hatred | miniminter

20

"but do you like him?" the question replays in my mind, awkwardly shuffling in my seat as i stare at ethan straight in the eyes.

"honestly," i sigh, "maybe?" i cock my head, my mind wandering to our intimate moments. when he actually shows me affection. "yeah." i nod.

"really?"

"actually," but then i think about what happened just then, all his insults, his bitterness, "i don't fucking know." i stand up from the seat, grabbing my drink. "but i'm gonna go enjoy my party." i flash him a fake smile, reaching my hand out to him.

"that's my lass." he grins, standing up and taking my hand in his own as we walk back inside, everyone dancing and singing, the atmosphere buzzing. but i instantly find myself looking for simon, i glance around the room, spotting him staring straight at me on his own, taking swigs of his drink with his phone in hand. i take a deep breath in, shaking my head at him and completely ignoring his presence - even though i am in his flat. i mix in with the crowd, instantly spotting cal who opens his arms wide for me and i fall straight into them.

"you okay?" he asks as i pull away, ethan stood beside me with an arm wrapped around my shoulder.

"yeah, she's alright. aren't you ede?" ethan smiles at me.

"yeah, all good." i grin at the two boys, 'every time we touch' blasting through the speaker as we all jump up and down excitedly. no matter how cringe-worthy we find this song, we absolutely love singing it together at parties as it instantly lifts up everyones spirits. i wrap my arms around harry's neck and he places his hands on my waist, singing along with me as i would definitely class this as one of mine and harry's songs.

"every time we touch i get this feeling," i cup harry's face with my hands, "and every time we kiss i swear i could fly." we practically yell rather than sing, excitedly swaying together to the song as harry holds me close to him. i catch simon in the corner of my eye with jj, staring straight at harry and i which only makes me want to hold harry like this for longer, watching simon surge with jealousy. harry and i remain like this throughout the entire song, the scent of alcohol surrounding me as our faces inch closer and i find myself finally feeling a buzz from the alcohol. by the end of the song, i bring harry into a tight hug, jumping around with him excitedly as one of my favourite party songs 'murder on the dance floor' plays.

"it's murder on the dance floor," i wrap my arms around harry's neck again, "you'd better not kill the groove." i sing at the top of my lungs, catching simon's glare again.

"what's wrong with simon?" harry furrows his eyebrows, looking at ethan, cal and i.

"just ignore him." i shrug my shoulders, glancing back at the boy who's focus is only on our group.

"what he said to you earlier was not on by the way." harry whispers into my ear sending a shiver down my spine.

"oh well. just got to forget about it." i shrug, singing along to the song again to try and push everything to the back of my mind. i hold harry close to me for some time, whilst still dancing with cal and ethan.

"eden!" jj yells, "it's 11:59."

"oh shit." i grin looking at the boys in front of me. everyone begins to countdown from 10 and as the clock strikes 12, harry lifts me up in the air, spinning me around holding me close to him, as everyone yells and cheers "happy birthday!" my heels crash back down onto the floor as harry puts me down, everyone embracing me as i beam from ear to ear, knowing i'm surrounded by the best people.

"24 now," josh nudges me, "getting old."

"shut up." i shake my head, laughing, "i'm not old!"