The Party 1

Elena.

The school day seemed to fly by, but the boisterous atmosphere at the school was so pleasant. News of Reid's party spread like a plague, from the freshmen to the seniors, everyone knew about it.

The story of Killian's tattoo drama show was now old news at lunchtime and was replaced by the story of a new student flirting with some boys in English. Weird.

This just goes to show how quickly high school drama changes in the blink of an eye. It always seems to change, from one weird thing to another. Tomorrow will be different, as usual.

I went home right after the classes ended, saying goodbye to Sasha and Jane. At 4 pm, they had both promised to pick me up. Today my parents would only be home at 5:30 pm, so it was perfect that they would not find out. Maybe later I will tell them that Jane wants to study together, and I promised her. That sounds like a good excuse, doesn't it?

The atmosphere in my house felt empty and cold, which made my nose wrinkle. The house always seemed so big when everyone was away. I quickly ran to my room, and almost fell over Gummy, my beloved Pomeranian, who was wiggling his little butt in front of my feet.

I turned on the heating as I walked into my room, and pulled out my pile of makeup. Most of it was a gift from Jane, who was the only person who knew how to do makeup among all of us. My makeup was mediocre, and Sasha had not even bothered.

There was a whole set of foundation, eyeshadow, then some glittery stuff, and finally a touch of lipstick or lip balm, and I was ready to go. I tied my hair into a pretty updo ponytail, trying to tame my fluffy locks and style my hair as much as possible. Unfortunately, it did not work out that way.

Anxiously I checked the hands on the watch, tapping my foot furiously when I saw that it was already past 4 pm. Surely they were late, this was not unexpected. However, that did nothing to ease the heartburn in my stomach.

Fortunately, not long after, the bell rang from the front of the house, and without thinking, I got out of bed. Running downstairs, I grabbed my cell phone and purse. Jane and Sasha were already at the door. Jane seemed to be talking angrily to Sasha, who seemed to be staring blankly into space. Jane could not scare Sasha even though she tried.

When Jane saw me coming, she then fell silent, letting her arms fall from their crossed position. Her face gave me a hint of a smile, looking me up and down.

"Wow, you are really trying," Jane said, pointing at my mini black dress. The dress looked loose, like a nightgown, but it also looked sexier.

I winked at her, and we both started giggling. Sasha even joined in with a smile, as if coming back to earth.

Jane did not say what she talked about with Sasha, but I can only guess that Sasha probably said something she was not supposed to say, and Jane was angry with her. One thing about Sasha, she can't hold back her tongue. The only thing she could do was not speak at all.

"So what are you going to tell your mom?" Jane asked me as we walked to her car. Sasha just chuckled softly, as she already knew my answer. I had actually discussed this idea with her when I was in art class with her, something Jane had no idea about.

"I told her that I would study with you," I said simply, and Jane just rolled her eyes. My mom would never believe it. Jane rarely studied or did schoolwork, or even cared about her grades. Her career was set, she would take over what her parents did. And that did not require an A+ in Math, something she was attempting for the second time.

"Your mom will shoot you, you know," Jane said with a snicker, and we all started laughing. Maybe I should not have laughed, because I knew she was not wrong. Instead, I should have prayed a lot that my mom was in a good mood. Still, at least I had survived for 18 years, so I could still survive for one more night, right?

As we walked to the car, I saw a figure come out of their house. With a pet dog in hand and a gray husky at his side, the man started walking down the driveway toward the sidewalk.

Before I could distract the two of them, they saw him. A brief gasp escaped out of Jane's mouth, and she completely halted her steps. When Sasha noticed, she also made a sound, though it could not be heard.

While Killian was not looking at us, he was opening his gate.

A pair of Sasha's brown eyes stared at me, confusion evident on her face. A bemused expression most likely crossed my face, but I could not really care about it, my mind kept spinning around looking for a reason. It was not that he was now living next door, but that I had not told them yet.

"He is a neighbor who just moved in next door," I said hurriedly before they could ask any more questions. There was a gentle breeze blowing, making us all cross our arms. However, our eyes never left the spot where we were looking at Killian. He was stopped, his dog sniffing the grass. He didn't seem happy.

"Why didn't you tell us, El?" Jane asked, her eyes flicking to him. She was not angry, though, but simply curious.

"It just crossed my mind," I said, swinging my legs slowly. The cold wind picked up again, making the leaves sway on the ground, and making us all shiver in our boots.

"Okay, we can continue this conversation in the car," Sasha's soft voice rang out, and she quickly walked towards the car. Once we got to the car, Jane sat in the front seat, and Sasha sat in the passenger seat.

Just as I was about to sit in the back seat, I felt someone watching me. When I turned my head, it was Killian who was looking straight at me, his eyes moving down once, before returning to my face. His facial expression was neutral, but I knew he must have been affected.

Great, I thought, flicking my ponytail over my shoulder.

"What's wrong El, come on!" Jane lowered the window slightly, not bothering to look at me. Sasha pushed her, looking out the window to see what was happening.

Before I could get into the car, I heard the sound of my father's car rumbling down the road. It was an annoying sound and a natural alarm for most of my neighbors.

Then I turned my head back, looking in the direction of my dad's car. However, he had not seen me yet, but he would definitely see it soon.

Looking back at Killian, I knew he knew what was going on. I signaled him not to say anything, and opened the car door, getting inside.

"Move, move, move!" I yelled, barely closing the car door before we started moving. Like crazy, Jane pulled out of the driveway, trying to get away before my dad saw her.

Luckily for us, Dad was still far down the road, which was covered by huge oak trees, too many to see.

But alas, Killian had watched the distressed me jump into the car, quickly drive away, and was now walking towards my house, with a plan in mind.

Sighing, I rubbed my face wearily. This was my own doing, I guess. Not only had I made him mad earlier, though I still thought it was all his fault, but also because I had opened up the opportunity for him to get back at me.