"A party on a Tuesday? That's new."
"I know. His sister likes to do unexpected things." I exhaled into the phone and rolled onto my back, the bed groaning below me. "You'll come right?"
Silence stretched on the other side of the line and worry seeped into me. There was no way I could go to a party alone. The fact I had a PhD in overthinking didn't exactly make me shine in situations that involved all new people.
"Mel, please, I really don't wanna go alone and I already told him I'd come and also you know we said we'd go to more parties this year and the fact that-"
"Oh my God, okay, okay, anything to halt your word vomit." Melissa exhaled on the other side of the line and I grinned.
"Ugh, I can hear your obnoxious smile." Melissa groaned and I pursed my lips together. She knew me too well. "You'll owe me for this though. I don't usually do partying during the weekday, it cuts into my sleep schedule."
I rolled my eyes, smile still on my face as I spoke. "You never know, it could be really fun!"
"Doubtful." The sigh on the other end sounded mournful but I knew she was already mentally picking her outfit.
"Wanna come over early and get ready?" I asked, excitement running through me with a tinge of nostalgia. The last party we went to, there were three of us. Now, we were one woman down.
"Of course, I'm coming over to get ready. You promised I could put make up on you the next time we went out." Melissa said in her sing-song voice and a chill ran through me.
"I did no such-" I started to complain before a memory hit me of doing exactly that during summer when we were making our big senior plans. "Shit."
All that came from the other line was laughter. And not the cute, comforting type.
I was nervous.
No, actually, I had surpassed nervous and walked straight into Panic Mode.
The school day passed faster than any school day before - maybe because it was the rare day when Noah didn't sit on our table for lunch. Well, for most of lunch. He had come over to whisper into my ear that he was looking forward to the party, causing me to almost choke on the apple juice I was drinking.
"You okay?" Noah's voice shook me out of my thoughts. I looked to the side and saw him glancing at me with a frown before focusing back on the road.
"Yeah, I'm very okay, totally okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?" I mumbled, squeezing my hands together.
Noah chuckled, before stretching his hand out and grabbing out of mine out of the ball of tangled tension I'd created in my lap.
"Because you don't look very, totally okay, to me," he said and entwined our fingers, giving my hand a light squeeze. "What's bothering you? School? Family?"
I shook my head to each question, looking down at my lap.
"Jacob?"
Snorting at his ridiculous suggestion I rolled my eyes. That guy was no longer even a blip in my radar.
"Me?"
I shook my head with even more vigor this time, glancing at him for emphasis. He smiled and raised his eyebrow before focusing back on the road.
"Ah. It's the party, isn't it?"
This time I just cleared my throat, not wanting to lie or admit that something so simple as a party had me tied in so many knots. But technically, this wasn't just a party. It was a party I was invited to by my boyfriend. That was supposed to be a staple of the high school experience, based on all the teen movies I'd watched. If we ignore the fact that Noah and me weren't actually dating each other because there were any feeling involved.
Because there weren't.
Even though the way he squeezed my hand was oddly comforting.
"It's just a small party, there won't be too many people, if that's what you're worried about."
I sighed, pretty disappointed in the fact that I was so horrible at hiding my emotions. "I just haven't gone to a party in a while, so I guess I'm a little nervous, maybe."
"I've got you, Skyler. I'll make sure you have fun. Trust me?" Noah said, and squeezed my hand again.
My eyes drifted to him naturally, and I felt my heart hiccup when he hit me with one of his trademark charming smiles.
"Yeah, I trust you," I said automatically, without even thinking of what I was saying and that unbearable smile turned 50 shades brighter. Looking away was my only option because my heart was about to give out.
"Good. That's good. You wanna do a question? Might distract you."
"Yeah, sure, let's do it."
"What does friendship mean to you?"
A good question, but one that I didn't have to think too long about before answering.
"Family." I said and smiled, thinking of Mel and Lily. They meant so much to me the word friends often felt like it didn't explain the sentiment well enough. They had been with me through everything. Forgave me anything. Supported me even when they disagreed with me. "For me, true friendship bleeds into family. The found kind of family. Mel and Lily are like sisters to me."
Noah chuckled, and I looked at him, frowning.
"Is something funny?" I asked, mildly irritated at the idea he might be mocking my answer.
"No, not at all. It's just... you stole my answer," he replied and glanced at me, a smirk on his face. "I think friendship is found family as well. At least, if you find the right people."
My heart warmed at another thing I seemed to have in common with this enigmatic boy.
"I'm guessing you found the right people, too?"
He nodded, a warm smile coating his face. "You might meet them tonight actually. Only if you want, I mean, no pressure."
"I'd like that actually."
Even though I knew of them, I was pretty sure I never really interacted with anyone from their group well enough to say I knew them.
Noah beamed at me, clearly excited that I was willing to meet them and the pressure in my heart lessened. It was going to be fine. This party was going to be lowkey and fun. What could go wrong?
"Okay, you look hot hot." Melissa spun me around to face the mirror, the biggest smile on her face.
My mouth dropped open. The girl staring back at me looked stunning. Hazel eyes coated with green and violet to match the violet dress I wore. Light lips and highlighter that enhanced my cheeks. Melissa's skills had gotten even better since the last time I saw her wear fancy makeup.
"Damn, I look hot," I muttered, turning my face to stare at it from every direction.
"That's what I said." Melissa squealed, jumping beside me and clapping her hands.
"You're really good at this, Mel. You should start a channel or something."
She waved my suggestion away with a shy smile. "Oh the popular ones are much better than me and there's so many makeup artists now anyway. But hey, I can make my bestie look like a movie star and that's good enough for me."
"Thanks, Mel. But I still think you're the one that looks like a movie star." I hugged her quickly and then pulled away to stare at her face and the little diamonds she stuck on it. "Let me guess, was Euphoria the inspiration?"
"Maybe," Mel smacked her lips and twirled around. "You like?"
"I love!"
"Well thank you, thank you." She sing-sung and curtsied. "All in all, I think we're party ready, don't you? Noah said it starts around 7.30 right?"
"Yup. 7.30," I replied and stretched my fingers, the nerves in me growing again at the mention of his name.
"Well then, let's get going, girl. We've got a rager-"
"Small party," I interrupted and Melissa rolled her eyes at me.
"A party to conquer."
"Yup. We've got this," I echoed Noah's earlier sentiments and grinned.
We so did not have this.
And this was so not a small party. As soon as we entered the house it looked like there was at least a hundred people there. Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a bit but that's how it felt like when we suddenly got swept by the wave of people and ended up in a huge living room. I should have expected this kind of mansion was where Noah Archer lived. After all, his car was proof enough that his parents were well-off. But seeing it in the flesh was another thing altogether.
"Wow. Just wow, that's it." Mel spoke first, squeezing my hand as she looked around.
"Should we, uh, mingle?" I asked, looking around the crown and trying to spot a familiar tall shape.
"Okay, who is that?" Melissa asked, nudging her head to my right.
I looked in the direction she hinted at and saw a girl and a guy in the middle of a group of people, chugging beers that were on the table. The girl finished first and smashed her cup down with vigor, letting out a happy yell as the rest of the people around them started clapping and hollering.
"That's my sister." A very familiar voice said behind us.
I turned around, a smile already on my face even before I saw him. Noah had a smile that lit up his face.
"I'm glad you're here," he said, reaching out his hand and giving mine a quick squeeze, before turning to Melissa with that standard charming smile. "Both of you."
"Thanks for inviting us," Melissa said, her eyes seemingly searching for someone in the crowd.
I tried to follow her gaze to see who she was looking for but all I saw was a mass of people. Every so often a familiar face would resurface. People I remembered from high school back when we were juniors or even freshmen. It was an odd feeling. But I doubted Melissa was swept up by nostalgia. She never seemed so interested in others.
"Did you get here re-" Noah started speaking again, before being interrupted by someone throwing a hand over his shoulders.
"You must be Skyler." The girl that was playing the beer game just moments ago spoke. Only she wasn't looking at me. She was looking at Melissa. "I knew my brother was smitten, but I didn't know you'd be so gorgeous."
Oh. My.
Melissa turned crimson and seemed to be struggling to come up with words to say. Something highly unusual for her, seeing as we always joked that she'd probably rise from the dead just to hold her own eulogy.
"That's Melissa. This is Skyler," Noah said, rolling his eyes as he motioned toward me. "And this is my sister, Tara."
"Oh! I'm so sorry, I just assumed..." Her eyes drifted from me to Melissa, and the corner of her lip raised up in a smile that looked oddly familiar. "Lucky me, I guess," she said, before clearing her throat.
"I'm Tara, it's so nice to meet you finally, Skyler. " She grinned offering her hand. I shook it and then her attention quickly shifted to my best friend.
"Melissa, or Mel, that also works." Mel finally spoke, taking Tara's hand into hers. There was a moment of distinct tension that seemed to go between the two, hands held ina clasp just a few seconds too long.
"Melissa," Tara repeated as if she was tasting the name on her tongue. For a second, it almost felt like I was interrupting a private moments.
"Well, thanks for interrupting, sis, off you go," Noah jumped in, gently pushing his sister to the side.
"Oh, no, no, little bro, you won't get rid of me that easy. I require a tribute," Tara retaliated, gazing significantly in Mel's direction. "Ever played spin the bottle, Mel?"
"Who hasn't?" Melissa snorted as if she was the local expert in the game. If I hadn't known her better I would have even believed that.
"Well, great, we're missing one person to make it even. Wanna join?" Tara said, a grin on her face as she extended her hand to Melissa.
Melissa looked at me, her eyes asking for both approval and opinion. I nodded enthusiastically, bumping her hip with mine.
"Go, have fun, I've got Noah," I said automatically, without even considering the words I just spoke. Before I could mentally freak out, Noah's fingers entwined around mine and my heart seemed to slow down and speed up at the same time.
"Then, yeah, sure," Melissa giggled, putting her hand into Tara's, who wasted no time before she pulled my bestie into a crowd, and then they were gone.
"Your sister seems cool," I commented, glancing at Noah who exhaled as if he'd just avoided a tornado.
"She's... a lot of things," he muttered, sounding dismissive but at that point I knew him enough to notice the love in his voice, which made it clear how close the two actually were.
"Loving this small get-together, by the way," I joked, squeezing his hand and he let out a choked laugh, running his hand down his face.
"Oh God, don't get me started. Want something to drink?"
I chuckled, and nodded, "Sure."
And into the crowd, we went.
Hello loves! ❤️
It's been a while... I expected I would have more time during July cause of my vacation but then I ended up spending most of it with my sister, her husband and my 2 year old nephew who I barely saw ever cause of covid, so I'm not going to regret it cause he finally called me auntie and that was the highlight of my summer. :')
ANYWAY HOPE YOU LIKED THE CHAPTER??? ✨
Here's our question of the day.
13. What does friendship mean to you?
Friendship is my safe haven. The people I go to when the world and things in it become too much. When I was younger, I was the type that had to have one best friend. I just wanted to have that one person that I felt I was their best friend as well. Probably because of how lonely I felt. As I got older, I realized you don't have to have just one best friend. You can have multiple. You have different relationships with all of them and they're all unique in their way. And, even people that aren't best friend have a place in your life. Maybe you share a common interest, or you feel the same about certain issues.... All in all, with friends I feel safe. I don't feel judged. I can be myself, without feeling bad or weird, and I know they love me for me. I hope you have a friend, or friend like that, but if you don't -- here's a fun fact, most of mine I met in my twenties. ❤️
Okay, moving onnnn....
I have several sorta good news for the people actually reading through my authors notes. I am planning on TRYING to update daily for the next 2+ weeks so that I can finish this book for the Wattys. A huge challenge but... ✨ I will hopefully rise to it. ✨
Also I signed with the Creators program which basically means that you'll have weekly content from me starting August 1st. No more long breaks. So when I start on Drowning in You that will be posted on a weekly basis, minimum.
Another thing. Match Made in Quarantine will be in the Paid program starting August 17th! So if you want to read that book for free... now is the time! ✨
That's probably it. I'm also replying to all the delayed comments I have cause I suck at that.... BUT OTHER THAN THAT, hopefully, I'll see you tomorrow? heehee.
Love you, stay strong, stay safe. ❤️