I shouldn't have come here.

I should have ran as soon as Olivia's red Audi pulled up on my block. Though thinking back, this probably wouldn't have been an option, my sisters—Nwamaka and Uche—would've physically constrained me. They spent far too long picking the perfect outfit for me and beating my face.

This is why I'm sitting, my butt squeaking against the leather seat my hand on the door lock, daring Olivia to try drag me out into the wild.

Taylor Mason's house was no joke, the driveway was about nine cars deep and his home screamed wealth. Oh and, 'my mom's really into interior design.'

Olivia narrows her eyes stalking me like a predator their prey. Kody is pretending not to witness this scene but his lips betray his forced cool. "We've been in here for twenty minutes."

"Twenty blissful minutes!" There was no way in hell I'd willingly inflict what was the Rosevelt social scene upon myself.

"Adanna one hour max." Kody pleads from the passenger seat, he faces me, irresistible puppy eyes on full blast.

"Fine," I say taking a moment to compose myself as Olivia unlocks the door. "One hell-filled hour." Olivia rolls her eyes and sighs dramatically, but we both know she feels like a proud mom escorting me to my first Rosevelt party.

Okay, to tell you the truth, I lied.

This isn't my first Rosevelt party, I've been to loads: kiddie parties I was invited to after joining Rosevelt sophomore year, all of Kody's and regretfully Tara's, the little 'get togethers' the stoners had which Uche dragged me to and who could forget, the open invite pool parties Maya Reyes throws every year. But I've never been to a party like this.

No this, this is like every highschool party movie cliche conglomerated into one big fuck-fest. Maybe literally, I may have to avoid the upstairs bedroom if the rumour mill is any accurate.

I'm wearing zebra print flares that hug my legs and actually make me look curvy paired with a tasteful joy division graphic tee which Nwamaka knotted at the front. No, I don't listen to their music but Uche gave me a pass since it is her shirt after all. My platform docs make me even taller than I already am and also oddly powerful. I consider the logistics of stomping on Olivia then making a run for it.

Olivia grabs my arm briefly before pecking Kody on the cheek. "I'm going to find Maya, she's having an outfit malfunction. I'll catch up with y'all later." I watch her and her suede dress dance further into the party before she is inhaled by the crowd.

"Why weren't you at school yesterday?" I ask nudging Kody's arm gently.

"I had stuff," he nudges me back, "to think about and figure out. Just a whole lot of stuff." I know better than to pry further, Kody comes to me when he's ready, always.

He clucks his tongues. "So how's student council elections?" I brief him on my meeting with Mr. Carter.

"So any tips on how I can become insanely possible overnight, brainbox?"

"I dunno you could try blackmailing the student body," he suggests but all I can focus on is his dazzling smile. Remember how I said I was over Kody? Well I may have lied, again. I didn't mean to lie, it's just my brain and ovaries couldn't come a final decision and there's only so much I can do.

Unfortunately, this state of 'not-over-you-itis' had caused me to completely blank out everything his pretty mouth was saying so It's to no surprise that after he'd said "—Or even seduce Taylor Mason for maximum effect" on the verge of hysterics that my dumb ass says:

"Yeah! Totally, I'll do that right now."

"What?" It hit me right in that moment what I'd just agreed to. This my friends is know as a best friend faux pas . I think it's necessary for you to know that Kody hates Taylor, like deep burning dislike. He claims it's because of Maya cheating on him with Taylor last year but honestly I think it has far more to do with his younger sister than he's letting on. Something happened this summer with Erica Johnson at Taylor's house, no one knows what. All I know is that Kody dislike at being Eskimo Brothers with Taylor amplified, incredibly.

I want to so badly explain why I said that but that would involve another: 'Hey I'm kinda still in love with you' with Kody and once was enough.

Another confession, since for the record I'm not a liar just a Pisces who doesn't confide in others all that much. Not that I believe in star signs or anything, I just want a flimsy reason to absolve my deeply ingrained catholic guilt, thanks mom. 

The truth is, I didn't just suddenly stop liking Kody, I asked him out.

Before you release the confetti and all that extra jazz, he rejected me. Well actually, his crush at the time rejected me... Maya wasn't exactly thrilled that I was now an active contender. I lost in fabulous and brief succession following my confession. The heartache, the kind that only copious amount of junk food and soppy Netflix movies could fix, that is what I'm over.

There's no way I'm telling my best friend: "Hey you know that really fucking stupid thing I said? Well funny story, it was because I wanted to fornicate in the woods with you like we're in some 2013 'Wattpad-alpha-wolf' story, haha... unless..."

"You want a drink? Man, I am so thirsty!" I swerve his question speed walking into Taylor's house. I watch him speedup to match my pace from my peripherals. 

"Adanna, do you have a thing for Taylor?" Now this I was not expecting, I mull over his words as I enter the kitchen. I see Diego Gonzales mixing some rum with coke, he gives me a head nod in acknowledgement. Diego and I go way back, I've know him since I was twelve. We both went to this 'over-achievers' writing summer camp and we were both the only non-white kids. 

"You want some" Diego asks motioning a muscular arm over a packet of red solo cups and an array of alcohol that we definitely shouldn't be drinking. It's in moments like this I briefly pretend i'm European, to be in France and not in some douche-bags house drinking liquor he stole from his parents bar and wine cellar. Yeah, they're that type of rich, they also have a library and a swimming pool three times the size of Maya's!

"I'll have whatever your having." 

"Careful," Kody says, materialising beside me. "Why are you avoiding my question?" He's grabbing onto my arm as if he expects me to run away at any given second, I mean I was, but that's still a bold assumption.

"Johnson." Diego nods in greeting, they were both on the football team but I never really thought they were friends. Mostly because of the fact that he's Taylor's best friend.

Kody nods back, "You got any vodka?" 

"There should be some 'round back." Diego nods his head back pointing to a room behind a marble top counter. I make eye contact with Diego and it's I telepathically communicate the situation. "Run!" He mouths handing my a solo cup as Kody goes to the back room.

I give him a grateful smile and leave the kitchen solo cup in hand.

I know I said this wasn't my first party, but it may as well have been. Taylor Mason's parties should come with an instruction manual. They're absurdly decadent, the music is too loud and there's this atmosphere, I don't belong here. The bass is so loud that the walls are pulsing and I'm becoming increasingly anxious that it'll throw my heart out of rhythm and kill me and I'll end up on one of those MTV shows about stupid deaths. Not that death should be taken lightly.

I take a sip from my cup before scrunching my nose, bitter.

Unfortunately, I cannot stop thinking about what Kody said, dating Taylor Mason is exactly the type of thing that would make me popular overnight. Despite him being a douche, him having an actual girlfriend would make headlines according to the rumour mill. Now that I think about, I don't think he's had an actual girlfriend: according to Tara he's been the unattached type since elementary. He kissed both Gina and Faye Chen, two twins on the same day. The battled it out during recess, Gina won of course, she was one that did taekwondo competitively! Taylor was said to have watched this from the monkey bars, a twix bar in hand and a psychopathic grin on his face.

I spot Olivia and Maya at the ping pong table where they're playing beer pong with some of the jocks. Maya waves me over and I navigate my way towards them dodging sweaty bodies left and right. Olivia doesn't drink, maybe for cultural and religious reasons or maybe she simply isn't into the idea of it. 

"Can you stay for at least two hours?" Olivia asks, pulling me to her corner of the room. "I promised I'd give a lift home to Farah since she hasn't gotten her licence yet."

"Yeah, that's fine." I look around for a quiet spot to chill, the backyard seemed alright and I recognised some of the guys out back. It was mostly Uche's crowd and couple of known stoners sprinkled in between.

I walk into his  backyard grateful for the sharp contrast between inside and outside. While the music was still blasting, it was fainter here. I sit on a dry patch watching a couple kids swim laps in his pool, groups of kids conversing and the occasional angry phone call that people who's partners didn't know they were here, received.

I check my phone compulsively, it's been about twenty minutes and it honestly feels like i'm in no way close to going home. "Having fun?" A smooth voice says, I turn only to find Taylor Mason in ugly khaki shorts and a plain white t-shirt that he probably spent more money on that he should've. He's holding a beer bottle and his sunglasses in the other. His outfit makes no sense whatsoever, and here I thought Kody was exaggerating when he claimed white boys were immune to the cold.

"Of course, it's a fucking ball..." I drawl. 

He chuckles in response, taking my reply as permission to sit beside me. "Do you mind?"

"I mean, you've already gone and done it." Seriously, why do people do that? What's the point in asking after you had no intent of actually seeking consent to do so. People like Taylor Mason skate through life, taking everything and anything  as they please. He's a careless person. Ironically, The Great Gatsby's the novel we're doing in AP lit. 

Taylor and I are in no way friends. I've been his lab partner since Sophomore year and he hadn't said so much as a pleasantry to me. Despite the fact that I'm on a friendly basis or even friends with his friends, we just don't talk. This could be in part blamed on him and Kody's feud or his simple 

I can feel him staring at me as though he's never seen a black person before. "Take a picture much?" What's his deal? Next thing you know he'll ask me whether he can touch my hair or if it's real. Typical behaviour for this town, it's not as blatant as it was ten years ago but it's simmered down into a microaggression I feel embarrassed to call out.

"You're Kody Johnson's best friend. Right?" His question sounds a lot like a statement, though I suppose when you're rich and popular, you can get away with assumptive language.

"What, are you doing a background check on me or something?" My defence is up and my tone is admittedly cold. 

He laughs like I said something funny.

"Just making sure," he says offering me a smile. "Hey are you doing anything this Friday?" What the actual fuck.

You see, if this was some YA romance book I'd be totally smitten. But it's real life and Taylor is a real dick and this isn't the first time he's pretended to be into a girl only to publicly humiliate them. It'll be a cold day in hell when I decide to believe this psycho can even fake sincerity.

"How about you swing by Diego's, some of us are having a kickback." By us he means elusive 'popular' kids.

Remember how I mentioned I'm friends with one of the most popular guys and girls courtesy of the former? Well I didn't lie. I just failed to mention just how many layers there are to Rosevelt High's social hierarchy. Kody is a different kind of popular to Taylor, they're both equally liked or envied, depending on who you ask, but there's a stark contrast between their company and who they surround themselves with.

Taylor is surrounded almost exclusively by a harem of rich kids and kids who's parents  want them to be Taylor. Not that I understand why... 

Maya and Diego are apart of his posse however, they're somewhat outliers, Maya also has her own friend group: Olivia's. 

"How about you go to hell." With that I stand up, take another swig of rum and coke before throwing away my solo cup. I walk back inside noticing that Olivia and Maya have left the ping-pong table. I don't know what song is playing but I halfheartedly dance to it anyway, feeling my legs pull me further and further into the heart of the room.

I bump into someone only to find it's Lisa Tran, just fucking great!

I huff loudly before noticing that she's been crying. She reluctantly follows me as I pull her to a quiet area. "Hey are you okay?"

We're upstairs and I see another staircase, just how rich are the Mason's?

"No." I push open a couple doors before finding the bathroom, I decide to take out a whole roll from under the cabinet. Unsurprisingly it's 5 ply, go figure. She accepted the toilet roll and begins to cry profusely into it.

I'm not exactly one for comforting words so I do that awkward dance between wanting to comfort her but not having a clue how to do so.

"I'm calling a one night truce, okay?" I begin. "Do you maybe want to tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just stupid boy stuff." She sobs, I slide down the wall to sit beside her from where she's crouching. Lisa has been dating Chester Oaks since third grade, they never fight. I guess this is a first too, to see her vulnerable. Though I can't say she's dressed any different, she has on a literal pantsuit and I'm kinda living for it, not that i'd tell her that!

We sit in silence for what feeling like an hour but was probably fifteen minutes. She tells me her mom's here and waves me goodbye.

Everything is fine, for like all of five seconds.

That is until, Oliver fucking Choi appears from out of nowhere. Just great, perfect really. Don't we all love when our cheating boyfriends materialise from the woodwork when everything is just starting to be okay again, when you might actually be over it, him?

Because I  sure as hell don't.

"Adanna," suddenly I can't breath and I want nothing more than to leave. I was right, I shouldn't have come here. I look for an escape route like a mouse does a hole.  "Can we talk?"

"Funny you should say that because that just what we were about to do." I nearly snap my neck turning back only to find Taylor with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Right, Adanna?"

For the record, I know how thoughtless and selfish my next move was. But all I wanted in that moment was for Oliver to really feel an ounce of the pain I felt when I saw him and Tara. My body moved ahead of my brain, I remember the look in his eyes before I turned away from him.

I kissed Taylor Mason.

 And he kissed me back.

I really shouldn't have come here tonight.

___

Hey all! What did you think of this chapter let me know?

What do you think happened with Erica? 

Why is Taylor suddenly interested in Adanna?

What did Oliver have to say?

All this and more in the next chapters of The Art of Highschool.

see you soon

Chi <3

also don't forget to leave a comment and vote, it lets me know what bits you like and are engaging with... love yous!!!