HOME, m. sturniolo

23.

our apple maps ended up taking us to a huge mansion. it had 3 floors with an in ground pool in the back. there were people in the front lawn and red solo cups strewn everywhere in the grass.

"well we're definitely at the right house." nick said in the back.

"let's just go in and get this over with." i said staring down at my phone.

we ended up parking down the street and started walking back towards the house.

"let me see where madi is." nick said, pulling out his phone and calling her. "heyyy we're walking up now. where are you?" i heard him say. "okay see you soon."

"where is she?" chris asked, trailing behind us.

"she said in the living room." nick answered.

"are we supposed to knock?" matt asked as soon as we reached the lawn.

i looked around at the people hanging out on the lawn. "yeah, and we should probably take our shoes off too."

"okay, charlotte. what's up with the attitude." matt replied.

"kidding, matty boy." i smiled up at him and took his hand.

we quickly found madi inside, to my surprise. there were a ton of people in there and the lights were all dimmed.

"hey guys!" madi said when we all approached her.

"madi!" we all says in unison.

as we all talked to madi and the other random people that'd pass by us, i grew uncomfortable. the coffee shop earlier was one thing. that was only like ten people that didn't even acknowledge me. now i'm surrounded by what felt like hundreds of people. this was much much worse. my head started pounding, my breath started to quicken, and i realized that i needed to get out of the living room for a moment.

"guys, i'll be right back. i'm gonna go grab a drink. anyone want anything?" i asked.

"i'm good." nick replied.

"can i just get a water." chris said.

"i'll come with you?" matt asked.

"i'll be okay." i smiled to reassure him that i'd be fine for a few minutes without him

i shoved through the crowd of people in the living room and got to the kitchen. a few people were at the counter pouring shots for themselves.

"do you mind?" i grabbed an empty glass and passed it towards a random girl with a bottle next to me.

"go for it." she laughed a poured some into my glass. i knocked it back quickly.

"one more?" she poured some more for me. "thanks." i thought that some alcohol might loosen me up a little, which is what i needed right now. i poured some of the punch, which i'm guessing was not just 'punch' into my cup, and grabbed a couple water bottles.

i started to make my way back to my friends when i found matt.

"i was worried you got lost." he laughed and i passed him a water.

"sorry, i was just talking to my new friends." i turned and waved to the girl i was standing next to, who just gave me a weird look.

"looks like you were doing a good job." he chuckled. "are you okay?"

"yeah, i just hate stuff like this."

"i know, i do too." he agreed. i thought back to the couple of parties we attended in high school. we all hated going to them, but did it anyways for shits and giggles. we'd just goof off the whole time and it always ended up being okay. this party was definitely not like those.

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after about an hour and a few more glasses of the 'punch', i was definitely starting to feel it.

"madi, have you tried this yet?" i asked loudly.

"no, char." she laughed at my actions. "and that's like the third time you've asked.

"i'm gonna take this now." chris took the cup out of my hand and replaced it with his water bottle. "drink some of that."

"chris give it back." i whined.

"you need to slow down on it." matt agreed.

"buzz kills." i whispered.

"oh em gee! you guys made it." i heard a familiar voice say from behind me. i turned around to see paige. "how are you guys enjoying the party."

"we're having a lot of fun." nick spoke up for all of us.

"i for one am having a blast, paige. whatever is in this punch." i pointed to the cup in chris's hands. "it's phenomenal."

"cool!" she sarcastically smiled at me. "matt you look good tonight! i love this shirt." she grabbed the fabric on his shoulder.

"thanks." he said nicely.

"can you get your hands off of my boyfriend?" i spoke up. matt immediately grabbed my hand to try to calm me down.

"i'm sorry?" paige said.

i shook matt's hand away from mine. "get your hands off of my fuckin boyfriend." i said with my newfound confidence and got into her face.

paige just laughed nervously. "go find your own." i shoved her.

"ya know what, bitch?" paige took another step forward but didn't reach me because chris stepped in between us.

"yo yo yo! charlotte, we're gonna go now." chris said as soon as he got in front of me. matt pulled me out of the way and lead me to the door.

"for real though, that's just weird. you know they're dating" i heard chris say to paige.

"i must've forgotten." she gasped.

"fuck off. everyone go back whatever you were doing and mind your own damn business." chris yelled before turning and following us out of the door.

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hey guys! thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed this chapter! let me know if there are any typos or anything!