His Flower [DISCONTINUED]

4: Party

The first week of school had gone by rather quickly. I noticed that many of my classmates had tried sucking up to me. Rose, sit with us at lunch. Rose, grab a smoothie with us after school. Rose, Rose, Rose. I couldn't exactly blame them for being intrigued. After all, I was the only stranger in a town where everyone knew each other.

However, I stuck with Lily, and although I'd liked quite a few of my peers, none of them came close to her. She was rather shy—still was—but she was also blunt and funny. It was a wonder how I was her only friend. Wasn't it common sense that those type of people were the best to have as a friend? Quiet exterior, but once you got close enough, they'd reveal a whole bunch of crazy underneath.

That Friday night, Lily and I had met up at my house before going to the party. When Lily showed up, she was dressed in baggy attire—sweatpants and a hoodie.

"You're wearing that to a party?" I'd curiously asked.

"Yes," she'd indignantly lifted her pointy nose, "not all of us can be supermodels."

I'd glanced down at what I was wearing. The hot weather permitted for denim shorts and a crop top.

"You know, you're way prettier than you think," I'd said.

She'd scoffed, and that was the end of the conversation. Here the pair of us were now, standing outside the house of the party.

"I just realized I haven't done any of my homework," Lily nervously chuckled, toying with her blonde hair. "I should leave."

"It's a Friday night, Lils," I laughed. "You have the whole weekend to do that."

"B-But it's late!" She shook her head, apprehensively glancing up at the house. "Isn't it too late to be partying?"

I glanced up at the dark sky and shrugged. "Jo's fine with it, as long as we don't show up piss drunk."

With that, I tugged on her hoodie sleeve, but she was rooted to the ground.

"Lily," I groaned. "Let's go. We'll have fun."

In sync, we glanced up at the house. Music was blaring from inside, and people loitered around the front porch with red solo cups in hand. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was in the cups.

Just as we began to finally approach the door, a sickly pale boy barged past us. We stared at him in alarm, to see him puke his guts out all over the front lawn.

"Yeah," Lily wrinkled her nose in disgust, "looks fun."

I laughed and pulled her into the house. The party was already in full swing. If I thought the music was loud from outside, then I was sorely mistaken. My eardrums practically burst, and from the look on Lily's face, I wasn't the only one. My hazel eyes surveyed the crammed house. People were jumping together, loudly singing, downing shots, and making out. I hadn't expected the party to be this large.

"Are you sure this is only our school?" I shouted over the music and leaned into Lily.

She shrugged and shouted back. "No way. There's too many unfamiliar people. I bet those private school kids are here."

"Private school?" I cocked my head to the side.

Whether Lily heard me or not, I didn't know. Her blue eyes sparkled as she looked around. The scene was certainly no beach, but her shoulders relaxed and a soft smile graced her lips. She'd been expecting all eyes to be on her—expecting to be judged and unwelcomed. To her utter relief, no one was paying her any mind.

"C'mon," I said.

We squeezed our way through the crowd of bodies.

"Drinks?" I shouted.