A couple days before Halloween, Yasmin came up to Rose's locker before classes started.
"Okay before you say anything, just hear me out completely okay?" She said.
"Good morning to you too," Rose chuckled with her head still in her locker.
"Sorry, morning," Yasmin said and Rose peeked her head out long enough to see her friend's sheepish grin.
"What was it that you needed to tell me?" Rose asked, raising her eyebrows.
"You've heard me mention Jessica right? She sits next to me in Biology?" Yasmin paused, allowing Rose to nod her head in recognition. "Well, she told me about this Halloween party she's hosting, and invited the two of us. Before you say no, I think we should go, it would be fun! You can even bring Sam."
Yasmin waited, her brown eyes wide and her bottom lip pushed into a pleading pout.
"You already said we'd go, didn't you?" Rose accused. Unable to cross her arms because of the stack of textbooks she was carrying, she settled for a withering stare instead.
"Maybe I did, but if you really don't want to go I can tell her you can't come. I really think you'll hate it less than you think and it'll be so much better with you there." Yasmin pleaded, her begging expression becoming much more exaggerated.
Rose giggled, unable to keep her face stern when Yasmin was trying so obviously hard to win her over.
"Alright, fine. Who knows, maybe you'll be right and I'll enjoy it." Rose conceded, laughing at her friend's uncharacteristic childish excitement.
***
The day of the party came much faster than Rose wanted. She wasn't too proud to admit that she was nervous, which was admittedly because she hadn't been to a big party before.
Yasmin had come over to get ready with her, and Hillary was on FaceTime with the two girls, getting ready for her own evening.
While Yasmin and Rose had gone pretty simple with their takes on Cat Woman and Poison Ivy respectively, Hillary was donning her intricate and self made Medusa costume.
"You look fantastic dude." Yasmin praised, stepping away from the mirror after applying her eyeliner.
"Thanks! So do both of you." Hillary beamed on Rose's phone.
Rose continued to get ready as her two best friends talked about how Hillary had made various pieces of her costume. She was still nervous about going to the party, but she straightened her shoulders, she was done letting her nerves talk her out of having fun, from experiences that she wanted to have.
Rose swiped a red lipstick on and fiddled with the ivy she had laced through her hair, deciding she was as ready as she would ever be.
Rose and Yasmin blew kisses to Hillary and made sure she knew to call if she had any problems before hanging up and heading out to where Sam was waiting for them.
"Hello ladies, you both look very pretty." He greeted, kissing Rose softly and helping her into the car.
"Let's go!" Yasmin cheered, bouncing slightly in the backseat.
***
Sam parked his car on the side of the road, and then turned to face Yasmin and Rose.
"Okay, anything happens, you grab me. Alright?" Sam asked, his face calm.
Both girls nodded, with an eye roll from Yasmin.
Rose began to pull and rub at her fingers, sliding them into knots as the nerves rushed over her again.
"You doing okay?" Yasmin asked, taking her seatbelt off and leaning towards Rose in the front seat.
Rose took a deep breath. She knew that she had to do this, she'd much rather regret taking a chance than not take it, maybe she'd even enjoy it. Before she could change her mind, she nodded her head and pushed open the car door.
When Rose walked in, she was surprised by the sheer amount of people she didn't know. While she had seen most of them in passing at school, there were more than a few teenagers that she'd never seen packed into the house.
"Here." Yasmin said, nudging at Rose and passing her a beer that had been stashed in her bag.
Rose stared at it, Yasmin was just taking it back when Rose grabbed it and took an experimental sip.
"Honestly, it's not bad." She said going for another sip and causing Yasmin and Sam to laugh.
An hour, two vodka shots and two beers later, and Rose was beginning to feel the alcohol hitting her. She started to feel a little lightheaded and giggly, pulling Yasmin up to dance with the throng of costumed teenagers.
"You look like you're having a good time!" Yasmin said over the music.
"I am! You were right, this is fun" Rose said, laughing a little. Her dancing felt erratic and out of control, and it took her a minute to realize that was how her entire body felt. Still, Rose couldn't find it in herself to care even if she would regret it in the morning, right now it was liberating.
"I'm just going to go to the bathroom!" She said to Yasmin, slipping out of the crowd and stumbling along the edge of the room to the small bathroom.
Rose drunkenly pulled her phone out of her pocket when she noticed it was buzzing with a call.
"Happy Halloween!" She greeted, giggling a little.
"Are you drunk?" Clay's voice asked, sounding both concerned and amused at the same time.
"Just a tiny bit, I'm at a party with Yasmin and Sam." Rose said.
"Well I wasn't expecting drunk Rose to answer the phone, for some reason I never expected to hear you drunk." He chuckled.
"You think I can't drink? I will have you know that I'm tons of fun, with or without alcohol!"
"That's not what I meant."
"Sorry, what did you want?" Rose asked, shaking her head in an attempt to clear the fog that was filling her brain.
"I just wanted to see if you were down to watch a horror movie tonight, but sounds like you're having a better time."
"I don't know about better, hanging out with you is always my favourite thing Bear."
"Shit. Don't say that."
"Why not?"
"Look, I'll call you tomorrow to check in, Diana's knocking on my door. Stay safe and stick with Sam and Yasmin, okay?" Clay said, and waited for Rose's grunt of acknowledgement before hanging up.
After finally being able to go to the bathroom, Rose found Sam waiting for her in the hall and she grabbed his hand as they made their way back to Yasmin in the living room. It proved useful, as Sam was able to maneuver her around most people, barely missing Renee and Diana who were talking in one of the corners.
A couple hours and a couple more beers later, Sam ushered a drunk Rose and Yasmin into the car and drove them both to Rose's house, where the two girls shushed each others' giggles loudly as they collapsed into a tired heap on Rose's bed.
"I think I'm fucking everything up." Rose muttered, falling asleep soon after.
***
Hello! I'm back! Thank you to everyone who's been checking on me and who's been asking for an update, this one's for you guys. I hope you all like it, let me know what you think!
I love you all!
YOU ARE READING
The One They Left Behind
Romance"If you loved me, why was it so easy for you to walk away?" Rose was used to being forgotten. Her mother had left, then her brother. The one person she never expected to leave her was Diana, her best friend. Diana left in 10th grade, leaving an opt...
