You can Bet on Me

Part 12 ~ The Party

Maddison
There was absolutely no way I would go to a party. Or so that was what I thought. I thought that Michael had given up after school the day before, but as he approached me at my locker, I guess not.
"So, come to the party." He started the conversation with something like an order.
"And why should I?" I asked, raising a brow, refusing to let my eyes meet his gaze.
"Come on, don't be so difficult. It's just a party – a small one. Since you've never been to a party, it'll be a first, wouldn't it?" Michael was terrible at being persuasive. But something about his grin and the dimple on his cheek that I had not noticed before made me want to say yes. But I stood my ground and shook my head, pulling my English book from my locker.
"No, not now, not ever." I replied.
"Just once. If you don't like it, I'll send you home. Promise." I'd never seen Michael anything close to begging, but it was kind of funny watching the star basketball player Mr Hotshot so desperate for his girlfriend to go to a party. "There's not going to be anything much, and there are other drinks besides alcohol and beers. There's also snacks, a dance floor, a pool – my point is, come. Just come and I'll never ask you to come to another party ever again."
I hesitated. "Fine. I'll go. As long as you don't get drunk either," I shivered at the thought of what Mr Confident would do when he was drunk and even more cocky.
"Deal," grinned Michael, waving and walking away. What did I just get myself into?
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"You cannot where jeans and a random shirt to a fricking party!" Cassie was fussing over my outfit.
"And why not?" I snapped accusingly, looking down at my casual jeans and warm jumper.
"Because!" she gave me a noncommittal answer that I was not going to accept. I looked at her, tilting my head up slightly as a look of superiority as I asked, "because what?"
"Because it's a party," she insisted.
"And what's so great about a party?" I snapped.
"You really are hopeless," Cassie groaned. She gave up trying to convince me and simply began sifting through my closet. "You must have something at least half-decent in your closet," she murmured as she yanked out clothes and chucked them on the floor.
"Hey!" I snapped in protest, but she didn't answer as she victoriously pulled out a fancy shirt that I didn't even know I had. It was a white crop top with a low-dip back and two straps on the back crossing over that would go around my neck. From the front, two other straps connected to the part that wrapped around the neck.
"Put it on," Cassie said as she threw it at me. It landed on my face and I yanked it off, scowling at Cassie but still putting it on.
It looked amazing and hugged my curves – I loved it. I'd have never thought that I would think that about such a revealing shirt, but it made me look... pretty. Beautiful. Cassie saw my smile and said, "wait until you see what I match it with."
She pulled out a skirt from my closet and gave it to me. It didn't even reach my knees – I looked at it with disgust.
Looking to Cassie, I knew by her determined look that she wouldn't let me wear anything else. I sighed and reluctantly put it on.
"Cassie, you can't be serious," I said as I looked myself in the mirror. It looked cute, sure, but it was literally freezing outside – I would be an icicle before we even reached the party.
"Oh but I am," Cassie replied, flicking her fingers. "Just put on this." She threw a cardigan at me, but when I held it up, I realised it was cropped as well. I groaned but Cassie took no notice.
The cardigan was woolly and warmer than I had expected. It was champagne coloured with a few flecks of gold in it and had buttons on the front.
"This... isn't mine," I said.
"Return it after you go to the party and wow everyone," Cassie winked. I cringed. Putting it on, it looked good with the crop top, but since it was also cropped, it was still cold.
Before I could button it up, Cassie grabbed my arm and tutted, "no way."
I glared her down but didn't try to button it up anymore. Instead, I groaned, "seriously Cassie?"
"Yup, all in the name of beauty." Grinned Cassie. I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror – I looked... better than I ever thought I could.
"And that's not even the best part," I was afraid of what Cassie would do next. I was right to be – she pulled me onto a chair and began doing my make-up.
"Not too much," I told her as she began applying mascara on my eyelashes.
"Stop blinking!" she insisted. "It's not going to be too much anyways – your face is literally flawless. We just add a little volume to your lashes, pucker up your lips, and do your hair and then you'll be all good. I'm so jealous of your smooth face, by the way."
"Don't say it like that," I groaned.
"Say what?" she asked innocently as she moved to do my other eyelash.
"Pucker up your lips'. No one says that. It sounds..." I shivered.
"Like you're going to kiss someone? Well, that's exactly the plan." Cassie closed the mascara and asked, "okay, what colour lipstick?"
"No lipstick at all," I snapped.
"You are literally hopeless." She let out a sigh. "Alright then, I guess lip gloss will have to do. It's not like your lips need any colour anyways." She pulled out some strawberry scented lip gloss that I supposed she had brought from her house and applied it on my lips.
"Now the hair," murmured Cassie. Throwing all make-up aside, she got out something that I dreaded – a curling iron.
"No," I said firmly.
"Oh come on!" Cassie whined. "Don't be such a baby. You have natural waves in your hair, so I'm just going to curl the tips. Think of how amazing you'll look!"
"Funny, I can't picture me with curled tips." I hissed.
Cassie drooped. "Well, I can, so too bad!" she began curling my hair and before I could push her away, she warned, "careful. If you touch me, the curling iron could slip and possibly burn a certain someone."
I stopped trying to move and resolved to glaring at Cassie through the mirror in front of me (which was, by the way, not as effective as if I was glaring at her directly).
"Done!" Cassie was quick with her work and soon, the tips of my hair was curled. As much as I hated to admit it, I looked amazing. She was right. "Told you that you would look amazing." Cassie grinned victoriously at my content smile.
"What about you?" I asked, turning around on the chair.
"Oh no, no, no, no! I am not going for two very specific reasons – one, I've got to pick up my little brother from some rookie soccer camp that he sucks at, and two, I didn't get an invitation – you were invited, not me. So enjoy yourself!" Cassie replied as she pushed me downstairs and out the door.
"We're going!" Cassie called out for me to my parents. My parents didn't reply but my mum made an agreeing sound from the kitchen and Cassie took that as our green light to leave.
At our shoe rack, Cassie specifically chose high heels for me.
"No," I hissed.
"Yes," Cassie grinned. I grabbed another pair of shoes from the rack – which, surprisingly, matched well with my outfit. It was champagne coloured like the cardigan and didn't have a too high heel. Cassie, for the first time tonight, agreed to my choice and I put them on. Cassie squealed.
"You look amazing," then, with a teasing grin, she added, "I'm sure that you'll wow a certain someone starting with the letter 'Michael'."
"Stop," I playfully slapped her shoulder and she laughed and receded to the car. Michael had sent me the address to the party a little while ago, and it wasn't a long drive there. Cassie decided to drive (more like forced me to let her) and she dropped me off at the party with a wink. The party, as I stood just outside the door, was wild and already in full swing.
People were dancing out of time to the music while holding red, plastic cups, spilling their drinks every pump of the music. I was hesitant to knock, but decided to do anyways. I knocked just as the door swung open and there was Michael.
I stumbled and fell into Michael's arms and he caught me.
"Woah, calm down, princess." He laughed. I pushed myself away from him to stand up, and he didn't even stagger or step back – he was like a literal rock. He looked me up and down and said more seriously, "you look... amazing."
"Thank you," I couldn't help but smile. "Let's go inside?" He nodded and I stepped inside. It was even more wild than it looked from the outside – the music was ten times louder and everything was lit up by a disco ball twirling on the ceiling. Tables upon tables of drinks, snacks, and alcohol were lined up against the wall and people were yelling and whooping and making all sorts of pointless noises for the sake of it.
The sheer amount of people made me feel less enthusiastic about the party, but Michael grabbed my waist and led me forward.
"Excuse me?" I glared at him.
"Come on, you know you like it." He grinned. He was right – I did like it. But why? Why did I like it? I had no clue, but I wasn't going to let him tease me either.
"Do I?" I gave the most noncommittal answer I could think of, which probably wasn't the most effective response to him teasing me. Even though I scowled at him, I didn't try to push him away either and I had no idea where he was leading me.
He opened the back door and said, "the main part of the party is out here." That wasn't the main part of the party? I thought. I nodded and stepped outside.
There was a large pool which several people were already swimming in and there were more tables stuffed with snacks and drinks. A boy let out a loud whoop from up on the diving board and everyone's attention snapped to him as he dived in. As he hit the water with a splash, everyone cheered and whooped and I didn't see the point.
Honestly, I thought Michael was lying about the pool part just to make me say yes, so I didn't bring any bathers. The boy got out of the pool and walked up to Michael casually.
"Hey, that your girlfriend?" he asked.
"Yup," Michael grinned.
"Damn man," he laughed. "What happened to the other one?"
"This is still the same one," Michael replied.
"Really? Almost didn't recognize her." The boy's attention shifted to me. "Hey beautiful. I'm Joshua. Want to grab a drink?"
"No thanks," I replied quickly. "I don't drink."
"Come on, it's alright. Just one?" he asked, grabbing my wrist. I wanted to pull away, but I was unsure. That was when Michael stepped in front of me, yanking Joshua's arm away from me. Relief flooded over me as Michael growled, "don't touch her."
"Wow. Possessive much?" Joshua laughed, but scampered away anyways.
"You... okay?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck as he turned around to face me.
"Yeah, thanks." I nodded. I had to almost yell over the music. Michael said something, but I couldn't hear him over the music.
"Huh?" I practically yelled. I was prepared to hear his yelled reply, but instead, he whispered in my ear, "want to get out of here?"
Shivers shot down my spine and I took a step back as I nodded. I grinned and took my hand, leading me through the crowds of people. He lead me around the backyard to the side of the house where there was a small alley sort of area. He suddenly let go of my hand and hoisted himself up onto the fence and climbed to the roof from there. He stuck his hand down to help me up and said, "trust me."
I was afraid – I would admit that. Climbing wasn't exactly my strong point. But as I looked up at Michael's warm eyes, I trusted him.
Grabbing on to the top of the fence, I managed to pull myself up and looked over to Michael. The roof was slightly higher than the fence and a small jump had to be made to get to it. He held his hand out to me and I took it gratefully.
"Just jump. If you fall, I'll catch you," Michael said reassuringly. I nodded and hesitated before jumping across to the roof. I had overjumped and crashed into Michael, knocking him down on the slanted rooftop. I quickly got up and apologised, "sorry."
"It's fine," he said as he got up, carefully making his way around the roof until we came to a less slanted area that had a clear view to the stars. He sat down, and I sat next to him. The stars were beautiful, like sparkling diamonds in the sky, and the moon was illuminating all the shadowed areas with its graceful light.
"It's beautiful," I gasped.
"Yeah, it sure is, huh?" Michael's lips turned up slightly in a grin. We both sat there, staring at the stars for a long time before he said, "your family is really nice."
"Yeah," I laughed as I added, "if you mean 'nice' as in annoying, clingy, and nosy. They love to nose their way into my business and love life."
"That... that sounds nice to me," Michael's smile faltered.
"What about your family?" I asked. Michael turned his head away from me slightly so I couldn't see his face as he replied, "they... aren't really home."
"Siblings?" I asked. He shook his head. "That must be nice. I would love a day or two without my siblings."
"No... it's lonely, actually." He said with a shake of his head. "No one's ever there. I come home to an empty house. I was raised by a bunch of nannies." There was a quiet silence as I processed his lonely childhood. I couldn't believe that behind his confidence and popularity, Mr Hotshot had such a miserable family life.
"Do they... come home for dinner? Like my family? Do you eat together?" I asked. Michael shook his head. I went quiet. "Then... how about I come to your place for dinner next week?"
Michael looked at me in surprise. I was surprised myself – where the hell did that come from? But my head stuck with that and I added, "you've already been to my house – how about I go to your house?"
"After the date," Michael said.
"D-Date? What date?" I blurted.
Michael laughed. "The date that we're going to have next week, if you don't mind it. After all, you're my girlfriend."
"I... forget that sometimes," I admitted. "It feels like we're on completely different leagues and I can barely reach you sometimes." I shivered and Michael edged closer to sit direction beside me. He put an arm around my shoulder and I didn't protest, but rather enjoyed the warmth and the kindred gesture.
"I sometimes... forget too," Michael said, looking up at the stars.
"I've been wondering – why me?" I asked.
"Why you what?" Michael said, still looking up.
"Why you chose me to be your girlfriend," I replied. "Why not all those other eager, prettier girls who are far better than me?" Michael suddenly turned to face me and grabbed my hands in his.
"Don't talk about yourself like that," he said lightly. "You're amazing as you are, and all those other so-called 'prettier' girls are ugly brats on the inside." I laughed at that.
"You always did make me smile, even if you're on stage nine cockiness," I laughed.
"Alright, now that I've asked that, why did you say yes?" Michael asked me. I stayed silent for a moment. To be honest, I didn't know why I said yes.
"I... don't know," I admitted truthfully. "It sort of just... came in the moment, you know?"
"Really?" Michael asked teasingly. "Is that true?"
"Come closer and I'll tell you," I said, looking away from him. He edged closer. "Closer."
He edged closer again. I could feel his warm breath on my cheek. I whipped my head around and kissed him on the cheek before rearing back in case he didn't like it. I couldn't help but smile after that and I could feel a blush creeping up my cheeks. Michael didn't say anything for a moment, and I feared that he didn't like it. Disappointment dropped like a stone in my stomach until he began smiling too.
Moonlight beamed down on him and I could see his wide grin, his slightly flushed cheeks as he brought his hand to his cheek where I had kissed him.
"S-Sorry," I immediately said.
"It's okay. I-I kind of liked it, actually." He grinned. Relief flooded over me and I looked back up at the stars. It was... an awkward silence from there on and we both stared up at the stars until Michael pointed at one saying, "it's a shooting star – make a wish."
I closed my eyes and made a wish. Michael watched me while I put my hands together and made my wish.
"What did you wish for?" he asked.
"I can't tell you or it won't come true," I said, tilting my head up slightly as he began to argue with me over it. I wish... I wish things would stay like this forever.
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