The President's Daughter (Liam Payne) Book 6

Chapter 27

Elodie's POV

The music was pounding and my head was already spinning. I was in the center of the room, dancing with my friends, laughing as we ignored the people who wished they were us. It was my freshman year and first year at a boarding school and somehow I'd managed to fall in with the 'cool' kids.  We were at a party in an abandoned building at the edge of campus where hopefully none of the staff would find us. The type of party that would have all my fellow freshman jealous they hadn't gotten invited to. I'd been reluctant at first when they'd handed me my first drink, but I wanted to belong so I drank it. Now it just seemed like a normal part of partying.

"I think Mark is looking at you," Anna says loudly into my ear and I can't help but look over at the group of guys standing off to the side. Sure enough, the shaggy haired brunette leaning against the wall was looking right over at us. I feel myself blush and quickly look away.

"No way. He's definitely watching you," I assure her. He was the star lacrosse player and an upper classman and she was the 'It' girl of the junior class and the one who'd welcomed me into the group. A measly freshman among the older girls. She laughs and shakes her head.

"No El. He's all yours. I'm quite happy playing the field," she says with wink, turning her attention back to the other girls. I risk another glance over at him feeling a flush of warmth spread over me. I'd only talked with him a couple times. Mostly to congratulate him on one of his games. I never thought he'd think of me as anything more than the tagalong freshman though. He sees me looking and winks and I quickly turn away, embarrassed that I got caught staring. For the rest of the party, I was nervous, wondering if he'd approach me. If what Anna said was true, then he'd want to come talk with me wouldnt he? The party ended however with him making no effort to talk and I assumed Anna had just imagined it.

Three days later though, he pulls me to the side as I'm leaving one of my classes and asks me if I'd like to go to the party with him the following weekend. I could scarcely keep the stupid grin from my face as I agreed. It was a big deal because it would mean everyone there would know that I, a freshman, was there with him. I spent way too long picking out an outfit and in the end I selected a t-shirt and jeans with these long dangly earrings I'd borrowed from Anna. She kept trying to get me to wear something else saying I looked too innocent and that it wasn't going to impress anyone, but I liked the look and I didn't want to look like I was trying too hard.

He said he'd pick me up at 10:30, half an hour after lights out, and we'd sneak over to where the party was, but at 11 he still hadn't shown up and I was beginning to think he'd forgotten about me. But then a knock on my window caused a flood of relief when I saw him standing out there. I was on the first floor with the rest of the freshman so it wasn't hard to lift open the window and climb on out. The glazed look in his eyes told me he'd already started drinking. Most people had some sort of contraband in their rooms, be it drugs, alcohol or cigarettes, so it wasn't all that surprising. We get to the abandoned building and head to the basement where the party was. They always had them down there because it was the most sound proof room in the place. I felt so proud when I walked into that room with Mark at my side. I could see the envy written on half the faces, most of them upperclassmen.  There's a group with a bunch of his Lacrosse buddies and a couple of my friends so we head over to them. Almost immediately, Mark heads off to get us some drinks. For the next 2 hours, we chat with our friends. I nurse the first drink he got for me the entire time. I'd only been drinking for a couple weeks and didn't want to get trashy drunk on our first date. He doesn't seem to have a problem with getting more than a little tipsy. He's not embarrassingly drunk, but he definitely was beginning to slur his words. He leaves, returning a couple minutes later with 2 new drinks in his hands.