(FRIDAY NIGHT)

Friday parties are the only things, Lia, Avery, and Connor look forward to at the end of their week. I personally don't care to get wasted for fun when I could just stay home with a tub of ice cream and good series.

But as graduation approaches rapidly, I told Avery and my mother that I'd broaden my perspective, attend more parties, and maybe even get drunk a few times. That part is a maybe.

I don't mind drinking. I'm all for it but the hangover that comes afterwards is not worth it. Alcohol makes me extremely confident and extremely brave, not to mention dumb. I ripped off my shirt and stripped on a pole the last time I had too much vodka.

Avery considers my attire with her hand beneath her chin. I didn't want to wear a dress to a party, so I wore short trousers and a white tank top. Because it was a pool party, I wore my swimsuit beneath. I just hope the pool's heated.

"It'll do, you're not looking to impress and if you are you can always rip off the top and show the money makers," she tells me and I roll my eyes at her remarks.

"Come on you have Aidan off your ass now, so maybe you could find some new eye candy," she says.

I shake my head, "You're despicable,"

"I'm just saying," she chuckles, "If you want to maybe release some of that stress from school,"

I block my ears, covering them with my palms, "Yeah I'm not listening to that," I tell her, as I make my way down the stairs to get my shoes.

She follows behind me chuckling a bit as I take a seat on the couch to slip on my sneakers.

"I'm fully capable of finding a hookup if I want to," I tell her.

"Yeah, I know,"

"But I don't want to, I want to party with you, Lia and even Connor, just take my mind off of school without any problems," I say.

She smiles and nods before helping me to my feet, "Let's go party, bitch!"

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When we had finally gotten out of the house and somehow managed to get to the party before seven pm. We saw a few people walking towards the house.

Aidan, as usual, was the host; no one else wanted to organize a party at their parents' place, so Aidan was always the one to do it. The exterior of the property looked quite nice; my only fear is how it will look after this party and how he'll manage to clean it.

When we reach the house, the music vibrates in my chest sending vibrations through my entire body. We quickly look around trying to find Connor or Lia but it's a tedious process.

"You're here," I hear a voice.

I turn to see that it's Aidan and I mentally roll my eyes as I remind myself to be nice per usual.

I smile, "Hey,"

He smiles back before his arm creeps around my waist; Thankfully, Avery places herself between the two of us causing him to back away just a little.

"Are you not going to offer us a drink?" She asks, disgust is visible on her face as she speaks.

Unlike me, Avery doesn't care being nice to the popular group, she's real and that's what I love about her.

He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, "Yeah, sure,"

He pushes through the crowd of people towards the kitchen, and Avery and I use that opportunity to get to the pool in the backyard.

"Do you mind if I go in?" I ask her as I pull the shirt over my head and unbutton my shorts.

"Were you even asking?" she questions, gesturing to my clothes which are already off.

I kick the pants off before handing my clothes to her, "No, not really,"

She chuckles lightly and shakes her head, "I know,"

The warm sensation strikes my thighs like lightning as I take a few steps into the water. I immerse my entire body in, covering my shoulders. My body heats up slightly beneath the water as I get used to the warmth.

"I'll bring you something to drink," she offers. I nod in answer, instructing her not to bring anything too strong. She returns to the house and fades into the crowd.

A couple more individuals join me in the pool, slashing the water because they decide to cannonball into it or challenge someone to a bellyflop.

Some of the faces are familiar but not familiar enough for me to find interest I starting a conversation.

After a few minutes, Avery returns with the drink, which she delivers to me before sitting at the pool's edge, merely dipping her feet into the water.

I take a little sip before recognizing the familiar flavour of Coke and bourbon. It's the only thing I seem to be capable of handling.

The cup is only halfway full so if anything I'd be tipsy after this drink.

"Who's driving again?" I inquire, somewhat yelling above the light music from outside.

"Obviously me, I want you to have some fun," she tells me.

Connor approaches us, a troubled expression on his face, "I need one of you guys to help me with Lia, she's wasted already," he says.

I hear Avery groan as she takes her feet out of the water, "I'll be back, try to have fun," she tells me and I nod.

Connor leads her into the house, and they both disappear back into the crowd, leaving me alone in a pool full of unfamiliar and familiar faces.

Most of them are just people at school that I've been friendly to but not friends with. I've always liked to keep it that way so that when I finally finish high school, I can leave them behind because they meant nothing.

After a while my cup was empty and I must admit I was a little tipsy. However, I was still in the water, and my body was warm from the water even though outside was chilly, thus I didn't feel the need to get out.

"I didn't know you came to parties," I hear.

When I look forward, I notice Christian, whose hair is soaked and water drops from his lips and chin every second. He's dressed in short black trunks, and his abs are on display like a painting that's the main attraction in a museum.

"I heard the same thing about you," I say.

Just at the shop, his eyes take in my body again; now he could see my entire body or as most people would say, what I'd been working on all summer. Even though I was on vacation, I never missed a day at the gym, which is why I rarely go now that school has started and I'm too lazy to go after studying.

I notice a healed scar running up the side of his torso; it starts at the top of his hip and ends halfway up his torso, and before my mind can process anything my hand is already moving forward to touch it.

When the tips of my fingers touch him, he jerks back a little, but he allows me to trace my finger over the line. It's a little indent in his skin; it's not red, and it matches his complexion or maybe just a tad bit darker.

I knew where the scar came from, even though we weren't friends when his parents died in the accident. I went to see him in the hospital. He wasn't waking up and I may have cried for days until he did, then is actually when I stopped visiting, I told his aunt not to tell him I saw him at all.

I wasn't sure why; perhaps I assumed he wouldn't want to see me; I didn't want to lose him, even if I officially had. I was still pleased to see him every day at school, knowing he was fine, but I was never courageous enough to stop him and have a proper conversation not like he would want to anyway.

I glance up at him and his eyes are already on me. I brush his hair back from the front of his face to display the little scar I know he has on his brow.

He got it when we were kids, he had a mini playground at his house where he would go down the slides a million times and skip the swings because we were too scared of falling off.

One day Liam decided we should all go down the slide together, Christian at the bottom, Liam next behind him then Avery and I were last.

When we finally pushed off Liam came tumbling down onto Christian and he hit his head on a small rock beneath the grass.

I brush my finger over it and notice his breathing is becoming shorter and more frequent; he grabs my arm and moves it away, "I think that's enough."

I pout in response, but I'm not sure why, I should leave him alone, he's irritating, annoying and arrogant yet I still raise my arm up again so my finger can touch it.

He holds my hand this time and I notice his jaw tenses. His features are so cold now, when we were kids he was always delicate and gentle, nice even.

"That's enough, love," he repeats.

I'm not sure if it's because of his name-calling or because I'm humiliating myself by touching him so much, but I feel heat rush to my cheeks as if I'm embarrassed or flushed.

It's only then that I realize he's still holding my hand; his touch warms my palm but sends chills down my neck; I close my eyes for a short second to soak it all in before it's gone.

"Let's get you some water and maybe some pizza," I hear, as my eyelids open. Christian is no longer in front of me, and Avery is speaking from behind me.

I knit my brows together as I get out of the pool, I take a look around and notice Christian at the end of the pool talking to Liam.

Avery catches my attention by wraping a soft towel around me and she guides me into the house.

I notice a large box of pizza on the counter as we enter the kitchen. It's topped with pepperoni and ham.

"There, right there," I say as I approach the box, pointing to the pizza with my index finger.

I take a piece, taking a mouthful hurriedly, having no control over the moan that leaves my lips as I chew.

"Your clothes are upstairs whenever you want to change," Avery tells me and I nod.

"I appreciate you so much," I tell her, pulling her into a tight hug, "I couldn't imagine a better friend,"

"Alright, that's enough emotional crap," she says as I let her go and return to eating my pizza.

In the crowd, I observe Aidan and Lia dancing on each other. As she smothers her ass against his crotch, his hands are strong on her waist.

I have to tear my gaze away from them in order to enjoy my pizza; I'm not envious of whatever they've got going on but they should at least have some respect while doing it.

"Need some water to wash that down?" She asks.

I nod, "Please,"

She laughs slightly before going into the fridge, she grabs one of his Fiji waters before handing it to me.

I happily accept it and screw off the top before gulping it, perhaps too quickly, because she grabs it and lowers the bottle, slowing me down a little before eventually removing it from my lips.

"Calm down, I know you're dehydrated but damn," she jokes.

⋅───⊱༺ ♰ ༻⊰───⋅

𝗼𝗼. ⁞ 𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐒 !

Hey guys, chapter eight is completed, maybe one of my favourite chapters yet but I greatly do hope that you liked this chapter. Chapter nine coming soon.

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