bad influence 》h.g.

Twenty-Three || Grind

Friday, May 27th 2017

"I feel sick, I hate this." I groaned as we stepped out of Heidi's car.

"Ava, yes, they're all gonna look at you as you step through the door, and yes, they're gonna judge you, just like everyone else when they first get to the party. But I promise you- and you know I wouldn't lie- that there is not one bad thing they can say about the way you look. Trust me, the girls will be jealous and the guys will be competing with each other to get your attention." Heidi said sternly, grabbing my arms and looking me directly in the eyes. I nodded and breathed out deeply. "It'll be over in a few seconds, come on."

I checked my reflection in the car window and decided I did look good, despite the nervous churning in my stomach trying to convince me otherwise. Then I followed Heidi up the driveway to the front door, which she confidently opened without knocking. The muffled music playing inside suddenly became almost deafening as my ears struggled to adjust to it at first. As expected, all eyes turned to Heidi who knew as well as everyone else did that she looked good. Her blue hair was scraped up into a tight high ponytail, the end reaching to just above her waist. She was wearing a white bandage crop top with thin cutouts at the ribs and a holographic pencil skirt that reached halfway down her thighs, with matching silver-strapped, chunky white heels. Her contour looked beyond professional, thanks to her makeup tutorial obsession that she'd acquired since the age of 13, which also explained her perfect eye makeup.

Then, when everyone had finished gawking at my beautiful best friend, I felt their judgemental stares focus on me. I was fortunate enough to have my own hair and makeup done by Heidi, who'd also given me prestigious contour and perfect smoky eyes. My hair was styled into soft curls. As I dared to look at some of the people, I saw girls with open mouths, some shot me evil looks, others smiled and mouthed how pretty I looked to their friends. Not one guy that I looked at wasn't already looking at me, and I wasn't sure if it made me more confident or self-conscious. A couple of them gave me cheeky smirks, and some of the sleezier boys bit their lips as they looked me up and down like a piece of meat. Simple Ava Dallas turned up to a party looking "a strong 10 and a half" as Heidi liked to put it, no wonder the reaction was so... Dramatic?

"Relax, girl, you're already off to a good start." Heidi chuckled in my ear. I nodded and headed off towards the kitchen area where I saw Logan talking to someone behind the wall. As his eyes locked onto me, they widened for a split second before he realised and tried to play it cool. I smirked to myself and instantly felt more confident in my approach.

"Hi." I smiled sweetly, to which he responded by putting his hand on my waist and grinning at me. I looked at who Logan was talking to and discovered it was Hayes, watching me over his cup as he finished what was left of the contents. There was no nastiness in his gaze, no negative vibes at all, surprisingly. In fact, he smirked at me as he crushed the paper cup in his hand and tossed it into a big black trash bag nearby. I raised my eyebrow at him as if to say, "seriously?" And it seemed the answer to my question was "seriously."

So, even Hayes Grier was impressed. I couldn't deny he looked good himself. He was wearing a white Vans t-shirt, allowing a flattering view of his toned arms and chest, Dickies chinos rolled up at the bottom and black Converse high tops, with the laces tied around the ankles for that little extra edge. I hated that asshole but I probably could've made out with him. Or at least run my fingers through his thick, dark hair that he occasionally pushed back effortlessly. I ignored his presence as I attempted to strike up a conversation with Logan, who's appearance I also couldn't fault, in a plain grey t-shirt, similar to Hayes', but instead adorned with a little Hollister bird, black jeans and grey Vans.

He kept leaning unnecessarily closely to speak softly in my ear instead of shouting over the music like everyone else. His breath was pleasantly warm on my skin and I felt no need to complain about his subtle attempt to flirt with me as his lips brushed against my neck. Hayes had disappeared, in search of someone else to actually socialise with. A handful of guys had approached me, offering me drinks that I often accepted and I entertained them for a short while, knowing their intentions were not to speak to me after tonight if they got what they were after. I didn't leave Logan's side the whole time, who's grip gently tightened on my waist every time a different guy came over.

In my tipsy state, I finally wrote Jack the break up text I'd been contemplating for too long and as soon as I pressed send, a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and I was free to do whatever- or whoever- I wanted. I waved my phone in Logan's face to show him the text and laughed with happiness, spinning round and round until I stumbled back into him. He chuckled and put his hands on my hips from behind, pulling my body to his, my back against his chest. As I looked around, I saw everyone pairing up, girl on boy, girl on girl, all grinding on each other and dancing slowly and sexually. I saw Heidi wrap her hands around Riley's neck as she slid down his body and then back up before turning around to face him and whispering in his ear as she rolled her hips against his.

I copied her moves, as Logan's fingertips traced down my ribs to my hips, holding them in place as I bent over, and flipped my hair back like the rest of the girls before slowly making my way back up. I watched as the experienced teenagers danced so sexily on their partners after obviously having lots of practice. Then the intoxicated youths all started making out, and no one cared who was watching. I quickly glanced over at Heidi for reassurance and found she looked to me at the same time. She winked and nodded before locking lips with Riley for a short moment until he tugged her towards the stairs, indicating he wanted to go somewhere private, to which she responded by mouthing an excited squeal at me.

I decided I wanted some privacy with Logan too and smirked at him as I gently pushed him towards the french doors leading to the backyard. It was dark by then and there were no more than 10 other people out there. A strong scent lingered in the air and I knew the group were smoking pot. I cringed at the pungent smell and led Logan by the hand round a corner where no one could see us. Then I stood and did nothing but flicker my gaze between his eyes and lips as I waited for him to make the first move. Just as he leaned in, my phone went off, startling us both. I checked the screen and discovered I had 4 missed calls and 6 text messages from Jack.

The last one read:

Jack: Okay fine, that's it. Over.

I showed Logan and smirked as he grinned. "Good, now I can do this." He said, before grabbing my face and pressing his lips to mine. I put my phone down on the wall beside him and grabbed his shirt in my fists where it hung loosely around his waist. I felt his hands slide down my body to the back of my thighs, and suddenly, I was elevated as he lifted me up and sat me on the wall, standing between my legs. We made out for a few minutes before we heard a familiar voice calling Logan's name.

"Dammit, Hayes." He sighed against my lips. I chuckled and kissed him once more. He helped me down from the wall as Hayes' voice got louder. Logan and I were drunk and it seemed Hayes was a little tipsy too as he stumbled around the corner and spotted us.

"Are you guys fucking?!" He asked, acting out the question with his hands.

"Does it look like we're fucking, man?" Logan chuckled.

"Looks like you wanna."

"I won't deny that."

"Logan!" I scolded him, but I knew he'd never say it sober. Or not out loud, at least. Then again, I highly doubted I'd be making out with him after only a couple hours if I was sober.

"Well feel free to join the rest of the party when you're done!" Hayes spat before walking off. There he went again, turning nasty without a reason.

"Just ignore him." Logan sighed, shaking his head. "You know what? I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves because the alcohol is thinking for us. You're so gorgeous and, honestly? I could make out with you all night!" He chuckled, making me giggle. "But, I didn't and still don't want us to rush things."

"So you knew this was gonna happen?" I smirked.

"Not-uh, not exactly." He stuttered a little. "I know I wanted something to happen but I'm not sure what. Call me cheesy but I was hoping that if we did get to kiss it would be more special after we waited a while? God, I sound so stupi-"

"No, no! I agree." I interrupted him, smiling at his maturity. I knew that most guys here would've insinuated sex the same night, but Logan was respectful and honest and I liked that.

"Yeah?" He asked coyly.

"Yeah." I reassured him softly.

"Cool."

"Cool."

"Come on, let's go back inside." He said, reaching out his hand as I readjusted my outfit. I took his hand and followed him back into the house. Although, as soon as I saw what was going on, I wished I'd stayed outside.