cherry flavoured

19

IT'S MONDAY EVENING and I'm at Bela's getting ready for this party. She asked me if I was going, so I'm assuming it's a party held by someone from our high school. It starts in about an hour, so by Bela's logic we shouldn't show up until at least an hour in.

"Do this mean I get to meet your boyfriends?" she says as she pulls her curls up into a ponytail.

I look up from my phone, making eye contact with her in the mirror.

"Boyfriends?" I frown.

"Parker, James and Kaneki." she says in a 'duh' tone.

I roll my eyes. "They aren't my boyfriends."

"Are you kidding? They literally all sound like they're in love with you." she turns around to look at me now.

"No they aren't. James is nice, Neki is just flirty and I'm pretty sure Parker hates me." I slouch down on her bed.

"Whatever, I see you're trying to stay humble." she turns back around.

I shake my head, looking back down at my phone. As I'm about to go on to Instagram, I get a message.

James: Are u driving tn?

Me: yeah probably.

James: Do u want me to pick u guys up?

Me: you don't have to it's fine.

James: I'm not drinking, I'll come pick u up.

Me: neither am i james, it's fine honestly.

James: Send me Bela's address.

I smile at the phone, sending him the address. He's so annoyingly sweet.

"James says he'll come pick us up." I tell Bela.

She turns around, a smile on her face. "Boyfriend number one?"

"Shut up." I huff and she laughs.

"Good." she claps her hands together. "I didn't feel like driving anyway."

"I was gonna drive." I frown.

Bela gets up from her seat, pulling me to my feet much to my dismay.

"No, you were gonna get drunk and I was gonna be your babysitter." she begins to dance, swaying her hips.

I groan, lolling my head back. I already didn't wanna go to this party, but Bela said I had to.

"Come on El, loosen up." she spins me and I can't help but smile.

We begin to dance around her room laughing, when someone knocks on the door.

"Isabela," Mrs Ortega pokes her head around the door. "There's a boy at the door for you."

We pick up our phones and jackets, heading for the door.

"No sabia que te gustaban los chicos blancos." her mom nudges her as we pass.
(I didn't know you liked white boys.)

"No, Mami. He's Elena's boy." Bela smiles at me cheekily.

Mrs Ortega turns to me, raising her eyebrows and smiling.

I shake my head. "No he isn't Señora."

She throws her head back, laughing. "You kids have fun okay? But not too much. Home by one Bela."

"Okay, love you Amà." Bela kisses her mom on the cheek.

As we reach the bottom of the stairs, I see James standing in the doorway.

"He's even cuter in real life." she says in my ear quietly.

I snort, bringing his attention to us.

"Bela, this is James." I gesture forward.

James stands straight, smiling.

"James, this is-"

"Isabela Ortega." Bel holds out her hand, smiling at him sweetly.

"Nice to meet you." he takes her hand, shaking it softly.

James looks between us. "You guys ready?"

I let out a breath. "I guess."

The car journey from Bela's to the house isn't long. It's a massive fraternity type house, the ones straight out of the movies. The vibrations from the music hit me as soon as we step out the car. There are people littered everywhere. The three of us struggle to walk in, trying to make our way past all the people. I barely recognise any of them.

I thought the outside was busy, but there is not a single inch of the floor visible inside the house. Bodies are pressed together, the loudness of people trying to hold conversations over the blasting music. Some people are drinking, some dancing. There's a game of beer pong somewhere to the side and I'm pretty sure there's a game of strip poker.

I draw my eyes away as James leads us through the house to the back. Almost instantly, on the other side of the pool I spot him.

Parker throws his head back, laughing at something Neki says. I've never seen him genuinely laugh. His hair is tousled, his white shirt fitted the way he always has them, his abs showing through as he tenses. As we get closer, he looks up at me through his lashes. God he looks hot.

James daps them up, taking a seat beside Parker. Neki looks Bela up and down, his eyes slowly dragging along her body before meeting hers again.

"Is this the infamous Bela?" he pronounces her name with a little accent, a smile on his lips.

Bela giggles like a little girl, which makes me raise my eyebrows. She's usually so confident around boys. Neki reaches for her hand, taking it in his his and planting a delicate kiss on it.

"Kaneki Blaine. You can call me yours." he says, dropping her hand.

Parker groans, James leaning forward and putting his head in his hands. I laugh as I watch the interaction.

"Can we go and get drunk?" Bela looks at me, pouting.

I grimace. "You know that isn't a good idea Bel."

"Please," she whines. "You aren't even that bad when you're drunk."

"You don't know that because you're always plastered too." I point out.

She looks down at the boys.

"Guys?" she tilts her head.

"Shit, I'm down." Neki stands up.

James gets to his feet next. "I'll come for moral support."

My eyes move to Parker. He sighs, lolling his head back.

"I'll come." he gets up lazily.

Bela turns to me, a smug smile on her lips.

I huff. "Fine."