ADVENTURES AT THE OTHER BLAKE ESTATE PART FIVE

The Blake chateau had been totally redone on the inside. Cecelia and I descended the huge marble staircase into a room full of well dressed people sipping champagne. I was reminded of the party scene from The Sound of Music, but didn't have much time to dwell upon it, for I had to decline the hors d'oeures offered to me by a waiter and looked up to find that Cecelia had crossed the room and was now chatting with Benjamin, who was quite cute, if you looked at him from a distance.

Neil looked amazing in his black tuxedo. It was the first time I had seen him all day, and the sight of him made me want to sequel with girlish pleasure, but I had to refrain from it. I tried to get in the line forming to shake his hand, but I literally ran into a short figure moving in the opposite direction.

"Sorry." I said automatically and looked down.

"So, are you a guy or a girl?" Simon, a boy I had met earlier this summer, asked, looking up at me. He was my age, but looked about eleven years old. Apparently, he was some child prodigy and liked my androgynous qualities. "Never mind. Don't tell me." He raised and hand and put it on my chest. "Yep, you're a girl."

"Hey!" I slapped his hand away. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"What is the fuss about? I'm going to marry you anyway. And I'd also like to add that I'm glad I'm marrying a girl."

Oh yeah, Simon had been my first ever marriage proposal. "I hardly even know you." I told him. "I'm not going to marry someone I don't know."

Simon opened his mouth to convince me otherwise, but Benjamin arrived holding two champagne flutes. "Simon, you know Ethan?"

"So that's what they call you." Simon said to me. "Well, Ethan, I'm staying with the Feildmans for the rest of the summer, if you want to come and 'get to know me.' If not, I'll see you at school." He left, sipping his drink.

I took several steps before Geoffrey, Neil's young uncle who speaks entirely in bad poetry, found me.

"Fair maiden or most beautiful man." He called to me. "It seems the dreams hast not yet ended, for mine eyes have been graced with your presence once more." He took my hand in his. "Allow me the honor of touching your delicate hand to my unworthy lips."

I ripped my hand away before he could kiss it. "No, thanks." I told him. "I have to go see...um...Butterfly."

I ran away as fast as it was possible in a high society party. That is to say, not very fast.

The dancing had begun, and a small orchestra played in the corner of the vast ballroom. I caught glimpses of Neil's father dancing with a beautiful woman I could have sworn I had seen before (She was an actress, as I later realized), and Ray being hugged by a beautiful girl in a rose colored dress. Cecelia attempted to converse with Butterfly, but, even without hearing the words being said, I could tell she was failing miserably.

I greeted several Lakewood students, made small talk with rich strangers, and managed to avoid dancing with every who asked. After an hour or so had passed, Cecelia found me by the ice sculptures. We talked for awhile, and then I asked her where she had gotten her dress.

"Some bastard felt me up." Cecelia replied angrily. "And, to make matters worse, it fits perfectly. Even the bra." She gave a fake sob. "I can't believe I let that asshole steal my second base virginity."

That asshole (Adam) arrived and handed Cecelia another champagne. "Are you unsatisfied by the dress?"

"Not really." Cecelia replied. "But how did you guess that I liked little roses so much?"

I looked at Cecelia's dress and examined it thoroughly. "Where are the roses?" I asked, finding none.

Cecelia and Adam shared a smile. I excused myself to 'go to the bathroom.'

I did end up in the bathroom, which was a lavishly designed and beautiful place to be, with ivy and comfy chairs and pillows to sit on, making this the fist real restroom I had ever seen. And, seated on a fluffy red sofa and looking slightly haggard, was Neil.

"Hey." I said when I entered. "I thought only girls spent a long time in the bathroom."

Neil sighed. "I'm just a little tired."

"A little?" I repeated, taking a seat next to him on the couch. "You look like you've been working all day."

"I have." Neil sighed again. "My first day being sixteen, and I spend it trying to beat up my father and at a boring party."

"It's not boring."

"Don't lie to me, Ethan." Neil closed his eyes and leaned against the back of the sofa. "Your honesty is refreshing in this world."

I wished then, at that very moment, that I could tell him everything, that my entire existence at Lakewood Academy was a lie, that I wasn't really a boy, and that I was sick of having girls chasing after me. But I didn't. Instead, I just swallowed the guilty lump in my throat and thanked him.

"I better go." I said, and began to stand up again.

"No." Neil said sleepily, eyes still closed. "Stay with me a little longer."

I did stay. I waited by his side until his steady, deep breathing made me want to doze off too. I gently lifted his head (it had fallen onto my shoulder at some point) and propped some pillows beneath it. "Happy birthday." I said to the sleeping hottie and left.

"So that's where you were." Cecelia said as she found me only moments after I left the bathroom. "I've been looking *hiccup* everywhere for you." She hiccuped again, and swayed slightly in her high heals.

"C, maybe you've had a few more drinks than you can handle."

"It's all legal here." She said, her speech slurring a bit. "There's not a *hiccup* *giggle* drinking law or something here."

"Yes, France is like that." I said slowly and clearly. Maybe, she might understand. "Why were you looking for me?"

"There's some creeper *hiccup* in a mask. Really...hot. He's...ah...looking for you by the *hiccup* fountain."

"Thanks." I left my best friend with a butler and went outside, where a figure stood on the fountain ledge.

"Good evening, Nathi." The Second Violin said without turning around.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

He turned around, a black mask covering the upper half of his face. "Can I not also celebrate the birthday of a dear friend?"

"Neil's your dear friend?"

"Not really. We're more like acquaintances." He smiled. "I just came because I knew you'd be here, and I was in Paris anyway."

"That makes me feel warm and bubbly inside." I replied sarcastically. "Why me?"

He leapt lightly off the fountain. "Why not you?" He asked.

"Don't answer my question with another question. And who the hell are you, to be coming and going to other people's parties at your whim?"

The Second Violin chuckled slightly and put a finger to my lips. "Didn't you promise not to ask about my identity?"

"Didn't you promise to stop being a whimsical idiot?"

"Now who's answering questions with questions, my dear hypocrite." He smiled, and I was caught.

"Weirdo in a mask."

"Cross-dresser."

"I bet you sold your soul so you could play the violin so well."

"And if I did?"

I hesitated. "I don't know. You'd still be a creeper."

He laughed. "Good-bye, Mr. Smith." He said, and walked away in the direction of the driveway.

Why is my life comprised of such strange people? I asked myself. I found no answer all night.