Vanilla And Cocoa

Chapter 3 "The Party (Part 1)"

Ashley and I came to an agreement that she would come up with the topic and I would go shopping for the ingredients.

Shockingly, she decided that we should watch crystals grow.

I started to reach for the Kosher salt before I drew it back. I really should have did more research. The approaching sound of feet and familiar voices made me tense up.

"Baby, why don't we go back to your place?" Naomi whined.

"Stop calling me that and we need to get the supplies." I could tell Justin was very annoyed.

"We don't need to do that when we could have the place to ourselves." She prompted.

The footsteps got even closer and I stared at the end of the aisle in anticipation. Finally, they came into view and Justin looked straight at me.

His steps faltered for a bit before Naomi bumped into him. I turned to look at the salt like I didn't see anything.

"What's wrong?" Naomi asked.

I heard footsteps approaching and I swallowed thickly. Please walk past me...

"Hey, you're one of Ashley's friends, right?" I slowly looked up at him and then looked at Naomi who looked agitated.

"No, I'm not. I'm just..." I trailed off and shook my head. "It doesn't matter. What do you want?"

Justin didn't bat an eyelash and ran a hand through his hair. I stared at him blankly as he gave me a sultry side glance. No wonder people fall for him.

Impressive.

"What do you want?" I repeated.

His face fell for a second before his smile came back. "I mean, you're here by yourself. Did you Ashley ditch you?"

"No, we agreed on doing certain parts."

He scoffed. "Bet you fifty bucks she's getting her nails done right now while you shop."

"Frankly, it doesn't matter what she's doing right now because we can't work unless I get the ingredients so excuse me." I moved around him but he stepped in front of me with his hands out.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rub you the wrong way. Let me make it up to you. Have you heard about party tonight?"

I hesitated. "...yes."

"Well, you get to hang out with the cool kids." He said while wiggling his eyebrows.

It almost made me laugh. Almost.

"Who said I was even going?" I asked and he frowned.

"You'd miss out on a good party?"

"What's a good party if I don't even want to be there?" I threw back at him and he smiled.

"If I come tonight, I promise it'll be the best one you've ever gone to."

"I don't know how I would rate this party considering I've never been to a real one." I said this more to myself than anything but Justin heard.

"That's even more of a reason to come tonight then." He winked and backed away.

Just then I noticed how Naomi was glaring at me. Just to be a bitch, I smirked and wiggled my fingers in a mock goodbye as Justin turned his back to me.

She scoffed and locked her arm with Justin's. I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone. I asked Google which salt I needed and realised that I wasn't in the right aisle, anyway.

Today was going to be a long day.

-

I watched as the girls tried on dresses as Beyoncé played in the background. I was already dressed because I could care less what I wore. I knew that they disapproved of my choice the second I walked in the door.