Smart. (A Marcel / Harry Styles FanFiction)

Oh DEFINITELY a party.

<<Char's POV>>

Red cups scattered everywhere, throbbing beats of music moving through the room, bodies of people I didn't know sliding past my own without an apology.

What was I doing?

Charlotte, the bookish girl, the girl with the top grades, was currently at a party. Somehow Jess had convinced me, or Ben rather, that attending this "small get together" would be an awesome idea.

Her idea of a "small get together" didn't match my own. A house full of sweaty, partially dressed teens, none of whom I knew was my idea of a large house party. But why focus on technicalities, right?

Honestly, I was quite surprised when Ben had wanted to come to this party with me, after I had pretty much ditched him to spend the rest of prom with Louis and his friends. In my defense, Ben had left me alone for quite a bit without an explanation. But now, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room (my futile attempt at avoiding being offered a drink or a dance), I realized his reasoning for coming; in simple terms, an excess of desperate, somewhat horny girls. I could see him now, pressed up against some blonde girl, moving in a rather sexual way and I was about to look away when I recognized the girl as Anne. Well, I'm sure Peter would be glad to find out his best mate had just stolen his date-but he might be too wasted to care.

"Care for a drink, love?" The scowl slid off my face as soon as I recognized the light, feathery, and joking voice of Louis. I'd already made clear I wouldn't drink if I went, but that hadn't kept him from offering me a cup of some liquid in one of those taboo red cups. I rolled my eyes and shoved his shoulder lightly.

"Piss off."

"Hey, just trying to get you to loosen up!" He looked slightly affronted, but in a good-natured way, something I was pretty sure only Louis was capable of accomplishing.

"Is there anyone here who doesn't drink?" I questioned, thinking I already knew the answer.

"Yeah, there might be two others besides you: Liam, and that curly haired lad you were pining over earlier." Louis cut me off before I could even utter a sound of protest or shock about his statement. "Don't even try and deny it, I know I was just a rather fit distraction." Louis added cheekily before his face darkened and he muttered something I didn't quite catch over the music, but sounded oddly enough like "If I even swung that way".

"Sorry, didn't catch that?"

"Never mind," he brightened again, and gestured towards the corner of the room, "go talk to Liam if you're refusing to dance, which by the way you're standing here alone, I'm assuming you are." He was right-I'd actually been asked to dance rather forcefully a few times, but I wasn't in the mood to be taken advantage of with the excuse of it being merely "a dance" by random guys. I gave Louis a quick hug goodbye before he headed to the center of the moving bodies.

I made my way over to Liam who nodded curtly at me.

"Enjoying yourself, babe?" I rolled my eyes yet again in lieu of a real answer, and he responded, "me neither." with a light, self-deprecating chuckle.

"Why don't you drink?" I asked rather abruptly, and I immediately flushed, embarrassed about my forwardness.

"Only have one functioning kidney, got to take care of it." Luckily Liam didn't seem perturbed by my probing questioned. "What about you?"

"I don't really know. I guess it doesn't fit my image." As I thought about it, I really didn't know why I didn't drink; I technically could, being 18 and all. It didn't particularly appeal to me, that was for sure.