"Don't worry about her. Just enjoy the party." I take Paisley with me down the path that leads to the garden. The lights are brighter and the music is lower here. Tables with accompanying chairs are set up around. A few long tables towards the side are stacked high with food.

I find Sara seating there with Jason. "Hey, guys," I say. Sara looks at me alarmed.

"Cass, hey, where have you been? Look who's here, it's Jason." She says.

Jason waves. "Hey, your cousin invited me. Nice party."

"I don't feel so good." Paisley breaks free and runs to a distant hedge to vomit. I run after her and hold her hair back. When she's done emptying herself, I take her to Sara's table and force her to drink some water.

"I'm so tired." She rests her head on the table. I pack her hair and tie it in a loose bun.

"Can you keep an eye on her, I need to go check on Kat," I ask Sara. She nods. I go back to the pool to look for Kat and find her chatting with a group of her friends.

She looks alright, I check the time on my watch. It's almost time for cake. I do one more quick check on Michelle. She, true to her word is trying on every article of clothing in my closet

I go back down and tell Mika it's cake time. I then dash to the kitchen and get Kat's three-layer cake from the freezer room. I place the candles and use my powers to light all 18 at once.

The Dj has switched off the music and everyone is singing happy birthday. I roll the cart out with the cake on top to Kat who looks like she's about to fake cry.

The song ends and with a swipe of her hand, the fire on the candles is gone. We all cheer widely. Kat's eyes are red and I'm beginning to think that her tears might be real.

"Um hey Kat, as instructed, it's time for your birthday gift," I say clapping.

"I thought you already got her a gift," Lexi asks.

"Yes, but this is an even more special gift. It's from your mom, she wanted to give it to you herself but as you already stated. No adults allowed." There's some laughter.

"So what's the gift, let's see it." Another one of her friends says.

"It's up in my room, Kat and I will get it. For now please enjoy some cake, we'll be right back." I take Kat's hand and drag her away from the crowd.

The moment we're safely in the house and up the stairs, she starts heaving and the tears flow. We reach her room, she sits on the floor with her back against her bed.

I wait for her to finish crying for the second time that night. When she's done, she climbs up to her bed and whimpers. "Every year since I was six, Jamie always told the same joke when I was blowing out the candle. He said it eleven times and it never got old. I miss him so much."

I look down and tell her the last thing she wants to hear. It maybe isn't the right time and I have no right to, but I do. "Jamie has a girlfriend."