The girl from New York

05| Invitation

I trudged to the cafeteria for lunch, really not looking forward to possibly running into someone like I had yesterday. I just hope that Claire was here today. We apparently have seventh period together, but not eight. She had kept me up until midnight with hilarious texts about how her little brother hugged a lamppost and said it was his only true love. Little kids are the best.

I sat down at an empty table carefully, sighing with relief before taking a sip of my tiny bottle of coke. Claire quickly took a seat near me, and then another smiley face joined us. Nate.

"Hey guys!" Nate chirped, smiling stupidly like he just did something amazing. "My parents are out this weekend and I'm going to throw a party on Friday night. Claire, I already know that you're going, but what do you say, Brook?"

"Err, I'm not really a party person..." I started honestly. I'm a klutzy, antisocial, introvert, geeky wallflower. Why would I ever want to go to a party?

"Of course she'll go!" Claire exclaimed, gripping my arm as if to warn me not to decline. I nodded and laughed nervously. What did she just get me into?

"Great! Don't go boasting, though. I'm only inviting certain people." He whispered to us before standing up again and walking to the next table.

"What was that for?" I whined, sounding like a child who's mom refused to let them try the claw machine, or something like that.

"T-that was Nate Ruppert! Are you seriously that clueless? He throws the absolute best parties when his parents aren't around and is probably almost as popular as Alex and Mikel!" She explained. So that's his last name. I shrugged and dipped my chicken nuggets in the puddle of ketchup I poured on my tray.

"And Who's Mikel?"

"Oh my God, girl." She said shaking her head and trying to hide her smile. "He's the cutest, funniest, strongest guy ever and I still can't get him to notice me!" A blush grew on her face and she giggled hopelessly: I rolled my eyes and took one of her chicken nuggets off her tray.

"I think I can get him to notice you." I said mischievously, eating the whole chicken nugget before she could swipe it away. I stood up, brushed off any crumbs that I might have on me, and started to yell. Claire quickly clamped her hand over my mouth and made me sit down again.

"Don't you dare." She warned, shaking her head with a small smile. "But , if Nate is the one hosting the party, his best friend will obviously be there.Well you can't make me promise to not spill your secrets to him, seeing as you accepted the party invitation for me." I told her rubbing my hands together slowly like a villain from a kids show.

"You wouldn't!" She said doubtfully, taking a long sip of her water. I tried to mimic her with my coke, but somebody patted my back, causing me to spit my drink out like a malfunctioning fountain that always squirt the victim in the face.

"Hey!" I squealed, hiding my embarrassed face. "That wasn't very well timed. Couldn't you have waited another minute?" I whined before looking at who was the one who did that. "Ew, never mind. Couldn't you have just walked away altogether?"

"No can't do sis." Aiden answered, taking a seat next to me. I scoffed and threw a chicken nugget at his face. He caught it in his mouth, winking at Claire simultaneously. She giggled slightly, while I wrinkled my nose.

"I thought you liked... the other dude." I whispered to her, keeping the name silent in case of Aiden overhearing us.

"What, I'm not allowed to laugh at my best friend throwing a chicken nugget at her brother?" She asked sarcastically. I shrugged as an answer.

"Are you guys going to Nate's party?" Aiden asked out of the blue. I nervously glanced to Claire, scared of my brothers not approving of her decision that I'm apparently going along with.

"Yup! Did he invite you?" Claire asked. How was she so comfortable talking to a person she barely knows, not to mention that he's a boy. Maybe, growing up with protective siblings so that I couldn't learn how to talk to guys without being awkward was a bad thing. Or maybe, that's simply my personality: Awkward.

•••

"Why would you ever even want to go to a party?" Colin asked sceptically. I shrugged. I had just told Colin that I was going to a party this Friday. Of course, he didn't approve at all, but dad, surprisingly enough, though it might be good for me to go out and be socializing for once. I may or may not have promised to him there was going to be absolutely zero alcohol or anything like that.

"Maybe, I just want to try and be more social instead of curling up on the floor with a phone and relating to 'here', "I replied, referring to Alessia Cara's song 'Here'. Colin wrinkled his nose and looked over his shoulder to Aiden for support.

Aiden shrugged, "I'm also going, so I guess I can make sure she doesn't get lost looking for the bathroom. Like last time." My face burned red as I remembered the last time I went to a party. It was in fourth grade, and the house was huge. It's not my fault that I couldn't find anything, the birthday kid wasn't even my friend!

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that." I mumbled quietly, staring at my shoes. "Besides, Colin, you're not my parent. Dad said he was fine with it, and I don't think he needs his son's consent to let me go to a simple little party." My sudden rebound surprised me, but I went with it and put my tiny hands on my hips.

Colin set his lips in a firm line and walked away. He's protective over me, because he thinks that if he's not, he'll lose me like he did with mom. It wasn't his fault that he kept bombarding mom with questions. It wasn't his fault at all.

But he refuses to let it happen again...