18th August, 1977

Then,

I stood at a corner of a massive room, staring at the girls ahead of me. With a glass of grape juice in one hand and a kebab in the other, my attention was focussed on absolutely nothing. Every single person out there was either talking about the weather or the shoes or laughing awkwardly. I saw no point in making small talk. The ceiling was just about the only thing fascinating in this party.

I nibbled at the kebab and sauntered out of the hubbub, out to an open space somewhere near the entrance. A bunch of kids around my age were laughing their guts out near a tree diagonally to my left. My attention fell on the canopy. It was lit up with pretty lights wrapped all the way down to the bottom of the trunk.

Staring was probably a bad idea. They noticed me and gestured a 'hey' with their chin. I gave them a fleeting smile and nervously turned away, deciding to walk out of there to someplace quieter. Interactions made me anxious.

It wasn't long when one of them approached me. Dark brown curls and eyes a shimmering green. He wore a crisp black suit with his collar undone. As soon as our gazes met, he broke into a charming smile. "Hey."

Confusion filled me. "Hey..." I trailed off, sounding more like I was cross-questioning myself than greeting him. I was literally standing in a dark corner with next to zero people. He looked so out of place in my company. Why would he want to greet me? Did I do something wrong? 

Then again, the feeling was amazing. He was so cute that I felt like I had won a lottery ticket. "Enjoying the night?" he said, casually turning to lean back on the wall beside me. 

Heck no, I thought. "Yeah."

He flicked open a pack of cigarettes and placed one in his mouth. A spark of flame emerged out of nowhere and lit the tip automatically. My eyes widened. "You are a mage?"

He nodded and offered me a cigarette. Now, there are times when you make bad decisions in life. I wouldn't know whether it was because I wanted to see that fire trick again or that I didn't want to blow up our conversation, but I looked down at my half-eaten kebab and tossed the toothpick away discreetly. "Thanks," I flashed a stiff grin and took the cigarette without a thought. 

It wasn't that I hadn't smoked before. Lisa had coerced me once, but my sisterly instincts had kicked in after that and I'd decided to become a better role model. "I'm Sandra by the way. What's your name?"

"Nate." He blew out a puff of smoke. A frown knit his brow. "Sick," he murmured, then tossed it away and took out a different pack. The sight sent my heart lurching with guilt. Somehow, even though I had already placed the cigarette in my mouth, I couldn't stop thinking about my mother's angry face glaring down at me. "You know wh—" I began, deciding to drop the idea after all when he leaned forward, dipping his new cigarette under mine. A spark lit up. The ends caught fire, slowly dimming into a soft glimmer in the dark.

His proximity filled me with surprise. "Oh—" I nearly dropped my cigarette but caught myself. "I had h-hoped to see the fire trick." Yeah, Sandra, real smooth. 

"So? Liked it?"

It took me a while to realise I hadn't taken a single drag. In fact, I wasn't even breathing. He wasn't moving away! "Uh, yeah...yeah, liked it." I took the roll out while nodding nervously. "I'd been curious about it for a long time." 

"Me too. Real curious."

I stared at him, dumbfounded. Before I could get a word out, he leaned forward and took my lips.

My eyes widened like dinner plates. Whatever rationality I had left in me was suddenly swept clean like a blank slate. Nothing made sense, but I hadn't felt something like this before either. Maybe it was my inherent response to a fight or flight situation, but I found myself growing frozen stiff.

His hand snaked around my waist and reached down to graze my rump. I gasped, my glass nearly slipping from my hand when his fingers weaved in between my own and held it against my palm. It was suddenly too overwhelming. I felt humiliated. And then came a surge of anger that I couldn't contain, and I shoved him away. "What on earth are you doing?!"

He staggered back, eyes squinted in annoyance. "What do you think I'm doing, dumbass?" 

My eyes widened. "What did you just say?"

"Dumb. Dum, dum, dum..." his voice was a slur but what took me completely off guard were the guffaws of laughter that followed right after.

I looked around. Those guys that I had seen under the tree were leaning against a wall a few feet away, laughing uncontrollably. 

As if their voices had had a strange effect, that boy, Nate, staggered further away and shook his head. His eyes squinted and his face contorted in pain. He clamped his eyes shut and pressed his temple for a while, and then looked up at me in confusion. With a frown, he opened his mouth, closed, opened, closed, opened and then he said, "Who are you?"

I blinked. "What?"

"I said who are—" He looked over his shoulder at the guys and clucked his tongue in realization, clearly displeased. "SCORE!" they yelled and burst into another fit of laughter.

He fixed his gaze at me again. He seemed perplexed. Warily, he looked down at my glass that he held in his hand gave it a twirl. "Did you spike it?"

"No!"

"Then why am I here?"

I opened my mouth when he interrupted. "I'll tell you why. You nutcases aren't done with your sick games, that's why." 

My eyes widened. "No, I'm—"

"Spare me the excuse," he snapped, then narrowed his eyes into a glare and raised his finger threateningly. "Don't. Bother me. I swear I've had the last of your antics."

"Bother you?! You're the one who is bothering me!"

He scoffed and began to walk away when I stormed towards him and grabbed his elbow. "HEY!"

Anger washed over him. Before I could do anything, he turned around and shoved my drink upside down over my head.