A Certain Romance (Reimagined)

The House Party

"I think his floor is the last thing he's worried about." I said sarcastically.

Anyone who had the money to clean or replace their floors would do it without hesitation. Senator Hood's premium marble floor from Italy could get shipped over so fast to replace the existing marble if I ruined it. I wasn't worried for him.

"Calum did say his dad might not get reelected." He spritzed his cologne, making sure not to over do it.

Oh, God. Was I accidentally getting the inside scoop on Calum's personal life? It was one thing to know about his relationships with Elizabeth and Evelyn, but I felt guilty knowing anything to do with his family. I tried to stay away from the news for that fact. It wasn't my place to know the in's and out's of the Hood family. But this piece of news was worth something. Michael would be proud of me for unwillingly getting this information. No one really liked Senator Hood. There was a scandal that he cheated on his wife with a Hollywood starlet who was barely of legal age. Then it came to light that he had paid his way to becoming senate, leaving a bad taste in most people's mouths. All that did was make me realize that Calum was his father's son and Calum was no better than his father. "Oh, do you know why?"

"He didn't go into detail. I don't know how American politics work, so I won't guess why Calum thinks that." Fair enough. I didn't understand politics in this country either. Everything was either rigged or given to someone who had the most money, someone who didn't know what they were doing with their position.

"Understandable."

"I think I'm ready." Ashton pulled out his phone, dragging me towards the mirror. "Let's take a mirror selfie. I want everyone to see how good we look."

"I'd rather not." I pushed him away. Taking a photo with Ashton only meant that I would be the talk of the school if he uploaded the photo anywhere. I still wanted my privacy.

"Fine."

-

The car ride to Calum's was quiet between Ashton and me. I controlled the music while he tried to figure out if the house was going to be on the left or right. It was on the left, gated off and covered by tall trees and secured by police at every corner. Of course, we all knew the police were being paid to be okay with the underaged drinking at the party and to ignore the city's sound curfew. The chances of them being paid off to not say anything to the senator either were high.

"This is his house?" Ashton asked, staring up at the crisp white house in awe. I had only ever seen photos of Calum's house. It never dawned on me that it was three stories high and right in the center of everything Seattle had to offer. I mean, where else would a senator live? This family was only five minutes shy of the space needle. They were clearly important if I ever doubted it.

"Did you expect an upper middle-class suburban house that looks identical to all the other ones in the neighborhood?"

As I started walking towards the gate, Ashton grabbed my hand to stop me. "I'm too scared to walk in there."

"Why...?" Yeah, I was scared to walk in as well, but I wouldn't chicken out.

"I have a feeling I don't belong in there." I ignored his statement. I didn't want to know what he meant by that and I wasn't in the mood to get too much into detail with him.

I stood in front of Ashton, my hands on either of his shoulders, ready to give him a pep talk. Nothing came to mind. I was never good with these things when it came to other people. I could comfort Michael and Luke easily, but I struggled with anyone else. "You're Calum's right hand man now, you definitely belong in there." Was all I could offer in consoling Ashton. He had nothing to be scared of, he already had Calum on his side. The most of his worries would be the fact that he still wore his slacks and his dress shoes. He was still overdressed, but he would get praise from Calum for that. Everyone else that was passing us and giving us weird looks, were dressed in jeans and a shirt, nothing fancy for a party that would end in a puke fest.