Amelie (ON HOLD)

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  ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇʀᴠᴇs ᴏғ attending my first college party were overwhelming. Was this how it was supposed to be? Enrica on the other hand was overjoyed. She spent hours trying to 'make me up' by brushing my hair, doing my makeup, and scavenging through her closet for outfits.

   "Do you really need glasses?" she pouted as she put lip-gloss on my lips.

   "To see? Yes." My eyesight was horrible. Without my glasses I saw a complete mess of blurry silhouettes, not to mention the painful strain it caused on my eyes.

   "At least their black. It'll go with the shoes." She walked over to the closet and pulled out an outfit. It was a red, satin dress made from clingy material that rested god knows where on my thighs.

   "Don't you think it's a little... too much?" I didn't want to grab everyone's attention and red was surely going to do that. Plus, I still had the warning Aziel gave me in lecture this morning. Despite that, Vincenzo wouldn't harm me in a public place. It would compromise himself, and with Enrica by my side the whole night, I should be in the clear zone.

   "It's a party, besides, it's a sexy dress." She threw it at me and I reluctantly caught it. After spending several minutes in the bathroom, I managed to squeeze into the dress and walked out to find Enrica already dressed up in a little black number with her hair pinned to the back of her head.

  She turned around and her eyes lit up. "Damn! You look stunning!" I didn't feel stunning, I felt exposed. I was jealous of girls who could wear such tight and short outfits without feeling an inch of insecurity. Some people called those girls 'sluts', I called them admirable. To be so confident in yourself was something I longed for. Maybe that was why people saw me as a bullying target, because of my lack of confidence?

   "Thanks." I smiled nervously. "Where is this party?"

   "Beta Nu Omega. I went to one they had last week; it was amazing!" it was a frat party. Oh god. "Hey," Enrica reached out and touched my arm. I jumped at the coldness of them. "Sorry." She cringed. "I just washed my hands, they're probably freezing." She let out an awkward chuckle. "I promise it will all be fine and if anyone starts being rude, I'll deal with them myself." Her words were reassuring as I had already seen her talk back to Jaqueline Rayford with such fierceness, but I was still uneasy.

  It was already dark by the time we left but we weren't the only people out, it seemed like everyone was going to the Beta Nu Omega party and so we followed the line. Enrica's phone went off like mad halfway through the walk.

   "It's Camden." She rolled her eyes as she tucked her phone into her purse.

   "Did you tell him we were going to this party tonight?" I remembered her telling me how overprotective Camden was. It was for her brother's sake or so she called it.

   "Pssht, no. He'd only convince us not to go and then drag our asses back."

   "But he's let you go to other parties before?"

   "Camden doesn't let me do anything. I let myself. Besides, he's lived the party experience and so has my brother, so why can't I?" she had a good point.

  The frat house was packed by the time we arrived. There were beer pong tournaments and people already passed out on the lawn out front and when we got inside it was no better. The floor was sticky with alcohol under my shoes and I thought I saw pizza slices stuck to the ceiling. The music boomed through the rooms like a magnetic vibration, pulling everyone's body into a type of dance whether it was moving your hips or a sidestep but the main dancing was set in the backroom with a bar and DJ, laser lights blasting in all types of colours.