Sooner or Later (Feat. 1D and 5SOS)

7. Shotgun!

"Man, it's getting crazy out there," Emma said as she readjusted her dress and fixed her hair. When she turned around, she saw Heidi sitting on the toilet. After an hour of crying, it seemed like the blonde's makeup was starting to melt off her face, and she'd obviously been wiping her eyes because both her fists were black.

"What happened?" Emma asked, fearing the worst.

"I – I was talking to Shane," Heidi said in between sniffles, "and everything was going so well, but then he—he—he—" Her shoulders started to shake as she once again broke down crying.

"What did he do?" Emma pressed. "Heidi, what did he do?"

"He took her back!" she wailed. "He took Melanie back! That bitch broke his heart, and he still took her back. Right in front of me, too! I stood there watching them make up ... and then make out. It was horrible! – Oh, and then The Sprinkler showed up, and he sprayed all over me. I'm dripping with his saliva, I'm sure. – Ugh, this has been the worst night ever!"

Telling her story made Heidi want to cry all over again, but then she heard Emma's stifled giggles.

Heidi turned and glared at her inconsiderate best friend. "It's not funny, Emma!"

"I'm sorry, Heidi. It's just ... you have no idea how relieved I am to hear that. I thought something horrible happened."

"Like what? What did you think happened?"

"Nothing. Forget it. It doesn't matter anymore. I'm just glad you're okay."

From her bra, Heidi pulled out a clump of tissues to sop up her tears, and then she used that same clump to blow her nose. Because of that, she was now flat-chested on only one side. To even it out, Heidi pulled out the rest of the tissues and tossed them into the wastebasket.

"What are we doing here?" Emma asked with a sigh. "We don't belong here."

Heidi slumped against the toilet tank. "Yeah, I'm already exhausted—and my feet are killing me."

"Let's go back to your house and watch a movie or something."

"That sounds like a great idea, but ... we have a small problem: I don't have any money left for the cab." She curled her lips into a sheepish smile. "Whoops."

Emma's eyes bulged. "WHAT? How is that even possible?"

"I didn't think it would cost so much to get here. Cab rates are ridiculous nowadays."

Groaning, Emma slapped her hand to her forehead. "Okay," she said, taking a deep, calming breath. "We'll figure something out, but let's get out of here before the girls outside break down the door and kill us."

Emma and Heidi left the bathroom then. As soon as the door opened, the girl in front pushed past them, ran into the bathroom, and then slammed the door shut behind her. The rest of the girls glared at Emma and Heidi as they timidly walked by. While Heidi ignored them all, Emma felt the need to apologize to every girl she passed.

By now, the house party had gotten completely out of control! Some boy, after losing a bet, was running butt-naked around the house. After dashing through the living room, he bolted out the door and then took off down the street, screaming loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear.

Rachel was in the middle of a nervous breakdown, especially after catching a group of boys tossing around her mother's most expensive vase. Back and forth they threw it, and after the third time around, one boy nearly dropped it.

"Stop!" Rachel screamed, jumping in the middle of them. "Stop! My mom's gonna kill me!"

"Party's getting outta hand, huh?" said Niall as he suddenly appeared beside Emma. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out how he managed to sneak around like that. And yet, despite all that, there was nothing creepy about it.