At Midnight

Chapter 26

A text message from Javier, thirty-one messages and seven missed calls from Ashton and it was only nine in the morning. It was also probably the only time, and the last, that I was that 'popular'.

Ashton picked up on the first ring when I called. " Put on your sluttiest party dress you can find in that damn closet of yours and the most pair hooker-ish heels you own, I'll pick you up in half an hour." He babbled on without pausing to take a breath. Sometimes I wondered how much the capacity of his lungs was. That boy could really talk.

" What the fuck is going on? Christ." I exclaimed. I could hear the roaring sounds of an engine starting up over the line. He fumbled with something before he spoke again, " Javier, you and me. I hate that cunt but if he's your boyfriend or whatever then I guess I sortta have to deal with that bastard. Obligatory. Whatever." He said.

" You're not making any sense." I said.

" Party at my friend's place. You need to lighten up a bit. Maybe some socializing and a game of spin the bottle will cheer you up." He replied.

" Uh, I don't think so..." I trailed off.

First of all, I wasn't the most sociable or friendliest person you could meet. And secondly, I felt pretty claustrophobic in public places with strangers dancing around and getting drunk, without security guards present to keep things under control. You'd never know when a fight would break out and frankly, that scared me.

" Okay, here's the deal. If you don't like the party, we can leave whenever you want but you have to come. Five minutes. Max." He drove a hard bargain. And I was too tired to argue with him.

" UGH FINE." I groaned reluctantly.

I threw on a shirt and some jeans and put some make up on. I didn't need to impress anyone anyway. The only reason why I was even going to attend that stupid party was because I knew it would make Ashton happy. And booze. I desperately needed the booze.

I slid into the front seat of Ashton's car and was greeted with a low whistle. Javier sat at the backseat and blew a low whistle. It reminded me of that night he had picked me up from my house and took me to dinner near the ocean. I really missed those days and I was still hoping for us to happen.

It had been even more awkward between the both of us ever since my embarrassing spew of word vomit that night at the roof. Personally, I blamed it on the alcohol but I knew I would've told him that sooner or later.

It hadn't been easy – getting over him. I had so much on my plate and heartbreak wasn't what I needed at the moment. So far, I had done a pretty good job ignoring my feelings for him despite having a piece of me die inside every time I saw him.

We drove through a couple of streets and ended up at a normal looking three-story house, except that it was covered with toilet paper. How charming.

We had to park two blocks away because the street had cars parked all over the place. Twenty yards away but I could already hear the crappy music blasting in the house. The backyard was filled with already drunk teenagers making out, yelling profanities and running around in circles naked. And it was only eight in the evening.

Ashton's friend greeted us at the door and invited us in, handing us each a red cup. " Dudes, glad you could make it!" He slurred incoherently, slinging an arm around me. I raised an eyebrow at him but he didn't seem to notice.

An older looking girl strutted her way over to us and wrapped her arms around him and in no time, they were in the process of devouring each other. I ignored them and squeezed my way to the kitchen. If I was going to get through that night, or even the first few minutes, I needed to get the alcohol into my system.