Deception by Cyndi Goodgame Page A

I love with my inner screams.  It was the second or third time it happened.
    Leaning against the fireplace to let him be farther away so as to regain my common sense, he jumped away when his leg hit the fireplace screen.  I fell towards him, he caught me, and we both adjusted our legs to standing again after much commotion.  I realized then how close my leg came and wondered if he took the heat for me.
    Pam was watching this with great attentiveness, but not at his injury.  Her face gave away what she really thought about the two of us but let it go and drew attention to Ian’s leg. Silent screams of how blatantly evident my infatuation for Ian was showing to others combined with his apparent need to be around me so much made nights like this unbearable.
    There was barely a fire if at all.  At closer inspection, the logs were part of a gas-powered display, not actual fire.  Something was fishy.
    “Are you okay?  Let me see your leg?”  I moved to sit down on the chair arm by us otherwise occupied by two girls who watched him with great interest.  “Fine!  Crowded!  Let’s move around to the sofa.”  Before I could think more on it, Ian was pulling me to leave. Guessing his leg wasn’t that injured, I followed suit.  
    “See you later, Pam.  Nice to meet you, David.”  I trailed off my words being pulled through bodies crowded in every room, hallway, everywhere. Ian was acting suddenly very possessive, like a boyfriend kind of possessive.  Something strange, something life-altering was happening, I could just feel it.  I didn’t want to ask about his pull and yank moves in case I was just utterly dense.  I was taking Caylie’s advice.   Scary!
    Deep in confusion; I lost my footing on the carpeted steps leading out of the living room, stepped on his foot, flew forward, and landed against his chest.  “Sorry!” was all I said as he righted my balance.  For a second he stopped and just stared like he was going to speak, but didn’t.  When I pretended to look away not understanding the “you belong to me tug” he had on my costume shirt sleeve, but I wasn’t entirely complaining either, I asked, “Is your foot okay?”  That was all I could think of to say.
    He smiled and nodded then herded us to the kitchen where we heard evidence of genuine laughter rising through the air.  Only our friends would still be sober.   I passed a couple of vampires, fairies, Zorro, and several masked unknowns on the way through the hallway.  Caylie, diva girl, had found a box of cheese crackers and chased behind us after she shared her intimate adventure kissing some stranger in the hallway.  It was obvious since her diva glittery lipstick was smeared everywhere.  This made the air very uncomfortable, but since this was a regularly thing with Caylie lately, it was a little less so. 
    “Thank you!”  I told her.
    “For what?”
    “You know, at the door.”
    “No prob!  You had it covered, Wonder Woman.  I just lit another match in the book of Grace.”   My life was full of lit matches that never amounted to anything but small flames and huge piles of rubble.
    We all sat down around the little table crowded with twice as many people that should fit. I was practically in Ian’s lap so I shifted towards Caylie to put distance between us.  He noticed.  I turned my head slightly to glance at his reaction, but caught the last part of a smile I wasn’t sure who or what was intended for and listened as he launched into a tall tale of how cozy this little get together was in an obnoxiously chaotic sort of way.  All three of us laughed.  He’d saved me. Again!   Yeah, saving me from myself.
    Josie, the girl who couldn’t take no for an answer, walked up in none other than a Tinkerbell costume.  Very tightly fitted.  What grade are we in, kindergarten? I thought.  She definitely does not look like she is in kindergarten.
    She walked right beside Ian, put her arm on his shoulder, and leaned