A/N:

It's been a while! I've been busy with a bunch of stuff, so I haven't been able to post much on here. But anyway, time to start!

Writing Prompt(s): Write a story about a character who's nervous to go to a party - their first in a long time. Write about a reluctant party-goer who ends up being the star of the show.

This short story isn't really set in a different country, but the next one will!

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"Seriously, Pops, you need to lighten up."

Poppy Timbrell was sitting at a cafe with her best friend, Cindy Martin.

"Pops, seriously. The last time you've been to a party was when you were fifteen! It been ten years! Can't you give this one party a chance?" Cindy argued.

"Cindy, you know I've been busy with work. I have a lot on my mind right now. There's no time for me to enjoy myself." Poppy argued. "Once I can have a decent income, then I can relax."

"But you've been trying to get a steady income for years now! When will you ever have time to enjoy yourself? It's now or never!" Cindy pressured.

Poppy sighed, and rubbed her temples, taking a sip from her mocha.

"Come on, Poppy, just this once. We can head to the party, and if you don't like it, we can head out. Just give it a try at least!"

"Cindy, I have a two year old kid to take care of on my own, and I need to get my full attention on earning enough money to take care of him. I can't go to a party! We're barely getting by as it is." Poppy protested.

Cindy frowned at her with her stormy grey eyes, her look filled with concern.

Poppy sighed. "Fine, I'll go. But if I don't like it, we're leaving. No questions, no complains, no attempts at persuasion. Got it?"

"Yes! Thank you! I promise it'll be worth it!" Cindy said, standing up abruptly and earning herself a few wary stares from other customers at the cafe.

Cindy got a notification from her phone.

"Oh, I gotta go - see you at the party tonight, Pops!" Cindy said, running out the door.

Poppy sighed and took another sip from her coffee. She'd been badgered for weeks to attend different parties, and each time she'd refused. This was the first time in a while that she was going to attend a party in a decade.

And she was feeling pretty nervous.

.   .   .

The house had blaring music blasting through the walls, disco lights filtering in through the windows. The music sounded muffled from outside, where Cindy waited patiently for Poppy to arrive. It had been a full twenty minutes since the party started.

"Did she ditch me?" Cindy muttered to herself.

However, she was relived to see Poppy dressed in a maroon party dress, her black brown ombre hair styled into space buns.

"Oh, wow! Look at you! You're so gorgeous!" Cindy said excitedly, hugging Poppy. "It's like you went back in time as a teenager!"

"I guess my sense of fashion hasn't really changed much, huh?" Poppy said sheepishly. "Shall we go inside?"

"Let's." Cindy smiled, grabbing Poppy's hand and heading inside the house.

The music instantly got louder as soon as the door was opened. A disco floor was on the ground and people were dancing, with tables on the sides, filled with food and drink.

"Exciting so far?" Cindy asked, as Poppy looked around the room.

"Not really. I'll just go grab a drink." Poppy said. If there was anything that determined whether a party was good, it was the food.

"Fine. But if you want me, I'll be dancing." Cindy said, and instantly ran into the dance floor with a huge smile. Poppy shook her head and smiled. Sometimes Cindy was too carefree for her own good.

As she walked over to a table with an assortment of party food and drink, she noticed someone further along the table who seemed... familiar.

Curious, Poppy craned her head to get a better look at them, and then froze as she recognized them.

Cindy never told her that he would be here...

Cindy never told her that he would be here.

CINDY NEVER TOLD HER THAT HE WOULD BE HERE.

Poppy's fists clenched, as the old rage that had once flowed through her flooded her mind once again.

That stupid, dumb idiot. But her rage turned to Cindy when she heard her cry "Woohoo!"

Poppy turned to the dance floor and began to push her way to get to her best friend.

"Cindy! Cindy!" Poppy yelled over the buzz of people chatting and the loud music. She didn't hear.

Poppy continued to push through the crowd to get to Cindy.

"Cindy!"

This time Cindy heard. Confused, she lost her balance as Poppy dragged her out of the crowd and out of the house.

"Wait, leaving already?" Cindy said. "Why?"

"You know perfectly well why." Poppy hissed. "Why was my ex-husband at that party?!"

"WHAT?! I didn't know, I swear! If I'd known, even I would have never come to that party! He's a cheating thief! I wouldn't be caught dead in the same building as him, unless I was unaware!" Cindy said.

"Cindy, I know you well enough to know that that isn't true. You brought me to try to get us back together. Because he's your cousin." Poppy said. "But Evan isn't going to agree to this. And neither am I. You're not doing us any good."

"Fine! Yes, I was trying to get you guys back together, because I know that Evan wouldn't do something like that! You got bored of him being around the house so you divorced him!" Cindy yelled, tears welling in her eyes. "And I was forced to choose between my best friend and my cousin! How hard do you think that must've been?!"

"I did not divorce him because I was fed up of him! I loved him! How could you say such a thing of your own best friend?!" Poppy yelled, tears welling in her eyes too. She looked away from Cindy, not wanting to see her face anymore.

"Sorry to intrude, but what's going on here?"

Poppy and Cindy turned in unison to glare ferociously at the person who interrupted their argument. It was a man. A man they knew. Evan's best friend, Jeffrey.

"Jeffrey, not right now! We're kind of busy." Cindy snapped.

"Oh, um... well, this is awkward..." said a second voice. One that Poppy dreaded, and had hoped she'd never hear.

"You." Poppy muttered under her breath. "I'm leaving. I'm not going anywhere near you."

"Poppy, I already told you a hundred times, that picture was photoshopped. I didn't cheat on you!" Evan protested.

"Oh, really? Then where's the proof? I thought it was already decided. We're not going to get re-married, Evan. Don't try and make me change my mind." Poppy said, turning on her heel and walking away.

But someone grabbed her wrist and dragged her back into the house, muttering quiet words she couldn't hear.

Finally, they arrived in the bathroom, and Poppy finally could see who brought her here. It was a girl with blonde hair tied in a tight ponytail, wearing a party dress similar to Poppy's.

"So sorry about that, but I had to get you out of there. I know a harassed woman when I see one." The girl said. Her voice was soothing - like this stranger seemed like the only person she could trust right now.

"Thank you, but I should head home. Tonight has been a wreck." Poppy said, wiping her tears from her face.

"No, I can't just let you do that! I need to at least make you feel a little happier before you go and end the night. You can end it on a happier note!" The girl said. "Oh, look at me, not introducing myself. My name is Mary."

"Oh, okay... I'm Poppy." Poppy replied. "And... I guess it wouldn't hurt to try getting this night to be better."

"That's the spirit! Come on, let's head to the dance floor. Tell me what your favourite song is - I know the DJ, I can ask him to play it for you." Mary said.

"Alright, sure." Poppy said. She smiled for the first time that night.

So they danced together to Poppy's favourite song. Mary seemed more like a best friend than Cindy, Poppy thought. But I still don't know much about her...

They kept dancing, not worrying about what others would think of the way she danced. It wasn't like anyone cared about how she danced though, as she never got any weird looks from the crowd.

"Getting kinda thirsty, let's go get some soda!" Poppy yelled over the music. Mary heard her, and the two of them pushed through the crowd to get to the side tables.

"So, what flavor soda do you like?" Mary asked, getting two plastic cups.

"Preferably raspberry." Poppy said. "I'll get us something to eat - maybe some ketchup chips or something."

As Poppy headed further down the table to get to the chips, Evan, Cindy and Jeffrey were coming over. Poppy didn't want to talk to any of them. Maybe Jeffrey, but certainly not Evan or Cindy.

So as soon as she got the chips, Poppy started speed-walking back to Mary.

"Pops, please!" Cindy called.

All Poppy did to acknowledge her was shoot back a vicious glare.

Cindy stepped back, hurt. Poppy didn't care.

"Mary, here I got the chips. But the others are chasing me down-"

"I got the perfect idea. Can you sing?" Mary asked.

"Yeah-"

"Get on the stage and talk to the DJ. Tell him 'Lilac' and then get ready to sing a catchy song. Got it? Go!" Mary said, pushing Poppy towards the stage steps while also grabbing the chips from her hands.

Poppy hurried up the steps and whispered in the DJ's ear.

"Lilac."

The DJ looked her up and down and then nodded, putting a microphone to his ear. The music faded out.

"Alright, this next one is gonna be performed by a real, live singer! Get ready!" The DJ said. "Now, what kind of music do you want me to play for you?"

"Um, a mix of pop and rock." Poppy whispered back. He nodded and switched the music disc, as Poppy centered herself on the stage. She took a microphone.

It had been a while since she'd sang. Sure, she hummed from time to time, but she'd never really sang ever since her and Evan got divorced. So she took a deep breath, and tried to get in the mood of the song.

She opened her mouth to sing.

She didn't even know if she was singing the lyrics correctly - she was focused on three particular people in the crowd who were pushing themselves closer to the stage - Cindy, Evan, and Jeffrey.

She backed up a bit so that she'd be out of earshot of the crowd, in case those three tried to whisper to her while she was singing.

She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down, trying to see whether she was being controlled by her anger or not.

Calming down, she realized what she wanted to do was exactly the same, and wasn't because of her emotions. The intensity of the decision she wanted to make was lowered considerably, but was definitely still the same. Block Cindy from social media, wait for the whole thing to blow over in a week or two, and then start slowly unblocking her, talking to her, and then eventually meeting up in person again.

She opened her eyes again and realized the song was starting to come to an end. Also, Cindy was nowhere in sight - and that was the same for Evan and Jeffrey. She was almost grateful for that, but she was mostly curious.

Best not to question fate, she thought, ending the song with a final low note. The crowd cheered, but Poppy didn't really care. She was searching for Mary.

"Mary? Mary!" Poppy called, getting off the stage as the DJ made another announcement.

"Right over here." Mary said, sitting at a table. Poppy sat down across from her.

"You might be wondering where the others are. Well, I slipped them a note saying that if they didn't leave the party in the next five minutes, they'd be kicked out by the house owner." Mary said. "They got so worried, and they actually left! So dumb."

"Yeah... anyway, let's dig in. I'm starving." Poppy said.

As she quenched her hunger and thirst, she couldn't seem to shake off the hurt and betrayal that Cindy left her with. Why would she do this? Yes, Cindy was trying to get her back with Evan, but Evan clearly cheated on her. There was no way she was going back to him. She would take care of her child on her own, and she was going to do what Evan couldn't - get over him.

As she sipped her soda, she felt the taste seem a little odd... but it couldn't possibly mean anything, so Poppy put it out of her mind.

"Your singing was amazing, Poppy. I'm impressed." Mary said.

"Yeah... but I haven't sang in a while, not since I got divorced. But I'm getting over him. Wish he could do the same." Poppy said. Mary looked a little sad.

"Yeah... I do too." Mary said. "Best not to drink too much of the soda, I heard it can be damaging to your body."

"Right. I only took two sips though..." Poppy said.

"I think that's enough." Mary said quickly. Poppy raised an eyebrow, but handed the cup to Mary and begin to eat some of the chips.

Although Poppy was wondering why Mary had stopped her drinking more of the soda, she shrugged it off as Mary not wanting her to waste the chips and put the thought out of her mind.

Then Poppy started feeling a little sick. Not like throw up sick, but more like... a numb pain from her stomach.

"I'm going to the bathroom. I don't feel so good." Poppy said, getting up from her chair. Mary got up too.

"Want me to help you to the bathroom?" Mary asked.

"Yeah, thank you."

A little later, the situation had gone worse. From feeling a little sick to a very strong stomachache, Mary had also gotten more worried as I groaned and struggled to stand.

"Just take deep breaths Poppy, okay? I'll call the ambulance. Just focus on calming yourself." Mary said quickly, with wide eyes, taking out her phone.

I started feeling light-headed, like at any moment I was going to faint. The pain from the stomachache had moved to my chest, and when I put my hand over my heart to check whether it was okay, I noticed it was beating slower than usual.

I panicked. What was happening to me? Did I eat or drink something weird?

Then I remembered how Mary hadn't wanted me to drink much of the soda. And how sad she was when we were talking about how we wanted Evan to get over me.

Slowly piecing everything together, I'd come to a conclusion just as Mary finished the phone call for the ambulance.

"Evan really was busy with work, wasn't he? And because of that photoshop you made, I believed that he'd cheated on me. But he hadn't." I said in a low voice. I saw Mary tense up.

"And you wanted to break us up, because you loved him, didn't you?"

Mary took a shaky breath before turning to me and nodding.

"But Evan couldn't get over our divorce, and you couldn't make your move. So you decided to poison me so that he'd get over me sooner." It was getting hard for me to talk now. But I wanted an answer before I died.

"So then why are you helping me now?"

Mary's eyes teared up. "Because... when I realized how fun it was to be around you, and how you also wanted Evan to forget about you, I realized that all of this was wrong. It was like a fog had been lifted from my eyes, and I could finally see clearly. You were the only person I got along with, other than Evan, and I'd planned to poison you."

Tears streamed down her cheeks like a waterfall. I wished I could feel something at that moment, but all I felt was cold emptiness. And it had nothing to do with the poison and everything to do with the divorce.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I'll fix this... I promise." She said. And then, a vignette circled around my vision, closing in as I fainted, hearing distant ambulance sirens.

・・・・★・・・・★ ・・・・

So! I hope you enjoyed this short story! It took me a week to finish this, it was getting too long. I couldn't find the right time to stop the story, so I continued writing until it got this long XD

Anyway, I hope you have a great day/night and stay safe and well! Bye! :)