Wish you were sober - Conan Grey
"'Real sweet, but I wish you were sober."
Chapter Nineteen
Carissa
"Please, please please..."
"No."
Don't ask me.
Don't ask me.
Don't ask me.
"Everyone is going!"
Don't ask me.
Don't ask me.
Don't ask me.
"Nop."
Don't ask me.
Don't ask me.
Don't—
I felt my heart slightly stop as Gwen turned towards me, Ellie quickly blocked her. A sight of relief exited my body.
"Nice try," Ellie said as she hand signal her to back off. "Go-go."
We were in the middle of P.E. waiting our turn to run through some circuit without any specific reason. P.E. was the only class the three of us shared. So, Gwen spent must of P.E. updating us with harmless school's gossip. It was mostly about couples she had managed to set them up. Or friends she wanted to hook us up with. Or parties she tried to convince us to go.
"It'll be fun! I promise!"
"Fun?" A sarcastic loud laughter exited Ellie mouth. "Yeah, it was real fun having me keep you from mashing your face to the ground."
"It's called drunk catch. We can switch roles, if you want. I can catch you this time."
"Now why would I purposely trip myself just so someone catches me?"
"You say that cause you've never tried it. It's fun when you're drunk." Gwen said as she rolled her eyes, she had her arms crossed like a little kid about to throw a tantrum. "Come on," she pouted as she stomped her feet. "We haven't been together to a party since forever. It's the party. Everyone is going. It's going to be amazing!"
She shook her head stubbornly, "With you, parties becoming babysitting."
"I promise I won't drink! Please. Ugh, It's Friday, you million year old grandmother!"
"Ugh," Ellie teased Gwen faking utter delight. "I can't wait to be at bed at," she glanced at her Apple Watch and mouthed slowly. "nine."
Ellie and Gwen were having a stare down. Gwen squinted her eyes, defyingly looking right back at Ellie. Ellie titled her head slightly, she could sense something was coming. For sure, we knew that face.
"Gwen..." Ellie worded out carefully. She was trying to find a mid point.
It was too late.
"No questions-asked-favor-wild card!"
Ellie extended her arms and activated her fits trying to manage her frustration. She walked it out.
"You can't use it on me." I warned Gwen, "You have already used mine."
"A little party never killed nobody, Ellie." Gwen called her out. "Besides, I heard some really pretty girls talking about you whom conveniently happen to be coming tonight..." Gwen had been obsessed about playing matchmaker with Ellie for the past two weeks.
"Don't push it. Either we go to the party or you play matchmaker. You can't do both."
"Ellie, you're like a total heartthrob what is there to be ashamed of?"
Ellie blushed at Gwen's loud words. "Gwendolyn, stop it." Gwen particularly enjoyed making Ellie blush, because it was very evident. Ellie's face and ears would go bright red just like I did. I liked it when it happen thought, somehow in Ellie, watching her fluster was the cutest thing ever. It just seemed so out of her usual calm and collected coolness.
Gwen lifted her arms, her palms wide open, all as a sign of well intent. "Okay, okay." She said innocently. A sly smiled followed, "You sure you don't want to come, Risa?"
I laughed, "You just never give up, don't you?" I asked her as I shook my head.
"Ellie Walter," The professor's voice brought us back to reality. Ellie's energy suddenly changed. She seemed more active, like a soldier being called by her officer. She followed the coach. A strange silence filled the space, somehow there was tension in the air.
I frowned at the slight sound of a snort somewhere across the field. I looked over at Gwen. Her eyes turn into a hawk searching for the source. It was Christoper and his friends. They were in Ellie's male swimming team. I twisted my lips, unsure if they were being mean. But, by Gwen's face, I could tell something wasn't right. Ellie did as the coach said and jumped the furthest she could. As soon as she landed, the coach grinned. He wrote down in his rule book.
"A new record, El." He said, she gave a hesitant smile. As Ellie walked toward us, again, Christopher and his friends snorted. Ellie made no move, so we remained silent. The bell rang. We walked toward the locker rooms to change. "Ellie!" The coach called her out. "Could you come over here for a second?"
"I'll catch you up at lunch," Ellie said. I nodded. She turned and raced towards the coach. We headed to the lockers.
I grabbed my backpack and took out my clothes, "Are you okay?" I asked her.
"What do you mean?" Her frowned melted into a wide smile. "I'm chilled." I felt my skin perk up, her smile reminded perfectly still. Gwen looked like the equivalent of an evil doll. "Let's go to lunch."
Christopher had just signed his deathbed.
At lunch, Gwen eyes were glued at the entrance of the cafeteria doors, probably waiting for Ellie's silhouette from afar. People came and go, but there was no sight of Ellie.
Aiden and his friends entered, an uneasiness travelled through my body. I hadn't seen him since last time. Flashbacks of the past events hit me like a bucket of cold water, warmth rushed towards my cheeks as I could clearly recall the image...of my sister puking in his front yard.
Our eyes met. I looked straight to the ground.
If I don't move, he won't see me.
I glance slightly forward, my eyes widen, Aiden, Elliot and Leon rushed towards our direction. I violently shook Gwen's arm as I panicked. It was useless Gwen's eyes were bulged at the door. Aiden stood further in the background as Leon and Elliot slightly pushed each other.
"Hey," Leon said as he placed his hands upon the table. Elliot's teeth clenched annoyed at Leon's quickness to start the conversation. "Seats taken?"
"Okay," Gwen replied absent minded. Leon was flattened out by her lack of interest. Elliot's face gathered some enthusiasm. He pushed Leon back and raced towards our table.
"So, how was you're day? Like how are you...I mean girls...doing?" Elliot was highly nervous as he spoke to Gwen. He kept getting tongue tied and kept moving his hands.
"Sure." She said. Leon turned to Elliot and grinned, proudly satisfied that they were both invisible to Gwen.
"We are doing so great," I intercepted, regretting the fake cheerfulness of my words. I smiled uneasily. Honestly, this was painful to watch. The only one enjoying it was Aiden, who's sole interaction was displaying a smirk. "So..." I repeated, obviously the last words left no my mouth without properly thinking. I tried to think of something. "So...the weather sucks today, doesn't it?"
What language am I even talking?
I could see Aiden from the corner of my eye. His eyes set upon me. A strange sensation in my chest traveled to my chest, like it was going eighty miles per second. He slightly tilted his head sideways as his grin slipped through his hands. A sweet dimple came out of his hiding place into Aiden's cheeks. The strange sensation intensified as I felt myself inexplicably fluster.
"We," Now Leon and Elliot were teaming up to obtain an inch of Gwen's attention. "We're thinking." Gwen took her gaze off the door. We all freeze, awaiting. Had they actually made it? Gwen was ruthless, she took out her phone and texts.
They both turned to me, they looked like children worrying to be the last picked up for a game. This felt like a life or death decision, somehow. "You coming to today's party, Carrisa?"
What?
"What?"
"It would be pretty cool if you guys went," Leon said as he tilted his head sideways pointing Gwen. "We're coming."
Shirt.
"Yeah it would be pretty great," Elliot said with pleading eyes.
There was a silence.
"Sureee." I said unable to fight off with Elliot and Leon's pleading faces.
"Cool," Gwen added absent minded to the conversation. She rose from her seat. "Ellie!" Ellie had just entered the cafeteria. Everyone kind of stared at her, and even when it wasn't in a mean way, it surely felt odd. I understood why Gwen was so apprehensive when leaving her alone. "What happened?"
"Oh," Ellie looked surprised by the guys presence. "Hey there," She shrugged her head as a greeting to the boys. They looked over at her, a bit unsure of how to react.
"Yo," Aiden said completely unbothered. "Cool hair."
"Thanks," she said.
"I'm hungry, you guys done?" Aiden asked Elliot and Leon.
Elliot and Leon nodded, "See you tonight." Leon said as they got up. "Cool," Elliot added awkwardly before they followed Aiden, who was halfway to the door.
"So??" Gwen asked impatiently.
"We made it to the finals," Ellie's smile was the brightest I've ever seen. Gwen and I gasped in unison, "Oh my god!" Gwen shouted as we gathered in a group hug. "Ellie! That's so amazing!" I screamed involuntarily as we jumped.
"I know! I know! We're going to San Francisco in three weeks!"
"San Francisco??"
"Yes!" She shouted excitedly.
"How long until you are social again?" Gwen joked.
Whenever Ellie had a competition, it was bye bye Ellie. She had a competitive sickness, she was extremely engaged, she took her training religiously.
She felt that if she didn't try her very best from the very start, she would fail. Otherwise. it made her feel like she didn't put enough effort to it. Yet training for Ellie were is like vacations for her.
"Two weeks, one for preparation and another one for the beating my records."
"Why did the coach told you privately though?" I asked confused. My question is cut-off by the sound of the school's bell.
"I gotta go to practice," Ellie added quickly as she gathered her things, "See you."
I looked back at Gwen. Something wasn't right. We gathered our stuff and headed out to the hallway.
"Hey, Carrisa." Someone's voice brought us back to reality. I glanced back. It was Sebastian. I frowned at the discreet sensation of every girl's eye sight fixing upon him. He had a warm smile on display. Behind him, waited what looked to be Serenity's friends.
"H-hi," I said awkwardly.
"Ready for tomorrow?" He asked and I felt my stomach dropping a million meters down into free fall. Gwen's eyes widen. Perfect.
I pressed my lips together, "Yeah." I wanted to run.
"I just wanted to ask if there a particular way I have to dress?" he said.
"No, just a suit." I said feeling the verbal diarrhea about to burst out my mouth. "But to the rehearsals, it's fine if you come in jeans. Like it's no big deal, like you don't need to bring a suit just yet. I mean, you can if you want to. You don't have to do, like not if you don't want to, I mean." SOMEONE PLEASE STOP THIS BUTCHERY.
"Great," he said. "I'll see you then."
I closed my eyes shut, about to brace the avalanche that was coming as soon as Sebastian left. Gwen was probably having a mental breakdown.
"WHAT?"
"It's not what you think."
"WHAT DID JUST—
"Seriously, it's for the pageant."
"WHAT?!"
"It was my mom! She asked him!"
"DO YOU LIKE HI–
"—Gwen If you keep asking things I will not go to today's party with you. I don't like him. It was super random and It was my mom who asked him."
Gwen bit her lips hard, as she mentally fought every inch inside of her from asking me about the smallest detail of this conversation. "You have to let me dress you," She negotiated.
"Nothing too flashy. And I'm not drinking."
"Deal."
"I'll see you at 7."
"Yes."
~
"What do you think?" Gwen asked excitedly. I stood in front of a mirror, dressed in a white colored spaghetti dress with soft pastel baby blue flowers. Paired up with white chunky sneakers and an oversize cardigan. Gwen had placed two symmetrical clips on each side of my head. I usually never wore makeup, except for the pageants. It always made my face look weird, I didn't like how it looked on me. It felt like it didn't suit me.
Tonight, Gwen had put me some mascara, lipgloss and blush. Today, somehow felt like I could try to get a bit out of comfort zone.
"It's nothing too crazy, and you still look like you. It has a bit of a flirty cleavage, but the cardigan helps if it's too much."
"I agree," Ellie, who was laying in bed all cozy eating pop corn, said.
Gwen noticed this, "Ellie, get up. If you fall asleep I'll get mad."
"It is my bed time," she justified herself. Gwen sent Ellie a look threatening enough for her to sit down. Ellie wore green dress up pants, a red button up shirt and a brown bomber jacket paired with her favorite red converse. While Gwen wore a tight leather pants and a black corset. "Are you finally ready, Gwen?"
"Yes," she said.
"Are you drinking tonight?" Ellie asked.
"No."
She gave Gwen a look, "Are you driving tonight?"
"Yes."
"Serious?"
"Dead Serious."
"If you get yourself drunk tonight, all wild cards are gone. For good."
"Okay, I promise. Wait!" She stopped us. "The party is like a ten minute drive, its really close by. Let's take a picture before. It's been a long time since we last went out to a party." Gwen took out her instax camera, "We'll take three, so everyone gets one picture." I felt my heart melted a little bit. I don't know why, but I felt oddly emotional. I guess the last couple of days, I had become more aware of how valuable my friends were. I grabbed Gwen by the arm and hugged her tightly. She patted my head gently, "Come on, Ellie, join in."
Ellie joined and tickled my side, I shrieked. The flash went off, the picture exited the machine. The flash went off again. "Hey!" Ellie complained, "I wasn't ready." Ellie took the camera from Gwen hands, taking her by surprise.
"Wha—hey no! Give me the camera back, I know my angles. You're a terrible photographer." Ellie grabbed Gwen and messed her hair as she took another photo. "NOT MY HAIR, YOU BITCH!" The three pictures fell to the ground, as the photo slowly faded in. They were messy, unflattering, halfway blurred out, but most importantly fun.
When we finally got to the house, it was crowded. But like really crowded. It felt like half the school had been invited to the party.
"Who's party is it anyway?" I asked curiously.
Gwen's eyes immediately lighten up, and a smirk was plastered across her face. "Sebastian Carson." I tried to play it cool with Gwen's giddy girl attitude. It was bad enough she knew.
"Is that the guy with a dicky dad," Ellie began gathering information from our previous conversation. Sebastian's house came into view. "Wow, his house is enormous."
"Yep," Gwen said. "Apparently, his dad is out of town or something like that. Or maybe, he's not and he's passively trying to trash his dad's house."
"I would do too, if I had a shitty dad." Ellie added shamelessly.
Sebastian house was about the size of a golf court, I wasn't even exaggerating. It screamed old money and expensive scotch bottles. It didn't seem like a good idea to host in a house like this. If something broke, it was probably worth the equivalent of a human organ to fix it. The place was packed, there was a lot of cars parked, girls exiting their Ubers. It looked like a fashion event. Thanks to Euphoria, everyone was wearing edgy outfits and colorful makeups. My heart beat sped up. I was clearly underdress. I started fidgeting with my hands. Ellie grabbed my hand gently, I turned to her, who looked calmly out the window.
We exited the car into the house. Which inside was even more impressive than outside. The music was loud, it was an on-going battle between Tik Tok hits and rap. A group of boys greeted us in the front door, they were Serenity's friends. Somehow they seemed to be actively waiting for girls to walk in.
"Yo, Gwen, the entrance fee is one shot per head," one of them said with a sly grin upon his lips. Gwen grabbed Ellie by the hand, and opened her mouth to allow the liquid inside of the bottle to waterfall inside her. She cleaned her mouth. She grabbed the bottle and poured a shot to Ellie, who was midway complaining, so it was perfect timing for slipping in the shot.
"What about you?" The other asked me. My eyes widen, I had forgotten how to talk for a microsecond.
"She's off limits," Gwen said as she pulled me towards her.
"Ow, you're no fun." The guy kept his eyes lingering at me as we walked. He winked at me, which only caused me to freak out. My grip around her hand tighten. People danced around, and chatted loudly. We approached a couple of groups of girls, the first greeted her excitedly clearly drunk.
"These are my friends," It was always nice how Gwen whether we went, she would always introduce us. "Ellie and Carrisa." Most of the girls were taken back by Ellie's appearance. It wasn't that Ellie wasn't pretty before, but, somehow this new 'masculine' look attracted more female attention. Especially, when they figured out she was actually a girl. It was funny, but as we approached them, their body language changed. They exchanged faint looks with Ellie from afar, and proceeded to focus madly on their conversations until we walked towards them.
Other Gwen's female friends were a little bit more unfriendly and less engaging with either of us. Still, she managed to get Ellie and her a free shot in every single social greeting engagement.
"One shot," she begged Ellie. She made a sign for the other girls to join her. The other girls grabbed Ellie by the arm. Ellie was a relatively shy person. I could see how clearly flustered she was. "Yeah, Ellie, let's take one shot."
"Risa," Gwen called me out. "You want some?" She wasn't pressuring me to drink, she was genuinely asking me. It was a bottle of Smirnoff decorated with blue, white and red strips. It looked like an ICEE in a big bottle. I bit my lip.
"Okay, just a little bit." Gwen jumped up and down as she shrieked loudly. I opened my mouth as she poured the liquid inside my mouth. The liquid was bittersweet. I shook my head at the bitterness of it. I felt a flash on my face.
"It's her first shot ever!" Gwen said excitedly.
"It's you first shot ever?" One of the other girls asked excitedly. I nodded as they grabbed me by the arms and waved them around the room. The girls started dancing and I felt a little bit shy around the room. I felt stiff as a wooden board whenever I tried to move my arms to the music, I could feel my cheeks heating up.
"No, girl, you gotta move your hips." One of Gwen's friend said. She was a tall, lean, brunette. She was wearing a pair of wide pants and a tube black top paired with sunglasses.
"She only dances to Taylor Swift," Gwen interrupted.
"Well, let's get you Taylor Swift," she declared as she looked back at her friend and made her a sign. Her friend walked toward one of the guys who had their Spotify playing.
"Do you take music requests?" Ellie added.
"Only if I know the tik tok dance," the girl joked. "I'm Danielle!" Danielle approached Ellie and offered her hand. Ellie approached. I looked back at her surprised. Something was happening.
"I'm Ellie." Ellie said as she took her hands between hers, she looked slightly flustered.
"FREE FALL!" I heard the loudest shout Gwen had ever done. Ellie's eyes widen. With these, ladies and gentlemen, we knew Gwen was officially drunk. Ellie quickly ran towards the source of the voice. Which was, thank god, a few meters away from us. Ellie gripped her teeth tightly as she did this weird wide squat while stretching her hands out to catch Gwen. Whom giggled loudly as Ellie was breathing out in relief. She had her back leaned against Ellie's chest.
"Your heartbeat is beating really fast."
"Yeah, of course it is. You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"Another one!" She shouted as she ran. Ellie grabbed her by the arm trying to stop her.
"You're having a blast, aren't you?" The same group of guys from the front door approached us. They guy stretched out his arm to help Gwen stand straight. Ellie immediately shot him a look. Gwen took his hand to get fabulously back on her feet, Gwen pushed her hair back. The guy smirked widely.
"Do you go to our school?" The same guy who asked me about the entrance shot spoke, but he did it behind my ear which made me jump out. I glanced back, Gwen and Ellie were busy dealing with the other guy. I smiled uneasily. This guy was wearing a varsity bomber jacket and jeans. He didn't wait for my answer and raised his solo cup towards me. "Where's your drink?"
"I just had a shot," I said.
He took another sip from his drink, "So?" He asked. "You should get another one then." He didn't wait for my response. "You're cute, what's your name?" No one had said that to me before, yet, when he sound nothing especial. More like routine check...somehow.
"Um," I was taken back by his first comment. "I'm Carrisa Gheller."
"Wait, Gheller? Is Serenity your sister?"
"Yeah."
"Wow, you look nothing like her."
"Yeah, I look a lot like my dad."
"Well, your mom most be pretty hot then," he said and I frowned. He noticed my evident discomfort and laughed. "Just kidding." He walked a bit closer to me. I took a slight step back. "You'll do." Suddenly, a waterfall of liquid came pouring down to this guy. He gasped as he looked back at its source.
"Oops," A soft deep voice was heard. Upstairs, leaning against the hallway's railings, stood Aiden with a solo red cup turnt upside down. This immediately caught the attention of the guy's friends. Who came rushing towards him.
"You fucking asshole," the boy said as he took off his jacket.
Aiden looked at them unbothered, I could sense the tension as people's eyes had directed at the scene. Aiden walked down the stairs uninterested. Aiden had none of his friends near by, yet he fearlessly stood his ground against a group of at least five guys.
"You, King City shit—" The guy with the slipped drink was about to swing at Aiden, when, abruptly, Sebastian grabbed the back of his arm smoothly.
"Hey man," Sebastian called him out. I flinched slightly. Sebastian always had this friendly smile upon his face, and usually it felt warm, but this time, it just seemed threatening. "You either chill or I'm gonna ask you to leave."
"Tell that to that fucking freak over there, he threw his drink at me."
"Everyone spills their drink, it's a party. I can lend you a jacket if it's that big of a deal." Sebastian's words seemed logical to the people surrounding us, the tension and uncomfortableness was redirected to this guy. Now, they were all staring at him, judging him. They guy looked clearly embarrassed. Everyone was thinking he was a poor drinker.
"Man, I'm sorry, he gets jumpy when he drinks." The one friend who kept hitting on Gwen apologized to Sebastian. He smiled uneasily hoping it would be ease things up.
"Not anyone's problem." Sebastian stated dryly. It surprised me how in a matter of weeks Sebastian had managed to obtain such a "social power" that this dudes would do anything to stay cool. I guess some were born to be popular.
His friend nodded comprehensively. As he grabbed his friend and walked away, he hissed at him; "Dude, stop fucking it up."
I turned back to Aiden's direction, who had already gotten off the stairs and was walking away. My hands turn into fist, my whole body tense up and I shut my eyes closed.
Fudge it.
"Hey," I bursted out. I felt slightly courageous tonight. But...he didn't turn. "Hey!" I repeated louder. No answer. Skirt. My courage was fading. I stayed back. Unsure and embarrassed. His hand reached out for the garden's slide door. If he exited the house, I would probably lose all courage to talk to him. I raced towards him, and just as I was reaching out my hand to touch him, he turned. My eyes widen, I'm somehow able to stop my arm midway, but I ended up in the strangest pose ever. I looked like the meme of the guy that's spraying spices on his food.
I waved my hand slightly, "Hey..." I stopped, dragged my hand all the way to my hair and scratched the back of my head. Somehow, I thought it would look casual? What the hay am I doing?
Aiden looks uncomfortably taken back by my presence and our body distance. lWe were standing next to the garden door, it was less crowded somehow. The music was still pretty loud.
"I just wanted to say thank you!" I finally said.
"It just slipped." He said blankly, there was a slight pause. "Anyway, who knew a dress and makeup could make you look potentially more approachable."
I felt my cheeks fluster lightly, "You think I look approachable?" He caught that. He glanced back at me, surprised.
"How do you take that as a complement?"
I felt my heart drop, "Is that bad?"
He was about to say something, but stopped. His energy changed. There was a micro-pause and then he added, "I mean I'm genuinely asking."
"Well," I felt my tongue loosen up. "I always feel my awkwardness makes me unappealing. Like a social impairment..." I let the last part out of my mouth softly. "It's nice hearing for once I don't look like a nervous wreck."
I felt Aiden sensed I was being personal, surprisingly, he welcomed it. He frowned as if what I said was hard to believe. "Trust me, I know what unapproachable looks like."
"But you like that, don't you?"
He shrugged. His answer was vague, but somehow, I felt he might feel similar to me.
"I think your dimples make you look approachable."
"My nipples?" He asked confused. Fudging loud music. I felt my whole face fluster into scarlet red color and my spirit leaving my body.
"DIMPLES! DIMPLES, I said! DIMPLES! D-I-M—"
Aiden's mouth let out the loudest cackle. I turned towards his direction, bedazzled. It was like watching snow fall on sand. His body bolted lightly, yet he tried to keep his posture. His head tilted backwards, the two set of dimples in the corner of his mouth came out to full view, clear as the sky and as eye catching enough to make me partially forget my embarrassment.
"Wait 'till your friends hear you're into my nipples. That's kind of fetish, isn't?
"It's not a fetish—"
"—it's okay, first step is denial."
"No! I said dimples!" I begged painfully embarrassed. "You're so..."
"So?"
"Bothersome!"
"Bothersome." Aiden pouted clearly mocking my facial expressions. "Cindy Lou, you got to pump up your curse game. It's like watching Dr. Seuss swear. I'm afraid it's highly unthreatening."
"I take it back, I take it back, I take back the complement of your nipples!" My eyes widen and I immediately corrected myself, highly frustrated. "I mean, dimples. Dimples! Jesus Fries!"
And there it is, again! He's really staring and someone this freeze my whole body and flat out stop any of my actions. One corner of his lips was slanted upwards. "You're approachable," he said softly and somehow, kindly. "Just be you, you don't have to worry about that bullshit."
I smiled, I was about to say something, It wasn't that the awkward silences bothered me, I just wanted to keep the conversation going. "So, why did you came here?"
"Isn't it obvious? My friends are painfully crushing over your friend. She's clearly not interested, but that's not my place to say."
"Yeaaah, Gwen doesn't like any boy easily."
"I can see that, hone–"
"–FREE FAAAAALLL!" Gwen's scream was heard through the house, we all turned towards the scene.
"Gwen!" I heard Ellie shout scared for the life of Gwen as she squatted to catch her between her arms. Before Ellie could even take a break, Gwen was already racing to another spot of anywhere in the house and shouted again; free fall. Ellie ran for her life. She caught Gwen, her hands resting in between her armpits.
"I will let you drop this time," She warned her.
"No, you will not. "
Gwen got on her feet, she ran towards another room, she got on top of a table. Ellie gave her a look, "I'm serious," she dared her. Gwen made a face, and started dancing to the life out of the song that was playing. People began to gathered around her. Well, mostly boys, who started cheering. Aiden and I looked at each other, we walked towards them. Ellie stood there, evidently displeased by the guys' actions.
"Is dancing on tables a thing again?" I heard another guy asked positively please. I frowned, some girls passed us by, I immediately identified Arielle was among them. She had the biggest sneer on. "Hoe bag," I heard her mumble. I looked to the room they had just left.
"Oh no," I mumbled under my breath. Serenity was on top of a table dancing, but the problem was she was wearing a dress. I felt heat gathered inside of my chest as some guys pulled out their phones and recorded from a suspicious low angle. "This is awesome," I heard someone say. I entered the room on impulse, but flat out stopped, as soon as I approached the guy with the camera. It was like I had lost control of own my body. I froze.
"That's enough," I heard someone say behind me. Sebastian grabbed one of the guy's phone and tossed to the ground. Aiden stepped on it, before the guy could get it back in his hands.
"Delete that video," he warned him.
Yet it wasn't enough to keep everyone else from doing it, as Serenity kept dancing. Sebastian got on the table and gently tried to place his jacket on her shoulders. He sort of tried to cover the angles where my sister's underwear could be seen by putting his arms around her. He wasn't touching her though and sweetly avoided any eye contact between them. Thank god for the lights, it wasn't as noticeable as possible. Serenity stood up, slowly, she turnt to him.
"What are you doing?" Serenity was, of course, drunk as fudge.
"Why don't you dance somewhere else?" He asked politely.
My sister hated politely.
"Why don't you fuck off?"
Sebastian grabbed her by her waist, he pulled her body on top of his shoulders, Serenity let out the loudest earsplitting shirked. She placed her hands on top of her butt, to make sure her underwear didn't show. He quickly placed her on the floor and before Serenity could even mouth a sound, he added quickly; "I'm sorry for touching you non-consensually. It was the quickest move that came to my mind."
"Aw, you're so nice." Serenity mocked him, "I don't need your fucking help."
"Actually, no, that's a very expensive table and I can't have you break it."
"Serenity, stop being such a dick." I heard some of her friends say to her.
She scowled at them, "Seriously? Can't anyone see how fake his whole act of kindness is? He's clearly trying to get something out of us, social acceptance, or whatever that is."
"I'm gonna go get the other girl off the other table," Sebastian excused himself.
"FREE FAAALL!" I turned to the other room, Gwen literally swung herself off the table. Ellie, who had been patiently waiting for it, caught her.
"That's it, we are leaving now." She said, "Give me your keys," she took out Gwen's keys from her pockets. "Carissa, thank god, you're here. Let's get out of here."
"But who's driving?" I asked.
"I will," Gwen said. "The key is to drink in the first hour, so when the night ends, you're no longer drunk and safe to drive off."
"The only thing you're driving off is my patience. I will."
"But you don't know how to drive..." I said.
"I don't own a car to practice everyday, but I did get my license, and I figured if I can fix cars, I can probably drive them. Anyway, I got Waze and it can't possibly be more dangerous than having drunk Gwen drive us."
"You guys I can totally drive you," Elliot pointed out.
"Or me," Leon added.
"I had enough of boys tonight. I can do it, thank you very much. " Ellie added passively aggressively. "Lucky us it's relatively close and we don't take any highways."
"How about we just follow you in our respective cars? Just in case there's an emergency?" Aiden proposed.
Ellie looked at him and nodded, "Fine."
Ellie carried Gwen towards her car, before I exited the door, I looked back searching out for Serenity. "I'll be there in a second." I announced them, but again, it was like that moment before with the camera guy, my body wouldn't move, it wouldn't listen to me. I walked out the door. I sat on the passenger seat, Gwen had her head leaning against my shoulder. We both had our seat belts on, Elliot, Leon and Aiden surrounded us. Ellie turned the ignite on, she took a deep breath and nervously started pressing on the gas faintly. The car started moving, Ellie looked in every direction making sure she didn't hit the two cars that surrounded us. A good ten minutes passed and all Ellie kept doing was backing up and then backing back to our initial spot.
"Ugh, I hate parallel parking!" She said as she placed her head into the steering wheel. Elliot knocked on our window. "I said I was fine!" Ellie growled at him. This somehow had managed to fire up Ellie, and miraculously, managed to finally leave Sebastian's garden. Gwen waved goodbye to the boys. I couldn't look at Aiden in the eye.
"Can you put some music?" Gwen asked.
"No." Ellie said as she focused madly at the road. tried to move forward, "I swear to god Gwen," Ellie warned her. I managed to push her to her seat. Also the seatbelt helped a little to keep her from over boarding Ellie.
"Come on, it's boring like this."
"Too bad. I can't concentrate with music."
I pressed my lips together. I felt funny, in an overly sensible way. My eyes started to get teary. Luckily, no one noticed. I thought about Serenity, the guy with the camera...I realized what Aiden meant that other day when he called me a pushover. He was right. I was a coward.