How to Survive a Reckless Boy

Chapter 1 - Make Good Choices, Princess

"Do you want it straight or curly? Personally I'd go with straight but it's up to you."

I knew it wasn't really up to me because whatever Eliana wanted, Eliana got. She was my best friend for reasons I cherished, but she could be quite a handful. Especially when she had her mind set on something.

"So go with straight," I shrugged.

Her dark brown eyes met mine in the mirror and she smirked. "Faye, you are allowed to choose how your hair should be styled."

"Fine. I want it curly."

"Of course you do," she mumbled, baby pink hair falling softly down her shoulders.

Sometimes I dreamt of being more like her; bold, daring, outgoing and straightforward. I would never even consider dyeing my hair a different color than the one I was born with, much less learn how to put on false eyelashes like she did on a daily basis. Although that might had to do with the fact that my dad would kill me if he saw me wear more makeup than mascara and some lipgloss.

But despite my strict father, I did like safe. I liked the way I was raised. I saw nothing wrong with wanting to do good in life. Something that came from planning things thoroughly, hard studying and proper behavior. I had a hard time letting go of the need to have control over things and accept whatever life threw at me.

Let's say Eliana was my complete opposite and from time to time I wondered why she even was friends with me.

"Can we do something fun tonight?" she asked now, twirling a strand of my hair around the curling iron. "Not just watch movies and eat popcorn. It's Friday after all."

"Like what?"

"I heard Evan is throwing a huge party tonight," she casually offered.

My eyes snapped up to meet hers again. "I doubt I would be allowed to go."

Eliana smiled. "We don't have to tell your parents, just say you're spending the night here as usual. Mom hardly cares and won't rat you out."

"I don't know, Eli. . ." The thought of a party made me uneasy and slightly nauseous. Not so much the party itself but more what would happen if my dad found out I went.

"Please? You know my brother will be back home any minute now and I bet he's going there too. He used to be friends with Evan and if I know him right, he won't miss a party. We can go there with him, if that makes you feel better."

Her older brother Miles who had been away for nearly five years was moving back today. For some reason that was beyond me, he had decided to grace everyone in the city of Pasadena with his presence again. I didn't remember much about him other than his intimidating persona and rowdy behavior.

At the age of fifteen, he had managed to get himself in more trouble than any other fellow peer of his. I could recall times when his parents had waited up all night for him to get home from unknown locations, only to desperately yell at him while Eliana and I had stayed hidden in her bedroom.

When their parents finally got the divorce that had been a long time coming and their father announced he was moving back to England, they decided to send Miles with him to attend a boarding school in the outskirts of Newcastle.

"I don't know," I sighed. "You know I'm not really into the whole party scene."

"Come on, you need to live a little," she pleaded with doe eyes. "I promise we'll leave if you find it unbearable."

"Are you even sure your brother is going there?" Not that the thought of his company made me feel any better. Perhaps boarding school had taught him a thing or two but what I remembered of him was how often he used to get into fights.