windows [h.s.]

one

"I don't feel like going out tonight."

"Keely, you've been saying that all week. Come on."

"Can't I stay in the car?"

"You'll be waiting for hours."

"I don't mind. I have my phone."

Rebecca leaned over to peer at her friend's phone screen and scoffed, "your phone has forty percent. That's not going to last you."

Keely fumbled to find an excuse. "I'll listen to your radio."

"I'm not leaving my car unlocked for some lunatic can steal it so you can listen to crap music," She rolled her eyes impatiently. "We're here now anyway. So you either come in or walk home."

Keely sighed as she unwillingly hopped out of the car and glanced up the street of the house party they were attending. To her disappointment but not to her surprise, it was excessively parked up. She knew small parties were non-existent amongst the group of people she had often associated with. Why had she hoped it would be different this time?

Upon walking in, she was thrown aback by the distinct, overpowering scent of alcohol and was almost immediately made to feel sick. She instinctively moved to walk back outside but Rebecca pulled her through the crowded house until she had stumbled upon people of some familiarity, and became wound in a conversation. Keely was left to listen vaguely to the empty talk before her. She so quickly became conscious of her appearance, unknowing with what to do with herself. She shuffled tensely on her feet and tried to adjust to her surroundings but the setting was beyond her comfort. The rationality in agreeing to come came heavily into question.

A girl had turned her attention to Keely. "Hey, it's Kelly right?" 

"Keely," She corrected. The roughly familiar face broke into a smile of recognition. She demanded where she had been and wasted no time in notifying her of the atmospheric difference her absence had created nor in reminding her of the shameful behaviour that made it as such.

Drunken memories trespassed back into Keely's mind. She folded internally with the humiliation that came with them. Her attempts to forget it all were desperate and for a while she believed herself somewhat successful. Here, they were now useless. Within this small crowd, murmurs of recognition and exchanges of gossips were aroused. Panic arose in the form of a surging sensation in her chest. A pathetic mumble managed for an excuse to leave and she went away, deciding isolation over the current company. She discovered the kitchen and ignored those in it through a strong avoidance of eye contact. Miraculously finding a clean plastic cup amongst the many discarded ones, she shakily washed down the odd taste that had surfaced in her mouth with tap water.

For now, Keely could breathe.

There were so many people, their individuality eclipsed by the darkness of the dimly lit house and the collective intoxication. The purpose of her meek presence here weighed heavily with regret. She was in no means at ease. She just wanted to be home.

She winced in suddenly meeting a strong gaze that caught her in her observations. It was held be a lean, dark-haired boy who watched her cautiously. Keely knew him, but where from she couldn't register. And by the look he wore on his face, it was clear he recognised her too. Then, his attention was suddenly drawn, eye contact was broken, the sight of him disappearing amongst lingering bodies. The anxiety that gripped a knot into her stomach and had been oblivious to her regard relaxed. She could breathe again.