The mansion was quite close to Madison dorm's, a few blocks away. The place was packed with energetic teenagers and drunk college students. Loud music that made the ground vibrate came from the speakers. Sweaty bodies swayed around me and clouds of nicotine flew through the room. The parties I had gone to before were nothing compared to this one. I looked over at Jaden, who was greeting people with a simple nod. The neon lights shone on him making him look like a scene in Euphoria. Jaden narrowed his eyes at something.
" I'll be right back, Aria." He said, without diverting his eyes from what he had seen.
He left me there so, I had no other option than to explore the area.
I entered a room in which there were various groups of people. Some dancing, others laughing and chatting. A group of three very attractive girls approached me.
" Are you Aria?" The one in the middle said. Her long blonde hair almost reached her lower back and her dark green eyes were fixed on me. She looked like she came straight from a magazine.
" Of course she is, Natalie. You're so blind." The one on the left exclaimed sarcastically. They were obviously very close. This one had a pixie haircut and had a sleeker silhouette, her voice perfectly pitched to her aspect. She was slightly shorter and kind of looked like a fairy.
" I'm sorry, do I know you guys?" I said, confused.
They looked at each other and laughed.
" I'm sorry. No, I don't think you do." Natalie said, grabbing my hand. " I'm Natalie and this is Rebecca." She said pointing to the pixie haircut girl. " And she is Victoria." She pointed towards the girl on the right.
That girl was the most attractive out of all of them, her dirty blonde, perfectly straightened hair was wrapped up into a tight bun. Her light hazel eyes stood out with her white short dress. Her gaze was so sharp she could blind someone. Unfortunately for me, I would be her first victim. She looked back at her phone, ignoring my presence.
" Ignore Vic, she doesn't like new-comers," Rebecca said, putting an arm around my shoulders and eyeing Victoria.
" We know you from that video a chick called Becky posted on her story," Natalie said.
" Which one?" I said, confused.
" The one where you broke up the fight between Daniel and Jaden and then told Jaden off."
" Nobody ever tells Jaden off that way, we knew immediately that you belonged in our group," Rebecca said, grinning.
Victoria glanced up from her phone at the mention of Jaden's name and left.
" Oh yeah, I don't let any man intimidate me," I said, smirking and completely ignoring the fact that that was literally what had happened 25 minutes ago.
" I already love her" Natalie laughed.
They led me to the dance floor and we started dancing. In the beginning, I was shy but I soon loosened up and let myself move with the rhythm. We were hyping each other up. I realized I was having fun with 2 girls I had never even known a few hours ago. We had a few shots of something that burned when I swallowed it. The girls seemed to love it. A Nicki Minaj song came on and the three of us yelled the lyrics out. I understood why people went to parties at that point.
A couple of hours later, we were sitting on the couch, exhausted from our dancing and drinking session.
" That was exhilarating!" I said, sighing.
" I love how you talk, your vocabulary is so fun," Natalie said, giggling.
" It's a good thing we met," I said, grabbing another drink. " I would have probably been lost somewhere."
The girls laughed.
"We're glad we met you too, we were missing a third Nicki Minaj sister." Rebecca said, " Oh, and about Vic, don't worry she'll warm up to you."
" Oh, it's fine, I'm not fazed," I said, confidently. Rebecca gave me a reassuring smile.
Girls like Victoria usually didn't like me, it had happened through-out my whole life and, at that point, I was used to it.
Natalie's eyes widened slightly.
"Rebie, I dare you to get with that guy." She dared, pointing to a tall, cute boy.
" Oh, it's on." Rebecca accepted, fixing her hair and walking towards him.
She put her hands on his shoulders, causing him to turn around. She whispered something in his ear and he nodded. He smashed his lips on hers. After a while, she broke the kiss and swayed her way back to us. The guy stood there, giving her puppy eyes.
" How do you do that?" Natalie asked, impressed. " They always fall for you."
It wasn't hard to find Rebecca attractive but what made her irresistible to men and women, was her confidence.
" Experience and practice." She said, winking at her.
" I wish I were that confident, I love it," I said.
" Well it's easy, It's all about the mentality," Rebecca said. " Act like you own the place and soon enough you will."
" You should practice with that guy." She pointed to a brunette, curly-haired guy.
" I'm not sure I should..." I said, discerning my loyalness to Jaden. " I came with Jaden."
" You came with him, yet you're here with us and he's nowhere to be seen," Natalie pointed out.
I tried to push away the fact that she was right. I hadn't seen Jaden in at least two hours and it was only an hour until midnight. I pulled out my phone and sent him a message, which had been left on delivered.
" Oh shit, he's here," Natalie said, trying to hide her face.
A tall, attractive man walked in, searching for someone.
" Forget him, Nat," Rebecca said, rubbing her arm.
" Who Is here?" I asked.
" Natalie's ex-boyfriend, Milo, they broke up last summer over a misunderstanding," Rebecca explained.
" It wasn't a misunderstanding, he wasn't who I thought he was," Nataly said, still covering her face.
Rebbeca rolled her eyes," He left you on read once, Natalie. It's time for both of you to let go already."
Rebecca was that one friend who didn't understand what it was like to catch feelings for a guy.
" See, this is why I like girls better anyway." She said, standing up. " Look at how much these men are affecting your night." She pulled us up. " While they are out having fun, you girls are sulking over them."
She grabbed a few shots and handed each of us one of them. One drink and I already felt motivated to dance and sing. Leaving my worries about Jaden behind. I was here with my new friends and it was time to stop obsessing over small things.
-
45 minutes until midnight and there was still no sight of Jaden. Natalie was talking to her ex, Milo, and Rebecca was sitting next to me, disappointed at her friend's choice.
" I can't believe I'm starting my new year at a frat party," I said, giggling.
"It's a tradition for the group." She said, giggling.
" Group?"
" There used to be a group called the Explicit club."
I cringed at the name, it didn't sound very PG.
" We didn't do anything inappropriate, we just used to hit various night clubs every night." Rebecca cleared up. " In fact, Jaden was in it."
" Really?" I said, lifting my head higher. " What happened?"
" The group broke up because of an affair between the members that led to a big argument."
" Argument?"
" Well, it's really not my place to tell..." Rebecca drifted off. I admired Rebecca's loyalty but I was very intrigued to know what had happened.
" 30 MINUTES UNTIL NEW YEAR!" A guy yelled out and everyone cheered.
" I'm going to go see if I can spot Jaden, he's been missing for a suspicious amount of time," I said, checking my phone.
" Sounds good," Rebecca said. " I'm going to see if I can knock some sense into Natalie."
-
I scanned every room at least twice and no sign of Jaden. Had he left without me?
I tried calling his phone various times before rechecking every room. I must've walked into at least 10 people. I felt sick and tired, I needed to leave.
I returned to the dance floor one last time, just in case.
10, 9, 8, 7,..
My eyes finally fell on Jaden who was standing in a corner having a heated conversation with... Victoria? Was this what he had been doing all night?
5, 4, 3...
Victoria grabbed his hand softly and he flinched but gave in to her touch.
2, 1 !!
Victoria pulled his neck down to her, connecting their lips.
My heart sank. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. My eyes burned when Jaden broke their kiss and diverted his eyes from her to mine.
To be continued...