Lennen's cell phone ringing paused her train of thought as she typed the last few words of her of her five page essay for AP Literature. She knew it was going to be one of her friends calling her about Dorian's party, so she let it go to voicemail, allowing herself to polish her essay.
When the paper was polished to perfection, Lennen looked at her phone, immediately noticing that the call was not from one of her friends, but from Jonas. She and Jonas had exchanged numbers during APES yesterday, so they could get in touch with each other about their project. Lennen was confused as to why Jonas would be calling her today since they had ample time to work on their project. She unlocked her phone, calling Jonas back right away.
On the fourth ring, he picked up. "Hey."
"Hey, I was just calling you back. What's up?" Lennen was curious as to why he had called her, as he had no reason to. They two were hardly friends, despite the time they spent together last night, getting to know each other over dinner.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that. I meant to call Leo, ask him if he was able to get his brother to buy us beer for Dorian's party tonight. Your name is right before his, my bad." Lie. He had texted Leo earlier, already knowing that his older brother got the beer last night. Jonas had heard that Lennen and her friends were going to be attending Dorian's party tonight, and he was curious if Lennen was actually going to be there. After their dinner last night, Lennen was the only thing that occupied Jonas' mind. He was stuck in her trance. He couldn't believe how much they had in common, and her smile was now permanently etched into his brain.
Lennen was a little bummed that the call actually wasn't meant for her, hoping that he had actually wanted to talk to her, but it was just a mistake. "Oh, don't worry about it. I've made that mistake before." Lie. Calling the wrong person on accident was one of Lennen's worst fears, so she was always super careful, wanting to make sure she had hit the right button. "I've got a ton of homework to finish up before my friends drag me to Dorian's party, so I should get back to it."
"Right, I'll let you go. See you at the party." Jonas hung up before Lennen was able to mutter out a single word. Both were happy to hear that the other would be at the party, yet nervous as they weren't sure how to act toward one another. Jonas was still in a relationship with Summer, though had been unhappy for a few months now.
In the middle of doing research for APES project, Lennen's door bursts open, and walking in are her three best friends. She wasn't even fazed, as this has happened too many times to count in the past six years of their friendship.
"Party starts in an hour and you're not dressed yet." She watched Sawyer walk into her closet, searching for something appropriate for Lennen to wear tonight. She looked at her friends with a hint of jealousy, as they all looked beyond stunning. Sawyer was dressed in a pair of her shortest shorts, making her long legs look even better, paired with a yellow, cropped tank top, and black sandals. Ellis had decided on a pair of blue mom jeans, a black bralette that stopped just half way down her rib cage, and a pair of converse high tops. Margo, going in a completely different route, wore a striped crop top under a pair of overall shorts and white vans.
"Put this on," Sawyer tells her, throwing the clothes onto the bed. Lennen smiles as she immediately spots her favorite shoes, her brown jesus sandals, also known as pali hawaiian sandals. With it is a pastel blue, v-neck dress, something Lennen hardly wore, but adored deeply. Sawyer had also pulled out a black choker as an accessory.
"If Jonas doesn't dump Summer for you tonight, then he will be making the biggest mistake of his life." Lennen rolled her eyes at Margo's comment, not wanting to talk about Jonas.
"They've been together forever; I really doubt he's going to dump her any time soon," Lennen responds. Even though Lennen had pictured herself being with Jonas in the past, she would never do anything to insinuate that. She would never break up a couple, it was a selfish thing to do. She really needed to find a way to get over her little crush on Jonas.
"Welcome!" Dorian answered the door, letting the girls into the already crowded house. This was no surprise as Dorian was one of the most popular guys in the senior class, and one of Jonas' best friends.
"Thanks for the invite!" Sawyer says, raising her voice, as music was starting to blare from the house. Dorian steps to the side, allowing the girls entrance into the house. Lennen was surprised as to how many people were actually crammed into the house, it seemed like the entire school was here. The living room was full of dancing kids, and the sea of people flowed into the backyard.
"Drinks are in the kitchen, help yourself," Dorian tells the group of four, and with a nod in response from the girls, he walks away to talk with other guests.
Lennen pours herself a drink and wanders around the house, in search of something to do other than dancing, as she was absolutely terrible at it. She ventured outside to see what was going on, as just about anything would be better than being stuck inside with no wiggle room or air to breathe.
"Hey, Lennen! I need a partner for beer pong, you in?" She hears Jonas yell over the music that was coming from inside. With a quick nod, she joins Jonas on one side of the table, ready to versus the people across from them, who she recognized from school, but couldn't remember their names.
She watches Jonas as he makes the ball in the cup, allowing their team to go first. Jonas shoots first, making his first shot with ease, followed by the second one. Lennen laughs as the two guys start chugging down their beer.
As time went on, Jonas and Lennen ended up beating the two guys, and four other teams after them. "You're freakishly good at this game. This definitely wasn't your first time playing," Jonas laughs as the two sit with their feet in the pool.
"I am the beer pong champion, no one has been able to beat me in two years," Lennen tells him. She may not party often, but she was lucky to be gifted with excellent aim, making her the best teammate for beer pong.
"That's impressive," Jonas responds. He was surprised though because he had only seen Lennen at few of the parties, so it's not like she would be constantly playing. He made a mental note to have dibs on Lennen for future beer pong games; the two were unbeatable.
"Jonas!" A high pitched noise comes from the back door. Summer. Lennen couldn't help but notice Jonas' slight eye roll. She was curious as to what was going on between the two of them.
"That's my cue." Jonas smiles at Lennen apologetically, really not wanting to leave her. Hanging out with her was the best time he's ever had at any party he's been to. Lennen nods, understanding that the girlfriend was beckoning him. The two stand up, slip their shoes back on, and Jonas leaves Lennen poolside.
Lennen watched as Jonas walked away. She was never one to focus too much on crushes, in fact she would always try avoid them, but it physically hurt to see him leave her for Summer. Lennen was never one to make a scene, so she strolled back inside in search of her friends, no longer in the mood to party. The only person she could find was Sawyer, who was sitting at the top of the stairs talking to Holden.
Her house was only a few streets down from Dorian's, so she decided to walk home, not wanting to her bother her friends.
"You're home early," Joyce greets Lennen as she walks through the door. She wasn't expecting her daughter to be home until after midnight and it was only 11:00. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, just got bored is all," Lennen tells her mom. She bid her mom a goodnight and walked up the stairs to her bedroom, immediately changing out of her clothes and into more comfy ones. She opened up her laptop and got to work on submitting college applications. College had really been the only thing on Lennen's mind for the past few weeks, consistently worrying if she was going to accepted into the colleges she wanted. Her dream schools were the lowest accepting schools in the country, but that didn't mean she couldn't try. And if she didn't get in, she had plenty of backups that would be just fine.
As she was typing away for her application to NYU, her phone dinged, showing a text notification from Jonas. Why was Jonas texting her? Especially at almost 1:00am. Lennen had to double check to see if that was actually the right time, unaware of how much time she had spent doing her applications.
was searching for you at the party but i couldn't find you. did you go home? Lennen read once she unlocked her phone to respond.
yeah i did, sorry. wasn't feeling that great. Not a total lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. However, Lennen wasn't planning on telling Jonas that the real reason she left was because she couldn't stand to see Jonas with Summer. This was an unknown feeling for Lennen and she wasn't really sure how to act.
She just wished that her crush on Jonas would disappear. A crush is not what Lennen needed right now; she needed to stay focused on her goals and college. Jonas just needed to be a temporary thing.