"Girls! Dinner is ready!"
The soft voice calling for us from downstairs belonged to Eliana's mom and my stomach happily cheered at the mention of food. My own mother could cook fairly well, but she didn't quite reach up to Valeria Cortez-Jameson's level. She often let her Spanish roots influence her cooking and I loved the aroma and flavors it provided.
"Thank god, I'm starving," Eliana huffed while putting the final touch to her makeup.
We had spent the last hour getting ready for the party I somehow ended up agreeing to go to. She made me put on one of the tiniest dresses in her wardrobe; a cream-colored piece of fabric that clung to my body in places I wasn't used to showing off. It ended right in the middle of my thighs and let's say I was happy to at least have my butt covered.
I strongly disliked dresses like this one but Eliana had threatened to stab my eye out if I wore jeans or one of my cute, flowery sundresses.
"Are you done admiring my work so that we can eat?" She came up behind me where I stood checking myself out in the mirror on her bedroom wall.
She had done good, I'd give her that. She truly knew what she was doing when it came to makeup. My otherwise rather dull eyes looked intense with the discreet smoky eyeshadow around them and the highlighter brushed across my cheekbones gave my skin a healthy glow.
"Let's go," I said and walked after her downstairs with a nervous flutter in the pit of my stomach. I was pretty sure Miles would join us for dinner and it made me uneasy for reasons I had yet to figure out.
We entered the dining room and I let out a relieved breath as I saw no signs of him. It was just their stepfather Gavin Jameson who sat by the table.
He smiled warmly at us from his seat. "Don't you girls look all dolled up and pretty. Going somewhere special tonight?"
"Miles is taking us to a thing," Eliana nonchalantly confirmed and sat down beside him while I picked the chair next to hers.
"Really? That's wonderful," he said without further questions. Instead, he took a sip from his glass of red wine and continued to scroll through his iPad.
Miles entered the room then, looking freshly showered. He had changed from his previous clothes and wore a plaid red shirt instead of the white tee. I hastily looked away when his gaze landed on me.
Mrs. Cortez came breezing in, setting down various dishes on the table and signaled for Miles to sit down with her hands. Slowly walking up to the seat facing me, he pulled out the chair and plopped down with a frown.
"So, Miles, does it feel good being back in America?" Mr. Jameson asked as he started piling up food on his plate, the iPad thankfully resting on the empty seat next to him.
Miles scoffed and narrowed his eyes at him. "It certainly would be more exciting if I didn't find out my mother remarried while I was away without mentioning a thing to me about it."
Mrs. Cortez cleared her throat awkwardly, putting a gentle hand on top of her son's. "Miles, we already talked about this. Please just leave it."
I peeked up to see him roll his eyes and shove a fork full of paella into his mouth. I briefly wondered why Mrs. Cortez hadn't told Miles sooner. I would be furious if I found out my mom had been married to another guy for years without letting me know. Hell, I would even be furious simply because I wasn't invited to the wedding to begin with.
"Mom, can Faye and I have some wine?" Eliana asked out of the blue and it was a miracle to me that no one seemed to react strongly to her request. My dad would probably go into sudden cardiac arrest if I asked that at the dining table.
Mrs. Cortez's eyes widened slightly and she shot a questioning look to her husband. He meekly shrugged, returning to his food. "I suppose you can taste some," she decided and went to retrieve appropriate glasses for us.
Eliana tried to keep her cool by grabbing my hand and squeezing it, making me laugh. Her excitement was slightly contagious. I shot her a smile and kept eating despite the nervousness I felt. Nervous about drinking and nervous about the boy who was sat across from me.
Working on their own stubborn will, my eyes soon wandered over to Miles again. I almost choked on a shrimp when I noticed he already had his on me. A small, almost unnoticeable smirk could be spotted on his lips.
They must feel amazing to kiss. And he had probably kissed lots of girls and done other things with those lips. My entire body flushed as the thoughts kept coming; I couldn't seem to stop them. Being a virgin and never even been kissed myself, I didn't understand why I even considered such things. It had never interested me before.
Miles stubbornly held my gaze and his smirk grew wider the more flustered I became. Fortunately, Mrs. Cortez returned just then and handed out a glass each to Eliana and me. I silently thanked her as I looked down at content. I suspiciously sniffed the red liquid swooshing around in there, my nose scrunching up before I took a tiny sip. It wasn't that bad but I would've preferred a coke.
Dinner went on and we chatted about college, a bit about Mrs. Cortez's newfound interest in gardening and some about Miles' time in England. But I could quickly tell he wasn't exactly keen on sharing.
After a while he abruptly stood up and grabbed his plate. "I'm heading out, see you later," he bluntly informed, starting to walk off without as much as a 'thank you for dinner, Mom'.
Eliana scrambled up from her seat as well, nearly tipping her glass and the chair over. "What about us? You told me we could come!"
I couldn't fathom why she was so eager to go to this party.
Miles shrugged one of his shoulders nonchalantly. "Did pretty princess make up her mind then?"
I cursed inwardly at the blush his words caused on my cheeks and shot a horrified look at the adults. Luckily they seemed busy discussing whether or not the wine met their expectations. I darted my eyes back to Miles and nibbled on my lower lip before I nodded.
He chuckled and began walking out, calling over his shoulder. "Well, then I suggest you hurry the fuck up because Pete will be here in less than five minutes."
"Thanks for dinner, Mom! We won't be too late," Eliana called and ran after Miles into the kitchen to clean our plates.
I squirmed and smiled at Mrs. Cortez. "Dinner was lovely as usual. Thank you so much."
She smiled back. "Are you alright, sweetie? Don't let Eliana force you into doing something you're not comfortable with."
"I'm fine," I reassured her before hurrying after my best friend and her brother. If I had stayed another minute under Mrs. Cortez's worried gaze, I probably would have caved and ruined the night for everyone.
• • •
A few minutes later, the three of us stood outside the house and waited for Miles' friend Pete to come pick us up. Eliana had managed to sneak a bottle of vodka from her mother's liquor cabinet and she kept hassling me to taste it.
"It smells like lighter fluid," I whined and pushed the outstretched bottle away from my face.
She giggled and took a swig. Her eyes were pinched together as she swallowed and she coughed when it was down. "It's not that bad."
Miles was standing a bit farther off, the orange glow from a cigarette visible in the darkening night. I watched as he took a drag and lazily blew the smoke out. I tried not to cough as the repulsive smell reached my nose.
"Little Faye scared of getting drunk?" he taunted with mischievous eyes.
Feeling bold from the glass of wine I had before, my mouth opened before I could decide otherwise. "I'm not scared."
Miles snickered and threw the cigarette butt away before closing the distance between us. "Then try it." He nodded at the bottle.
I huffed and snatched it from Eliana's hand, putting it to my lips without another word. My throat burned like it had been lit on fire when I took a greedy sip. "Holy crap, that's awful!" I wheezed, forcing myself not to throw up.
Miles and Eliana laughed while I tried to ignore the uncertainty in my gut and I rolled my eyes instead to seem unbothered. Just then a car drove up in front of the house and I watched the pastel pink curls on my best friend's head as she ran down to meet Pete on somewhat unsteady legs.
Miles' fingers suddenly brushed mine and I almost dropped the bottle I was still holding on to. I snapped my head up and stiffened when I realized how close he was standing. His chest brushed up against my shoulder and he had one hand around the bottle, just above mine.
"Are you done with this?" he murmured softly, inching his head a little closer to my ear.
"How. . . how are people actually drinking this and genuinely liking it? They must be crazy," I said in a voice that was shaky partly from the vodka but mostly from his proximity.
A short, husky laugh left his lips and he brushed a strand of hair away from my face. "Your innocence is killing me."
I closed my eyes briefly when his fingers touched my cheek and once I reopened them Miles had strolled down to the black car idling by the curb. Without thinking too much of his tender touch, I took a deep, needed breath and followed after.⠀
• • •
just want to say that i don't particularly like the peer pressure going on in this chapter but i hope you're all smarter than that.
please vote if you liked this chapter ♡