Because You're Different ✔

49. Cups

June

The drinks were served in plastic cups, not of the big, red variety, but of the flimsy white type. Next to the fact that those things were catastrophic for the environment, as Hayley had pointed out, I couldn't hold them at all: the second my hands would tense, I'd be squeezing it to a pulp and the contents would spill all over me. No thanks. I could ask Malik for a straw, of course, but that would once again mean accepting his help, and I didn't think I'd be able to. Luckily, I'd had a considerable amount of wine at home, to calm my nerves, so I was still tipsy enough to survive the night.

I was sitting between Hayley and Sam on a leather couch, watching the other people in the room. My two friends weren't talking to each other again. They'd had a fight in the car about the quickest way to get to Rex Manor, which resulted in us being twenty minutes later than necessary. Underneath, it was only Sam being annoyed at her gushing about another guy. Was I the only one who noticed? I couldn't understand how they could be this clueless. Sam, yeah, okay. Hayley? She should've realized by now.

A few guys from the football team were playing beer pong on the dinner table, shouting some kind of battle cry every time someone had to chug back a cup. I was thankful the music was so loud, or I would've looked like I was trying to sit on a cactus. Right in front of us, two couples were basically in the middle of foreplay, hands where I couldn't see them anymore, making Hayley turn red and look at her feet like they were the most interesting limbs on earth. Malik was splayed out on a chair, surrounded by three girls, all pretending to be drunker than they were, giggling and yelling they were "totally wasted!". Yeah, right, if that guy liked me, he had a funny way of showing it. And to think I could've been home right now, in the company of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler, a nice cup of tea, some chocolate...

Why had he invited us in the first place if all he was going to say to us was "hey, glad you came, looking good, girls"? Was I supposed to be a form of entertainment if it turned out the party sucked? Was he trying to look like the cool, sensitive guy by including the disabled girl into the popular crowds?

"Hay, please, can't we just go home?"

She had her arms crossed, and now sent me one of the glares I'd taught her myself — this was the first time I regretted it. "No!" she said. "We can only go home after you kissed Malik!"

Great. Thank you for angering her, Sam. "I'm not sure if you've realized, but he's kind of busy at the moment."

"You're not even trying. Go walk by him. Now!"

With a sigh, I got up from the couch, dodging the couples that really should be searching for a room and a condom by now, and headed for the kitchen. It wasn't that I felt like I had to listen to her, no, absolutely not. However, it was a good opportunity to sneak away and find a part of the house that wasn't infested with noisy people. Plus, a regular glass, maybe.

Malik wasn't as rich as the Redstones, though he certainly had nothing to complain about. I could've moved my whole family from New York in here if I wanted. No way he really needed that internship. Our Computer Science teacher had some connections around town, and he'd secured a place for his best student to intern at a considerably successful tech company. It was an immensely great opportunity for someone like me, but Malik had been teasing me all the time, saying he was going to beat me. Seeing this house, and thinking of his football career, I kind of thought I deserved it more; he had money and chances enough. Unfortunately, that also meant the living room was on the large side, and I had to pass a lot of people to get out of there, all whose eyes drifted to my legs if they were still sober enough to spot the difference between disabled and a few too many beers.

Pff, let them stare. They should be jealous of me for having such a great body, even though it might not work like theirs. Rather be this fabulous than be an average nobody who never had to worry about crushing plastic cups. Malik was a fool, really — I would've probably let him kiss me if he'd tried. Hayley was right. No point in waiting for prince charming. Time to stop sulking about not being kissed yet, and just do something about it, if it bothered me that much.