Becoming Beautiful (Wattys2014)

| Chapter 19 |

Chapter 19

“I’m not going in there,” Noah assured me.

I glared at him. “You have to, Noah. It’s a party. You lost the bet. You have to come inside.”

“I can just drive off right now and they won’t even notice,” he responded.

“Noah,” I said in a quieter voice. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and I continued, taking that as a go ahead. “Just come inside; it’ll be fun.”

“I thought you said parties weren’t fun,” he replied with a sigh as he began getting out of the car.

“I was alone all those times,” I told him, trying to sound casual. “Now I get to wreak havoc with you.”

He rolled his eyes as we walked towards the house. I held back a grin as I looked at him. “Are you going to dance with girls if they ask you? Or guys?”

“Why are you always questioning my sexuality?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he glanced at me.

I shrugged. “You never know.”

He snorted, shaking his head and tucking his hands into his jacket pockets. “I like girls.”

I nodded. “Okay, that’s what they all say.”

He nudged me in the side and I laughed, recovering from my stumble quickly. “It’s okay to be gay. I’d like you either way!”

“I hate you so much,” Noah muttered. Rolling his eyes, he continued to walk and I fell in step beside him. Our friends already disappeared into the house, probably downing shots or dancing with each other. “You guys really enjoy these parties?”

I snorted, shaking my head. “No, I don’t like them.”

“Yet you come to every one,” he told me with a snort.

“Because I made a deal with your sister,” I repeated for what seems to be the tenth time this night.

“You really need to learn how to say no,” he muttered.

“Says you,” I retorted with an eye roll.

“Hey! I had to come here. I lost a bet,” he retorted, realizing how stupid he sounded.

“Yeah, you keep saying that,” I snorted and he glared at me, his cheeks tinting pink.

Pointing over his shoulder, he backed away. “I’m going to get something to drink.”

I rolled my eyes. “Grab me a cola.”

He nodded his head curtly as he turned and walked towards the kitchen. I leaned against the wall opposite to the doorway, where people came flooding through. I watched as girls in different styles of clothing strutted through the door, ready to get “wasted” tonight. I heard a familiar voice and I cringed. “We’re gonna go home plastered!”

I took a stumbling step backwards, bumping into a girl. “Watch where you’re going!” she exclaimed loudly. I disregarded her and looked around anxiously. I quickly darted around her, heading towards the kitchen where Noah disappeared. He had been gone for at least fifteen minutes. He was standing across from a girl with brown hair and she was looking at him with a grin. He was sipping a cup filled to the brim with soda but the moment I stepped near him, I could tell that it was laced with something by the way his eyes were glazed over. “Noah.”

“Hm?” he asked as he looked away from his drink and towards me.

“What are you drinking?” I asked him cautiously as I looked at the cup in his hands, his long fingers wrapping around the red solo cup protectively.