Comment pretty pls! This whole chapter was rewritten!
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The day of the party was among Scarlett, and the butterflies she's been feeling all week were now in overdrive. She knew that her mum wouldn't let her go to the party, especially since it was Scarlett's second week in a public school. But, she said she was going and she'll be damned if she missed her first high school party.
Scarlett had told Amelia that she was in a study group with some kids from school, and she won't be home till late. Her mum didn't bother to question the story.
Ashton sent a text to Scarlett earlier that day telling her to be at his house at five, so she can help set up since the boys wouldn't be coming till later. She agreed, and started packing her clothes for the party, and afterwards. Just in case.
For the party, Scarlett packed a halterneck cropped top with a plunge neckline to give her cleavage a little pop. With that, skinny jeans with the front low and nude sandal heels were thrown in as well.
Scarlett packed everything into her bookbag, so her mum wouldn't get too suspicious if she left without it. To arrive to Ashton's house, she wore plain blue jeans and a pale purple tee shirt with a turtle on the breast pocket. She slung the bag over her shoulder and made her way downstairs.
In the living room, Amelia and Nicole were watching reruns of Law & Order: SVU with a bowl of popcorn between them.
Scarlett pooked her head into the living room and waved to her mum, "I'm heading out!"
Her mum waved back while Nicole groaned, "You're letting Scar go out? While I can't?"
Amelia slapped her on the back of the head, "You want to go to a house party, Scarlett has a study group."
Nicole sat back on the couch, her eyes glaring at Scarlett. "Study group," Nicole said sarcastically, air quoting with her fingers."
"Oh, shut up, Nicole." Scarlett spat, and before Nicole could say anything else, Amelia shushed both of them.
"That's enough," Amelia glared at both of her daughters. She shooed Scarlett out, "The keys are on the counter, let me know if anything changes about when you're coming back."
Scarlett nodded and said goodbye one final time. She took the keys off the countertop and shut the door behind her before driving to Ashton's.
➵
Ashton greeted her with a wide smile when he opened the front door for her as soon as she pulled into the driveway.
"Thank God you agreed to help," Ashton said, closing the door once she entered, "everyone else decided to flake."
"It's no problem," She replied, setting down her bag and looking around where she stood.
The house was huge, to say the least. The high ceiling and spaced out furniture was the perfect atmosphere for a huge party. The wooden floors looked brand new but wouldn't look like that by the end of the night.
"Your house is really nice," Scarlett complimented, earning a beam from Ashton.
"Thanks," He responded, "My parents are gone for the weekend, and to their knowledge, I'm far away from here."
"So you have to keep it this way," Scarlett finished for Ashton, he nodded in agreement.
"Yep, so anything that can break has to be put away." Ashton said, picking up one of the picture frames off the mantel, "Just put everything in these boxes and I'll hide them in the closet."
Scarlett nodded before picking up an expensive looking vase and setting it down in one of the many boxes Ashton had laid out. This went on for about 15 more minutes before there was one more thing to be put away.
Scarlett picked up the last picture frame on one of the side tables and looked at the picture. There was a young Ashton with his fringe, a young girl and a boy. She was guessing his siblings.
She held up the picture and showed Ashton who just got back from putting the other boxes away. "Are these your siblings?"
Ashton looked up confused for a moment before grinning when he saw the picture. As he got closer to get ahold of the frame, his face scrunched up in disgust. "Oh God, my hair."
Scarlett couldn't help but let out a laugh at his reaction.
"Yeah, those are my siblings, Lauren and Harry," Ashton said, almost admiringly as he held the frame.
"Where are they?"
Ashton walked over at set the picture down in the box, then closed it. "Still in Australia."
Scarlett went over and picked up the box, putting it where Ashton put the others. She closed the door and wiped her hands on her jeans.
"They didn't move down with you?"
Ashton shook his head and went into the kitchen with Scar right behind him, "No, my mum wanted to make sure America was a good fit before bringing them."
"How long ago was that?" She asked, started to stack the cups into towers.
"Too many years to count," Disappointment laced with his soft tone, "This year is the year."
Scarlett went over to him and put her arm around his waist, bringing him in for a comfortating hug.
"Well, I can't wait to meet them."
Ashton grinned, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to bring her in closer, "Enough sap, let's set up for this party."
➵
Calum, Luke, and Michael came around two hours before the party officially started. By that time, Scarlett was already hunkered down in one of the bathrooms, applying her makeup and doing her hair. She did full face of makeup, a smokey eye to top it off. After, she decided on straightening her minimal waves.
She went over to her bag that laid on Ashton's bed and took out her outfit for the night. She stripped herself out of her jeans and tee to replace it with her cropped top and low jeans. The last thing to put on was her heels.
Scarlett examined herself in the mirror Ashton had in his room. Her hand covering the part of her stomach that was exposed. She turned and looked at her backside making sure everything was looking as she planned.
The butterflies were back, but now they were like killer bees. She's never been dressed like this before, but she's ready to step out of her comfort zone. And dressing like this is a huge step.
She started to think of what everyone would think of what she was wearing and she immediately wanted to change into the outfit she arrived in. She continued looking at herself for a little bit longer.
The floor beneath her feet started to thump as the music started to play. She could hear the voices start to get louder as people started to flood the house.
As she sat on the bed to recollect her thoughts, there was a knock and the door opened slowly.
"Scar, are you okay?"
Calum. Scarlett didn't know if she should be relieved or start panicking immediately.
The door opened all the way and Calum stood by the door frame. His eyes searching the room before landing on her. The look concern was replaced with his wide eyes before recollecting himself. Her cheeks turning a shade of pink.
The loud music and the conversations of the people below became louder when the door was opened all the way. Ashton wasn't kidding when he said everyone comes to these types of parties.
"Uh, Ash- he-uh, wanted to make sure you're doing okay."
Calum's eyes raked over her figure as she stood up from the bed. The heat returned to her cheeks as she took noticed, she tried to distract herself by rubbing her hands down her pants.
"I think so," Scarlett answered, looking at the mirror once last time.
She looked back at Calum who rubbed his hands over his face before turning his attention back to her. He bobbed his head out the door, "You good to go?"
Scarlett nodded and glanced down to her body, "Can I ask you a question?"
Calum stopped in his tracks and turned back around to face her, "Shoot."
Scarlett let her arms fall beside her waist, "Do I look okay?"
Calum turned all the way around and his eyes scanned her again and her stomach started to do flips. There was no doubts that Calum was attractive and just thinking of him made her stomach do flips.
"Can I be honest?" Calum asked, his lips tugging up a little bit, "You look gorgeous."
It was dumb, but having Calum say that made some weight lift off her shoulders. He held out his hand and Scarlett grabbed a hold of it. He lead them downstairs to where there were massive amounts of people. Almost everyone had a drink in their hand and almost everyone was dancing in some type of way.
Calum greeted some people on the way downstairs and Scarlett received short glances and small smiles. She held on to Calum's hand until they reached the bottom of the stairs. Although she tried to jerk her hand away a couple times, he held on to it.
"Let's find everyone else first," Calum yelled over the music, and Scarlett nodded, she stopped pulling her hand away.
Calum brought her to the kitchen where it was less crowded compared to the living room. A few people were leaned against the counters talking and taking sips out of their cups. Calum stopped her in front a large collection of liquor bottles that she helped Ashton setup. There were also several cans of beer stacked in the fridge waiting to be taken.
Calum let go of her hand and reached over to get the tall vodka bottle and the Coca-Cola litter bottle. He also grabbed a red solo cup and went to work on mixing.
He looked over his shoulder to make sure she was still there as he yelled over the music, "As you can tell, I'm the king of mixing."
Scarlett laughed at his statement as she took the cup that was handed to her. She took a sip and immediately shuddered as the vodka went down her throat.
"I think you're flattering yourself on that one," Scarlett coughed out as she put the cup down at the counter,
"Hey!" Calum warned jokingly, pouring his own drink and taking a drink of it.
Although the drink was borderline God-awful, she still took sips to satisfy Calum. Scarlett and Calum had a small conversation, he talked about his love of futbol, and she related with her love with her volleyball.
Calum talked about his youngest sister, Mali-Koa, and how sometimes she acts like his older sister. Scarlett talked about Nicole and how she acts like she's twelve.
Conversations like that lasted for several minutes and they already refilled their cups. She hated it, but she went with Calum's mixed drink again.
Scarlett felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and her body tensed before she recognized Ashton's gleaming face. It was 20 minutes that the party had started and Ashton had already broke out into a sweat. Scarlett pealed his arm off her shoulder.
"Gross, Ash," She grimaced, stepping away and standing near Calum instead.
Ashton rolled his eyes, and his eyes widened once he took ahold of Scarlett's whole figure.
"Is that what those two whole hours upstairs went to?" Ashton remarked, and Scarlett reached over and the slapped the side of his head.
"It was not two hours," She scoffed, rolling her yes and crossing her arms over her chest.
She had started to grow comfortable walking around dressed like she was until Ashton had pointed it out. Ashton racked his eyes over her body one last time before he reached over and grabbed a cup, pouring straight vodka into it.
As he took his shot, Michael and Luke showed up behind Ashton. They both had the same reaction as Ashton, their eyes wide before recollecting themselves. Calum took notice of the boy's stares and wrapped his arm protectively around Scarlett's shoulders, bringing her closer to his side.
"Do you want to go dance?" Calum asked her, his hot breath fanning her ear.
She nodded and that's all it took for Calum to grab ahold of her hand again and drag her to where everyone else was dancing. He pushed their way to the center of the large group and pulled her close. They were so close that their chest's were practically centimeters apart. He took ahold of her hip while she wrapped her hand around the back of his neck so their foreheads touched. Their bodies swayed to some overplayed song but they didn't pay attention to it.
The song switched to Location by Khalid, and Calum spun Scarlett around so her back was pressed against his front as they continued to sway their hips to the rhythm.
Scarlett felt her face heat up, because she's never really done this before. But, before she could do anything, he wrapped his arms around her torso to try and ease her into it.
He leaned over her shoulder and asked, "Are you okay?"
Although she was a blushing mess, she nodded anyway and continued to press herself against Calum, the beat guiding her. She felt his fingers grip tighter on her hips.
The song ended, and there was a pause before One More Shot by Russ started to flood the atmosphere of the whole house. Everyone's mood changed, and instead of the slow grinding from before, Scarlett and Calum were now facing each other and dancing.
They weren't close as before, but they still let the rhythm of the song guide their bodies. They were smiling the whole time as they watched each other. They weren't the only ones, almost everyone was dancing in some type of way.
She may have looked like a total idiot tonight, but Calum made it a little more enjoyable.
She took a look at Calum's face, and she could see the sweat forming on his hairline. His face also overwhelmed with a wide grin. Songs continued to play and the pair continued to get closer to each other. Calum placed one hand on the side of her neck, ands the other on her waist to pull her closer to his body.
The feeling of their bodies pressed together was no longer a foreign feeling, and they both enjoyed the feeling. Whatever song was playing faded away as their eyes focused on eachother.
Calum titled her head up and leaned forward just a little, so she met him halfway, their lips connected. They didn't pull away. Scarlett titled her head to deepen the kiss and put her hand on the back of Calum's neck to pull him in closer.
He pulled on her waist, so both of their hips connected. She didn't know how long this went on for, nor did she really care. Because, she didn't want it to end.
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CRINGE