An Orphic Love

ELEVEN

Author's Note: okay yall. this is the chapter that I warned you about. its entirely in Mercedes' POV, and there's a timeskip to december. Its a bit heavy, so I put *** where you can skip 

TW: mentions of drugs, alcohol. nonconsensual kissing and groping. read at your own risk 

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MERCEDES

December 28th

Months have gone by, if you couldn't tell by the snowflakes falling from the sky, and the Holiday decorations being packed up. It's gotten colder and colder in our sleepy little New Jersey city. Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went as a blur, but when does it not? And now, we're getting ready for New Years.

New Year's Eve is always a big deal. My friends and I used to have little get-togethers, before high school. Now, there are full-out parties. These parties don't get too wild, thankfully, because most people are trying to be better people in the next year. Most of them. There's still plenty of weed and alcohol, but no fights. No cops. So I go.

This year, it's at Dawn's place. Which means it's automatically fancy. Dawn is my rich friend who has been raised like some kind of princess, or heiress, something fancy and rich. So all of her birthday parties, or anything like that really, have a heavily implied dress code.

"I think I'm gonna wear red with Nolan. You know, classic black suit, red tie, and sexy red dress?" Ellie says as she kicks her feet. We're at her house right now, Kenya, Dawn, and I. 

Kenya, Ellie, and me are sitting on her bed. They're both on their stomachs, while I'm sitting on the bed with my phone in hand. Dawn is in Ellie's desk chair with her computer on her lap, playing with one of her ponytails.

"Red is such a bold color," Dawn frowns slightly. Kenya pops a chip into her mouth.

"It's hot. Yall are gonna look hot," She smiles. I just laugh,

"Just be classy, okay? My parents will be there, with a few of their work friends and their kids." What kind of party is this? Kenya and I exchange a look. I guess Dawn notices because she quickly adds, "They'll be upstairs having their own party, but the point still stands!"

Hm.

"I will be classy for you Dawn," Ellie reassures our friend, who looks stressed already. Her brows are slightly pinched and she's running a hand through her blond hair. "But still hot, okay?"

"Okay," Dawn mumbles. I can only smile.

"Who else did you invite?" I know she invited a whole bunch of football players and cheerleaders, as well as the theater kids and band kids. Is there anyone she didn't invite?

"Uh..." Dawn opens her phone. Ellie excitedly points at a dress on her computer. Kenya and I both look. It's a deep blue with a slit, with sleeves and a V-neck. Kenya nods approvingly, while I shrug. It looks a little older for her. Maybe a lighter blue, or shorter sleeves. I scroll down and point at one that looks the same, just with bell sleeves, and is a different shade of blue. Still deep, just not so dark.

"I invited the football team, cast of whatever play y'all just did," Ellie rolls her eyes. "StuCo presidents and whatnot. I invited the band kids and the choir kids. A couple of the nerds too."

"Okay, any names we should look out for?" Ellie asks. Ooh, good question. Because of how popular our friend is, we can already assume that everyone and their mother were invited. Because she knows everyone and their mother. She's just that girl. But specifics need to be known. Dawn fixes her posture and purses her lips. She's probably thinking, running through the list in her head.