ODDS

CHAPTER I

Andie is freezing.
"Jesus, Em," she complains. "Does it have to be so fu- freaking cold?" She rubs her arms and bites her cheek at her near slip of tongue- she swears all the time at home, but here in her friend Emily's rich-people house, she has to watch her mouth.
"Well, it is a holiday party." Emily's voice floats from the bathroom, where she is preparing for the party she's hosting this evening. "It should be cold in here."
"It's cold enough outside." Andie whines.
"Well, cry about it." Emily snaps. "Let me finish getting ready, would you?"
"I've been ready for hours." Andie hops off of Emily's memory-foam mattress and walks across the carpet, poking her head into the personal bathroom. Inside, her friend stands in front of the mirror, her green eyes wide open as she applies eyeliner. Her long brown hair is already styled flawlessly, gleaming under the fluorescent lights of the bathroom. She looks like a princess from a Disney movie, until she turns and gives Andie the stink eye.
"You're wearing that to the party?"
"Uh, yeah?" Andie glances down at herself. She likes these jeans, they're like her only pair not covered in holes and patches. As for her black sweater... it's comfortable. And the snapback very conveniently covers her ridiculously curly hair, which refuses to cooperate on most days... well, any day that ends in -y.
"Can't you at least, like, wash your hair?" Emily reaches over and tugged a bronze ringlet, then watches, dejected, as it bounces back into displace.
"Uh, do you have nine hours to spare?" Andie hops onto the sink counter and kicks her feet. "I told you, taming the Beast is an all-day affair. I can only afford to do it once a week."
"Then why don't you straighten it?" Emily asks. Andie should have seen that coming- Emily's hair is stick-straight.
"Noooo!!" Andie shrieks, shielding her nimbus of hair from Emily's iron. "I like my curls. And straight-irons turn my hair all frizzy and gross."
Emily rolls her eyes, though she's smiling. "Fine, go like that. But I'm not responsible for the fact that no one will flirt with you."
"I don't want to be flirted with. I'm quite content the way I am."
"Of course you are." Emily, finally satisfied with her outside appearance, drops her makeup and exits the bathroom.
Andie follows her. "You know, you never did tell me who's coming to this party."
Emily considers, tapping her pointed chin. "Hmm. Some girls from school. Tambry. Nia. Ames." she names a few girls from their schools and her current boyfriend, ignoring Andie's groan. Andie hates Ames, for reasons Emily can't fathom. "Oh, and my cousin Baker. He's coming down from Maine."
"Baker? Why do I feel like I've heard that name before?" Andie wonders out loud.
"I'm not responsible for your crazy brain." As you might have noticed, Emily has a small aversion to responsibility. As a sixteen-year-old rich girl with nothing to lose and everything to gain, her only responsibility is having a good time whenever possible- as far as she's concerned, that is. Probably the reason why she's dating Ames, also one of the most irresponsible people known to man.
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The bass thumps in Baker's ears, and the soles of his sneakers stick to the floor- someone spilled their beer a few minutes earlier, and the floor is still tacky. He's not interested in it, though. He's keeping himself entertained by petting Emily's cat, who is asleep in his lap. He can't quite remember the cat's name, but then again, he hasn't stayed at Em's house since he was eight years old. That feels like a long time ago. He isn't even sure they had the cat then- it looks about two years old, one of those snooty Egyptian mau cats with glossy gray fur and squinty, judgmental eyes. A sudden bass drop in the music causes him to look up. When he does, he's momentarily blinded by the strobe lights. Baker is crippled by nostalgia for the woods.
As he blinks the stars from his eyes, he realizes that, sitting exactly across from him against the opposite wall, is a girl with wild curls the color of butterscotch.
And she's grinning at him.

a/n-- hello all!
So look, a new story!!!- and a short expedition chapter sort of thing that i wrote in like ten minutes lol.
But yes, i got a leeetle bit tired of cheesy besties-who-are-secretly-in-love (NOT THAT THAT ISNT GREAT!! I JUST GOT TIRED OF WRITING ABOUT IT) and i was like yo! friendsies!!
I'm sorry this little thing is so short, i hope that you like it anyway. I promise the next chapter will be more descriptive and have more important dialogue lol
But yeah, hope you liked!
Wow, that was a lot of exclamation points.

Cheers,
Katt