A friend to remember

33: Stupid Bellrich Cliques.

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Denise followed Pedro into the kitchen, it looked like he had been there a hundred times. There were a lot of ppeople in the penthouse. People filled the kitchen to the brim, dancing yelling, smoking weed, some snorting some things, that she suspected were drugs, plus the couples that sat around shoving their tongues down their throats.

"Here," he offered her Maltina, and she collected it. "Thank you," she opened the Maltina and leaned against the large marble counter. He stared at her, as she looked around, with anxiety riddened face.

"Why isn't your sister here with you?" he tilted his head. "My sister and I are not..." Denise stopped and took a sip of her drink. She didn't know what exactly to say.

"It's okay, you don't have to explain it, but the thing with parties like that is that you can get lost pretty easily, you stick with someone you know."

"I don't anyone here," she answered. "You know me," he pointed out and drank the can of Red Bull, he had been holding.

"That's..." she stopped herself from talking, not knowing how to answer.

"Where's your other friend?" she asked looking around the kitchen. Caleb had disappeared into the crowd and Pedro stayed by her side.

Pedro shrugged, "he is probably off somewhere already snorting something." Denise frowned at this. The way Pedro just causally suggested that his friend was off somewhere snorting something.

"Are you going to continue standing? Sit," he pulled out a chair for her and a frown grazed her face.

"Why are you being nice to me," she narrowed her eyes. They had never spoken before and it was a surprise that he was being so nice to her.

He blinked, taken aback by what she just said, he stopped and thought about it before he shrugging.

"I don't know, I just think that you don't look someone that should be in this party, did Ella convince you to come?" he slumped next to her on the island chair.

"Not exactly, my mom doesn't know we are here. I think she would have a heart attack if she ever found out, Ella told her, she was going to have a sleepover or something, so she decided to push me into Ella's plans, which was totally ridiculous but I had no choice." She dropped her half-empty can on the counter.

"Hmmm," he answered with a nod. "So how are you enjoying Bellrich so far?" he continued. She sighed and rubbed her head, how could she answer that question? How was she enjoying Bellrich High? Was she even enjoying the school? Of course, she wasn't!

"Do you want my honest answer?" he doubled over and nodded. "One week in Bellrich and I regret leaving Queens College, this place, it's not worth it." he smiled softly and she noticed that he had a dimple, which made her stomach tingle.

"It is a mutual feeling Denise, this school... it's not the best," he said unsurely. "Oh far from it being the best school, first off, what's the thing with that stupid hierarchy system? If it looks like a high school horror movie in real life, then the bullying, then the stupid snobby rich teens that think that they can get away with anything just because their parents have money, it's the stupidest thing I have ever heard, why do you have to treat people like shut just because of your privilege?"

Pedro smiled throughout her rant, she was panting angrily, just frustrated by everything that was going on in the Bellrich. Pedro didn't really care about the class system or the bullying problem in Bellrich High, it didn't affect him, in fact, it helped him further because anytime he saved anybody from bullying it would be seen as heroic when he wasn't actively trying to stop his from picking on people or bullying them. He liked her speaking, he knew that he hadn't made a mistake by engaging her tonight, she was a breath of fresh air, compared to the many girls he had been with.