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three

newt:

"Ah! T!" I groan as Teresa prods her earring into my closing earhole. I used to wear earrings all the time, but I got an infection and stopped putting them in.

"Calm down!" Teresa sighed, pressing the earring further into my ear. I whimpered in pain. "Don't be a baby!"

I felt relieved as I could feel the metal slipping inside my ear. The pain was finally over. 'Oh wait, my second earhole,' I droned in my head.

"Come on, Teresa, hurry up! It's nearly 7:00 pm! We'll be late." I checked my watch. "Aw, calm down! I'll get you ready, drop you off, and then come back to get myself ready."

'NO.' I thought. It was going to be difficult enough to be at a party with people I despised. "Newt, Minho will be there." Teresa comforted me, clearly seeing the look on my face.

"You won't be completely on your own. If you want, I can text Minho and force him to stay with you." Teresa asked considerately.

"No. I don't want to seem weak or something." I stated. I removed the slump in my posture and stood up tall. Teresa stood by me happily, her hands on her waist.

"Whooo!" Teresa clapped mockingly. "Aw, shut up." I slapped her shoulder and grabbed a comb from in the cupboard. With it, I gently combed through my tangled hair.

Teresa attacked me with gel. She lightly lathered it onto her hands and slapped it all over my hair, leaving it slumped and perfectly placed. As if each individual hair had worked together to match.

"I think I'm ready." My voice wavered slightly. I was a little self-conscious of being at a party on my own. I imagined myself sitting on a couch just watching the events in front of me unfold.

"Let's go then, Newt!" Teresa smiled like a dork. We raced out to the car. So what if we were a little late to the party?

Okay, we were more than a little late to the party. My procrastination and Teresa's dozing had drank up our time. Gally had lived in the dorms alongside Thomas, but he was hosting his party at the lot his loaded parents had bought him for his 16th birthday.

This lot was roughly 20 minutes away by car, and the current time was 7:10pm. The party would start at 7:15pm. "You know what? You'll be fashionably late. Like a cool entrance." Teresa supported.

"And you're sure I won't look like a total idiot walking into the house 25 minutes after the start of the party..?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, everyone will probably be too hammered by then to care." Teresa said. "Wait, except Thomas. Mum and Dad banned him from drinking for the month because of some stupid stunt he pulled."

"Great." Newt smiled sarcastically.

thomas:

I was frantically checking my watch. 7:12pm, it read. I knew this party was going to be difficult to get through when I remembered my parents alcohol ban.

Minho sat beside me on the bench, clasping a long necked beer and cackling to our other friends. The sky was turning a dark shade of grey. A hint of orange remained near the horizon.

The night was perfect; the conversations stayed as fresh as the oxygen disputing through the air in Gally's backyard. His house was in a great spot, quiet and hidden, but still beautiful.

"Hey, clock watcher," Minho giggled. "Stop looking at that watch of yours before I ditch it over Gally's freakishly tall fencing."

"Fine." I sighed along with a small laugh. I fiddled with the strap of the watch before removing it and placing it carefully in the front pocket of my grey backpack.