Nikolas

CHAPTER TEN

I was so fucking drunk. 

Everything was spinning, but also not at the same time as time stood still. 

When the girls and I arrived to the house on Vivianne's pink Porshe, Elodie went to stick her tongue down her current fuck-buddy, Lola went to the couch to read her book and Olivia disappeared. The last thing I saw was Dom's ring clad hand pulling her away from us. 

Viv stayed with me throughout the night, introducing me to the basics of an American high-school party. Though I was sure that this wasn't any normal, regular American high-school party. It was hosted by one of the richest people in the damn world. You'd think I was being dramatic. 

The LeBlanc mansion was huge. Even bigger than Jonas' horror house. As soon as we walked in, the fresh smell of a nicely cleaned house hit my nose. Which was weird since there was also an ungodly amount of booze and sweaty teenagers spread throughout the house. Though the only 'party' I had ever attended was the school dance at my old middle school. I was in seventh grade and I was beginning to stare at boys and take longer in front of the mirror, trying to figure out how I could look 'effortlessly sexy'. Though I had no friends, I still remember how I dressed up for the dance and attending with Summer as my date. 

The only interesting thing that happened during the dance was when Connor Hayes tried to pour vodka into the punch, the one he stole from his dad's alcohol cabinet, but got caught by his step-mother who then gave the whole school a show by screaming at him how his father didn't love him and that he was a mistake. It was pretty hilarious since I was pretty sure Connor Hayes lied to everyone saying that his dad let him drink whenever he wanted to, which led to him being the most popular boy in eighth grade. Once he was exposed, he was shoved to the bottom of the social pyramid, leaving him to be left out of the dance circle. 

I remember I gave him a wave, pathetically telling him 'welcome to the club where you were shunned by everyone'. He teared up and left. I didn't particularly like being so alone, but it taught me one thing. You never needed anyone to know how to succeed. 

Summer was still eight back then and our father was alive. When flyers began getting passed out a few months before the dance with all the information of the 'The Summer Fiesta!' hosted by the most obnoxious moms that school offered, I ran home, knowing that all the cool kids would be going. That was around the time my father's health began rapidly declining so my mother needed me to take care of Summer while she worked trying to pay for the growing medical bills. So she asked me to take Summer with me. 

I was so angry at her. Back then, I'd hated Summer, which was hilarious. I hated that she stole all the attention from me. With her chubby cheeks and big smile, she captivated every adult. I was a selfish kid. But expressing my anger and my reluctance to bring the eight year old to the dance didn't do anything to prevent it so I tried to make the best of. It eventually worked out since I had someone to talk to all night. 

But since that was one, a dance not a party, and two, full of thirteen year olds who tried to seem older than they actually were. So the new atmosphere sort of freaked me out. Which led me to accepting every drink Viv offered me. She was also downing shots, reassuring me that Olivia never drank so we had someone to drive us home. But it was clear that she handled the strong drinks better than me. 

I ignored the burn that every sip brought and avoided making contact with anyone, which was impossible. 

Though the mansion was bigger than anything I'd ever seen before, everyone decided stay in the main entrance of the house and the pool which made the place seem crowded. I stuck by Viv's side as much I could as she walked through the party greeting people like she owned the place. Once again I could see how different you got treated when you were on the other side of the social pyramid. People gave me smiles here and there, greeting me like we weren't strangers. But it was still so weird. Once we got to the pool, I'd already been slapped on the ass five times.