uncool, stanley barber

14

14 - parties are another form of theatre

i get ready by myself, showering before drying my hair. i pin the front bits back as my chestnut waves do their thing. i don't own makeup, but i add the cherry chapstick my mum used to use.

i wear a spaghetti strap dress, that has a black base with yellow, pink and blue flowers on. it's loose and stops just above my knees. the night's kinda cold, so i add a black turtle neck underneath.

i walk out of my room and lace up my converse, ready to be picked up by dina's mum. "ella?" winnie questions as she perks her head up from the floor. she's playing monopoly with my dad and for a 5 year old, she's damn good at it.

"you going out?" dad asks. he's cross legged in his own comfy clothes, like winnie's in her pyjamas.

"yeah" i say, forgetting to ask for permission or even let him know. "is that ok?"

"yeah, just don't drink or do drugs."

let's cut to where i'm dancing with a red solo cup in my hand. i've got no idea what's inside it, dina just handed it to me.

"isn't this fun?" she says over the music. i agree and join my hands with syd, spinning her around. she laughs, a genuine laugh.

"it is fun" syd giggles in her black zip up jacket.

the party's very crowded cause ricky invited the whole school. he always throws the best parties, so it wasn't a surprise that the claustrophobic people didn't come.

we dance for a couple more songs, before we see stanley. he's in a blue power suit with a white top on, it has the print 'enya' on it. he looks so effortlessly stanley and it makes my heart happy. he looks around for us before we call him over and his face lights up.

"hey, guys" he says, looking at us all. "you all look nice."

dina and syd thank him before going to play some table soccer. stanley looks at me, his cute dimpled smile. "you uh look, really nice. great even."

"you too, stan" i blush, biting my lip. "you feeling up for this?"

"yeah, sure. the power nap helped" he says as we move over to get some pizza. we eat some before we look out at the social environment.

"like hamlet" i say, watching all of the boys and girls integrate. some are grinding, some a giggling and some are chugging drinks.

he smirks at me. "question is, when does it go to shit?" he sighs, finishing his slice of pizza. i raise my brows as we both make a 'it's all part of the theatre' face.

we join dina and syd dancing again, as jessie's girl plays. stanley spins me around jokingly before we mouth the lyrics at each other.

i'm actually having fun with my friends, enjoying their company and being loose like teenagers for a change. everything's great, until we hear ricky's voice.

"hey everyone, bradley lewis is in the house!"

fuck.

people cheer and praise him, when he starts a speech. it's as if ricky's party doesn't belong to him anymore and it's all about the golden boy.

dina stops dancing and watches bradley do his speech. she laughs and giggles, looking happy. i'm glad to see her happy.

"to ricky everybody!" he shouts, toasting his glass bottle. everyone shouts 'to ricky' and continues to dance again.

syd doesn't join in this time, she stays standing awkwardly. "you okay?" i tap her elbow.

"yeah, yeah" she says, zoned out.

"hey, babe" bradley says, hugging dina. i decide to zone out from their conversation as i drink some more suspicious liquid. stanley joins in too.

"well, it's going to shit" stanley comments as he nods his head towards bradley walking away from a sad dina and an annoyed syd.

syd's left alone, before she goes to walk outside in a hurry. i tug on stanley's arm. "we should go see if she's alright."

he nods before taking my hand as we walk out. but i bump shoulders with amanda and ricky, both grossly dancing. they eye me before spotting stanley.

"watch it, skank" amanda spits. i haven't done anything wrong to her, she's always been a bitch. and i suppose i left them to hang out with stanley, only cause they're not nearly as interesting as the curly haired boy to my left.

"what's this?" ricky snarls "frigid's got a boyfriend? you could've had me, sweet cheeks."

i guess that stanley's weird about confrontation, so i squeeze his hand to assure him i've got this. "you and amanda look happy."

"oh yeah, we have long hard dirty sex" he says with a grim smirk. "could've been us."

"yeah, well we have sex-"

"stanley!"

"you two fuck?" amanda asks, clear disgust in her voice. "oh my god, what a slut!"

"that's fucking gross" ricky comments as he grabs my arm and forcefully pulls me into his chest. "i'll get you, one day. for now, you're fucked up."

"i'll never get you. you're fucked up arabella!" shouts mum.

i feel hot steamy tears about to spill, but i blink them back. ricky's never been so harsh, unless you count mr file's sex ed class. i don't know what's gotten into him, cause you never know what's going on inside someone's head.

"l-let go" i stutter quietly. ricky does as he's told and goes back to fondling amanda. she loves it, or she's faking it. it's all about what society sees in her eyes.

i drag stanley out of the house before the harsh darkness envelops us. "i'm so sorry" he rambles on "i'm so stupid, i just wanted to prove them wrong for you."

"it's okay, stan" i give him a small smile. "i don't care what they think."

"why were they like that? didn't you used to hang out with them? aren't they your friends?"

"no, stan. dina and i were invited one day to sit at their table cause bradley was head over heels for her. and then i went there cause she was there. i'd always get hit on by ricky and judged by amanda. they're not my friends" i explain. "i'm fine."

yeah, i'm totally fine. i didn't just hear my mother's voice in that chaos.

he looks at me, apologetically. i can tell he got caught up in the heat of the moment when he revealed we have sex. i calm down in the peaceful night as the songs blaring from ricky's become distant sounds.

i hear a ball being bounced on some concrete and when i turn the corner, i see sydney shooting some hopeless hoops.

"syd?" i call out to her as she turns around. she looks saddened and it's most definitely because dina promised she wouldn't leave her this whole night. and here she is, alone.

"oh, hey guys" she mutters, pulling her sleeves down. "if you two want me to leave i can-"

"no, we just wanted to see if you're okay" stanley speaks up.

"yeah, i'm great. can't you see the mountains of cocaine i'm doing?" syd gestures around making us chuckle.

"you do realise that the entire cheerleading squad are actually doing lines of cocaine in the upstairs bathroom?" stanley says.

"oh my god, is that why they have so much energy?" syd asks, a smile pressed to her lips.

"oh, totally" i say, smiling at stanley. all three of us weren't exactly enjoying the party anymore. but what we didn't know, is this evening will change the entirety of our friendship forever.

ooOo you know what's about to happen..
your comments make me motivated so ty
lemme do some hw before i update again
also, tysm for 3k my mind is blown ;)