The Pretty People

CHAPTER 19

     "You knock." Melanie told me. "No, you knock!" I said. "I'll knock." Tiffany chirped, stepping in front of us. She knocked on the door and a few seconds later, Justin appeared. "Hey guys!" he said, nodding at me. "Rachel." Melanie gave me a 'go get some' look. "Glad you could make it! Come in!" He motioned for us to go inside. I took in my surroundings as I entered his room. It was the same size as ours, and the party wasn't as big as I thought it would be; which is good, because I hated being in crowds. It makes me feel uncomfortable and awkward for some reason. Tiffany was already at the snack bar, and I watched some guy come up behind her already. Sadie went to the bathroom, and Melanie was flirting with Hunter, twirling her long, golden hair as she spoke. Didn't she have a boyfriend? "Everything okay?" Justin said, as I jumped. I almost forgot he was behind me. "Yeah," I breathed. "Just fine." A few awkward seconds passed by, which were saved by his friends, who made their way towards us. "So you're Rachel," a messy-haired guy said, walking up to us. "Yeah. Hi." I said, flickering my eyes back and forth." "I'm Jake." He said. So this was the guy that I didn't get to see at the beach earlier today. "These are my friends, Luke and Ben. You probably know Hunter from the beach today, too." he said, nodding over to the snack bar, where he and Melanie were still talking. Just then, a tall, blonde girl opened the door, which Justin forgot to lock, and strode into the room, with a chained chanel clutch swinging on her shoulder. "Sorry I'm late," she said, as she made her way next to Justin. "Hi Jess." he said. "Who's this?" "Jess" asked, inspecting my outfit. "This is Rachel, she's staying in the hotel room next door." Justin said. "Hey." I said shyly. The girl just gave me a big, cheesy smile, and she smoothed out her gray pencil skirt. "Rachel, this is Jessica. She's just a-" "I'm his girlfriend." Jessica interrupted, flipping her straightened hair behind her shoulder. Justin quickly opened his mouth to say something, but I didn't let him say anything else. "I um, need to go to the bathroom." I said, ducking my head and walking towards the open bathroom door before anyone else could.

     As I shut the door, I could still feel Justin staring at me. I washed my hands without thinking. I dried it off with a towel and stared at my reflection in the mirror. I don't know why I was taking this so seriously. Of COURSE we were just friends, right? I mean, there was no way we'd ever... be together or anything. Why was I freaking out? A bunch of questions clouded my mind and I felt so dizzy that I sat down on the toilet seat. I could hear the chatter of people outside. I wanted to go back out, but I felt really embarrased and didn't want to look at Justin or Jessica; especially Jessica. Then someone knocked on the door. "Is anybody in there? I really need to use the bathroom." a girl's voice said. It didn't sound like Jessica's so I just let them in. Surely enough, it wasn't her; just some girl I didn't know that had the longest black hair I've ever seen. "Thanks." she said, as she walked in and slowly closed the door. I saw Justin and Jessica talking in a corner. Jessica was smiling playfully, but Justin looked grim and upset. I rushed past them and headed to the balcony where Melanie was, sipping a flute of what looked like champagne. I didn't know she drank alcohol. "Hey," I said, sliding the door behind me. She turned around. "Hey hey hey! Liking the party so far?" she asked. She saw me eyeing her drink and quickly added, "It's just sparkling apple juice. It's really good. Wanna sip?" she asked. "Sure." I said. It was surprisingly good. "I wanna talk to you in private." "Sure, what is it?" Melanie asked, batting her eyelashes. "You know Justin, right?" "Yeah! His friend Hunter is hot!!" she giggled. "Sorry; I know I have a boyfriend, but hey, what happens here stays here. Who doesn't love a little spring fling? Hows yours going with Justin?" "We have no fling." I said, putting "fling" in air quotes. "Why not?" she asked. "You two would be really cute together." "Yeah, well, he has a girlfriend. I found out just now." "Oh really? Who?" "Her," I said, nodding towards Jessica, making sure that neither her or Justin could see me. I didn't want to point fingers. "Oh. I'm sorry, Ray." Melanie said, bringing me into a hug. As we pulled away, I said "It's nothing." and looked down at my shoes. "Wanna make him jealous?" she said, an evil grin spreading across her face. "I'm not sure... I don't think I can make anyone jealous." "I'll teach you," she said, finishing her sparkling apple juice. "Come on, just follow my lead." she tugged at my arm and smiled. "Hey Jake!" Melanie said. "Uh Hi." Before I knew it, she sparked a conversation with him, and I was involved in it too. We started talking so much that I didn't notice Melanie, who left to go to the other end of the room to talk to Hunter. I looked at her nervously and she mouthed "Just keep on talking!"

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     As we left the party, almost everyone was still there, but I didn't mind. Jake ended up being really nice, but I couldn't see anything more than us just being friends. I didn't talk to Justin for the rest of the night. As I closed the door to his room, I saw him looking at me, with Jessica following his gaze. I quickly looked away and shut the door.

     "Oh my god, Luke is so nice and we have so much in common! I call dibs on him." Sadie gushed once we got inside our hotel room. It felt like everyone hooked up with someone at the party except for me. Melanie looked at my sympathetically. "Hi girls!" Melanie's mom said. She was lying on her bed watching "Marley and me" on the little TV. "Hi mom." Melanie chirped. "Did you girls have fun?" Everyone but me said "Yes."

~picture of Jessica on the side~