Being Pure

Chapter One: Born Again

Chapter One: Born Again

Addison's POV

"I'm gonna go hang with Eric and the guys. You good here?" Adam pulls me through the front door of the house. Red and blue lights dance across the walls and people. And I thought the yard was crazy. I don't even recognize most of the people in here. It's like they took a party scene from a movie and shoved it in this house. The front room is acting as a dance floor so people are jumping and bumping into each other like they're crazy. Some of them probably are. Most everyone has a drink in his or her hand, but it's easy to see who is pretending to drink and who actually is. The girls in the corner talking aren't drinking. The girls grinding against guys without their shirts on are drinking. As they should be.

"Yeah, I'm good. I think Emma is here so I'll just go find her," I say. I can tell Adam is already starting to inch toward the kitchen where his friends probably are. That's usually where the stronger stuff is. He quickly leans down and kisses my forehead.

Adam is one of the more popular kids at Stanford. I'm constantly reminded of that when he wants to go hang with other friends or gets invited to a party like this. On my own, I would never come here. Well, that's not entirely true. Emma probably would've dragged me here anyway. But I chose to come with my adorable boyfriend instead. Adam's brown hair curls around his temples and at the base of his neck. He has the kind of brown eyes that put mine to shame. His eyes make mine look like puddles of mud. I call him doe-eyes, but Adam doesn't like that nickname very much.

To me, he's the cutest guy here and I know most of the girls agree. Adam could've picked any girl on campus, yet he chose me. It makes me feel special. He makes me feel special. But deep down I know that he doesn't feel the same way. Even though we've been dating for a little over a year, I'm pretty sure he still considers me as a prize. Like getting the cute loner girl was a dare and he just hasn't figured out how to drop her yet. I told him this after we'd been dating for a while and that's when he told me he loves me. I think I believe him.

"Thanks babe!" Then he's off, pushing through the crowd at amazing speed. His brown mop of hair disappears into the mass of people. Smiling to myself, I start to make my own way through the makeshift dance floor. The music is louder in here. I can feel the bass pounding through my blood. I can't even tell what song is playing, but I'm sure it's the newest pop hit. I like the older stuff anyway.

By the time I make it to the back of the room, I've nearly tripped twice and was mistaken to be somebody else three times. But that's usual. I'm popular, but not with the popular kids. And I have that kind of face that blends well.

"Addie! Over here!" I hear Emma's voice before I see her. She bounces up and down and waves a pale arm above her head so I can see her. I smile and make my way over to her. She has the same kind of tangled hair that I have but hers is a darker shade of brown. Freckles are sprinkled across her nose and cheeks. They stand out more during the summer when her skin gets that summer glow, but her skin is so pale now that they almost disappear. Her eyes make up for the lack of color, though. The deep shade of green that swirls around her pupil sparkles in the darkness and when the light hits her eyes just right you can see the flecks of gold in them. When she smiles they light up with electricity, making her a sight to remember.

"Hey!" I lean forward and give her a bear hug, nearly knocking her over backwards. "What is that?" I say, pointing at the red cup in her hand.

"I don't know, but it's not strong enough." She shouts over the music and shrugs. "Here, have it. I'm driving." She places the cup in my hand and smiles.

"That's never stopped you before," I say, tipping the cup back to find it empty.

"It didn't. I just didn't want to carry around an empty cup." She smirks and grabs my hand. "Come on, I wanna dance!"