Chapter 3: Then

The party was in full swing by the time he'd arrived.

Donna Dellucci lived in the most exclusive neighborhood in the area. It was a gated community, one of the few the small town had, but there was no guard on duty. The gates were there mainly to perpetuate the impression of the wealth they contained than for any practical defensive measures they'd provide. The neighborhood itself was small, with only seven houses, but each one of the houses arrayed around the hilly lane was worth in the area of around four million bucks.

AJ pulled the car to a halt on the street in front of the house. The driveway was already full, but besides that, he didn't know how welcome he'd be or how long he'd be staying, and he didn't want to be blocked in.

Walking briskly up the driveway, he knocked on the door. It was opened seconds later by a man in his mid-forties, AJ guessed, who he assumed was the doorman.

"I assume you are here for the soiree?" the man asked.

Soiree? Who says that? AJ thought to himself.

"Uh, yeah. Anthony Tremontti."

"Down the hall, right, down the hall, left. They are in the great room." The doorman said, bored, like he'd been doing it all night.

AJ stepped into the house. "Uh, thanks." The doorman didn't reply as he closed the door and returned to his chair next to the door.

AJ walked through the mansion, following the doorman's directions. As he approached what he assumed was the great room, he could hear the din of the crowd. He paused momentarily, wary for a moment about joining them. While Donna's invitation was made sincerely, and insistently, her crowd was not his crowd. In fact, it was pretty much the exact opposite of his crowd. While he was on good speaking terms with most of the females, they would never be dating him, while the males in the group would barely hide their contempt.

Oh well. I can go do this, make my cameo, and then beat a hasty retreat.

As he stood there, pondering his escape options, a heretofore unseen door to his immediate right opened, someone stepped out, and plowed right into him.

"Ooof!" the female voice exclaimed as she literally bounced off him.

"Hey, Ali," he responded without excitement, recognizing the voice first, and the long flowing blonde tresses immediately after.

The blonde reacted with surprise, but quickly realized who he was. "Oh, hi AJ. I didn't expect to see you here ... there I mean."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't realize I was standing in front of the door."

At that moment, Allison Peterson realized that her arms had wrapped partially around AJ's torso to catch herself from falling when she bumped into him. Before she removed them, though, she realized what was under his t-shirt wasn't the soft flesh she naturally assumed she'd find. She'd known AJ for a few years now, and always knew him to be skinny ... a geek ... persona non grata for her. But that was then.

"Oh, I, uh, didn't realize you were, uh, invit ... going to come tonight..." she said, clearly only half paying attention to what she was saying. Instead her hands were focused on none-too-subtly roaming over AJ's upper torso. She found his abdominal muscles, solid and tight from a summer spent working rough carpentry. She then grabbed his arms with both hands, and apparently finding the biceps acceptable as well, she placed both hands on his chest. She let out a barely audible sigh, apparently content with her appraisal.

"AaaaaJaaaaa," she said, drawing out his name seductively. "The summer's been kind to you, and you've been hiding something." She smiled and looked wistfully for a moment, then patted his chest. "Maybe we can get to know each other a little better."

"Sure, Ali. I'll be around. I'm always around."

His voice had deepened too ... and she noticed that as well. She slowly removed her hand from his chest, but not before sliding a single finger lazily down the center of it. She smiled again, and then turned and walked back down the hall towards the din, with the normal bounce she possessed as Queen of her universe. AJ watched her go, his eyes sliding down to do an appraisal of his own. Ali Peterson was THE GIRL at Richmond High. The fact that she had just kinda-sorta felt him up and not only not found him wanting, but apparently left interested threatened to blow his mind.

Ali Peterson. Yikes.

AJ shook his head, clearing the cobwebs, and looked around briefly. Did I just enter the fucking twilight zone? He clenched his fists tightly, and unclenched them. It was a nervous tick he'd attained recently, really after he'd starting working out seriously. The body his late growth spurt had given him combined with the musculature his punishing summer job-cum-workout had formed had given him a nervous energy ... an almost barely contained fury that wanted to be unleashed on something, anything, and was just looking for that opportunity.

Focus. She's really not interested in guys like you. He followed her direction up the hall, and came to the great room. He heard the typical bravado of the high school jock echoing from the room ahead. She's interested in guys like those.

The great room at the Dellucci house was not mis-named. It was massive. There were about twenty people in the room at the moment, and it was in no way crowded. They were in small groups of twos or threes. Some couples were paired off, already making eyes at one another, while others merely chatted with their friends. AJ noticed that Ali had gone right over to where Paul Poundstone, self-styled jock extraordinaire and King to Ali's Queen was, and had plopped down on his lap. She was currently running her fingers along his shoulder ... though she did cast a subtle, meaningful glace in AJ's direction when he stepped down into the sunken living room. As he did, Donna noticed his arrival and glided happily over to see him.

Donna Dellucci ran with the in crowd, and with good reason. She was disgustingly rich, beautiful in an old-world Italian goddess sort of way, and had the added bonuses of being blessed with a spectacular body and a sparkling personality. Her parents must have tirelessly worked with orphans in their youth in order to be rewarded with a daughter that "had it all" to such a degree. While Ali was the flashy alpha female, Donna was undoubtedly the catch. Or would be, had she ever deigned to date anyone. Much to the consternation of the male population for miles around, however, she had not. No boyfriends, no dates, nothing. She even showed up to dances stag. She also seemed to have no problem letting Ali be the alpha female, which, to be quite honest, in the world of high school politics, was just weird.

While AJ questioned Ali's sudden interest in him, with good reason, he didn't doubt Donna's friendship. While they ran in very different crowds, he and Donna had known each other since they were toddlers. Their fathers had done quite a bit of construction business together back then, and as they were both of above averagely wealthy families, their early years were spent in the same circles.

"AJ!" she exclaimed, "I am so glad you came. The girls and I have been dying for a proper drink, and I told them you were the only one I'd trust around here to make one."

AJ frowned for a moment. Is that why I was invited? To tend bar? It was brief, and he kicked himself for flashing even that much, but it was enough for Donna to pick up on. "I didn't realize I was here to work."

Donna immediately caught his meaning. "Puh-lease. Don't be silly. If I needed a bartender, I would have bought one." She dismissed his reservation with a wave of one hand while at the same time grabbed one of his. "C'mon. I'll help. At the very least, you'll be able to impress everyone with your knowledge of top-shelf chemistry." She paused a second to look back at him. "That may lead to some very drunk, very appreciative girls." And then she winked, and said, "At least one, for sure." Always the skeptic, AJ tried to maintain his façade of not being fazed.

"Well, we'll see about that." He replied.

There were a few things AJ could do well. Not all of them were good party tricks. One of the very few that qualified was the ability to mix a fine cocktail. He wasn't much of a drinker himself, but every now and then he did enjoy the finer taste of a top shelf vodka. He didn't drink beer, didn't drink cheap stuff, and didn't get drunk, and that seemed to work for him just fine.

Donna led him into the kitchen and showed him where the liquor was set up. There was a ton. She helped him get started, and soon the two of them were serving up martinis to a half dozen girls.

About a half hour had passed when Donna drained the last of a fifth of vodka in to a highball glass.

"AJ, dear," she always called him dear, "We've run dry. Come with me." She stepped away from the counter and then, to the girls, "We'll be right back girls, why don't you make sure the boys are still behaving? And feel free to not send a search party. We may be a while." The girls hooted and hollered as they filed out of the kitchen, and AJ went to follow Donna.

Donna's house was very large, and there were two staircases that led to the basement. One was off the main entrance to the house, near the front door, and the other was in the kitchen. The kitchen staircase lead down to a part of the basement separate from the rest, where the Dellucci's kept their pantry, wine cellar, and storage area. Donna led AJ down the stairs and into the cellar. It was fully stocked, and AJ assumed there were probably some very expensive wines among the racks. Along one wall, there was shelving full of different kinds of liquor. Donna pointed to one of the vodka's on a higher shelf.

"Grab that one," she said as she pointed, "I can't reach it, but you should have no problem. You're tall now." AJ stood behind her and easily reached the bottle. Donna was looking up, facing the shelf, and as AJ brought the bottle down, he descended it right in front of her, and into her waiting hands. This cause his left hand to be basically reaching around her, and she quickly turned around to face him. Without the bottle of vodka between them, they would have been chest to chest. He looked down at her, and noticed something he'd never seen before. Her eyes were sparkling up at him, and he noticed the atmosphere between them change immediately.

"AJ..." she said in a quiet voice. "Donna?" he replied questioningly. She looked up at him, blinked hard a few times, and began to rise up on her toes to bring her lips up to his. The second before they could meet though, there was a muffled yell, followed by three loud pops from upstairs. Then screaming, followed by yelling, and finally, silence.