Karma

Persuasion - 3

Persuasion - Chapter Three

     I was really not looking forward to telling Kitty and Riley they were invited to the party. Actually correction, I was really not looking forward to telling Kitty she was invited to the party. Riley would probably shrug and let it go, but I was sure Kitty was going to be ecstatic and that was what I was worried about.

     In freshman year, Kitty was pretty popular. That was until Carmen came along. Kitty invited her to her friend group and once Carmen solidified her place, stole Kitty's spot altogether.  Carmen would "forget" to invite Kitty to hangouts and soon Kitty was out of the friend group.

     Kitty has always been too nice for her own good and totally let Carmen get away with it. Riley and I hate her enough on Kitty's behalf though. 

     I spotted Riley and Kitty sitting out our normal lunch table, and I began to slowly walk over there. I sat down in my usual spot.

     "Bad news guys," I said with a grimace.

     "What? Your girlfriend break up with you already?" Riley said with an annoying smirk.

     I glared and then looked back at Kitty, "You both are invited to the party as well."

     "What?!" they both exclaimed at once.

     "That's ridiculous. Carmen Scotts does not know who I am," Riley said with a nasty look on his face.

     Kitty totally ignored him and stared at me with a excited look on her face, "This is awesome! We have to go!"

     "Uh no we don't," I said with a frown.

     "What...? Why wouldn't we? That's mean. Carmen invited us and we should at least show up," Kitty said crossing her arms.

     "Kitty I don't mean to be like this, but are we sure she's not doing this for a bad reason?" I said softly. "I mean we all know how bad she can be, and I really don't want you to get hurt again."

     "I won't! God you both act like my parents. I'll be fine and I'm going even if you two aren't," Kitty snapped. 

     Riley and I exchanged a look.

     "Fine. We're not just gonna let you go to that party alone," Riley said sighing. "We'll be there. Or at least I will."

     Kitty's eyes lit up and she looked at me expectantly. 

     "I still think this is a horrible idea and that you should reconsider, but if you won't change your mind I guess I'll go," I said, the bad feeling I felt earlier creeping back in.

     Kitty threw her arms around me, "Thank you!"

     Riley and I shared one last look when Kitty wasn't watching. God this is such a bad idea.

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     I quickly changed into my athleticwear for lacrosse and practically ran out of the locker room. Something about being in there weirded me out.

     I stood off to the side and awkwardly stretched while I waited for practice to start. Suddenly a familiar brunette bounded over to me with a huge smile plastered on his face.

     "Leo! My man!" Oliver said. "Wanna partner practice with me?"

     I stared at him for a few seconds, confused if he was talking to me or not. "Uhm... sure I guess." 

     We quickly grabbed a ball and began our partner pass. It was kind of awkward and I could tell Leo sensed it. That's when he started doing the thing that I absolutely hate most. He tried small talk. Oliver tried to ask me about lacrosse and how long I've done it, then didn't get the hint I wasn't engaging that much, and moved on to my classes. 

     I wanted to rip my hair out and roll around the turf sobbing like I'd just lost a loved one. I instantly locked up and I could tell Oliver was getting pretty fed up with my one word answers. I'm glad that he likes to talk about himself a lot though because a lot of the time I just asked, "how about you?" and he ranted about one topic for a solid ten minutes. 

     I don't think I've ever been relieved for practice to start but at that time I have never been happier. I ran my warmup laps at my normal pace, maybe even a little bit slower, yet it still seemed to wind me

     I was extremely out of breath by the end of the run and gasped for air. I watched a bit envious as Oliver walked past me, totally unfazed. He seemed to be in such good shape, and I could only feel jealous of his killer physique. 

     Practice seemed to drone on forever and I was so happy to be back in my car, heading home. That wouldn't last long though because as soon as I walked inside Mike was firing questions about how my day was. My sister didn't have volleyball practice that day and so everyone was in the living room watching Young Sheldon. I would've sat and watched it, but Oliver had already run my socializing meter to zero, and I really wanted some alone time. 

     When I was halfway up the stairs I suddenly remembered the party and how I should probably tell my parents. I slowly walked back down the stairs.

     "Oh uh by the way I've been invited to this party Friday," I said trying to say it as if it wasn't a big deal that I, the anti-social king himself, wanted to attend a party.

     "And you want to go?" My mother said, not even masking her shock.

     "Yes... that's why I'm mentioning it," I wasn't trying to be bratty, but the whole situation was kind of annoying me. I really didn't want to go to the party at all.

     "Well that's great Leo!" Mike cut in with a smile. "I'm glad you want to finally socialize and be your age!" I knew he didn't mean it like that, but I cringed at the backhand comment.

     "Ok... well I agree that's great Leo. Do I know the person hosting it? Is it like a birthday party?" My mom asked as her eyebrows furrowed. 

     "No you don't know the person hosting and it's just a party," I said biting my cheek.

     "A... party? Wait, wait, wait mister. Will there be alcohol involved?" My mom said sternly. 

     "Mom I don't know. Kitty and Riley are both going and so is everybody from the lacrosse team so people you know are going to be there and c'mon," I pointed at myself, "me? Drinking?"

     "I don't know about this...," my mom said with a frown.

     "Aw c'mon Cathy. He's sixteen and it's good he wants to live a little. We know our Leo here will be responsible," Mike said with a wink in my direction. I couldn't tell if I was happy he was defending me or not. I really did not want to go to this party.

     I think Mike's opinion was all my mom needed because she sighed and agreed to let me go.

     "Why can Leo go to a party with drinking and I can't?" Clementine groaned.

     "Because you are fourteen missy and so help me God if I find out you attend a party with drinking involved, you are going to be dead," my mom shot Clementine a stern look.

     I quietly slipped away to let my mom lecture Clementine and headed to my room. I flopped onto my bed. My first real high school party was three days away. I couldn't tell if I was excited for it or not, knowing the host was a two-faced skank.

     I guess I'd find out Friday.

a/n: Hi! Thank you for reading! I'm having so much fun writing this and I hope your enjoying reading this. If you could recommend this to a friend it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again! Also! If anyone wants to design me a cover please do! My email is totallyimogen@tutamail.com. <3

- Autumn Terry