Behind the Scenes

14-Noah

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The only reason Noah threw this party was so that he could get another chance to see Stella. That sounded stupid, but it was the truth. He never thought she'd agree to come, and after she texted saying she was on the way with Gracie he found himself constantly glancing to the front door every chance he could.

Music was thumping loudly off the walls as the floods of people got themselves drinks. Noah got a shot of whiskey from the bartender and slammed it back until Elijah came up from behind him.

"Uh, you might have a slight problem," he muttered lowly. "Audrey's here."

What?

Sure enough, he turned around and watched as Audrey waltzed across the room towards him wearing a skimpy pink dress with the tallest high heels he'd ever seen. Her hair was slicked back into a tight pony, and her makeup was done heavier than normal.

"Hi." She grinned when she reached him. "Did you forget to invite me?"

Noah instructed the bartender for another shot  and took it immediately. Audrey couldn't see him around Stella. As much as he'd try to hide his feelings for her, Audrey would be able to see right through him.

"This isn't a publicity thing." Noah shrugged, masking his nerves.

"I figured since my phone had to get taken away and all," she noted and arched her eyebrow up before she looked around. "I still wanted to check the party out though. Yours always seem to be a blast."

He knew she was referring to the night they met each other. Elijah had seen her posts on Instagram, and she was fine as hell so Noah invited her to come out to one of his parties.

That night everyone had jumped into his pool wasted beyond belief, and after he saw Audrey in her bikini he immediately wanted to take her upstairs, and so he did. He didn't remember much about their night from being so drunk, only that she had confided in him that she was a virgin. They did other stuff but never had sex.

"If I have anything to do with it then this party will stay calm," Elijah muttered, "I'm not going to have things get out of hand to where the cops need to be called."

"Dude, will you just take a shot?" Noah laughed and instructed the bartender to give him one. "Stop being so uptight. Everything will be fine tonight, alright? Take this."

Elijah eyed the shot glass warily before he finally gave in and downed it, wincing as the liquor traveled down his throat. Noah appreciated the fact that Elijah always tried to look out for him, but at some point, he needed to let loose and have fun.

A crash that sounded like glass breaking echoed off from the other side of the house. He heard cheering and applause from a bunch of different people, causing Elijah to let out a groan.

"It's nothing I can't buy again," Noah reminded him, "just have fun, bro. Seriously."

Elijah seemed annoyed, but before Noah could say anything more to him he spotted Stella and Gracie from across the room. He was annoyed he couldn't go over to talk to her since Audrey was clinging onto his arm, and he just hoped she'd understand.

Gracie's eyes lit up when they landed on Noah, and since she had no clue about his and Stella's actual past, she dragged her friend by the sleeve of her sweatshirt over to where they were. Stella's eyes grew wide when she saw Audrey, quickly bringing her gaze down to the floor.

"Hi, Noah!" Gracie leaned in for a hug and gave Audrey a wave as well. He could just see the daggers shooting out of Stella's eyes towards her. Was she jealous? "This is such an amazing house. Wow."