The Hard Way

Two

My shoulder length, red hair was quite possibly ruined forever. A rigor mortis of ombre curls, pinned back to 'let people see my face'. I didn't even want to go to this stupid party, but here I was, squished in the backseat of Lea's dad's Mustang, plugging my ears at the screaming of her smaller siblings. I tried to watch the trees as they wizzed by, but my reflection had me distracted.

I actually looked kinda pretty, dare I say. The eyeliner was a bit too thick, but made my light eyes seem almost translucent, mascara made them look wider and almost doll-like.

I let myself make a few funny faces out the window, smiling at how pretty I still managed to be, even when I tried not to.

Lea was the girl who dragged me here, and my best friend. Don't let the 'o-m-g's' and 'like, totally' fool you, it's all an act. She has a thing with surprising people, she likes to make people thing she's a total idiot, and get higher grades then them, she get's off on it, I don't know.

"You feelin' okay?" She asks, looking at me in the rear view mirror.

"Si." I nodded once and smiled at her, the cherry-red lipstick not feeling as goopy anymore.

"We'll be there in no time, ladies!" Her mother chanted, pressing down on the gas petal.

The trees became blurs, and I thought back to my dream, how uneasy it made me feel, and at the same time, how peaceful it all seemed to be.

"Okay, pick you up at nine, sharp." Lea's dad put extra emphasis on the last word, being punctual seemed to run in the family.

"Yes sir." We scooted out and I leaned on Lea for support as I fixed the strap on my heels.

"You look wonderful." She cooed, her voice dripping with a heavy does of pinch-your-cheeks kind of happiness.

"G-grazie." I smiled, watching the others mill around us, minding their own business.

"Is that-? Oh! Jesse!"

The party was outside? How the hell did I let her convince me to wear heels?

I stood straight and released Lea's forearm, smooting over my dress self conciously.

"Hey, come with me, I wanna introduce you!"

She towed me towards a small group of teenagers, they all had the same emblem stitched on their white dress shirts, the girls wore red, plaid skirts and knee-high socks.

"This is my bestie Mia." Lea declares, as if unveiling a new sports car or a cute new pair of heels.

"Charmed." One of the girls sneers, I blinked at her in shock. I guess some people are just naturally bitchy.

"I'm Emma, this is Clayton and Rylie." A short red haired girl smiled, motioning to two other, notably happier girls.

"Hi." I smiled shyly.

All at once they swarmed like flies to my sides, touching my hair, feeling the hem of my dress, poking at my earrings, gawking at me like a science project, showering me with half-assed compliments.

Jesus...

"How old are you, Mia?"

"Can I call you M?"

"Where do you go to school?"

I swallowed hard and looked between the girls.

"Uhm, sixteen, sure, and Castro Valley."

"Oh." They all seemed to chant at once, reminding me a little of those aliens from Toy Story.

I managed to get away while they chatted about California, the weather, the sports teams, the shopping trips, everything I didn't like.

"Good God, thanks for the introduction." I glowered at Lea, who sipped God knows what from a red solo cup. "No problem, did you tell them you were Italian? God I bet they'd stick to you like flies on sh-"

"Hey! Okay, I'd rather not be compared to that." I laughed, crossing my arms. "How long is this party anyway?"

She swatted a mosquito away and pursed her lips. "Till everyone goes home I guess."

I nodded and shifted awkwardly, aside from the four girls I had the pleasure of meeting, Lea was my only friend here.

"Why don't you go meet some new people?" she asked between sips. "You look like a scared puppy."

"Do not!" I snapped, standing straight. "I'm just out of my element."

"What is your element, exactly?"

"Home. Or Starbucks." She rolled her eyes and I couldn't help but smile at her annoyance.

"Hey, I haven't seen you two before." A taller boy came up to us, spending extra time to check Lea out, "I'm Adam."

He seemed to ignore my complete existence, annoyed, I looked in the other direction and bit my bottom lip.

"I'm Lea," Lea began. "This is Mia."

"Lea and Mia, it rhymes, how cute." He smiled in my direction and I forced a half smile back. "Hi."

He just looked like one of those guys, the kind you see in ABC Family movies, cute but stupid, of all the toys in the world he'll pick your emotions and flip you around like a rag doll.

"I head Starbucks, are you a fan?"

"Of course." I let a small smile show, Starbucks was just plain awesome, a bit of an addiction perhaps, but I needed the caffeine.

"Well, I was just about to head up there before I was distracted by such a," He looked me over, and smiled again, "Radiating woman."

"Radiating?" I raised a brow at him, the dress was black with blue lace, and nothing short of a cocktail dress.

"Maybe it was the eyes." He smiled brighter, standing a bit too close.

"So, you were heading somewhere?"

He blinked and blushed lightly, running a hand through his hair. "Oh, yeah, you guys want anything?"

I pulled a five from my bra and handed it to him. "Grande cotton candy?" He held the bill like it was some kind of treasure, probably the closest he's ever been to a girls boob.

"Y-yeah, anything else?"

I looked at Lea, who only gawked at me with a can't-believe-you-did-that upward tilt of her brows.

"I think that's it."

He nodded and left, not that I watched him or anything.

"What the hell was that?" Lea screeched, drawing attention of a few people.

"What was what? It's not like he saw my boob!"

"You need to be more modest!" She paled and then blushed darkly, holding her face in her hands. "Jesus, Mia!"

Again, I laughed at her, earning a small glare from her and a few confused looks from others. I wasn't too worried about being the odd one out anymore, maybe I'd have fun.