- Annalise Lauren -
"Party Games"
I finished straightening my light-brown, curly hair, before Aiden made his presence known by swinging my door wide open. "Where are you going?" I was quick to put a finger to his mouth, checking either way, before I shoved my brother in my room, closing the door quickly.
"Shut the hell up" I then went back to the mirror, smoothening my hair down once more, before I turned back to Aiden. "Where are you going?" he made himself comfortable on my bed, as I looked at him, eyebrow raised.
He was dressed in a pair of white, linen shorts and a navy polo, while I was dressed in a pair of light washed jeans, with a cropped white, tank top. Mother would never approve of this outfit, but it didn't matter. She was the least of my worries, as I was finally going to a party where the really partiers were invited too.
"A party" I responded, keeping my voice quiet. I walked around my bed, grabbing my phone, slipping it into my back pocket, while I heard no response from Aiden. I inhaled, before turning to look at his shocked expression. Of course, I shouldn't of expected any less of his reaction.
"Whose?" was he really this stupid. "Angus Armani's. God, who else?" I then stalked out of the room, knowing my mother wasn't home, and my father would be somewhere else. If anything, I could just tell them that I was out with Aiden, which I basically was.
"Well, your coming with me" Aiden then chased me to the front door, as I opened the front door, him following suit before I pressed the elevator button. "Thanks for the offer, but no" I would prefer not to turn up in Aiden's car.
"Angus organized a Limo for him and the team, so I suppose he wouldn't mind you coming with us. I think he would prefer it anyways" the way he said team and prefer was strange. It wasn't like Angus was untouchable or that he liked me; if anything, we hated each others guts.
"Fine" I walked into the elevator, as the two of us fell into a comfortable silence. I didn't know how to act when Aiden was trying to take over the role of River, years after he was taken from us. But even when River was around, he wasn't that overprotective; there had never been a need to be.
The elevator dinged, allowing for some sense of noise in this eerily quiet area. I stepped closer to Aiden, hating the dimmed lobby. Aiden seemed unfazed, rather reaching for my hand, but I didn't give in. After everything, I didn't need Aiden to hold my hand just because I couldn't get through a dark lobby on my own.
He clutched my hand, making me feel like every other girl. How had I gone from hating his guts to holding his hand within the span of a few months? He was the bad boy while I was supposedly the good girl, weren't we?
We stepped out, into the cold night, seeing the Limo already awaiting. I guess Aiden didn't lie. Aiden opened the door for me, as I looked into the Limo, seeing the first person to move over for me was Angus. "Hey" he was the first one too break the silence as well, as everyone seemed shocked to see me here.
I guess it was a shock, as most of the people that would be attending this party would be 16-17 not 15. I presumed most of them would be their hockey friends too, as that was who I normally saw Aiden and Angus around, not some stupid figure skaters.
"Hey" I muttered back, watching as Aiden kept a close eye on Angus and I. There was nothing going on. "You look awful" none of this was unusual; we constantly put each other down, and it honestly, gave me a sense of normality. "You look like someone shat themselves"
It was so far from the truth, as the dark grey fitted shirt that clung to his body, with the black jeans was really making it distracting to not look at him. Not to mention, but the leather jacket resting in his large hands didn't make it any easier either. I could not be finding Angus Armani hot, or was I?
"Maybe they did. If they saw this beauty, they sure would have" I scoffed at his response, while he brushed his hands through his hair, before running them down his body. "Always so self absorbed, aren't you?" I muttered more to myself, hearing a chuckle from beside me.
I was glad that everyone else had resumed their conversations, leaving Angus and I to ourselves, but that did not settle my nerves, rather increasing them. Why in hell did Angus, the Angus Armani, the best ice hockey player on the team, the vice captain and bad boy of our school, want me to come to one of his famous parties?
It was selective invite, and if you got invited, you were usually counted in the cool kids, like their group. The same group that sat in the middle of the cafeteria, or smoked around behind the school science block.
Not the people that hang out with the lame kids that sit in the corner because they are usually abandoned by their friends, every single lunch time. "You bet" and with that, the limo came to a halt, as the door was opened.
I clambered out, Angus right behind me. I stepped aside from the door, looking at the mansion that was in front of me. I see why he was part of the cool kids after only just moving to our pristine high school.
"Like what you see?" I had completely forgotten that Angus was standing beside me as I awed at his house. "Its mediocre" I was most definitely not going to give into Angus Armani; if the world was ending, I would sacrifice him first.
If only I had known then, that he would sacrifice himself first, if that meant that I could live. Behind all the hate and remarks, there was more that neither of us wanted to find out, as we were complete opposites. He was my brothers best friend and I was his little sister.
He just shrugged, as he continued to have the same smirk he always had on at school; it never used to bother me, but tonight, I just wanted to wipe it off his stupid face. I glared back at him, before I stormed off, catching up to everyone else.
I entered the house, noticing the way that everyone was closely pressed to one another, before I was grabbed by the arm, and dragged into a separate room. All of a sudden, arms were wrapped around my neck, pulling me into a tight hug, while I stood rigidly. Who in hell was hugging me like they knew me?
"Oh my gosh, thank god you are here!" the blonde haired person pulled away from their attack on my neck, allowing me to see who it was. I then did something that not only shocked me, but the person in front of me as well.
"I thought you were gone, like gone gone." I muttered into her hair, holding her as tight as I possibly could. I had almost been certain, that when Hayley Remington had been offered a scholarship at a pristine boarding school, that she would be gone forever. That she was not the same blonde, tan, pretty girl in front of me.
But she was, and that had really turned my life around. Hayley, Avery and I were the trio that did everything together. Our brothers were friends, so we basically became friends through them, but it was a different type of friendship. It wasn't about how our families were connected; it was about who we were as people, and that we had dreams and fears.
"Well, you know me. You can never get rid of me" she smiled brightly. "And you can never replace me" another voice sounded, making me whip around, as I held a hand to my mouth. There stood the remaining trio member, as Hayley and I ran forward, wrapping our arms tightly around Avery Barlow.
While I was shy and timid, Hayley was the crazy, dumb blonde, and Avery was almost like the ring leader. She was who people were scared of; she was a badass, was one way too put it.
"Annalise" another voice made my blood boil, as I had my back towards where I had entered from the main entrance. "What, Angus?" I gritted, annoyed at the way my heart told me to turn and face him while my head told me to continue to ignore him.
I was not going to allow him to get into my heart while my two childhood best friends were here, after being gone for almost 2 years. "Come play a game. And bring your..... friends" the way he hesitated on saying the word 'friends', really made me want to launch my shoe at his perfect face.
"What's in it for me?" I questioned, turning around with my arms crossed over my chest. I was not going to be someone who came to Angus's every beg and plead; every other girl in the school did it for me, but not me. He was my brother's best friends, so I stayed away from not only my brother, but him. I wanted nothing to do with the two of them, and they wanted nothing to do with me.
"I don't know. Just stop being difficult and socialize with everyone else" he huffed, before he turned around to leave. I turned back around to Hayley and Avery, seeing the two of them could not control their laughter. "What?" I questioned.
"Did you see the way he was looking at you? He was so into you" Avery laughed, making me raise an eyebrow at her. Angus Armani was most definitely not into me. He was the loud, obnoxious bad boy while I was the quiet, timid self-aware good girl.
"He has every other girl wrapped around his little pinkie but not me, so as far as I am aware, he would most definitely not be interested in someone like me, let alone me, of all people. He could have every other beached blonde, over me. He could date every girl in our school for all I cared"
But maybe, deep down I did care. Maybe I wanted to be accepted into his cool group, and participate in his stupid little party games, but my hate for him was much stronger than anything else. If he had everyone else, then why was he trying so hard for me, his best friends little sister?
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thoughts? xx