The Way It Could've Been

Chapter 8, Julian...

Sunday came along and Melissa called.

"I'm coming over." She hung up so quickly that I didn't have the chance to say anything. I just looked at my phone before tossing it on my bed and finding something to wear. I looked through my closet and found random clothes and put them on.

When Melissa came, I opened the door, and she looked me up and down.

"Do I have to go?!" I complained to Melissa.

"Not like that, you're not." She walks past me and into the house. Walking up the stairs. What the heck was that supposed to mean?!

"Are you coming or what?" She looks at me from the bottom of the stairs. I groaned and rolled my eyes before nodding. I follow her up the stairs and she walked into my room. I see Melissa scavenging through my closet. I watch her with a confused look as she begins to take clothes out of the closet. She puts them on her arm as she continues to scavenge through my closet.

She finally stops and lays all of the clothes on the bed.

"You done?" I asked her.

"Put those on." Melissa says. I look at the clothes, then back at her.

"Okay?" I walk over to the clothes and begin to pick up the shirt she picked out. I look at her and she just stares at me.

"Well, are you going to leave?" I ask.

"Oh yeah." She walks out of the room and closes the door behind her. I begin to take off my old shirt and put on the one she picked. I took off my pants and slipped into the one she picked.

Once I was finished, I opened the door and she looked at me up and down again.

"Good enough..." She said in an exhale and shrugged. I narrowed my eyes, but she ignored it and began to walk back down the hall and the stairs. I followed her.

"You're so bossy" I say as we walk out the door.

"Maybe you just have no sense of style." She opened the door to her car, and I scoffed but hopped into the passenger seat. Her car was a red Toyota Camry, and it was pretty. She turned the car on, and she pulled out of the driveway.

The sun was already falling, and the sky became a bit dim. It was 7:49 and I could tell it wasn't long before the sun will have completely fallen, and the moon would spring up.

It wasn't long before we both arrived at the party. It was only a few blocks down. It was easy to spot. The house with the most people and cars in the front. And the blasting party music from the speakers. We parked a couple of houses down since there were a lot of cars everywhere.

"Melissa, I-" I tried to convince Melissa one more time, but she cut me off.

"We're going! C'mon. It'll be fun!" She opens the door and gets out. I take a deep breath in and open the door. We both start walking.

The party was loud. Full of life. People drinking, dancing, talking. I looked around and there were red plastic cups everywhere. On the floor, On counters, in people's hands. I stayed by Melissa's side. Not wanting to interact with anything or anyone else. This house was quite big...I walked deeper into the party, behind Melissa. I looked up and saw a very expensive-looking chandelier above the living room. I also saw white railings around the living room blocking the balcony and the drop to the first floor. There was a balcony inside that viewed the whole living room. Damn, who lives here?

I looked straight again and got confused. I looked around to try and see if I could spot her.

Great, Melissa ditched me.

I sighed as I stood in the living room, feeling oddly out of place. I walked into the kitchen and awkwardly slipped past the weirdo's kissing on the sliver fridge. Was that normal? Is that what usually happens at parties like this?

I looked at the island counter in the middle of the big kitchen and saw nothing but booze. I looked around. No water. I groaned out of frustration and walked around the island counter to avoid the couple who were too busy swallowing each other to care about everyone else. I walked out of the kitchen and started to look around again. I have nothing else to do in this big house... Let's explore!

I began to walk towards the stairs and climbed it. The second floor didn't disappoint either. It had a second living room and more rooms from left to right. I start at the end of the hall. A room big enough to be a master bedroom in my house. And another. And another. Each room I opened was the same. Each is big and spacious. There was a gaming room. Arcade games and a PlayStation 5. Another room I went through was a gym.

"Woah..." I muttered under my breath as I closed the door and walked into another room.

All of these rooms were cool. Styled in a unique theme. Whose house is this anyway?

"Never thought you'd be the type to go to parties like these..." A deep voice called from behind me. I flinched in fear and my heart dropped as if I was caught doing something illegal. I turned around from the room I was looking at. It was an expensive-looking bedroom. Mark was standing behind me. Crutches supporting his weight.

"Jesus, Mark! You scared the shit out of me!" I glare at him and watch as his lips turn from a smirk, into a grin.

"My bad," he said as he chuckled a bit. "So, what are you doing here? Because I never see you at any parties."

"My friend forced me to come, then ditched me." I shrugged.

"That doesn't sound like a good friend..." He chuckles. I smile slightly. This is awkward. I look at his leg in the black boot and can't help but wonder; How the hell did he get up here?!

"She's a good friend. She's just a party animal... And...Uh...Quick question...How'd you get up here...?" I look at his boot and crutches weirdly.

"There's an elevator."

"Why am I not surprised..." I chuckle slightly and walk over to the railings. Looking over the party.

"Who lives here anyway...?" I look at all the details on the house again. The pretty lights. The big windows and big curtains. I can see the lights of a pool in a slightly open curtain. Every other window is covered in velvet red, thick, silky fabric curtains. Mark limped over to my direction.

"My best friend, Simon." He says as he looks over the party too. I look over at him. I wonder what he's thinking right now. My eyes traveled down to his boot. I wonder how long he's going to have to be in that boot.

"He's rich?" I said, my tone was a little surprised. My eyes travel back to his face and realize he's looking at me. I feel my face heat up as I look away.

"Yup.." He muttered and leaned his elbows on the railing.

"Huh ... never knew that." I said as I stared forward. Too embarrassed to look back at Mark.

"He doesn't like showing it off that much-" Mark says.

"Julian??" I hear someone call my name from the staircase. Both me and Mark turn to look at the stairs. Melissa looks at us, back and forth.

"I got to..uh..go" I say to Mark before turning and walking to Melissa.

"Uhm. Okay." Mark says in his low voice.

"What was that about??" Melissa whispers to me after we start walking down the stairs.

"None of your business, nosey." I narrowed my eyes at her, and we walked down the stairs.

Me and Mark were actually being friendly towards eachother. It hadn't occurred to me until after I had seperated from him.