We got close, and I saw the small string of lights and lanterns decorating the stairs and door, like some sort of messed up beacon of hope in the hell called Arcadia Prep.
I was elated to see rich, snobby kids could still have fun free of their pretenses.
Luna prepped me as she pushed the door open to what now would be known as heaven. Everything needed a balance. “Things get wild sometimes. Just take it in stride…”
I didn't know if that was supposed to be a warning, but to me, it sounded like an invitation.
The party was still timid, like people only gathered out of boredom not rebellion. I was taken aback by the tone being so relaxed that I wasn't sure where to put my displaced energy. I was ready to walk into relief, but this felt like a library instead. I turned to Luna, letting my eyebrow pop up in criticism.
“Real wild, huh?”
She slapped my forearm lightly, jokingly… Let's be real, this girl probably wouldn't kill a spider if it meant hurting another living creature.
“Jasper and the boys aren't here yet, duh. Nothing good happens without them.”
Now I was making more sense of this place, even the rich had no even playing field. These boys ruled school, and no one made a move without their permission. This was more common than individuality, trust me, I had lived in most of the United States. Seattle was no different.
Luna had a bounce in her step when she reached her friends, minus Nyx, Bolton, and Jasper. Kate’s glare didn't leave my direction, as her wrist twisted in a broken manner, holding the Solo cup like it clashed with her outfit and she was pissed no one told her what colors to wear.
I could barely hold my snarky laugh inside without biting the inside of my sensitive mouth.
“What's so funny, New Girl?”
I was looking for adventure, not confrontation. Her eyebrows stretched up into her forehead, and her lips tensed, waiting for me to respond.
“You. Worried the Solo cup doesn't match your outfit?”
I looked her up and down once more for effect, even though I was impressed. She wore mom jeans in a way mom’s only wished. She was the school’s obvious bombshell, dressing like a mom’s desperate attempt to relive this part of their adolescence, and embarrassed the cup clashed with the ensemble. Kate was ironically a cliché in every way.
I pivoted on my heel, making a clean getaway after my verbal hit-and-run. I wanted whatever she was drinking, because this “party” was not up to my standards.
Pretty tame high schoolers. Parents must be proud.
I wandered around until I found the keg nudged in a corner, and I wondered how many of them had done a keg stand, stayed out too late, or broken any kind of rules, besides being nice to the new girl.
Arianna
I strutted around, proud of my cup of room temperature beer. I started exploring past the party and into the rooms breaking off like veins from the heart of the party. The building was huge, and the only part truly off limits was the top floors that still held a faint stench of smoke.
I wasn’t interested in damaged. Damaged was different than dangerous. I was a pro at knowing the differences.
All the rooms resembled science labs of some nature with the islands, stools, and even some beakers left behind.
Abandoned.
Sneaking a look into each room, I swayed my hips down the hallway, moving to the music leaking into the spaces.
I got to the end of the hall, curiosity completely un-sparked, until I heard different music erupting from the hallway competing with the Top 100 playing in the distance.
Alternative music swelled as I inched closer, wondering why someone would be all the way down here, by themselves, during a party.
Curiosity was piqued.
Slinking up to the doorway, I scoped out the room, but I could hear their voices over the music. I took my chances, pressing my spine against the door frame and sipping my beer like I was completely unaware of anyone but the music.
I heard someone shout as the music stopped. “This room is private!”
I lazily turned onto my shoulder, facing the contents of the room and rolling my eyes. It wasn't until my dramatic, yet childish, move that I noticed the three boys lounging in their own private party.
I snipped in Bolton’s direction, sure he was the one who shouted, “Public property.”
He sat up, no longer relaxed, but strained, as his forearms ground into his thighs. “Actually, you’re trespassing. This building is closed and off limits.”
He pushed me into the wicked parts of me, as I did him. We were so far equally matched.
“And? You’re too cool to smoke and drink with anyone else?”
He got up, slowly making his way to the doorway I was in, and every nerve inside of me was frying under the pressure of his unknown.
“Did this act work at every other school you've been to? It doesn't work here. Wash the purple out, and lose the attitude. It's not having the effect you want.”
His shoulder checking skills ran over me expertly. I was knocked right into the door frame as the boys followed behind him, but not before smirking at his burn.
I smirked at the flames of his burn too.
He challenged me in a way no one else even tried to. Thirteen schools before Arcadia, and I finally found my match in Bolton Hayes.
The one I hadn't met, Jasper, stopped only when he was in the doorway across from me, leaving him in my personal space. “Guessing you’re New Girl.”
“Well, we don't get to pick our names. Birth names or otherwise.”
We exchanged our birth-given names, and he seemed more personable than the others—dare I say normal.
“He's not warm and cuddly. Don't pay attention to him. Coming to the party?”
As soon as the boys entered the party bubble contained to the front half of the building, it seemed like time stopped. Every pair of eyes were now in our direction, and the scrutiny of why I was trailing behind them was burdensome.
I took the first opportunity I could, to break away and make a shortcut to the beer, which I hadn't had since the last time I was in trouble.
Every time I got in real trouble I would lay low, be the person everyone wanted me to be for a while. That meant no fun, no alcohol, no pot, and no boys. At this point, I was famished for all four.
I didn't search Luna out again after filling my cup with the room temperature beer, even though I should have. I came with her, and now I was ditching her in search of what she couldn't provide with her hugs and sweaters.
I ended up on the porch outside the party looking up at the stars. My mom was really into astrology, the signs, crystals, and sometimes magic. Now that she was gone, it was like she left the stars in the sky for me.
That's how I really started getting in trouble—sneaking out to be under the stars. I'd point out the constellations she taught me, and I could hear her stories resurrected in my mind—her soft voice, the smell of her shampoo, and the purple stone that was cold against my skin when she hugged me.
My good memory was ripped from me with footsteps I wasn't paying attention to.
Jasper stood tall behind me, lighting the end of his joint and mumbling around it hanging from his lips. “You know the party is inside, right?”
My face contorted into annoyance at his obvious remark. It didn't need a reply, and I wasn't giving out ones that wasted my time. I turned towards him, pushed my ass on the banister of the porch, and faced him, wordlessly.