Lindsay pulls her car up in front of an enormous house, brightly colored lights flashing from inside. The bass from the music echoes in the night. She throws the car into park and checks her lipstick in the side view mirror before opening her door.
"A party?" I say incredulously.
Lindsay just grins over her shoulder at me as we all hop out of the car. "I told you I would find something fun for us to do."
Two boys run past us, completely naked, as we walk up the driveway, yelling something I don't understand as they stumble into the woods surrounding the house. Natalie jumps at their sudden presence and looks alarmed. Lindsay only smiles as she grandly opens the door.
As soon as we walk in, she's running off to someone else. Kayla looks around excitedly and yells in my ear that she's going to go talk to her cute lab partner from her biology class. That leaves just me and Natalie.
Nat smiles nervously at me and I loop my arm through hers. "Why don't we go get a drink?"
She nods and we make our way through the house. Finding the kitchen turns out to be a lot harder than I expected it to be with everyone crowding up the halls, but the people stumbling around a corner with fresh alcohol makes it easier. There's a couple making out on the dining table when we walk in, but we ignore them and walk toward where someone's left out a stack of cups.
"I'm going to go find the bathroom," I tell Natalie. She nods again as she starts to fill a cup with water.
I shove past a group of girls giggling drunkenly in the hallway, trying to go onto my tiptoes to see if there are any doors highlighted in the colored lights. It's too dark in here without any actual lights on and I can't see around the sea of people-
Not looking where I'm going, I run straight into someone.
"Careful there," a voice says as the person I ran into steadies me.
I open my mouth to thank them, the words dying in my throat when I look up and lock eyes with them. A tall tan boy is staring down at me, flashing me a quick smile when our eyes meet. Tattoos are inked over his arms, disappearing underneath the sleeve of his tight T-shirt.
"I don't think we've met," he says, his brown eyes giving me a quick once-over as he places a hand against the wall. "I'm Calum."
"E-Emmy," I stutter. Was he hitting on me?
"What's a beautiful girl like you doing alone at a party, Emmy?" Calum says, tilting his head to the side as his gaze travels up and down my body again, causing me to blush furiously. He pushes off from the wall and holds out a hand to me. "Why don't you come hang out with me and my friends?" Seeing my unease, he adds with a wink, "I promise we don't bite."
I glance back toward the kitchen where Natalie's waiting for me. She'll be fine, I tell myself as I slip my hand into Calum's. He leads me through the hallways, pulling me into a little study that's tucked away by the stairs.
Thick smoke clogs up the room and a chilly breeze enters through the window someone cracked open. Three boys are seated in the room, one of them with a girl straddling his lap. I hesitate in the doorway and Calum smiles over his shoulder at me as he pulls me after him into the room. He drags over a chair from a desk, placing it next to an empty armchair.
"C'mere," Calum says, patting the seat beside him as he sits down.
I nervously take a seat, glancing around the room at the boys.
A boy with colorfully dyed hair is seated on a weird-looking couch, the girl on his lap roughly sucking at his neck although he doesn't pay her much notice. Sitting on the floor in front of the couch, a curly haired boy with stunning hazel eyes takes a swig from a bottle of vodka.
The last boy claims a spot in the other armchair, a cigarette dangling between his teeth. I guess that's where all the smoke is coming from. His blond hair is styled in a careful way I'm sure he knows is hot.
It takes me a second to realize that I know who all of these three boys are.
Michael Clifford. Ashton Irwin.
Luke Hemmings.
They're all seniors, good-looking enough that half of the school is after them. So why am I here?
"Who's this, Calum?" Ashton asks, raising an eyebrow as he looks me up and down, his eyes lingering on my subtle curves. I shift uncomfortably in my seat.
Calum leans back in his seat, throwing a casual arm around my shoulders. "This is Emmy. Emmy, these are my friends Ashton, Michael and Luke." They all nod silently at me and I smile back weakly, still unsure of why I'm even here.
"You guys want to play a game?" Ashton says, setting the bottle of vodka down beside him.
"God, you're such a five year old," Michael says, rolling his eyes.
Calum shoots him a glare as he says, "Sure, Ash, I'll play." Calum looks over at me, his brown eyes full of mischief as he nudges my shoulder gently with his hand. "You want to play, Emmy?"
"Sure," I say in a small voice.
We all turn to Luke, waiting for him to speak up. He takes his cigarette out of his mouth, blowing a puff of smoke into the air. I fight the urge to cough at the fumes. Shrugging one shoulder as if he were bored, he says, "Fine, I'm in."
"What the hell," Michael says, caving. He leans forward on the couch, ignoring the girl who's still all up on him. She frowns as he changes position before going back to leaving marks up and down his neck.
"So what are we playing?" Calum asks Ashton. His arm is still slung around my shoulders, his warmth seeping into my skin.
A slow grin spreads across Ashton's face as he says, "Let's play truth or dare." He makes a big show of looking around at all of us before settling on Calum. "Cal. Truth or dare?"
"Dare," Calum says, tilting his head to the side in challenge.
"I dare you to lick Luke's abs. From top to bottom."
"Pshh that's an easy one," Calum says, taking his arm from around my shoulders as he gets to his feet. "I'd lick Luke's abs any day."
Luke puts out his cigarette with his foot, smirking at Calum as his fingers grip the hem of his shirt. "Don't get too attached, Cal," he jokes as he removes his shirt and throws it on the chair as he stands up.
I feel a blush creeping up my neck and try to avert my eyes from Luke's toned muscles. Easier said than done. I've never seen a better set of abs.
He catches me looking and shoots me crooked grin. I blush even harder.
Calum leans down to press his tongue to Luke's skin just above his belt, licking all the way up his stomach. He steps away, pretending to gag. Luke swats at him playfully as he pulls back on his shirt. Calum runs back over to me, fighting a smile.
"Alright, Cal, you're turn to ask someone," Michael says, nudging the girl on his lap over a little so she's not as close.
Calum takes his seat again, smirking when his eyes lock on mine. "Emmy, truth or dare?"
"Truth," I say automatically.
"Out of the people in this room, who would you hook up with?" Calum asks, gesturing toward him and his friends.
My cheeks heat up as I look at the four boys in the room. These are some of the biggest fuckboys in the school, of course they're all hot. They've hooked up with so many girls that they're used to people drooling over them. Hell, Calum just licked Luke's stomach and he didn't even react.
Which of them would I hook up with?
"Aww look at that, she's blushing," Michael teases and I blush even harder, which makes him laugh.
"We're waiting, Emmy," Calum says with a smile, poking me teasingly in the side. "We want to know which of us you would bang."
I roll my eyes at them, crossing my arms over my chest. "None of you."
"You have to pick someone, it's the rules," Ashton whines, sticking his lower lip out in a pout.
I shrug, shaking my head. "I'm not interested in any of you."
Luke drapes his arm across the back of his chair. "You're just denying your feelings, Emmy," he says, a sly smirk curving his lips. "If you only had the chance to preview what you're missing, you'd change your mind. I know you want me."
"In your dreams," I scoff. "I'd rather make out with the bathroom floor."
"Ooh, harsh," Michael says with a laugh.
Luke shoots a sharp glare at him, turning his piercing blue gaze back to me. "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew how I kiss, Em."
"You're not nearly as irresistible as you believe, Hemmings," I throw back. Ashton disguises his laugh as a cough when he sees Luke's scowl.
"Seven minutes alone with me and I can change your mind," Luke counters, swiping his tongue across his bottom lip. He raises his eyebrows at me when I don't respond. "We can do it right now, I promise I'll make it quick."
"I think I'll pass," I say, getting to my feet. "As fun as this has been, I better get back to my friends."
I start towards the door, but Calum calls after me. "Don't you want to stay a little longer? I'm way better at kissing than Luke. Plus better-looking."
"I'm good," I say, slowly backing up. "Have fun with your little game, boys."
As I walk down the hall, I hear Michael's voice say, "Well, damn, isn't she something?"
A/N: Ok now we're finally getting into the story! Any predictions you'd like to get off your chest? ;)
I'll update asap for you guys, thank you so much for reading!!
- A