A Life Less Average

twenty-six

poppy 

Everybody was sweaty and out of breath before the food was being served. The teachers had to pull us off the dance floor and force us down to the tables so that the expensive menu didn't go to waste. 

I had to admit, I was starving after all the dancing and jumping and screaming. 

Our table had the four of us on it, plus two guys from the football team, Rebecca and her friend. The two of them were glaring at me through the ribbons that were holding the balloon centre piece to the table. 

Faye and Paul were whispering between laughter. Lewis was too busy filling his mouth with food to notice the bitchy looks I was receiving. If I hadn't topped off my drinks with JD I would have turned into a stammering mess, but thankfully the alcohol had taken the edge off and I was giving back the same looks.

"We should go out after this is over," Paul suggested. 

Faye nodded enthusiastically. "Hell yeah. Let's go to The Venue!" 

Lewis agreed. "Sounds good!" 

"We're in," Rebecca's friend agreed. 

Faye looked at me and scowled. "Oh, you're not invited," she said. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you own The Venue?" Rebecca snapped.

Faye looked at them, a blank expression on her face. "Do what you like, but leave us the hell alone. Yeah?" 

Rebecca smirked, her eyes glued to me. 

My head was swimming with alcohol. I ate the small portions of food quickly, hoping to soak some of it up. There was no way I was going to The Venue off my head with Oliver being the bar and Lewis by my side. 

Oliver had been texting me relentlessly, and I had replied on several occasions, mostly to try and stop it. But my short answers hadn't seemed to get the message across and he was more interested than ever. I became very conscious of the messages on my phone even though I knew that Lewis would never think of looking on my phone.  

"You okay?" 

I looked up to see Lewis looking at me.

I nodded. "Yeah." 

"You sure? I thought you'd be excited about going out after."

I shrugged. "Yeah. Sounds good."

He nodded, not quite believing me. But what else could he do? 

I couldn't just come straight out and tell him that the bartender was flirting with me, and I had taken the bait and replied to his messages. He'd freak. 

"No," I said, feigning perkiness. "It sounds good."

He smiled and I felt his hand on the small of my back. It was a simple move but it made me feel ten times better. And the look on Rebecca's face was just an added bonus. 

She scowled at me but looked down at her plate before anybody else could see. 

What was her deal? I couldn't understand why she was being such a bitch. It wasn't as though she and Lewis had dated. They hadn't even hooked up before. There was absolutely no reason for her to be acting like this. Other than pure bitchiness and jealousy. 

And for somebody like Rebecca to be jealous of me, well that just made my ego ten times bigger.

She was beautiful and had a killer body, not that I would ever say those words to her. I didn't need her shutting me down. I was slim but I had always hated how sharp my collarbone was and how pointy my elbows were and how knobbly my knees were. PE class had made my self esteem plummet. All of the girls I had grown up alongside had suddenly become women overnight. They were curvy and toned.