Promise. (Manthony)

Thirty-Six

     Amber sighs deeply as she fixes the collar on my blazer. I was a bit uncomfortable in my outfit as it was out of my comfort zone, but Amber insisted that if we were going to "fuck shit up together," we had to match somehow, and there was no arguing with Amber.

I lick my dry lips and turn to examine myself in the mirror for the tenth time in the space of 2 minutes.

"You look great, Mitchel," Amber says from behind me. "I styled you...of course, you look good," Amber says to me with a smirk on her face. I look up at her through the mirror with an emotionless expression. She could be very cocky at times.

     Elijah was throwing another one of his "famous" parties, but he planned it along with Christian this time. They were celebrating their relationship. Anything for Elijah to throw a party so he could use drugs and drink alcohol without people wondering if he had a problem. 

The annoying couple also decided to have a theme along with their party. Everyone had to wear black.

It was very melodramatic to me. It felt as if we were going to a funeral. Although, in a way, maybe we were. They were celebrating the beginning of a relationship, and Amber and I were about to celebrate the end of it.

     "Let's go over the plan again," Amber suggests as she closes the clasps on her heels. I pout at her and sit down on the edge of Amber's bed. Bubbles jumps up and lays down next to me. I think he likes me. 

"Quit complaining! You thought of this idea." Amber crosses her arms and stares at me with a look that makes me nervous. Women. They had a way of making you shut up even if you didn't want to. It was a gift.

"When is Lily getting here?" I ask Amber attempting to change the subject. I was very nervous, but I didn't want Amber to know. I felt like it showed weakness, and I wasn't trying to be better than Amber, but I hated feeling weak in front of anyone.

And that had happened one too many times in the space of about two to three months.

"She hasn't texted me. You?" I look at my phone, but there are no text message notifications. I shake my head and stare off into space.

     To get into Elijah's parties, you had to be invited or know the password to the gate. You would think with Elijah's security that random people wouldn't show up, but that was never the case. Instead, invitations would get copied, reprinted, and handed out to whomever. Or, people would get someone to share the password with them, and suddenly, people from everywhere were showing up.

Typically, people invited to go were extremely close friends or celebrities. Therefore, it was weird when the entire band had been invited but me. Christian had not realized this until Amber brought it up while eating together about a week ago. I knew she did it on purpose, but I was worried Elijah would retaliate and take his anger out on me as usual.

Thankfully, he left me alone that time. Elijah had come up with an excuse by saying he thought he did and gave me a fake apology that everyone believed but Amber and me. I shrugged it off and pretended that I cared when I did not.

     After what felt like forever, Amber hears a knock at her front door. The diamond-like fringe on the side of her skirt flowed perfectly whenever she moved. Amber was dressed beautifully. Her hair had grown a lot since we had first met. It was an inch above her shoulders then but was now about an inch past her shoulder. She had styled her pin-straight hair to have a wavy appearance to it.

Her eyeliner was a lot bolder than usual, and she looked as if she was going to kick some serious ass tonight. I assumed that's why she had dressed me in a business causal suit and added jewelry to it, so I also matched her energy. The downside was that Amber seemed more confident than I was.