Bella's officially graduated middle school. After 3 years of ups and downs will high school prove to be the "best four years of her life" or will it be her most challenging time? Leia's getting older and beginning to form new thoughts, experiences...
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I finished packing my dance bag for the week. Cody decided to have the party today. It's today. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Since I was a little kid, Mom had talked to me about that gut feeling.
6 years ago... "If you're ever with doing something or with someone and you start to feel butterflies in your tummy, something's up." Mommy said while fixing my shirt. "Like a bad something, right? Because butterflies aren't always a good feeling." She nodded. "If you ever feel uncomfortable somewhere or with someone, you call me and try to get out of there. Understood?" I nodded seriously.
Right now, I was feeling butterflies. "Getting all ready for your hangout?" Lucy asked. "Yeah, what do you think? Do I look okay?" "I think you look pretty." "Lucy...." Leia said while walking over. She's been really needy lately. "You're supposed to come watch tv with me." "I'm coming right now, I'm just helping your sister with something." Leia wrapped her arms around Lucy's waist. "You sure you wanna go to this thing? You don't look excited, Bella." "I do, I'm just a bit tired." "Well, then you should have no problem coming home at 10:30, hm?" I rolled my eyes sarcastically. "Will do." ^^^^^^^^^^^ 732 West 85th Street "Are you sure this is right? We're like the only freshman here." "Relax, Bella! It'll be fine!" But it wasn't fine. Was it? We walked down this alleyway to this big townhouse, bigger than my old one, and went inside. "Ayeee, you made it!" Cody said. He had a red cup in his hand and he seemed giddy. He seems sketchy to me. "Bella, right?" "Yeah, nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you too, hey I'll be right back the drinks are downstairs." When he walked away Clara grabbed my arm. "Ow!" "Calm down. Let's get some drinks." I told Lucy I wouldn't drink at this party... We went downstairs and there were a bunch of different drinks, I saw tequila and stuff, I don't know look there was just a lot going on. "Ooo, let's try this." "Uhhh, I don't know what that is. Not sure if I wanna try that." "Oh come on, it's nothing. Like literally, it's mixed with juice. It won't do anything. Come on, don't be boring."
"You know Bella, there's nothing wrong with being boring," Kathleen said.
"Come on....it's just one drink." "Alright, fine sure." She got me a cup and I had some. I'm not a stranger to alcohol or anything, my friends and I would steal from our parent's cabinets sometimes, and some people snuck it into school and we had sips, but I just wasn't sure about the alcohol at this party. "Is it good??!!" "Yeah...." It tasted okay. Note to self: don't drink more than one cup. "Let's not be wall huggers we gotta talk to some people. Why are you being so quiet?" "I'm not, yeah let's talk to people." I looked around. "Bells!" Sofia was here. "Hey, girlie!" I hugged her. I love Sofia. She's mixed like me, so I finally have someone that fully gets me. "I thought you said you weren't coming?" She asked concernedly. I looked behind me. Clara suddenly disappeared. "Ohh, I see. She brought you along so it wouldn't look bad." Sofia said. "Huh? What do you mean?" She pulled me to the side. "I'm telling you this because I love you and you don't deserve that, but she's here because of Cody, not because she wants to spend to spend time with you." I spotted Clara, with Cody's arm wrapped around her. "Don't say I didn't warn you." Sofia added as Clara came back over. "I was looking for you." "Huh?!" "I was looking for you!" I yelled. "I was just with Cody." "I didn't know that, we're supposed to stick together!" I yelled. "You've got Sof, you're fine!" She went back over to him. My bed was sounding really nice right now. ***************** The Family Room (1065 5th Avenue) (Leia's Perspective) "Lucy... Do you like Mario or Luigi more?" "Luigi!" We were playing Mario Kart and I was winning! "Why?! Mario is better!" "Because Luigi is so silly and funny!" "So is Mario. Hey, watch where you're going!" Lucy threw down a banana peel. "I'm gonna get you!" "You sound like an old lady, Lei." I giggled. "Stay off mah lawn!" "I'm home...." I heard. "Mommy!" I paused Mario Kart and hugged her. "Mommy, you're home! You're not going back to the precinct for the rest of the week, right? You promised me on Monday." She smiled. "No honey, I'm staying here for the rest of the week. We're gonna go shopping, and we're gonna cook and bake, and we're gonna have that dairy tea party you wanted!" "Yay!" "Thanks, Lucy!" "Of course! Bye guys!" I gave her a hug and a kiss. "Bye!" "Lei, where is your brother?" I tapped my chin. "Playing video games! Let's have a spa makeover!" "Alright, let me just change and shower first." "I wanna come! I wanna tell you about stuff." Mommy smiled and held my hand as we went upstairs to her room. "I've gotta be quick. It's 9:45, you should be in bed." "It's Friday!" ***************** The Party (9:47 PM) (Bella's Perspective) This is no fun. I'm standing here...all alone. Clara had multiple cups at this point. "Clara?" "LETS GOOO, BELLA YOU NEED TO DRINK SOME." Some guys were staring at me in a creepy way like they wanted me to drink and let loose too. "No...you need to stop." I snatched the drink out of her hand. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" She snatched it back. "You're getting too crazy, Clare." "And you're being boring. As always." I sighed. I'll ignore that. Clara started dancing on multiple guys, she even tried kissing one. People were getting pissed at her. "She needs to get the fuck out of this party." "She just tried to kiss me, I had to dub her." "If she comes near me, I'm going to fight her. Who does she think she is."
"Clara!" What the hell? I raced over to her. She was dancing and these guys were trying to take her top off. I tried to pull her but I had no strength. "I got it." This light skin guy helped me pull her off of Mordecai. "Thanks." "Bro, is your friend okay?! How much did she have to drink?" He asked. "Like 6 cups." "Fucking hell. How old are y'all?" "14." "Freshies." "Let go of me!" She said to the guy. He let go. "Clara, we need to leave." I told her. People were starting to stare. "No, I don't want to leave. I want Cody!" She pushed me and walked over to him. What has gotten into my friend? She usually isn't like this. "Come on....please." I heard. She was talking to him. "No, Clara." "But whyyyy..." "You're drunk." "Pleaseeeeee...Cody." He brushed her off and walked away. "You need to go home. You're doing way too much." And thatpissed her OFF. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" I walked over. "Yo, you need to get her out of here. You're cool and all, but she's ruining the vibe." Cody told me. "Clara, come on." "No, you're embarrassing me!" "I'm not embarrassing you! You're embarrassing yourself! Do you really think doing all of this would get his fucking attention?! You're just pushing him away! You let these guys nearly take your shirt off, Clara. No guy would think that's cute." I knew I was being harsh, but it was coming from a place of love. If me and that other guy hadn't stepped in, something could've happened to her tonight and I would've never forgiven myself. "Yes, you are." "Then I don't care, because that could've ended badly! People want to fight you and those boys definitely wanted to do something to you." People were talking. Saying that Clara was crazy and that she needed to listen. "Come on." I started dragging her. "Let go of me! Stop!" "Get up, Clara! Get up! You promised Jake over the phone that we'd stick together and wouldn't get fucked up like this. We were supposed to look out for each other!" While Clara was busy being crazy I had to fight off the creepy juniors and seniors who kept flirting with me. I'm looking out for her, but she wasn't doing a ton of looking out for me. "Are you not scared?" I asked her. The guy, Logan, who helped me with her was next to us trying to get an Uber for the two of us. "Bell, just because you were raped as a kid does not mean you have to fucking overanalyze everything. We were partying. But your boring ass couldn't understand that." She said before laughing. I had no words. "Bella, she's drunk...okay. She didn't mean that." Logan touched my shoulder. My eyes started to water. "That sounded very real to me." The Uber pulled up and as Logan helped her inside, I walked away. ****************** Home (10:35 PM) (Amanda's Perspective) "Let's go back to bed now, honey." "And I can see Leia and Aunty Livia and Bella and Noah and Uncle Elliot tomorrow?" "Yes, we're going out for breakfast remember? So let's sleep so we can see them faster, huh?" "Okay!" I tucked Billie back in and kissed her. "Alright, night. I love you, sweetheart." I went back to the kitchen. "Last of the plates?" "Yep. Pasta night is always fun to clean up." The doorbell rang. "Who could that be?" I put up my finger and went to the door. I opened the door slowly. "Can I come in?" Bella was in tears. "Of course, are you okay?" She bit her arm as she continued to cry. "What happened, Bell?!" Carisi put down the plate and rushed to her side. "No and-" Bella's phone started vibrating voraciously. "Bella, are you in danger?" "No, but my Mom's going to be mad at me...I'm supposed to be home now, it's almost 11 but I couldn't go home..." She cried. "Why not?" Bella stared at her phone so I picked it up. "Bella Danielle Margaret Benson! It's nearly 11. Where are you?" "Liv, she's okay. Carisi and I got her." "How'd she end up by you guys?" Bella looked fearful. "She came over asking for a ride, but since we love her so much we managed to convince her to stay over. I was just about to call you! You'll get her back when we go out for breakfast tomorrow." "Oh, so she abandoned me? She's been begging for me to come home all week so we could catch up and you guys pull this?" Olivia joked. "I'm not sure if I believe you guys but as long as she's safe. Let me talk to her." I handed Bella the phone. "Hi, Mama." "Hey, sweet pea. You had fun tonight?" "Yeah. We went to the bumper car place Jake and me took Leia and then we ate." "That sounds good. Why do you sound sad then, baby?" "I'm not. Just tired, Mama." "Alright, then no staying up watching those ridiculous reality shows. I love you." "Love you more." She hung up. "So, what really happened?"
