Alice had been talking with Scarlett all day. They had quite a long phone conversation that mostly consisted of talking about the party that was happening tonight. Even though Alice had just moved here, she felt at home. She had never been this welcomed anywhere else she went, and it was refreshing to see the popular group being so friendly. Every other school she had been to they treated her terribly. But now things were different. She had Scarlett, who had also introduced her to a lot of new people. Alice knew she was going to be meeting even more people at the party. She looked at the time. If she wanted to be on time, she should probably start getting ready.
Alice wasn’t really the party type. Yeah, she had been to a few parties with her ex-boyfriend Ryan from New York, but this was different. She wasn’t going with anyone. Scarlett was the one throwing this huge back to school party. And she also would barely know anyone there.
As Alice thought of how to dress, she started with her make-up. She went a little heavier with it tonight. She tried to accentuate her eyes, which she liked to think were her best feature. She stood back from the mirror to get a better look at herself. It actually looked pretty good. She smiled with satisfaction. Now, what to do with her hair. She contemplated whether or not to do a fancy hairstyle. Alice decided to leave it straight, she didn’t want to look like she was trying too hard.
Now here came the hard part.
“Ugh, what should I wear?” Alice mumbled to herself.
She yanked open her closet doors. Without hesitation she started rifling through every item of clothes she owned. Alice didn’t seem to find what she was looking for. Frustration came over her.
“I have nothing to wear!”
Alice collapsed to the floor in a sudden act of desperation. Once again she was throwing her clothes all around her room. Finally she came across one of her favorite dresses. Of course! Why didn’t she think of it before? This would be perfect. It was a red party dress that showed off her curves nicely. It was a little revealing, but not too much to make her uncomfortable. She felt a bit excited as she slipped into the dress.
Alice glanced around the room at the mess. All she needed was some shoes. Next she flipped over a pile of jeans and located a box filled with her shoes. After removing the lid she smiled at the sight of the ideal pair of black heels. Now she was ready to go.
Before Alice left she texted Scarlett.
I’m on my way.
She couldn’t help but be really excited for tonight.
*************************************************************************************
“Luke, relax.” Michael warned.
Luke retorted, “Dude you can’t get mad at me for being nervous.”
“I can if you’re being annoying.”
Luke didn’t say anything.
“Come on man what’s the big deal?” questioned Michael.
“She’s just so cute…” Luke paused, “And you know I’m a little shy.”
“Yeah, especially with girls!” Michael heard Luke sigh. “Look, it’ll be fine. I can help you out tonight.” He continued.
“And she’s definitely going to be there right?”
“For the last time, yes!”
“Okay, I just wanted to make sure.”
Michael told Luke, “I know. But I really have to go now. I need to leave for the party.
“Alright. See ya soon.”
*************************************************************************************
As Alice walked up the winding path that led to Scarlett’s house she couldn’t help but notice how big it was. And beautiful. Judging from this almost-mansion sized house, the clothes she wore, and the car she drove, Alice figured Scarlett’s family had a lot of money. And judging from what she’s heard at school, they could afford to throw parties every other weekend. This could get interesting.
It was easy to hear the music from inside the house booming as she walked closer. Alice didn’t really know what to expect as she stepped up to the door. Unsure whether to knock, she hesitantly pushed open the door. As she stood in the front hallway of this pristine house, it suddenly became clear to her that she would be on her own most of the night.
“Alice!” a familiar voice shouted.
Alice turned to see Scarlett standing at the end of the staircase in a stunning peacock blue dress.
“S-scarlett… you look gorgeous…” Alice stuttered. She didn’t understand how someone could be so pretty.
“Look at you. God, I would kill to look like you.”
Alice’s cheeks became a vibrant shade of red.
“Come on, let me show you around,” Scarlett offered.
Scarlett grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the living room. Alice almost gasped at how many people were here. It was a huge house, yet it was fully crowded.
As Alice walked with Scarlett through the mass of people, many of them smiled at these two girls as they passed by. Alice didn’t feel so alone after all.
The next room over was packed with even more people who were all dancing. Or making out. Scarlett just laughed and led Alice into the kitchen that was a little more vacant than the rest of the house. It was also quieter.
“So…” Alice began.
Scarlett tried, “How are you liking everything so far?”
“A little overwhelming to tell you the truth. But I think everything is settling in nicely.”
“Well that’s good! I’m glad- ” Scarlett got cut off.
“Hey baby!”
Alice saw Michael walk into the kitchen. He gave Scarlett a kiss and stepped back to look at her.
“Holy shit,” he said.
“What?” Scarlett asked concerned.
“You look so hot tonight.” He closed the space between them and kissed her again. This one had a lot more passion.
Alice grew more uncomfortable. As she looked away from the couple she noticed a tall blonde boy standing against the doorway to the kitchen. He was laughing at Michael and Scarlett.
Finally they parted and Scarlett turned to look at Alice.
“So you know Michael of course,” Scarlett laughed. Michael jokingly winked. “And this is Luke.”
Luke shyly smiled at Alice, “Hi.”
“Hi… My name’s Alice.”
He just nodded.
“Okay… so we’ll leave you two alone then,” Michael instructed.
Michael wrapped his arm around Scarlett’s waist and went into the living room.
Alice looked back to Luke to see him staring at her. He quickly shifted his eyes towards the wall.
“So… you moved here from New York?” Luke asked quietly. He looked up so that their eyes met.
“Yeah. I’ve been here for a few weeks now.”
“Wow. That’s cool.”
Alice tried to keep the conversation going, “So how come I haven’t seen you around school?”
“Oh. Well I was visiting family and I missed the first four days of school.”
“Oh I see…”
There was only silence to be heard as they both looked around the kitchen awkwardly.
After a deep breath Luke said, “You look really nice tonight.” He glanced up and down at her, a smile growing on his face.
Alice blushed. “Oh, uh thanks.”
“Do you want a drink?” Luke suggested.
“No, it’s okay. I think I’m good for now.”
Luke looked almost sick.
“Shit. Sorry, you probably don’t even drink or something. I’m so bad at this…”
Alice giggled “No, don’t worry about it.”
They both stood there smiling at each other.
Luke interrupted the deafening silence, “Do you want to dance?”
“Sure.” Alice jumped at the chance.
“I’ll warn you now though, I’m not a very good dancer.” Luke laughed.
As he took her hand Alice’s stomach felt like it was doing somersaults. The looks she was given as they walked into the next room were ridiculous. It was as if people couldn’t believe he was with her.
Alice happened to notice her favorite song come on.
“I love this song!”
“Me too!”
Again, they both just smiled. They stood facing each other and started to move along with the music. Alice wasn’t the best dancer, but she knew how to get a guy’s attention. This was the only good thing that came out of dating Ryan. Alice began to sway her hips back and forth and put her arms above her head. She then became acutely aware that Luke was staring at her again. He had completely stopped moving and was watching her dance.
Alice stopped. “What?”
“Sorry what?” Luke snapped out of it.
“Never mind,” she laughed.
Luke looked at floor as they started dancing again. He tried to keep his eyes away from Alice. Just as Alice was going to say something Luke’s phone rang.
“Oh shit, sorry.”
He reached down into his pocket and got out his phone. Alice could tell he needed to answer it by the look on his face.
“It’s okay if you need to answer it, I understand.”
Luke smiled. “Thanks.”
He quickly pressed ANSWER and headed out of the crowded room.
Alice sat down on a couch near her and went on her phone. She started to feel uncomfortable. She didn’t really know anyone and she hadn’t seen Scarlett since she first got to the part. Then she realized it was already 11:23 p.m. and remembered her curfew of 12:00 p.m. It would take at least 30 minutes to get home.
She promptly got up and scanned the room for Luke. Once that was shown unsuccessful she went looking for him to say goodbye and so he didn’t think she was ditching him.
Alice frantically searched the whole main floor without any luck. She decided to go look upstairs. No one in the upstairs hallway. She heard sound from one of the bedrooms and pushed open the door. Lying on the bed was Scarlett and Michael naked. All she saw was Michael on top of Scarlett before she shut the door as fast as possible. Alice hoped that they hadn’t seen who had interrupted them.
Trying to forget what she had just seen, she continued to look in every room on this level. No luck.
“Well I guess I can’t say goodbye then.” Alice complained.
Just as she was leaving the house she heard someone call her name. She turned around to see Luke.
“Oh hey! I was looking for you.” Alice admitted.
“Really?”
“Yeah I gotta go I have a long drive home.”
Luke paused. “Oh… okay. Well I can give you my number?”
“That would be great!
After programming it into her phone, Alice got into her car and thought about what happened with Luke. He was really cute.