After Us

Chapter Fifteen

Mira grabbed the curling iron and turned it on whilst Tamara was searching through her closet to find a dress that I could wear for tonight. They were all going to a summer party and wanted me to come along too. I'd never been to high school parties so I was beyond excited that this would be my first.

"Annalise this would look so cute on you," Tamara said holding up a light blue dress with a flowery ruffle trim. I went over to her closet and scanned through some more dresses, she had tons.

"Where do you get all these?" I asked.

"My mom works with fashion and she gets a ton of free dresses all the time," Tamara said putting the blue one back. I scanned the rack to the left, catching sight of a red silk dress. I pulled it out and held it to me. It looked like it could be a perfect fit. Tamara gushed, "Holy shit that's the one." She says, "I didn't even know that was in there."

Mira smiled, "It gets lost with the others. Now come on Parker, come sit so I can do your hair" she said patting the stool at the make-up table. They affectionately started to call me Parker, copying Miles and I liked it. I put the dress on one of the big chairs and sat down on the stool. "What are we feeling?" She asks running her hands through my hair. "Beach waves, tight curl?"

"Oo do beach waves, they're so cute and Mira does them perfectly," Tamara says sorting through the dresses again.

I looked at Mira and smiled, beach waves it was. "I want to be a hairstylist when I'm older," she says, "It's also perfect because if Tamara does her mom's fashion job, we might be able to work together."

"Yes and Ann could be the model," Tamara adds. I loved how they never forgot to include me. I was part of their group and it made me feel so welcomed. My phone buzzed and when I looked it was a message from Miles.

"Miles huh?" Mira uncurled a piece of my hair and let it flop down. It was so pretty and perfect. "Are you guys like a thing or?" she asked smiling then looking back at Tamara whose ears ready to listen.

"Well, actually yes we are. He asked me to be his girlfriend and I agreed" I said and both of their mouths dropped open.

"Seriously?" Tarama smiled.

"Aw that's great," Mira said curling another piece of hair. "Miles has never really had a girlfriend besides Annie and Annie didn't even last long, so this is his first real relationship," she smiled.

My body went still, "Annie?" I asked.

"His ex-girlfriend, we never met her and a lot of us thought Miles made her up." I faked a laugh and then looked back down at my shoes, I hoped he had actually made her up.

I got dressed with the girls and felt great. The red silk dress fit like a glove on me and I even got to borrow some gorgeous red heels. We met the boys at the party as planned and even they dressed up with collared shirts and smart pants. Miles told me I looked beautiful and of course I returned the compliment. His hug was warm and he smelt of a mix of lean fresh soap and aftershave. High school parties at home never looked like this but I suppose that this was the rich kid's version and I was down for it. We all got drinks and I met even more people. My group of friends just kept getting bigger. Miles started to introduce me as his girlfriend and I felt so special. Miles was really well known, it seemed like everyone knew him. It started to get hot and I needed the bathroom so I headed back inside the house. I went upstairs and opened one of the bedroom doors by mistake, still trying to find my way around this huge rambling house. There was Tristian on the balcony, smoking a cigarette.

"Hey, what are you doing up here?" I asked opened the sliding door.

He pointed to the cigarette, "No one likes me smoking so I always have to do stay away from them." He laughs.

"I see," I laughed back. He pulled the sleeve of his shirt up and I got a glimpse the rose tattoo. "How many tattoos do you have?" I asked trying to ignore the smoke.

"Four," he replied shortly after.

"How many of them do you regret?" I laughed.

"All," he chuckled, smiling at my question. "Hey," he said turning to face me. "Sorry I was harsh to you when we first met, I might have seemed a bit off. It just takes me a while to get used to people. It's also my only fun personality trait."

I laughed and rolled my eyes, "Fun personality isn't exactly the expression i'd use but that's okay." He took another drag of his cigarette, blowing smoke towards me. It was gross and I couldn't stand there too much longer. Luckily Miles came to my rescue when he opened the door.

"Ann there you are," Miles smiled putting one arm around me, "I couldn't find you."

"Sorry I was trying to find the bathroom," I tell him as Tristian threw his cancer stick towards the trees.

Miles winks at me and laughs, "Tristian, dude, wanna come down and hang with us?"

"Isn't it all a bit dull downstairs?" he asks."For now," Miles replies, "but we're about to get some real drinks going."

Tristian laughs, "Now you're talking!" walking past us to go downstairs.

"The bathroom's just to your right," Miles says putting his hands in his front pockets.

When I come down five minutes later, drinks were flowing and the atmosphere had changed. Mira and Hector were making out, Tristian was over at the drinking table chugging beer, and Miles and Tamara were using the karaoke machine singing away. I went to join them and it was a lot of fun. I didn't drink since someone needed to be the responsible adulty. We all played games, sang, and talked til two in the morning. Tiredness set in and at that point we decided we'd had enough fun for one night and  should head home. The house that hosted the party was down the street from Miles's so we walked back. Miles was staggering so I wrapped my arm arm around him to keep him steady. As we arrived a the front door of his house he had a fresh surge of energy and started singing with gusto. I laughed and put my hand over his mouth, trying to keep him quiet but he carried on as we wrestled. I opened the door and helped him upsstairs and into his room. "Miles take your shoes off," I said helping him sit on his bed. His clothes smelt like alcohol so I helped him take them off as well. He left his boxers on and I helped him to bed. He fell asleep in seconds and I slept next to him once again.