Miles Away | Nick Mara

Fifty Three

After hours of persuasion, I decided to go. But I promised myself that I wouldn't do anything stupid.

"We're just gonna go and have fun," I said. "Nothing else."

She nodded.

The next morning, we went out to the mall to buy something to wear. I wanted something cute that would catch Nick's eye, but was still somewhat conservative at the same time.

"What about this?" She pulled out a strapless black mini bodycon dress from the rack.

"Eh." I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Come on, Aubri." She said. "It's cute! And it's not that showy."

I took the dress from her, putting it up against my body and looking in the mirror with my head tilted sideways. It wasn't too bad. I shrugged, hanging it over my arm to carry on looking around.

"Okay whatever," I said with a sigh. "I'll just get this."

We bought everything we needed and headed home. Once we'd arrived back onto my bed, it was almost 5:30 PM. The party started in around half an hour. We decided to go a little later to avoid the awkward timeframe when there's only a few people in the house.

"We'll go at like, 6:30." I said.

So we spent the next hour in the bathroom, doing and redoing our makeup, trying to get it right. Music blasted from the speaker as we sat on the counter next to the sink, leaning in as close to the mirror as we could, trying to get our eyeliner right and making sure the mascara didn't smudge.

Around an hour later, we were standing in front of the house, watching the colorful lights glimmer from inside, music booming and shaking the floor. We could hear the screams of laughter coming from behind the closed doors. 

"Ready?"

I nodded.

We opened the door and walked in. A couple of people looked over and waved, but the majority were too busy drinking and laughing to notice. The boys waved from the stairs. They were taking pictures with a few other guys and girls. We walked towards them.

My eyes drifted over to Nick, who was smiling as a girl whispered something in his ear. I flinched as she slid her hand around his thighs, slowly travelling towards his groin. He gently removed her hand, shaking his head. She shrugged and continued to talk. Our eyes met as I walked closer. He stood up, looking me up and down, his mouth slightly open. I smiled and nodded. He did the same.

"Come take a picture with us!" Edwin called us over.

I sat on a step next to Brandon, sitting between Nick's legs. My friend climbed to the top and laughed as Austin pulled her onto his lap. I raised my eyebrows and smiled to myself before looking at the camera. A couple of flashes later, we were standing up, making our way back to the kitchen for food and drinks.

Nick walked beside me. "You look good."

I smiled. "Thanks. You do too."

He hesitated. "We should talk. Later."

I nodded. "Yeah."

Before he could say anything else, Edwin crashed into us, offering a red cup of clear liquid, probably vodka. I took the cup but didn't drink, while Nick downed it all at one go. I laughed as he stumbled backwards.