Jane Is Here: Chapter 5 – House Party

It’s Saturday afternoon and Noah Marshall finds himself in his bed, distractedly reading a magazine.

“OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG!” – Jane’s screams can be heard through the walls.

Suddenly, the door of his bedroom opens with a loud bang, startling the boy. He looks annoyed at where his twin is standing.

“Okay, what the hell is all this—”

“I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!” – she interrupts him, her ginger hair in a messy bun, her face free of make up. He just rolls his eyes and goes back to reading his magazine.

“This is bullshit, you have plenty of clothes—”

“OMG Noah, you don’t get anything in this big head of yours, do you?!” – she sighs dramatically, plopping down on his bed. Jane Marshall never exactly knew the concept of privacy. – “This is like, our first party as seniors! Don’t you get how a big deal it is?! And we were invited by Dan!”

“Of course we were invited by him. We’re his childhood friends.”

“Yeah, but he’s our school’s best quarterback! This means something. God, how would you survive high school without me?” – she stops talking for a second, noticing what Noah is reading. – “‘Recipes’?! You’re such a nerd.”

“Shut up.”

Sighing once again, Jane climbs down her brother’s bed.

“Alright, since you’re so busy, I guess I’ll have to ask MC to help me decide which outfit to wear to the party.”

“Suit yourself.” – he doesn’t look up from his magazine.

Jane stops by his door and looks at him again.

“You’re not going to wear this for the party, are you?”

“No, because I’m not going.”

And in the next second, Jane’s already by his side, shaking him:

“WHY AREN’T YOU GOING?!””

“Why would I want to go there? There’ll be people from school and I can’t stand them. Parties are just excuses for—”

“…futile and empty teenagers in an attempt to burst their ego in a meaningless social gathering.” – she finishes his sentence for him. – “Yeah, yeah, I’ve already heard this before. You can just say that you hate people, Noah. It’s not a secret, you know.”

“It’s not that I hate people. I just… don’t like most people from our school. And I don’t like small spaces with many people.”

“Yeah, but our friends will be there. Aren’t they enough?” – before Noah can say anything, Jane keeps talking: – “MC will be there. And I heard that Connor Green was invited.”

“Who?” – she rolls her eyes annoyed.

“Stacy’s brother. You know, blonde, a couple of years older… and totally interested in MC.”

The girl bites back a laughter as she sees her brother sitting straight on the bed.

“He… what?”

“Oh Noah, you really know nothing, do you? Did you know he gave MC a ride on our first day of school last week?”

He stares at her for a few seconds, before going back to read his Buffalo chicken wings recipe.

“Huh, okay. Whatever. Who cares? I don’t care.”

“Oh my God, Noah, stop pretending you don’t like MC! Are you really letting Connor get them?!”

“MC dates whoever they want!”

“Well, they don’t want to date Connor! They want to date you, you idiot!”

“S-shut up!” – Noah’s face turn a shade pinker.

“Oh my God, don’t you ever get tired of telling me to shut up?! Now, stop acting like a boring old man and come to the party!” – she tries to pull him from the bed, but Noah pulls back.

“Leave me alone, Jane!”

“NO! You’re coming with—”

“UGH, okay, fine! FINE! I’m coming to this stupid party!” – Noah finally gets out of the bed and throws his arms up in the air. – “Happy?!”

“Very much.” – she smirks at him and turns to leave the room. He slams the door after she exits. – “And if you wear that stupid denim jacket again, I swear!” – she shouts from the other side of the wall.

“What’s the problem with my jacket?!”

“Oh hey, Marshalls! I thought you wouldn’t come!” – Dan greets them by the front door of his house.

“Yeah… me too.” – Noah murmurs and Jane elbows him on his ribs. He lets out a low curse.

“Anyway, thanks for inviting us, Dan!” – Jane says, entering the house. The party is already rolling, people dancing in the living room, others chatting.

“Finally!” – Stacy exclaims, walking toward them. – “Jane, this party is not the same without you! Let’s show these amateurs some real moves!”

“Oh, you’re on!” – the redhead laughs loudly and the other cheerleader pulls her to the improvised dance floor in the middle old the room. – “See you guys later!”

Noah grunts. Dan tells him that there are foods and drinks in the kitchen before being called by some of the guys from his football team. The boy with a beanie walks toward the other room – he sees Lucas talking to people in one corner; Jane, Stacy and Lily dancing; and Ava making ‘magic tricks’ in another corner -, finding a group of cheering people gathered around Andy and Tom, who are competing each other to see who drinks faster. Andy burps loudly when he finishes his soda just seconds before his best friend and people goes nuts. The two friends bump their fists. Noah just rolls his eyes and walks outside, to the Pierce’s backyard.

He hears a whimper and sees a black Labrador Retriever walking toward him, its tail wiggling furiously. It’s Dan’s dog, Nemo (Dan was obsessed with Pixar movies when he was a kid and named his dog after the fish character). His face is all white now and he walks slowly, showing how old the dog is. Noah clearly remembers that Nemo was already a year old when they met Mr. Red…

“Hey, boy. You okay?” – the boy asks. The dog throws himself by his feet, his belly upturned, his big dark eyes shining expectantly. Noah chuckles and crouches, stroking the old dog’s belly. – “Good boy.”

“Maybe coming wasn’t so bad at all. At least I can hang out with Nemo.” – he thinks to himself.

Unlike his twin sister, Noah never has been a people’s person. He likes his friends a lot, but he feels more comfortable when it’s only him, his sister and… MC. The whole gang remained together after that fateful day ten years ago, but MC and the Marshall twins got even closer.

Although Jane and MC had always said that they were best friends, the boy was great friends with MC too. Growing up, he always felt that they had a deep connection. As if only MC could understand him, even better than his own twin.

And lately… those feelings started to change a little.

Noah knows that he might be liking his friend more than just a friend. You shouldn’t want to cuddle or kiss them, right? You shouldn’t smile like an idiot whenever they laugh, and your heart shouldn’t take a little leap every single time you see them, right? I mean, he’s known MC for twelve years! They’ve seen each other practically every day for the last decade. Why would he start feeling all anxious with just the thought of seeing them? Why he’s been searching for a recipe of Buffalo chicken wings for the last couple of days simply because MC mentioned that they wanted to eat it? Why he got jealous when Jane mentioned Connor earlier (he would never confess it out loud to his sister, because she surely would never let him forget it, but, yes, he got jealous)? Why he wants to be with MC, but is deadass afraid of getting rejected?

That could mean only one thing: he’s crushing hard on MC. His friend. Jane’s best friend. He’d never liked anyone like that before. Noah was pretty sure that those kind of feelings weren’t for him. It wasn’t his nature or whatever. But then they started to change, both slowly and suddenly at the same time.

…And he’s almost sure that they like him too. He’s like 95% sure. That’s a high number. Then why he can’t simply just talk to them? They’ve never had secrets between them. They’ve always told each other everything. Then why—

“I knew I’d find you here alone. With Nemo.” – a voice he knows well suddenly snaps him out of his thoughts.

Noah looks up and sees MC walking toward them. They’re grinning.

“Uh, hey…” – Noah feels that heat rising to his cheeks, as it always happens whenever he sees them. Thankfully it’s dark outside and the light is dim there. MC crouches by his side, Nemo sniffing them happily. – “Uh, you cleaned up nice.”

“Thanks.” – Noah doesn’t know, but MC’s face is burning too. They start stroking the dog’s fur too. – “You too.”

Noah looks down, remembering what he’s wearing. Jane forced him to wear a flannel shirt and his Blink-182 tee. No denim jacket.

“Oh. Uh, thanks. Jane prohibited me from using my denim jacket.” – MC chuckles. Crap, why did he say it? – “Uh, but why are you here? I thought you wanted to party, not spend your time outside patting the party’s owner’s dog like some sort of loser.”

“Well, maybe Jane ordered me to come here outside, to be sure that you didn’t jump inside the pool and drowned yourself due to boredom… and to make sure that I would distract you while she’s making out with Lucas inside.”

“She what?!” – Noah immediately stands up, ready to go back to the house, but MC grabs him by the wrist.

“Oh hell no, you’re not getting inside!”

“Yes, I am!” – but MC’s grip is firm. – “What?” – he looks annoyedly at them.

“Beanie Boy, please. Let Jane have a moment with Lucas. You know for how long she’s been having a crush on him. And he likes her too. And how they both have busy schedules. Just… let them enjoy it, you know?”

They look at each other’s eyes for a few moments, until the boy finally lets out a resigned sigh.

“…Alright, alright.” – they both go back to sit on the floor, Nemo already showing his belly to them. – “…Jane and Lucas.”

“Yep.”

“I knew she’s been in love” – he rolls his eyes. – “…with him for the last few years since they shared her first kiss in freshman year… but I didn’t know he liked her too.”

“Well, who doesn’t like Jane? I just feel bad for Stacy.”

“What? Stacy?” – MC chuckles.

“Yeah. She has a crush on Jane. Poor Stacy.”

“…Damn. I didn’t know Jane had so many fans.” – MC laughs louder, and Noah smiles by the sound of it. – “Anyway, I know Lucas is a nice guy and all… but… well, I don’t like the idea of anyone dating Jane.”

“Aaaw, aren’t you a great big brother?”

“I’m not her big brother. We’re twins.”

“You know what I mean.” – they both share a chuckle. – “Jane told me you didn’t want to come?”

“Well, yeah. You know I’m not the most sociable person. And crowded places overwhelms me.” – MC nods.

“…She also told me that you only agreed to come after she told you that Connor gave me a ride last week and that he was invited here?”

“No, I…! That’s not…” – and MC sees Noah’s cheeks reddening under the dim light outside. – “Ugh, when she told you this?!”

“She texted me just before the party, asking me to help her find an outfit since you weren’t going to help her.” – the boy rolls his eyes. He should have known that his sister would do something like that. That’s so Jane. – “So?” – they raise their eyebrow. – “Is this true?”

Noah just wants to disappear. Even his ears are burning beneath the beanie.

“Uh… and… what if it’s true?” – he finally speaks, avoiding MC’s gaze, pretending to be too occupied stroking Nemo’s fur.

And then, next thing he knows, MC is pulling him in by his T-shirt and he feels their lips on his.

It’s all too quick, lasting just a few seconds. But he felt it. MC’s lips are as soft as he expected them to be.

“I… what?” – he murmurs, looking back at them, astonished. MC is grinning from ear to ear, their cheeks flushed too.

Did they just kissed? Did that just happened? What’s happening?

And then, MC leans in again, their soft lips meeting his again. And this time, they don’t pull out.

Noah awkwardly cups their face with his trembling hands, pressing his mouth against theirs, believing that that’s how you kiss someone. He’d never kissed someone until now. MC’s lips expertly kiss him back, more eagerly this time.

He knows MC has kissed before. He reminds of when MC and Andy kissed, when they were in 10th grade, and how things turned a little awkward in the group, until they both decided that they were better off as friends.

The boy suddenly pulls out, feeling his head dizzy.

“Beanie Boy…?” – MC asks, their lips a little swollen. Noah feels that he’s hyperventilating.

“I… Uh… I… what…” – he doesn’t know what to say. Realization seems to suddenly hit MC hard.

“Crap! I’m so sorry, Noah! Was this your first…? I… I don’t… I didn’t intend to… I… If I knew…. you didn’t want… ”

They both don’t know what to say, their cheeks burning. Nemo looks from one awkward teenager to the other.

Noah wants to say that it’s not that he didn’t want it. He kind of wanted it. But… would that make things weird between them? What about the gang? Wouldn’t it be awkward? Like what happened between MC and Andy for a while?

Ugh, he’s thinking too much. As always.

But before any of them can say anything, they hear sirens approaching.

And the cops shut the party down and everyone is forced to go home.

MC is awaken by the sound of their alarm. It’s Monday.

They know they have to go to school, although they really don’t want to. Because Noah will be there.

“Stupid!” – MC curses themself under the blanket.

They shouldn’t have kissed him. MC suspected that beanie boy liked them too, but… well, they should have only kissed him when they were fully aware of his feelings.

…Crap. How they wished they could turn back in time.

Summoning all their courage, they go out of bed, change their clothes and fetch a breakfast before leaving the house.

Outside, MC meets Cid again, and the neighbor tells them that he’s going to stay out of the city for a couple of weeks and asks if they can take care of Hilda for him while he’s out. MC agrees; they’ve always liked Hilda, plus, she was a very good dog.

The teenager resume their trajectory to school, their mind flicking back to the party, the sensation of Noah’s rough and cold hands on their face…

“MC? MC, is that you?” – they hear a woman’s voice calling for them. They turn, seeing Mrs. Garcia, their neighbor from the end of the street, walking outside her house.

“Good morning, Mrs. Garcia.” – MC greets her. Her eyes are puffy and she seems like she hasn’t had much sleep. – “Is everything okay?”

“Tell me… haven’t you seen… Samuel?” – the woman asks, with shaky breaths.

“What…?” – MC doesn’t know why, but they feel a terrible shiver down their spine.

Mrs. Garcia eyes starts watering.

“Y-you know how Samuel likes playing outside, you know?” – the teenager slowly nods. – “Yesterday he went to play with some friends… in the woods.” – MC’s heart starts pounding inside their chest. Oh no… – “He told me he was going to spend the night in his friend’s house… but turned out that… he even isn’t friends with this boy. I called his mom and she told me that Sam never been there. That she didn’t know they were friends, since her son never talked about him.” – the woman is sobbing now. – “H-he lied to me. Y-you know how shy he is, don’t you? And he’s been even more secluded after me and his father divorced… I… I’m desperate. I don’t know where he went. I’ve already called the police… a search party is on their way to the woods…” – oh no. – “Oh, God, I’m so sorry. You were on your way to school, right? I’m so sorry. ” – MC doesn’t know what to say. They feel overwhelmed by the woman’s revelation. Their head’s spinning and their blood goes cold. And they can’t help but think… think about Mr. Red. Oh no. – “Oh God, I’m so sorry, sweetie. I’m delaying you to school. I just needed to ask you since you always comes here to babysit him and he seems to like you. So I needed to ask if you knew something or–”

“I-I’m sorry, Mrs. Garcia. But the last time I saw him, Samuel was playing, right here. But this was last weekend. I… I haven’t seen him.” – the woman nods. – “But… don’t worry. He’ll be back. Okay? Don’t lose hope.” – they squeeze the desperate mother’s shoulder and gives them a reassuring grin. – “He’ll be back.”

“Thank you, MC… ” – she tries to smile through the tears. – “Maybe… maybe it’s just a prank. Eight-year-old boys do this, don’t they? They like pretending to run away from home, right? But they’re back after a few hours, right?”

“Yeah… sure.”

By the time MC enters the school building, the five-minute bell has already rang. They wander toward the English classroom and sit on their desk, not noticing their surroundings, their mind filled with Samuel and Mr. Red thoughts, memories of Dan’s party and what happened between them and a certain Beanie Boy completely forgotten.

“MC, finally! I thought you wouldn’t come today!” – Jane exclaims, hovering above their desk. – “And you’ve been ignoring my texts since Saturday, after the cops came and shut the party down! Noah has been acting weird since then, but he won’t tell me anything!! Did something happen?” – she notices that her best friend seems miles away, a blank expression on their face, as if… they’d seen a ghost. – “Hey… is everything okay? MC?”

MC looks up to Jane.

“Ja—”

“Alright, class, quiet. Let’s hear today’s announcement.” – Mr. Cooper enters the class and turns on the TV. Jane sits on her desk, casting a worried glance to her friend.

“Good morning, Westchester High! It’s 8 o’clock on Monday, and here’s your Wolves announcements!” – Lucas’s face shows in the TV screen, talking confidently. – “I’m your host Lucas Thomas and– ksssshhhhhhhhhhhkkk!”

A burst of static suddenly cuts him off and the lights flicker before shutting off completely. Surprised screams and gasps can be heard throughout the school. Some students vibrate in their desks, already ready to leave, but Mr. Cooper orders them to sit back down. Others start chattering nervously.

In midst of the chaos, the doors are blown open by a frigid gust of wind… And then, they all can hear it… all nine teenagers who used to play in the woods when they were kids… can hear a sound that snatches all the breath from their bodies and leaves them cold.

The sound of a voice… a voice that is completely alien… and horribly familiar.

Everyone… plays… together…