Gathering Storm (3 page)

Shutting the door quickly cutting off Sarah’s pithy comments
, Siobhan
exhaled
the
breath she had
been holding. Tonight was
so
not going to be fun
.
Knowing
her parent’s expected her to smile
,
as well as be polite to everyone who came
to these renowned yearly bashes
. She acknowledged Sarah’s parents plus Jason’s parents would be in attendance, so some of the burden would be on all three to be up to the pedigree of their parents.

Stepping into the hot water, she let the spray run over her face
, turning as the water rolling down
easing
the muscles in her back that were always tenser when these parties came around.
W
anting to save some hot water, Siobhan stepped out grabbing two towels, one wrapped around her head, she tied the other around her body
stepping
back into her room.

Glancing at her closet door she realized
Sarah had taken two dress bags out, one had her name
while
the other
had
Sarah’s.
A
pparently her mother had known Sarah would be getting ready at her house
but
chosen not to comment on the fact to her.

“My Turn” Sarah announced as she danced seductively into Siobhan’s bathroom

Siobhan set about drying her hair into some semblance of
straightness. Grumbling as caught the brush in her hair a few times, she wished she had her mother’s straight hair instead of the wild curly mess some recessive relative’s hair gene.
Sarah emerged from her bathroom with a bi
llow of steam following her out, smiling as she patted moisturizer on her bare skin.

“Seriously, Sarah I don’t understand how you can take that hot of a shower” Siobhan said shaking her head at Sarah

“Please I have to have it that hot to get my skin to turn this pink so you know I’m an angel” Sarah said as she bent over pull
ing
the towel through her wet hair.
Laughing loudly Sarah shook her hair as she flipped
it back up spraying Siobhan with water droplets.

“Oh come on, it took me twenty minutes to get my hair to look this decent, please keep the water away from it” screeched Siobhan as she ducked
around
Sarah shaking her head like a dog
while
laughing
manically.

“You know I wish I had your hair Siobhan”
Sarah said
as she grabbed a comb and started running it through her blonde locks.

“I would kill for your hair, not this brown mop on top of my head” Siobhan said as she
watched
Sarah pull her now straight sleek hair back into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck.

“Your hair isn’t brown stupid, it’s this mix of mahogany
with
red
highlights
and when the sun hits it in the summer these blonde highlights come through. I would totally love to have that instead of this blonde white mess.” Sarah said as she grabbed Siobhan closer to her
while
grabbing her makeup bag.

“Oh no… don’t you dare make me up with a ton of makeup Sarah, really you know it will cause my mom to go into a fit before the party!”
Siobhan squeaked

“Oh shut up Siobhan, I’m going to give you a smoky eye look to go with that dress your mom bought. You are totally going to rock that dress
!
Jason is going to pull you into the closet
to
have
wild sex
with you” Sarah said coly

“What, no!” Siobhan said shaking her head “Jason and I are not doing that”

“Well
,
why the hell not?” Sarah asked eyes wide “Girl, if that boy was mine we’d never come up for air, I don’t understand how you have not jumped that boys bones”

“This
coming from the girl who wants a man, not a boy?”
Siobhan asked wide eyed

“Oh don’t get me wrong, I still want a man, but damn girl Jason is HOT, how can you not look at him and want to bump and grind to that?!” Sarah said as she applied gray eye shadow around Siobhan eyes.

Blushing Siobhan closed her eyes
picturing
Jason in her mind. He was pretty cute, he
stood just
over 6 feet, but wasn’t lanky about it. He was built from his
years as a
baseball
player
and his hair was always a little longer than it should be
.
T
he warm honey color of it
constantly
falling into his brown eyes always melted Siobhan’s heart a little.

“Maybe one day I’ll jump him Sarah, but right now I’m just not ready to take that next step” Siobhan whispered as Sarah harrumphed
applying
a second coat of black mascara to Siobhan’s eyes
.

“Next step, Siobhan, you and Jason have been together since like forever, how much more time do you need to think about it?” Sarah grumbled before sliding her tongue out slightly from her
lips
as she looked Siobhan over.

“Perfect Becky, I have done yet
again
another wonderful job of pulling out those lovely moss green eyes of yours” Sarah
beamed as she
began pulling out the makeup she was going to don for the event.

Sighing, Siobhan got up
, walking over to unzip the garment, she pulled the dress out, sliding
into the
soft gray gauzy material
.
Pulling it
up over her shoulders
, she back
ed up to the bed so Sarah could zip her up.

“Well?” Siobhan asked watching Sarah applying very black eyeliner around her eyes before looking up.

“Oh my god Becky, you are so going to lose it tonig
ht with Jason!” exclaimed Sarah

Feeling her cheeks getting red,
Siobhan dropped to her knees
and started digging out some black shoes to go with the dress. Sarah stood a few minutes later
to
work
herself into the little
black dress that was in her bag. Siobhan zipped her up as Sarah slipped into these stilettos that made her legs go on and on.

“Well, Becky, watcha think?” Sarah asked as she did a little twirl

“I must say you are hot, and if Derrick is here tonight, you may be the one in the closet!” Siobhan replied smiling

“Oh one could only hope right?!” Sarah said in return

Squeezing each other’s hands for strength
,
they
took a
couple of
deep breath
s
before
ma
king
their way to the stairwell leading down to the party. As they descended, the doorbell chimed signaling another arrival.  Siobhan had heard a few before they were ready; she knew her mother would say something to her later about it.

The maid helping out tonight opened the door
as
Jason’s parents
walked in
followed by Jason.

Mr. & Mrs. Fellows made a beautiful couple
;
Siobhan could see both of them in Jason. Jason’s build came from his father as Mr. Fellows was almost as tall as Jason. Mrs. Fellow’s gave Jason those latte eyes and dimple that would pop every time he smiled.

“Hello, Mr. & Mrs. Fellows, I’m so glad you were able to make it tonight” Siobhan said as she continued to walk down the steps.

“
Wow
, dear aren’t you just stunning!” exclaimed Mr. Fellows “Jason if I was twenty years younger, I would fight you for this one”

“Oh
,
and what about me, Mr. Fellows?” Sarah whined in a little girl voice

Barking out a laugh, Mr. Bellows replied “Both of you girls are absolutely breath taking, but Mrs. Fellows here is the one who has my heart, I’m sorry girls”

“Well, girls I think I’ll take my lovely husband here and head out to the backyard. We’ll see you three in a few minutes” Mrs. Fellows said as she took her husband’s hand
walking
around to the back of the house.

“Wow!” Jason whispered as he watched Siobhan come to the final step and stop “I think I just lost my heart back there somewhere
”
…pointing behind him.

Feeling the blush once again heating her face, Siobhan smiled
as she
slapped at Jason’s shoulder.

“Really Jason, I don’t look like that!” Siobhan replied as her cheeks turned a brighter shade of red

“You really have no idea how beautiful you are…” Jason retorted “But, you are all mine, so I’m ok with that!”

L
augh
ing
soft
ly
Siobhan
leaned in to give him a light kiss on his lips.
Feigning indifference
Sarah stuck her lips out in a little pout. Laughing, Jason grabbed
Sarah bringing
her down to the floor
,
giving
her a big kiss on her lips.

“Oh don’t worry, you are just as beautiful, but you aren’t my girl, so that doesn’t count when I get all mushy over her!” Jason said as Siobhan took the last step down

Taking each girls hand they made their way out to the party a united front. Siobhan found her parents and did the usual round of introductions with them to their friends in addition
to
her father’s colleagues from the hospital. As twilight settled in, the little outdoor lights turned on giving the backyard a soft glow. People were mingling, drinking wine a
s
the moon slowly made its presence known overhead.

Siobhan made her way over to where Sarah and Jason were sitting at one of the many tables set up with tea light candles
on
pristine white table cloths.  Dropping into the chair next to Jason, she took his hand as he leaned over and gave her a kiss on top of her head. They all breathed a sigh as this meant, the pleasantries were finished and they could go about their evening.

A clinking of glass brought everyone’s conversations to a halt,
as
the three turned to see their parents all gathering in a semi-circle, motioning for them to join them.
Groaning quietly t
hey walked over to their perspective parents as Siobhan’s father Mr. Gallagher cleared his throat.

“Everyone, I just wanted to say thank you for coming tonight and spending the evening with us. My wife and I are very blessed to have such a great group of friends and colleagues.” Mr. Gallagher said in his deep
baritone
voice
as he
smiled down at Mrs. Gallagher

“I also want to say that for the past three years our daughter Siobhan, along with her boyfriend Jason Fellows, and best friend Sarah Gibbons, have made the Dean’s list every quarter.” Siobhan’s fathered paused as everyone started clapping
giving both parents and teens
congratulations.

“This being their senior year, we  have decided to give these wonderful kids of ours a gift of thank you” again pausing as the group clapped again “We are flying these three to Ireland for a month starting tomorrow evening!” He boasted as the group began clapping again.

Sarah & Jason grabbed their parents into a hug, as Siobhan stood there with her mouth open in shock.

Seeing her daughter’s surprise, Siobhan’s mother grabbed her daughter into a hug whisper
ing harshly
in her ear “Don’t look like that Siobhan, be respectful to your father and go thank him” Pushing Siobhan over to her father.

Siobhan looked up at her dad “How could you do this? You know I’m going to the farm” she whispered

Mr. Gallagher’s smile didn’t reach his eyes as he leaned down “You are going to Ireland and there isn’t room for discussion on this Siobhan”

Feeling her eyes starting to water, Siobhan politely excused herself from the group and walked into the house as calmly as she could. Once inside, Siobhan ran up the stairs to her room, slamm
ing
the door
as she
fell onto her bed
letting the tears fall
.

“Oh lord, here we go…” mumbled Sarah as she grabbed Jason’s hand to pull him into the house with her.

“I don’t get it, this is totally awesome, a month out of the country, no parents and she’s crying?” Jason replied inconceivable

Walking through the kitchen, Sarah swiped a bottle of Champaign off
the counter
.
W
ink
ing
at Jason
she
headed upstairs. Banging on Siobhan’s door a little harder than needed, Sarah opened the door, t
aking
a big swig from the bottle.