- Crush Culture; Conan Gray -
- Hard Boy; Frawley -
- Lie To Me; 5 Seconds of Summer ft. Julia Michaels - 

Aurora Holland

"Oh, shit," Logan muttered, his eyes on the cars littering the driveway.

"What?" I asked softly, looking up from my bandaged hand.

"I didn't know until just now, but Carter has people over." He glanced over at me to see my reaction.

"People?" I asked.

"Layla, who you met at the party, and a couple of other people." He leaned back in his seat, "I'm assuming Bailey's with her because they're best friends, and I see Eliana's car along with Zahri."

"So I don't know these people," I spoke my thoughts aloud, feeling my stomach fill with butterflies.

"You met Layla and Bailey so you'd know them, but you don't know Eliana or Zahri. I'm assuming if Eliana is here then her friend Lilian's here, and if Zahri is here then his girlfriend Nailah is here. But I could be wrong. There's a chance nobody's even here and they just left cars here and carpooled somewhere." Logan explained.

The way the people's names left his mouth so quickly made me think he was friends with them as well, considering he didn't have to think about whose car was whose.

"We can go somewhere else if you want," He offered. "Or we can hang out with them or even just say hi and go to a different room." He put out multiple options, but I wasn't too sure I knew what I wanted to do.

"I--" I stopped, my face dropping as I saw the familiar SUV whip down the street.

Logan followed what I was looking at, and he just sighed before beginning to pull out. "We won't stay here," He said.

"Thank you," I softly told him.

Just as he pulled out of the large driveway, Paige's car stopped in front of his. She rolled her window down, her eyes landing on me immediately.

A look of shock and confusion covered her features, and it wasn't long before it was replaced with anger.

She was definitely still angry at me from earlier.

"Okay well this wasn't planned," Logan mumbled, seeming to be at a loss.

Paige's eyes flicked to Logan, a smile covering her features. "Where are you going? The party's just starting!"

"Party?" Logan and I asked at the same time. He glanced at me as he put the car back into park, sighing a breath of frustration.

He rolled his window down and leaned his left arm out, putting some of his body weight with it. "What are you talking about?"

"Carter and I agreed to have a small get-together tonight. Nothing big like the other night, just some people from school. Cameron's coming." She explained.

She said nothing about this little 'get-together' to me, probably because she was angry. She was so angry she ended up having Logan drop me off earlier, and although I was originally upset about it I feel thankful now because Logan's managed to make me feel much better after what happened with my mother.

I get she's upset about what I said, but we're also best friends. Why is she letting my opinion bother her this much?

"I don't know if we're too intere--"

"Nonsense! You're a party legend, Jackson, get the fuck in the house!" She cut Logan off, causing him to huff in frustration.

"It's okay if you need to go in there," I said, causing Logan to pull himself back in the car. He looked over at me, so I continued with what I was saying. "They want you in there so you better go."

"Will you come with me? I really want you to," He said.

My eyes traveled to Paige, who was staring at us if she could hear what we were saying. Her brows raised at my glance at her, and I just sighed as I looked down. "I don't know."

"Then we'll go. But at any point, if you want to leave we can leave," He said.

I didn't say anything because I felt defeated, and instead let him pull back into the large house. Paige smiled in victory and parked herself, feeling satisfied with the fact that she got Logan to stay.

I got out of the car as soon as Logan did himself, covering my hand with my left arm. I held it by my left side, knowing Paige was going to say something if she saw the bandage.

Logan patiently waited for her to be nice, causing me to wait as well. When Paige was ready and out of her car, the three of us walked up to the house.

I was trailing behind the two like I usually did when Paige was around. Despite having no reason to be upset, I was. This was supposed to make me feel better about what happened, but it wasn't. Me following Paige like the shadow I am was doing nothing but making me feel worse.

We entered the giant house, the last time me seeing it was the night of the party. It looked much different, considering there weren't bodies everywhere along with trash littering the floor. It was sparkly clean, and the only people in the house were in the giant living room to the right of the foyer.

I immediately recognized Bailey, Layla, and obviously Carter. His eyes met mine as soon as the three of us walked in, the honey specks in his eyes mesmerizing to look at.

He didn't move nor say anything, as he didn't seem to really be talking much in the conversations that were had throughout the room. He just sat in the singular recliner, staring at me.

It was awkward.

"Rory my baby!" A familiar British accent broke through the air, halting any conversation that was had throughout the room.

All eyes landed on me as Elijah stood from wherever it was he'd been sitting, passing directly past Logan and Paige to stand right in front of me. He must've been sitting somewhere in the room my eyes couldn't see at first glance, explaining why he scared me at the sudden exclamation.

"I didn't know you were coming or I'd have freshened up!" He joked, pulling me in for a hug.

The only other boy I'd ever hugged was Logan, and that was simply because of the way I'd broken down. This was all new to me, but to avoid any questions I wrapped my arms around his slender body.

"You smell quite nice, Rory." Elijah complimented, pulling away from the hug. "I was just telling Carter about how in Ceramics I accidentally almost set the room on fire!"

Before I could respond He grabbed me by the hand, the one that was bandaged. My eyes grew wide as he pulled me through the room and to the empty loveseat, pulling me down with him.

Our legs touched, and my eyes shot to where Paige and Logan stood in the entryway. Logan looked confused at the gesture, whereas Paige had a look of shock on her face.

"Nice to see you again, Aurora," Bailey politely told me, a beautiful smile on her face. She was sitting on the couch between Layla and another girl I didn't know. Layla's legs were draped over Bailey's, her feet touching the legs of the unknown girl sitting next to him.

"Missed you during most of the party, where'd you run off to?" Layla asked bluntly, her curly hair running wild over the edge of the couch.

My eyes darted to the left where Carter was still seated in the recliner, a smirk resting on his face at the question. He leaned to his right, his right arm holding his head up. I watched as he wiped his finger along his bottom lip to hide the gesture, clearly entertained by the exchange.

"Just wondering around. I found a balcony." I finally answered, looking away from the boy.

"Oh right!" Elijah explained, "You and Carter were up there when I got there."

"You were drunk," Carter quickly said.

"Not drunk enough to remember meeting Rory." Elijah shot back, "If I remember right you were out there with her."

"Carter and Aurora? As if," Paige cut into the conversation, walking further into the room. She took a spot on an empty seat, Logan following suit as he'd been the only one not sitting.

"It's nice to meet you, Aurora, I'm Lilian." The girl sitting on the other side of Bailey spoke, ignoring Paige's comment.

"Oh, right!" Logan exclaimed from his spot. "Rory, this is Lilian as you know, then one of Carter's friends named Zahri."

"Call me Z," The boy politely said from his spot next to the other unknown girl.

"Then that's Nailah, but you can call her Naia." Logan pointed to the girl sitting next to him, "She's his girlfriend. And the other girl over there is Eliana, Lilian's best friend."

The two girls softly smiled at me, not needing to say anything as enough had already been said.

"What happened to your hand, Ror?" Elijah asked, pulling my bandaged hand up to him. He looked at it as if he could see the damage, even going as far as putting it up in the light for everyone to see.

"I-- fell." I quickly lied, my eyes darting to my hand. I pulled it away from Elijah, but the boy just pulled it back.

He planted a fat kiss on the top, seemingly right above where the scratch marks were. I felt my cheeks heat up at the gesture, pulling my hand away from that.

"How'd you do it?" Layla asked, twiddling her thumbs as they rested on her stomach.

"Um--" I stopped, my eyes looking around for a simple lie. My eyes landed on a black skateboard sitting in the corner of the room. "Trying to skateboard."

Paige let out a loud laugh, one that got everyone looking at her. She shook her head in disbelief, "You don't skate."

"That's the point of trying to skateboard," Carter spoke up, catching everyone off guard.

Paige's smile fell, her eyes landing on the boy sitting by himself. "I'm just saying Aurora doesn't--"

"She was trying something new and failed, leave her be." He was quick to defend, despite the fact that there was no need.

"Man, the tension," Elijah commented with a giggle next to me, putting his arm around the back of the loveseat. "So what changed your mind, Rora?" He then asked.

"What do you mean?" I softly asked. The people in the room began to talk amongst themselves, continuing the conversations they'd started before we showed up.

Paige talked to the other girls about something, but I couldn't hear what it was. Logan talked to Z, and Carter just sat in his own little bubble the way he had been.

"Well, Paige said you weren't going to make it, that you needed to do something." He responded, his brows pushing together.

I looked into his eyes, seeing the confusion written on his face. He had pretty icy blue eyes, a big comparison to Carter and Logan's dark ones. His jawline was strong and sharp, his features very chiseled and god-like. "I didn't even know this was happening," I told him truthfully.

"So why did you come over?" He asked.

"Logan invited me," I said.

"Logan invited you?" Elijah asked in disbelief. "Why?"

"He offered me tacos and I was home alone so I said yes." Of course, it wasn't the full story but it was somewhat true. I wasn't going to sit and tell him my life story, Logan already knew far too much thanks to him just happening to be there at the wrong time.

"Hmm," Elijah hummed, rubbing a finger on his chin in thought. "Well I'm glad you came, it's nice to see you not in school and when I'm not plastered."

"I'm going to go find a water bottle," I excused myself, maneuvering around everyone and towards the kitchen.

Because I didn't drink the last time I was here, I was able to remember where most of the party took place. The house was still a maze, but I think I remembered where the majority of what I'd need to in order to get where I needed to go.

My eyes danced around the spotless kitchen, smiling in victory when I saw some water bottles sitting out on the counter along with a few snacks. I grabbed one, twisted the cap off, and took a quick drink.

"So what'd you do to your hand?" A voice asked, causing me to choke on the water I was drinking.

I coughed, rubbing my chest with my free hand as I managed to not spill my water everywhere. Looking up, I saw Carter standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"It's my house," He scoffed, walking further into the kitchen. I watched as he grabbed a bag of Doritos off of the counter, pulling them open in one swift motion. "So you gonna tell me what you did to your hand?"

"It's none of your business," I told him quickly.

"Okay, fair enough." He shrugged, "I'm just not gullible enough to believe you fell skateboarding."

"I can totally learn to ride a skateboard," I couldn't help but say, putting my water bottle back on the counter.

"Can you now?" Carter asked, raising an eyebrow. "I have plenty of skateboards, show me."

"No thank you," I said. "I don't have to prove myself to you."

"I guess you don't, but I won't believe it till I see it." He ate a chip after he finished his sentence, his jaw clenching ever so slightly as he chewed. "Do you even own a skateboard?" He asked between bites of his chip.

"None of your business," I said again, twirling my ring around my finger.

"Hmm," He said. "Funny you're acting like you can't stand me all of a sudden yet the night of the party you were very open to me."

I didn't say anything, simply because I knew he was right. I was acting a lot different, or in his words 'as if I can't stand him'. But it's nothing against him, maybe it's just because I know I'll get hurt if I open up like that.

I've never been hurt before, and I don't want to be. Of course, nobody wants to be hurt, but I usually take extra precautions when making friends which is why I don't have anyone. Not to mention he's got this thing going on with Paige I don't know much about, and who knows whether what I say to him won't lead back to her or not.

"I can teach you," He offered, breaking the silence.

"What?" I asked.

"To skate. I have plenty of skateboards, and I know how. I can teach you." He finished off the bag of Doritos, crumbling the bag and throwing it in a trash can next to the counter.

"I do not need you to teach me to skate," I said with a shake of my head.

"Suit yourself, just thought I'd help you make your little white lie a truth," He spoke. He made his way around the counter, standing directly in front of me. "Cause you don't lie, do you?"

I didn't say anything, only proving to him that he was right. He looked down at me, a smirk covering his features. "You're nothing like Paige." He commented. This was the second time I've heard something like this today that wasn't from my mom, and I can't tell whether it was meant in a good way the way Logan told me, or if it was meant to be taken offensively.

"You're right," I said.

"Stay that way, Rory." He mumbled.

I stayed silent, watching as he backed away from me and back to the entrance of the kitchen. He took one last glance at me as I stood in the middle of the kitchen by myself, before finally turning and making his way out of the kitchen.

I'm going to have a heart attack at this point.

++

This one isn't as long, but it's still a good length <3

If I'm being honest, Paige wasn't meant to be so intolerable, it just happened </3

* This chapter is not edited *