Fool Me Twice, Shame On Me ✓

[ 11 ] One big soap opera coming to life

    "Fine, you're willing to play that game well, so am I."

I can hear his voice in the background but I continue my path towards the stairs nevertheless. I really should've listened to my dad when he refused to let me attend this stupid party.

By the time I arrive at the first floor, I spot both Aaliyah and Natalie surveying the room.

Aaliyah's the first to acknowledge my presence as she quickly walks towards my direction with Natalie not too far behind.

    "Emery, where have you been and what the hell happened to your dress?"

Choosing to ignore her question, I throw them an unfazed expression.

    "Look we'll talk about this later but for now, can we please leave?"

Natalie seems affected by my lack of response.

    "Emery are you okay?"

In that moment, it's like all my frustrations are morphed into word vomit and I'm letting them both have it. "What kind of a stupid question is that? Of course I'm not alright. I mean, from having your former best friend pour some punch juice on your dress to having her boyfriend accuse you of initiating the fight, I'd say everything's just dandy. To top it all off, both of you weren't there to defend me while all of this was happening. What kind of friends are you?"

I don't allow their cheerless expressions affect me as I walk past them, heading towards the front door onto the porch.

They both catch up to me outside the contemporary house and stop me mid-way.

    "I get that you're hurt by everything that happened tonight but that doesn't give you the right to throw your frustrations on us Emery." Aaliyah declares in the background, causing me to drift my gaze towards their directions.

For a minute, I allow myself to cool down and choose my next words wisely.

    "You're right, I shouldn't've said those things to both of you and for that I apologize."

Natalie nods her head in affirmation.

    "It's fine, we're also sorry for not being around to give Stacey a doze of our punches. That bitch deserves it."

I smile as her comment slightly makes me feel better.

    "Thanks,"

    "Listen Em, I get that you want to leave the party but it's barely been an hour since it started and I still want to stay." Aaliyah says effortlessly.

    "Well Natalie, can you give me a ride then?" I query pleadingly.

Before she can reply, a deep voice interrupts our conversation.

    "Is everything okay here?"

We all turn around to identify the source.

Luke is heading towards our way with Noel slowly following behind. By the time they're a few feet away from us, Luke pulls Aaliyah in a quick kiss before averting his attention on us.