The next day was Ricky's party, which tended to be quite the popular venue for a Friday night out. And we were invited. For a dreamless hermit, I was proud to say that I was going.
"When will you be here?" Alex complained down the phone. I stifled a laugh as I carefully ran my mascara wand through my lashes.
"My dad is dropping me off soon," I told her, leaning back to look at my finished work.
"Yeah but when?" I rolled my eyes, about to respond when I heard my dad call out my name.
"Right now, see you there, Alex,"
"Bye, Bel,"
I hung up, grinning; tonight was going to be good. I think.
I pulled a jacket over my outfit before pulling on some flats—I didn't want to scare my parents.
My dad was often a quiet man, but apparently had a change of heart as he started to give me a rundown of the 'rules' when we were in the car.
"And no boys,"
I deadpanned. "Two of my best friends are boys,"
"Okay, no boys apart from Caleb and Noah," he thought about that for a few seconds, "no boys apart from Caleb." He corrected, making me raise an eyebrow. I didn't question it though; it was probably a good idea anyway.
When we finally arrived at the party, I was the last one there.
Pulling up, my dad warned, "Remember, Isobel,"
I sighed, shrugging off my ugly coat. "No boys, no alcohol, no drugs, stay with my friends and get home before 1 am," I counted the list off on my fingers. "Bye, Dad,"
He watched in silence as I stepped out of the car and closed the door. Walking around to the pavement, I smiled and waved over at him before joining my friends.
I didn't have a chance to greet anyone as Alex instantly wound an arm around my neck and pulled me into her side. "Let me guess, your Dad gave you the Thornewood lecture?"
I sighed. "Always,"
"At least you made it," Noah said, intervening in our conversation as he opened the door for us. "And looking that good too," he winked at me, leaving me frozen in the doorway as he and Alex walked into the raging party.
Hailey followed in soon after, smiling at me as she tapped on her phone. When someone else joined me and threw me a concerned look, I already knew it was Caleb.
I smiled at him. "Let's go!" I exclaimed, grabbing onto his arm and hauling him inside.
Neither Caleb or I were exactly party animals, it's why we get along so well. That was going to need to change tonight; this party is being thrown by our school's most popular. We needed to blend.
Caleb grimaced at the liquid I was pouring into a plastic cup. "What is that?" I stared at it, considering the fact that I didn't know what it was either, and shrugged.
"It's vodka and coke," Someone said, sneaking up beside me and joining our small huddle by the kitchen counter.
I turned to my right to see Noah stood beside me, downing whatever was in his cup.
"How do you know?" I asked, glancing down at it.
He leaned in close to me and I flinched, frowning at him. "It talks to me,"
Feeling flustered, I shoved him away from me. He caught himself but knocked me and my drink to the side. Thankfully, our little fight didn't end in any third party casualties—just me.
"Noah!" I exclaimed, feeling my top become drenched in alcohol.
Noah swore, grabbing some towels and patting down my front before I snatched them out of his hands and handled it myself.
"Sorry, Is, that top looked pretty hot on you too,"
I deadpanned him before shoving the wet towels into his arms before spinning around. "I'm going to the bathroom,"
Caleb, who stood glancing between us, asked, "Do you want me to come with you?"
I declined with a smile before storming away. Damn you, Noah.
Reaching the bathroom, I peered into the mirror and sighed. Then I realised something. I was flushing, and I was smiling.
"No," I said, pointing a finger at my reflection, "you are not crushing on Noah—get out of my head, Rosie," I complained, considering splashing my face, then realised it would ruin my makeup and groaned.
I shook it off and instead paid attention to my top. Thankfully, I had gone for a darker colour, meaning that there was really no damage done; my top was just wet and probably over the legal limit.
I freshened myself up and went to the toilet before my attention was drawn away from correcting my makeup by loud voices down the hallway. I frowned, smoothing out my hair in the mirror before unlocking the door, hearing the sounds more clearly.
I walked down the dim hallway slowly, trying to figure out where the voices were coming from. Finding an ajar door, I pushed it open to see a group of maybe 15 lounging around. And my friends were there.
"Ah, Issy, nice of you to join us," great. Zoey.
I glanced around at my friends, silently challenging all of them to explain what was going on. Each, in turn, offered no answer. I sighed and sat myself down in the only empty spot—between Caleb and Noah. Alex sat at my feet and Hailey dangled over the top of the sofa we were seated on.
"I see you sorted out your top," Noah murmured, leaning down to my ear. When I looked up at him, he was glancing between my face and my top. Or, probably my cleavage. Alex broke me away from Noah, though, as she handed me a drink—probably alcoholic.
"Just to explain, Isobel, we were just playing a good old game of truth or dare. So, truth or dare?" I stared at Zoey and wondered if I should throw the pillow that Caleb was fiddling with at her face.
I smiled sweetly. "Truth,"
She looked disappointed at first, but then a wicked smile broke out on her face. I felt my stomach churn. "Who would you rather have sex with? Noah or Caleb?"
My friends fell silent, whereas the rest of the room sniggered. After a few moments, Alex looked up and threw me a questioning glance.
I leaned forward and smiled at Zoey. "Caleb. He doesn't have any STDs," I shrugged, hearing Hailey choke on her drink above me, before I took a long swig of own my drink. I maintained my gaze with Zoey; the alcohol was definitely doing something to me. It was no secret that Zoey and Noah had hooked up last summer and Noah had deeply regretted it. Not only had a horrid rumour gone around school that Zoey had an STD, but Noah realised just how awful of a person Zoey was. Oh, but don't worry, Noah doesn't actually have STDs...not that I know of, anyway.
Noah didn't seem to care about this though, as he nudged me sharply in the side. I threw him a look before pointing to my damp top. He rolled his eyes and lost his annoyance quickly.
"Noah," Chantel called out, who was apparently the next in line for Noah. Come to think about it, Noah hadn't actually had any public hookups since Zoey, and maybe none at all...
"It's your turn," she said, "and I dare you to spend seven minutes in heaven with Isobel," I gawked at her. What?
Noah scoffed. "What are you, ten? Plus, I didn't choose dare,"
Chantel rolled back her shoulders and smirked. "I had to spice things up eventually," she batted those stupid eyelashes, and suddenly we were doing the dare.
"Move, Noah," I spoke, trying to get some space in the gloomy wardrobe.
"I have like thirty centimetres of room," he responded, challenging me.
"Yeah between me and you, back up," I remarked, trying to feel around for my phone for the torch.
"Is...what are you doing?" Noah murmured, having moved backwards.
"Looking for my– oh, sorry,"
Noah groaned. "That was the wrong place to touch, Thorne,"
I froze. "No,"
Noah laughed. "Yes,"
I buried my head in my hands. "Oh my god. My virgin hands,"
"Hey, is this your phone?" I glanced up to see Noah. He was holding my phone and had turned on the torch.
"Well, whose else is it going to be?" I quipped, reaching out for my phone. Noah, of course, is still five years old.
He held it above his head, and when I tried jumping to get it, I only ended up falling into him. And then I was pressed up against him, pressed up against the wall.
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I updated !!
sorry can't really see my screen rn it's bare steamy 😬😬🌫🌫
praying for all ur happiness and safety in these rough times ❤️❤️
-me being nice not funny for once x
FABULOUS SONGS
Songs that played when I was writing this chapter (in order):
Promises - Aly & AJ
Blow It All - Kim Petras
Sweet Spot
Dear Society - Madison Beer
Flicker - Rina Sawayama
Life Is Strange - MARINA
If U Think About Me - Kim Petras
Close Your Eyes (LISTEN TO THIS SONG YOU WON'T REGRET IT)
Take Me as I Am - Rina Sawayama
Cherry
Tell Me It's A Nightmare - Kim Petras
Need You - Allie X
Downtown
END OF FABULOUS SONGS
Date written:
15/05/19 (oh dear – 15/05/19) (the very early AM)
15/05/19 (I LEFT SCHOOL TODAY 😭) (the late, late PM)
20/05/19 (first two exams oh lord)
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Next update: I was about to edit one earlier so maybe soon 🤷🏼♀️
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CHAPTER EIGHT SPOILER:
Will Isobel and Noah leave the wardrobe the same?
And will Isobel's secret remain kept?
🌙