Fragile

Chapter 1

The music thumped hard, making the pictures on the wall shake and surely keeping the neighbors awake. I looked around, recognizing no one. Why did I come here?  I continued to walk around, looking for a familiar face. 

Soon, I saw my friend Zoey from the corner of my eye and instantly gravitated towards her. "Hey Zoey!" I exclaimed.

"Hey Hayleigh!" she said, wrapping her thin around around me. "Damn girl. You clean up nicely." she gushed, tugging on my dress lightly.

I looked down. The tight, black dress clung to my body, showing off all of my features. My already flat stomach looked even thinner and the heels I wore added a few inches, which I enjoyed. 

"Thank you Zoey! You looked great too." I replied, looking at her red dress that complimented her dark hair. "Is anyone else we know here?" I asked. 

Zoey nodded, "Katie is somewhere, but other than that, I haven't seen anyone." 

I looked in acknowledgement, feeling awkward once more. Suddenly, I felt eyes on me. The eyes felt abnormal and made me feel self conscious. I looked around for the culprit to find a boy with voluminous, curly dark hair staring me down. Our eyes locked and I instantly looked back at Zoey. "I think I'm going to go home. I walked here anyway." 

Zoey looked at me and smiled. "Okay. Well, it was nice seeing you. I'll see you at school on Monday." 

I walked out of the house into the fresh air. The cool breeze sent chills down my arms as I started down the street. Why didn't I bring a jacket?  The cars of party-goers were lined up down the street for miles. 

"Hey!" a deep voice, yelled behind me.

I turned around to be faced with the curly haired boy from before. "You want a ride?" he asked. 

I turned back around and began walking once more. There was no way I was going to ride with him. "Don't ignore me, love." 

A hand touched my shoulder making me jump. I was spun around to face the boy, getting a good look at his features. His jawline was prominent, his eyes, a dark green, and his complexion was fair and flawless. There was a slight hint of stubble,  indicting he had just shaved. "I said, 'do you want a ride?'." 

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine." 

"So, you're new around here?" he asked, his husky tone rang through my ears.

I nodded, "yes, I am."

His eyes trailed down my body then back up to my eyes. "Let me show you around." His strong grip attached to my hand like a vice. He lead me to his SUV and opened the door. "After you." 

Not knowing what to do in that moment, I crawled in and sat down, buckling my seat belt. What the hell was I thinking?