Something Like Fate (editing)

Chapter Five (edited/rewritten)

"Dina, quit moaning."

"No, we were supposed to spend the night in."

"Come on, this is going to be fun," Lucy reasons.

"I didn't want to come out."

"Come on – "

Dina, Lucy, Drew, and I are standing outside Eliza's house, which is playing host to the unofficial end of term party. Dina received a text midway through our watching of 10 Things I Hate About You to inform us that Eliza had the idea of throwing a last minute party with the sole motive of getting James Kumar there and then naked later on. The entire event is in his honour. I don't know why Dina was so surprised when Lucy and I forced her into the car, as if we would turn down the opportunity to see whether James would show up or leave Eliza searching for a validation in the arms of any small, skinny guy that would cry tears of happiness at the sight of her boobs. Gossip is what we survive on.

"If you two are going to argue until Dina agrees to go inside then I'm going to have a quick cigarette to get me through this," Drew says, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his jeans. I watch as he tears the cellophane of the box, wrinkling my nose.

"Do you want one?" Drew asks.

I shake my head. "I don't smoke. Expect for the one time where I smoked something very different and it really messed with my head. My brain totally got fried. I thought I saw the ghost of Marilyn Monroe, it actually turned out to be a dog the person had at their house."

Drew grins. "No shit."

"Oh no, it was a super cute dog, don't get me wrong. I just woke up the neighbours by screaming 'Marilyn' while running away from a white poodle," I squirm at the memory.

"You're kind of weird," Drew laughs.

"Thank you," I bite out, feeling annoyed at his tone of superiority, as if I was just some dumb girl who was there for his amusement.

My eyes move to Drew as he flicks his lighter to create a small flame. I made Lucy invite him on our way out. It would have been rude to leave him at hers all by himself. On the other hand, her muttering of having to babysit him in a not very friendly tone could be seen as worse. He just grabbed his denim jacket and pulled a grey beanie over his head as he joined us. He whispered "thank you" to me with a small smile as we got in the car, though, I really didn't do anything. Under the moonlight, I notice his soft and pouty lips that blow out smoke into the cold night. He's actually pretty hot the more you stare at him, with his wide shoulders and blue eyes which illuminate next to the disco lights coming from the house. Drew looks up at my face right then, which goes hot in embarrassment, and I suddenly feel a bit shy.

"Are these parties usually good?" Drew asks me.

"Oh no, they suck. Big time. It's just everyone getting drunk and trying to cop off with one another," I explain and can't help but wonder how his university parties are in comparison.

"So just a standard night then?"

"Depends on how high ones standards are," I smile. "There's not much for entertainment around here so we're at these very underwhelming social events quite often."

He smirks. "All social events are underwhelming unless there's pizza involved."

"Free pizza," I correct. "I say if the party is too boring then we order tons of pizza and charge it to Eliza. It's her party and I'll eat pizza on her money if I want to."

"And garlic bread. You have to have garlic bread," Drew adds before throwing his cigarette on the ground and crushing it with his shoe. "Give me your phone."