A Summer Musical

🎶 Chapter 16 - A Party 🎶

Seb's POV

EJ's friend were throwing a big party. He invited all of our friends, because recently he hadn't been enjoying his friends much. It made sense, they were all mostly rude, and now EJ had learned to be different, though he had always been the nicest of them.

"Sebby, I'm gonna go find Ashlyn, wanna come?" Carlos asked me, letting go of my hand.

"No, I think I'm gonna talk to Kourt." I told him, spotting Kourtney among the others. "Bye love."

"Bye." He left. I started to make my way to Kourtney, getting caught up in the crowd.

"Hey cutie." A girl started flirting with me. I didn't hide the fact I was gay, but I was shy and didn't know many people. I didn't know this girl, so she must not have known.

"Um, hi." I shyly waved.

"Whatcha up to?"

"I was going to see a friend..." I told her, trying to catch Kourtney's eye. I looked around to see if any of our other friends were around.

"Well do you wanna hang out?"

"No, I'm sorry." I started to walk away, when Carlos and Ashlyn walked over. "Hey." I quickly took Carlos' hand in a panic.

"Hey." He smiled.

"Oh... got it." The girl left. I couldn't tell if she actually understand or thought I was weird, but I was glad she was gone.

"What just happened?" Ashlyn asked, confused.

"That girl was flirting with me, which was... awkward." I explained. Carlos chuckled as he put his arm around me near my waist. I beamed.

"You guys are such a cute couple." Ashlyn smiled. "I stand by every single time I've said you're couple goals." We smiled. "I'm gonna go find someone..." she said awkwardly, walking off.

"Love you." Carlos kissed my cheek.

"Love you too." I smiled.

Ashlyn's POV

I looked around for EJ. He probably wanted to stay, but I needed to call it a night. I was overwhelmed. I found him, but he was talking to Gina, before they ended up kissing. I decided not to interrupt, looking for anyone else who would give me a ride. I spotted Big Red near the door and walked over.

"Hey, Ash!" He hugged me.

"Hey." I mumbled, hugging him back.

"Bad mood, hon?"

"Something like that." I nodded.

"Were you leaving?" He asked, probably because I was nearing the door.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I'm not in the mood for a party right now." I told him, sighing. "But everyone else clearly is."

"Which means?"

"I'm walking home."

"I could give you a ride?" He offered.

"Walks are actually pretty nice, though."

"Well... I could walk you home?"

"I kinda wanna be alone." I told him.

"You've wanted to be alone every time I try to talk to you." He pointed out, but he wasn't talking harshly.

"I just like being alone."

"You normally like being with people, though..." he noticed.

"Fine, you can come." I gave in.

"No, I don't want to beg you, I'm just wondering why you need so much space."

"Maybe I just want space." I crossed my arms stubbornly.

"Fine, I'll give you the space you want." He stopped making eye contact with me, looking hurt.

"Thanks." I left, starting to walk outside. I took a deep breath, before stopping. I looked around, realizing some of the party had made it's way into the front yard. It was mostly boys from EJ's water polo team, who were all annoying and tended to flirt with basically every girl at a party. "Oh— oh." I ran back inside. "Biggie?" I tried to find my boyfriend.

"He left." Ricky told me.

"I— I didn't notice." I sighed. "Please tell him to call me, I don't know if he'll listen if I ask."

"Why?"

"I— I don't know, just... please." I begged.

"Will do." He said.

"Thanks." I went back outside, starting my walk home.

Howie's POV

"Kourt, you having fun?" I asked my girlfriend. I wasn't a big people person.

"Kinda." She shrugged.

"Cool, cool..." I nodded, trying to act as if I did too.

"Oh, there's Nini." Kourtney smiled. "I'll be back in a minute."

"See ya then." I said as she went over to her best friend. I stood around for a minute, before Ricky came over to me.

"What's up?"

"Not much."

"Having fun?" He asked.

"Honestly, not really."

"Me neither. So far all that's happened is an awkward interaction with Nini, Big Red whining about Ashlyn, trying to talk to EJ before realizing he was flirting with Gina, and... some random girl flirting with me." Ricky said.

"Eventful."

"Not in a very good way." He sighed. "I'm probably leaving soon. Wanna come with?"

"I drove Kourt, and if we don't stay too late I want to hang out with her." I told him. "Plus, I mean, the party's bearable. At least when she was over here..." I looked around, spotting my girlfriend and her best friend among the crowd.

"Girl problems?"

"No." I shook my head, slightly confused. "She's just talking to Nini."

"Ah, right." He nodded.

"Sorry if Nini's still... you know... a sore subject?" I wasn't sure how to bring it up, but I was trying to be more sensitive about things.

"We hang out. It's fine." He shrugged. "Anyways, I'm actually gonna go now."

"Bye."