Pretty Boy

Chapter III: Party Favors

Getting ready came naturally to Ollie. First came the eye shadow, second came his most prized possession... his NYX cosmetics white eyeliner. It was the only thing in his makeup collection that hadn't been pryerly owned by Scarlett. He made a wing going out, then following his brow line he made dots to give the look a modern flare. He wasn't fond of following tutorials online, he much rather liked winging it, messing up, getting mad, and giving up.

He applied a gloss to his bottom lip, smacked his lips together and puckered his lips. He turned around smoothly and turned off the shower faucet. He then proceeded to wipe the condensation off of the mirror.

"Cute" he told himself as he turned off the light and exited the small bathroom. He quietly walked to his room, his father was in the living room just down the hall. His father kept to himself, so did his mother. It was hard to catch them both in the same room at the same time. His mother was always on the 3rd shift at the hospital, leaving him alone with his father most of the time. Ollie didn't mind, as long as his father stayed in his area and Ollie stayed in his.

He closed his door with the slightest turn of the doorknob. He flopped onto his bed and got onto his phone. He had a notification from Scarlett.

*OMW* it read

*KK, park in the neighborhood behind my house* He replied.

He turned off his phone and rolled over on his back. He loved to stay in his head like this. In his mind he wasn't 15, he was a movie star on a roll to his next big break. In his head he wouldn't have to hide his makeup in a drawer, he had a whole table of it with stacks and rows of glosses, eye shadows, and an array of white eyeliner that automatically replenishes itself after the last drop hits his eyelid.

He glanced at his bedside clock.

8:52

Lovely, just enough time for him to sneak out and walk to the neighborhood behind his house. He stuffed his pillow under the covers, turned out the light, crept to the window and carefully slid the window open just enough to slide out into the bushes below. It was the one perk to having a one story house. He crawled under the windows, catching a peak at his father, asleep in his LaZboy. After he made his way past the front window he stood up and made his way to the forest in between his neighborhood and the neighborhood behind him. The forest was thin and not hard to walk through. He made his way through the small park, the bridge that ran over the small creek that runs through it.

Scarlett pulled up in her beat up old convertible. Ollie got into the passenger seat.

"Hey" Scarlett said.

"Hey- Do you have my shirt?" Ollie asked

"Yeah- it's in the back"

Ollie reached back and grabbed his makeshift crop top from the back seat.

He proceeded to take his shirt off.

"Ok so we're like doing this right now" Scarlett remarked sarcastically.

"You can't expect me to wear what I'm wearing to a house party all the way in on the other side of town."

They drove for 30 minutes down the country road, the moon was hidden behind the dark January clouds.

"You're gonna be really cold- It's like 8 degrees outside" Scarlett muttered.

"We'll be fine- you don't get to complain about my outfit because I am only here because I literally can't say no to you" Ollie said in reply.

"Oh yes you can- you literally just say- I really don't want to come to this party right now I'll see you later bye-" Scarlett said.

"It's easy for you to say" Ollie replied in a sigh.

"I can't be the only person you can't say no to- I think you just can't say no to people in general" Scarlett remarked with a smile. "Shut up," Ollie said, smiling back. "I'm being serious- you never say no-" Scarlett said, glancing over at Ollie. "I didn't know this was an intervention" Ollie said sarcastically. "Okay- Okay I have a proposition for you" Scarlett blurted. "Shoot," Ollie muttered in reply. "I want you to say no to the first person that asks you something," Scarlett said with a smile. "Okay- no that is so dumb" Ollie said in reply. They tended to do this a lot. Talking about nothing to avoid their problems. They weren't completely oblivious to the fact that they were both raised in fucked up households, they just weren't open about it. It worked for them and that's all that mattered.

They pulled up to Coltons house in the middle of a rural suburban neighborhood around 9:42. Loud music could be heard coming from the inside. They both got out, Ollie sighed and slammed the door. "Are we even invited?" Ollie asked. "Yeah you could say that" Scarlett said as they both walked up to the front door, each footstep crunching due to the thin layer of frost that covered the ground. They walked up onto the porch and knocked on the door. "They're not going to hear that," Ollie remarked. "Fine we'll just go in"

Scarlett opened the door to the madhouse of drunken teenagers. "Jesus," Ollie whispered under his breath. "Just- come on," Scarlett said, taking Ollie by the hand, she led them both into the house, closing the door behind them. A disco ball hung from the ceiling illuminating the living room. Suddenly a man with a glazed over look in his eye approached them. He held a fish bowl with car keys in it.

"Thou must pay the toll to pass," he said with a chuckle. "I don't think so," Ollie whispered to Scarlett who was still holding his hand. "Ollie calm down," Scarlett said, digging in her pocket for the keys. She jangled them and then proceeded to drop them in the bowl. "Thank you my lady," the man said, bowing down as if he were a prince. Something else caught his attention in the living room, he left to go explore and mingle. "How the fuck are we gonna leave?" Ollie asked worriedly. "I don't know, but I am getting a drink."

They were in it for the long haul.