nine thousand miles | cazzie

one

Izzie's POV

That night changed my life.

I laid on my bed, mindlessly scrolling through TikTok, ignoring Erika's presence in my room. "If you're just going to sit there on your phone then why did you invite me over?" She asked, throwing a ball she had found in my room up and down. "This is what best friends do," I replied, never looking up from my phone. "It's Friday night! We're missing out on the world out there!" She exclaimed and I huffed as I stood up and opened my curtains. The streets were completely dark and there was no sign of activity anywhere. "This world?" I asked Erika and she rolled her eyes before getting off my study chair.

"There is a huge party going on at Penelope's tonight. The whole school is invited. We should go!" She squealed. "Penelope? The senior?" I asked and she nodded. "Since when do seniors invite US to their parties?" I said and Erika sighed, sitting down next to me on the bed. "Come on literally the whole school knows you! You're pretty, smart, funny and VERY popular with the guys," She said and I scoffed. "Or maybe because I'm the only one at Clayton with a scholarship," I said, leaving the bed to get my shoes.

"What are you doing?" Erika asked and I lifted up my shoes. "So are we going to that party or what?" I asked and her face immediately lit up. She squealed and I rolled my eyes as I put on this blue pullover before we snuck downstairs.

"Where are you two headed?" We heard a familiar voice from the living room. "Ummm... we're off to study..." I mumbled and my dad raised his eyebrows. "It's already so late. And Izzie you're literally wearing high boots. I know you're going to a party," He said and I groaned.

"I know it's really late but... EVERYONE is going to be there," I told him and he sighed. "Well my little girl is going off to Australia in 2 days and I just wanna have her around as long as possible," He said, engulfing me in a hug. I heard Erika snicker and I pushed him away in embarrassment. "Mr Taylor, did you forget that I'm also going? Where's my hug?" Erika joked and my dad laughed. Before Erika could jump on him I dragged her out of the house.

"Be home before midnight!" He called out and I gave him a thumbs-up before we got onto Erika's motorcycle.

"So you planning on meeting any hot older boys at the party tonight?" Erika yelled out, trying to beat the loud sound of her motorcycle. "What's the point? We'll be in Australia for 6 months!" I yelled back. "Dude, I am so excited. Especially because I'll finally be away from my sucky parents and my annoying brother. Oh and also because we're going to learn stuff, obviously!"

Erika and I were chosen to go to Australia for 6 months for a bio medicine internship. This meant that we would be working in the labs and having lectures at the university there. I was insanely excited because only the lucky few get chosen to go on this trip and from what I've heard, it's one of the best experiences. But at the same time, I feel guilty leaving my dad here alone.

"We're here!" Erika exclaimed, stopping her motorcycle in front of a huge house. You could easily tell the difference between the houses here and the houses on my street. This street was closer to Clayton which meant that all the rich kids lived here.

Penelope lived in a 5-storey mansion. There was loud music playing and a bunch of kids were gathered outside and inside. We walked nervously to the front door but it swung open before we could open it. There stood Penelope, standing weirdly with a red cup in her hand, hickeys all over her neck. "Izzie and Erika right?" She slurred and we nodded nervously. "Eh, usually I don't let juniors in but... you two are an exception... heard y'all got into that Australia internship thing. Very cool..." She mumbled, her alcohol-ridden breath hitting my nostrils immediately.

She walked away while Erika and I looked at each other with both hesitation and excitement. When we walked in, my eyes widened at the number of people there. The downstairs floor was humungous. There was a bar full of drinks, three huge projector TVs and also a balcony with a large swimming pool. I've only seen houses like this in movies.