I slept in on Saturday, making sure I had the energy to spend the night partying. Cat had offered to pick me up later that afternoon and we were all going to get ready for Gabi's party together.
I was so consumed by the music I was listening to, drumming my fingers against my makeup table that I almost didn't hear the knocking on my door. Humming to the lyrics because I didn't know them well enough to sing along yet, I let my hands search through the drawers, picking out makeup products to bring to Sammy's.
"Hanna?" I suddenly grew aware of the knocking as it grew louder, cursing under my breath, I dived across the room to turn my speakers down.
"Sorry, come in!" I shouted, hand still on the volume switch when my mum walked in, tray in hand.
"Going out?" she asked, eyeing the clothes sprawled out on top of my bed and the open makeup drawers.
"Um, yeah" I nervously smiled, running my hands over my thighs. My mum didn't like when I went out too much, once a month was fine with her if I told her exactly where I was going and when I'd be back but more often than that was a no no.
I nervously gulped, ready for her to tell me I couldn't go. "I know Sammy's birthday party was only last week bu-"
"Have fun, honey" she smiled, cutting me off with a smile. A smile?
Wait, what?
The surprise must've been written all over my face because she started laughing and placed the tray with food on my bedside table. "It's fine, Hanna. I get it. Go have fun with the girls tonight as long as it doesn't affect your school work and you're in bed at a reasonable time, it's all good" she told me and a big smile took over my face.
"Thank you so much, mum!" I squealed after my brain had registered her words, I ran over and pulled her in for a hug. "Actually about school, we were planning on studying all day tomorrow so could I maybe sleep over at Sammy's?" I quickly added since she was in such a good mood.
My mum nodded her head. "Okay, I trust you, honey"
Okay, now she was just getting straight up scary. Who was this woman and what had she done with my strict, overprotective mother?
"Okay.." I hesitantly smiled, still ready for her to start laughing and say something like 'just kidding, you aren't going anywhere'.
"I brought you dinner, it's nothing special and I'm sorry we can't eat together tonight but you know dad has another night shift and I'm off to work as well now" she mumbled, straightening out her pencil skirt and pointing to the tray of food and tea. Mum always made me tea, I think it was the Brit in her.
"It's fine, I'm not that hungry anyway. What about Clara?" I asked.
"Oh don't worry, she's staying at your grandma's for the weekend. I thought that'd be best because your dad and I are working almost all weekend and I figured you'd be busy too. Grandma called earlier and said Clary made a new friend at the playground, the neighbors son I think. I'm gonna pick her up Sunday night" mum explained, toying with the car keys in her hands.
"Oh okay, that's good. She always makes friends so quickly, I wonder how she does it" I laughed. Can't relate. Sure, I had Sammy and Cat but that was about it, everyone else seemed more like acquaintances. "So, do you need me to lock the door when I leave?"
"Yes, please. That'd be great. Don't forget to text me tomorrow morning so I know you're alright, okay, Hanna?" she asked, pushing a strand of her blonde hair back into her perfect bun. "I think I'll sleep at your dad's apartment tonight. We'll be back Sunday evening"
"Of course" I nodded. "That's fine with me"
"I love you, honey. Have a fun time and say hi to Samara and Catrina from me" she kissed my forehead, leaving a faint pink lipstick mark behind and walked out of the room.
"Bye mum!" I yelled after her. "Love you loads!"
"Be safe!" I heard her call up the stairs before she left the house. I listened for the sound of her car leaving the driveway, turned my music back up and continued my quest to find the perfect makeup for tonight.
When I got down to eyeshadows I started feeling conflicted and decided to ask Sammy and Cat for advice, I didn't want to bring all my makeup to Sammy's house, I was way too lazy for that.
Uncharging my phone I plopped down onto my bed, careful to not mess up the clothes I had laid out. I opened our group chat.
✨Golden Trio✨
Me: heey,
what makeup look
should I do tonight?
I can't decide on
what eyeshadow to bring..
Samuel L. Jackson❣: I dunno but I'm doing red lips tonight
Cat🐱: aw, I wanted to do red lips too! Can't we all do red lips that'd be super cute!
Me: ugh,
I don't even have a
cute red one rn..
Cat🐱: you can both borrow mine!!
Me: what about eyes then?
Cat🐱: let's do gold!
Samuel L. Jackson❣: not everyone has gorgeous blue eyes like you, Cat..
Samuel L. Jackson❣: I wanna do black liner and maybe a simple eyeshadow color if you want
Me: Cat's idea sounds good, I'm in the mood for gold eyes, I'll also bring black liner. Let's decide later, k?
Cat🐱: yay! Can't wait!
Samuel L. Jackson❣: k, I'll see you guys later, I ordered pizza btw. Also, Dom agreed to drive us. Be @ my place by seven
Me: got it, see you guys later💕
Cat🐱: byeee xx
Samuel L. Jackson❣: see ya
I closed the group chat, and quickly checked my other notifications. Two new messages from an unknown number.
+2 new messages..
Unknown: hey!
Unknown: what are you up to rn?
Me: who is this..?
I closed my phone and got back to getting ready. I packed the makeup I needed, all my brushes and my trusty straightener, tossing it all into a big tote back before going back to the real dilemma. What to wear?
I stared at the clothes sprawled out on top of my bed for a while, contemplating what I felt in the mood for when I heard my phone buzz again.
+1 new message
Unknown: This is Jungkook..
I mentally slapped myself before remembering I had given him my number the other day.
Change contact name to 'Jeon Jk'?
accept/ decline
Me: right, sorry😅 getting ready rn, you?
Jeon Jk: I'm @ a friend's house, what u getting ready for?
I hesitated for a moment. Why was I texting him again..?
Me: a party, nothing special though
Jeon Jk: so you going to Gabi's?
Me: ya, how d'you know?
Jeon Jk: sweetheart, there's not a single party I wouldn't know about;)
Me: right, why did I even ask..
anyways, gotta go now
Jeon Jk: tell me if the party's any good when u get there, I wanna know if it's worth coming
Me: k
Yeah, I was definitely not doing that. He could stay right where he was.
Jeon Jk: and show me what you're wearing;)
Me: you wish
Change contact name to 'Fuckboy'?
accept/decline
Fuckboy: feisty as always;b
Me: fuck off, Jeon
before I block you
With that I closed my phone, quickly checking the time.
5:45 pm
Enough time to still wash my hair before Cat picked me up. I sighed when my eyes fell onto the bowl of soup my mum had warmed up for me. I felt bad wasting it but I didn't feel hungry yet and Sammy had ordered pizza for all of us.
I let the water in the shower warm up and took my brown hair out of its braid, running my fingers through the greasy strands.
I left the bathroom door open because I was home alone and wanted to be able to hear the music from my room. I tried to hurry through my shower routine. Shampoo, conditioner, body scrub, shaving gel, shower gel..
I winced when I ran my razor over my ankle and the blade left a small cut.
Why did this happen every single time? I cursed the pink plastic razor in my hand, making a mental note to buy a men's razor on my next trip to the drugstore, this one barely did it's job and was useless after what felt like only the fifth shave.
I finished my shower by rinsing my body with the coldest setting of water. I wrapped my hair up into a towel turban before quickly patting my body dry and rushing back to my room.
Looking back at the abundance of clothes on my bed I still couldn't make up my mind. My eyes fell onto a short flower dress, James' favourite dress on me. I picked the backless dress up from the pile of clothes, memories of past dates and the curly haired boy whispering compliments to me flashing through my mind. I tossed the dress into the back of my closet. Not today, satan.
I didn't feel like flowers, pastel colours or even dresses at all. My eyes fell on a pair of tiny black shorts I owned. Booty shorts? Booty shorts.
I paired them with black tights and a simple white t-shirt, grabbing my favourite faux leather jacket from my coat hanger and sliding on some heeled black booties. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror with a satisfied smile. Much better.
(this outfit except the shoes)
The remaining time that was left until Cat got here to pick me up I used for cleaning up the mess I had made of my room, putting all my clothes back into my closet and cleaning up my makeup table so mum wouldn't kill me when she saw my room. When I was done and checked the time again I barely had enough time to blow dry my hair, grab my things and go.
My phone was buzzing in my pocket with an incoming call, assuming that it was Cat telling me to come down I picked up before checking the caller ID.
"On my way down right now" I mumbled into the phone, hurrying down the stairs.
"Hanna?"
I froze in my step, phone still held up to my ear. Him again.
"Can you hear me?" James' voice asked and I checked the caller ID. Didn't I block him?
Unknown number calling..
"Fuck off" I spat before hanging up and blocking this new number as well. I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to hear any of his shit right now. I wouldn't let him ruin another night out with my friends.
I could hear Cat honking from outside so I put my phone back into my pocket and continued my way down the stairs. I locked the front door and chugged my extra keys into my purse.
Cat was waving at me from the driver's seat, hugging me when I climbed onto the passenger's seat, a wide smile on her face. The dent that James' voice had left in my good mood was quickly ironed out.
"Hii!" she smiled, her blonde hair up in a messy bun. I glanced over at her outfit. It was almost like we had planned to look badass tonight, she was dressed in all black, shiny tight leather skirt hugging her curves nicely with a loose spaghetti strap top tugged in. She was wearing a black velvet choker along with her usual silver heart charm necklace.
"Converse?" I asked, looking down at her pink shoes that disrupted the look. Cat started the car and made her way out of my driveway, shaking her head with a smile.
"My heels are in the back I just can't drive in them" she mumbled, pointing to her bag in the backseat.
"Ah okay" I mumbled. That explained things because Cat wore heels every chance she got. I didn't know exactly how tall she was, somewhere around 5'2 but even with heels she was still visibly shorter than Sammy and I and for some reason that seemed to bug her even though I thought her height suited her perfectly.
Turning up the volume Cat erupted in squeals when the radio station played Ariana Grande. Shaking my head with a smile I watched her belt out the lyrics and do her little dance. This girl.
Cat loved, no she lived and breathed for Ariana Grande. She had been pestering Sammy and I to go to a concert of hers with her for ages.
"Eyes on the road, kitten" I teased her.
Cat ignored my comment, turning the volume up even louder.
"So I'm pickin' it up, pickin' it up, I'm lovin', I'm livin', I'm pickin' it up!" she happily sang, bopping her head and laughing at my reaction.
I lived a good 15 minute drive away from Sammy's house so when the song ended Cat asked me to play Ariana's album for her and because I just couldn't resist her puppy eyes I complied and got my own little private concert.
Cat parked the car in Sammy's garage and as we got out the car and got our bags from the back she sent me a shoulder shimme and a wink. "Admit it, you love my singing" she giggled.
"Couldn't live without it" I smiled.
"GUYS IT'S 10 AFTER SEVEN WHAT DID WE DISCUSS ABOUT BEING FASHIONABLY LATE BUT NOT WITH EACH OTHER!" Sammy greeted us by ripping her front door open and yelling at us but she immediately broke out into laughter when she saw Cat clutching her heart in shock.
"The pizza's turning cold you asshats, now get your booties inside!" she urged us, slapping our butts as we walked past her.
"Damn, Hanna! I'm loving those shorts" Sammy gasped. "You're making me want to go change" she mumbled, looking down at her highwaisted jeans and crop top.
"Do it, unleash the hoe!" I laughed and she saluted me.
"Yes, Sir! Be right back, you guys go make sure Dom doesn't eat all our pizza" she shouted and ran to her room.
Cat and I walked into the kitchen where, sure enough, Sammy's older brother Dom, his full name was Dominic, was leaning over cartons of pizza and stuffing his face with a slice. His eyes darted to us the moment he heard us come in and a huge grin took over his face.
"My two favourite girls!" he shouted, voice muffled from the pizza in his mouth, opening his arms wide and putting the slice down, strings of cheese sticking to his fingers.
"Watch it!" I shrieked when his greasy pizza fingers came too close to my head as I hugged him. "I just washed my hair"
"Sooorry, Hani" he pouted, licking his fingers clean and flashing me his perfectly white teeth.
Dom was the only person that called me Hani, no idea where he got that nickname from but since it was him I didn't mind.
Sammy, Cat and I were so close that even our siblings seemed like family to each other. Dom wasn't just Sammy's older brother, nope now had two additional little sisters. Clara wasn't just my younger sister, Sammy and Cat loved her just as much and watched over her like actual big sisters would. My family was theirs and their families were mine.
Cat was an only child which meant she was all the more babied by us and also because she was a ball of sunshine who had to be protected at all costs. Boy, if someone ever dared to break her heart-
"How's uni going?" Cat asked, heaving herself up onto the counter next to Dom and grabbing a slice from the carton. She looked even tinier sitting next to him her small form brushing his broad shoulders. Dom was the tallest guy I knew. He had to be over 6'2.
"Fine, I'm actually off for two weeks which means you'll be seeing a lot more of this handsome face" he joked. "Ahh, Hani this one has olives, I think Sammy forgot to ask for no olives. You want the one with pineapple instead?"
"Eww, yeah give me one with pineapple that's fine, just no olives. Thanks, Dom" I smiled at him when he handed me a big slice, I joined the two on the kitchen counter, grabbing onto Dom's arm for support.
"Does that mean you'll pick us up from school ever day?" Cat asked, batting her eyelashes.
Dom sighed, throwing his head back. He knew we wouldn't let him say no to us.
"Pleeeease" I joined in, matching Cat's puppy eye expression and sticking my bottom lip out.
Usually, Sammy drove us to school but she didn't always get her parents' car and whenever she didn't, we all had to use the shitty public school bus and that was an absolute nightmare.
We lived quite far from our high school, thank god, and the bus got really packed and stuffy, plus you couldn't even block out all the annoying, loud kids by listening to music because the bus driver always blasted east block schlager music which was nothing short of torture on a long school day.
"Pretty pleease!" Cat whined and Dom finally nodded his head.
"Alright, alright- you got me. I'll pick you guys up" he sighed.
"Yaaay! You're the best, Dom!" she cheered, wrapping her arms around his tall form.
"Anything for you, Cat" he ruffled her hair.
"Okay I'm back, let's get ready!" Sammy called out as she scooted through the door in her fluffy socks.
She smacked Dom's arm once she caught him stuffing his face with our pizza. "Quit eating our food, I asked if you wanted any and you said no!" Sammy groaned.
"I changed my mind" Dom chuckled, swiftly avoiding her hands and grabbing more of the pizza.
"Sammy, leave it. He's driving us, remember" I gently nudged her to which the brunette only rolled her eyes.
"Thanks, Hani" Dom patted the top of my head.
"Stoop" I groaned. "You're messing up my hair"
"Oh yeah?" he stuck his tongue out at me, grabbed me into a death lock and started wildly ruffling my hair. I attempted to fight free, Sammy and Cat immediately came to my aid and the three of us together actually stood a chance against Dom.
He let me go when Cat started tickling him and I didn't waste a second, slipping from his arms and into Sammy's instead who dragged me away from him.
"Aw Hani come back!" Dom laughed, pushing his dark brown hair back, his muscular arms now locked around Cat who bit his hand and sprinted away.
"Hey!" he shouted after her, lips still curved up into a smile. "That hurt!" he whined.
"Let's go upstairs" Sammy urged us, linking arms with Cat and I.
"What about the pizza?" Cat pouted.
"Dom can bring it up to us later" Sammy replied.
Cat and I dropped our bags onto Sammy's bathroom counter. I plucked my straightener in next to Sammy's curling iron and Cat took her long blonde hair out of her bun.
Sammy had set up her big bluetooth boxes and because Cat had immediately claimed to play DJ we were now listening to, you guessed it, Ariana Grande.
I straightened my long brown hair until even the most stubborn wave was tamed, pinning my side bangs back to get started on my makeup.
"Sooo.." I turned to Sammy who was leaning over the sink, carefully drawing in her eyebrows. "Gold eyes?" I asked.
"Naah" Sammy groaned.
"Yess!" Cat beamed, rummaging through her makeup bag and showing us a collection of light gold to deep bronze tones of eyeshadow.
"Come on, Sammy. Let me do your eyes, you'll look bomb, I promise!"
It was a mystery to me how anyone could resist Cat when she was pouting at you, plumb bottom lip stuck out, blue eyes glistening like the ones of a puppy and puffy rosy cheeks making the blonde look even cuter than she already was.
Sammy seemed to be able to relate because she softened and nodded her head at her. "Fine" she sighed.
"Yay!" Cat chuckled, pushing Sammy to sit so she could do her eyes.
"You too, Hanna?" she asked when she was done with Sammy. I stared at Sammy's deep brown eyes, completely amazed by the pretty bronze glimmer now complimenting her natural look.
"That's gorgeous, wow, Cat. Yeah please do mine too, maybe a bit lighter than that though" I mumbled and was already pushed into a sitting position by Cat.
"I'll try my best" she cheered. "Did you know you're the only person I know that has such light blue eyes?" she mumbled as her eyes squinted in concentration.
"My dad has them too" I mouthed, eyes closed so Cat could work on my eyes.
"Ohh right.." she whispered in realization.
"Sammy?" I mumbled, my eyes were still closed so I didn't know where she was.
"Huh?"
"Did you tell Gabi that we're coming along?" I asked.
"Yep. Like I said at school she said it's no problem, why?"
"It's not her birthday though or anything, right? Because I didn't bring a gift" I muttered and Sammy started chuckling.
"No she was a house party once a month or so, her parents are away a lot" I heard her explain.
Gabi, or rather Gabriella, was a girl I was friendly with but didn't really know anything about. Sammy hung out with her from time to time and she had a class with Cat but other than the occasional wave or mumbled 'hello' when we saw each other in the hallways I had nothing to do with her.
She seemed nice, a bit loud from time to time but I guess most of the popular kids were. Oh, and she was rich, I knew that.
"Have you ever been to one of her parties?" I mumbled to Cat.
"No, just Sammy. We don't even really talk in class so I know her about as well as you do" she mumbled back.
The next question I wanted to ask got stuck in my throat for a while. Clearing my throat I waited another few seconds before opening my eyes after Cat told me I could and hesitantly turned to Sammy who was curling her hair.
"Hey, Sammy?"
"Yes, babe?" she teased me, giving me a wink in the mirror.
"James isn't coming, is he?" I bit my lip.
Sammy sighed, dropping the curled strand of hair she had been holding.
"I don't think so. I asked Gabi and she said his group of friends had other plans. But I don't know they could still decide to show up" she told me and I nodded.
That's what I had thought. James, like Jungkook, was never one to miss a party. Maybe they weren't gonna be there when we got there but there was a high chance they'd show up at some point in the night.
"That's okay though, right?" Sammy turned to me, judging my sour expression.
"What? Oh, yeah I'm fine, don't worry" I assured them, playing with my black nailpolish, slightly picking at it.
"You don't have to talk to him, Hanna" Cat said, taking my hand.
I smiled up at her with a small nod. "I know"
"You don't even have to see him" Sammy chimed in. "We can just leave or go somewhere else, dance!"
"It'll be fine, maybe he won't even be there" I said, getting up to get started on my hair.
He will be.
"Wow, I love it, Cat! Thank you so much!" I gushed when I looked at my makeup in the mirror, quickly changing the subject before my mood could drop again.
"You're welcome!" Cat brightly beamed, handing me her red lipstick.
When we left the bathroom, makeup and hair done we were all in a really good mood, joking around to the music and performing a silly dance choreo to Dom we had made up earlier.
Eating pizza with red lipstick was hard but I knew it was better than drinking on an empty stomach, let's not forget what happened last time I did that.
"Shotgun!" I yelled before anyone else could, pushing past Sammy and Cat when we were all walking to Dom's car.
Dom told us to call him whenever we wanted to be picked up and we thanked him again and again for driving us when he dropped us off at Gabi's house.
"Be safe, kids!" he shouted after us through his rolled down window.
Sammy linked her arms with us as we walked up Gabi's long driveway. We could already hear the music from inside, a few people were sat in the garden, plastic cups in hand, some already seemed tipsy.
"Ready, girls?" Sammy whispered into our ears. The sun was slowly setting behind us, air getting chillier as night slowly draped over the neighborhood. The smell of alcohol and weed filling Gabi's garden, fairy lights dangling from the trees.
I breathed in the night's air, closing my eyes for a second to soak up the moment.
Walking up to the party with Sammy and Cat in my arms, dressed in black and white, deep red lips and glossy straight hair, smiling to a few kids we recognized from school, I felt invincible.
I felt as though nothing could ruin this night, all I wanted was to dance, laugh with my friends, have a few drinks and forget about everything that was weighing me down. I was sick of crying and moping around. Sick of staring at the moon at night, tearing my mind apart about what I could've done differently, whether I could've changed anything.
I just wanted to be a damn 17-year-old for once, a slightly rebellious 17-year-old. A girl that was here because she wanted to have fun with her friends and not just because she needed to distract herself from a certain curly haired boy whose dimpled smile she couldn't erase from her mind.
I wanted to be someone who hadn't been cheated on, whose heart wasn't broken, just for one night.
I thought back to how excited I had been for Sammy's birthday party and how horrendous the night had turned out to be. I let that same excitement consume me once again.
I should see tonight as my second chance, a redo of last Saturday night if you will.
The host, Gabi fell into our arms, greeting us, yelling over the loud music, she was already swaying a bit and laughing a bit too loudly. She handed us neon pink shot glasses filled to the brim with what could only be tequila.
Taking the glass and the slice of lemon she handed me I brightly smiled back at her, sending a giggling Cat a playful side wink before dowing the shot and cringing at the harsh burn of the alcohol.
Sammy's eyes met mine, eyebrows raised. A silent question. Smiling back at her I subtly nodded. Grinning, my best friend grabbed my hand and dragged me to the dance floor. I could feel numerous pairs of eyes on us, Sammy slung her arm around my waist and pulled me closer to her.
It was time for the promises I had made to myself to become more than empty words. Ice. A heart of ice, no attachment, no comittment, no feelings, no regrets.
Laughing I pulled Sammy closer, a genuine smile on my lips. I swayed my hips to the music, ruffling through my long hair, ready to get the fun started.
What I didn't know was that, from a safe distance, a pair of silver eyes were carefully watching me.
_______________
A/N: Helloo lovely readers❣
Photo credits for the outfit pic go to @ softchinadoll on insta, her feed is stunning go check her out if you want👌🏻
Hope you enjoyed today's chapter, your comments motivate me to write and update often so please tell me your thoughts& vote!💕
All the love,
Umi xx