Hollywood's Golden Runaway

B E F O R E ( ii )

When we arrive, as expected, we receive the royal welcome; the music quietens and all heads turn to us. Someone releases a cheer then and the rest of the hundreds of voices join in, celebrating our arrival. Finn beams and waves his hand in a royal manner around the room, greeting his subjects. I watch his expression of pride and joy, the way he has become so obsessed with his own popularity makes me nervous. What will he do when he loses it? When people don't cheer when he enters the room? I shake my head of my troubling thoughts and raise my own left hand to greet the junior and senior population of Matlin Falls shyly, but keeping my right hand clamped tightly to Finn's left, scared of when I'll inevitably have to let go. The moment lasts only for a half minute or so before the party resumes and drinks are thrust into our hands as the music pounds and the noise escalates back to its original level. I go to speak to Finn but I'm cut off by one of his numerous lackeys.

"Yo, Finn! Man you have got to come and check this out!" It's the host of the party, linebacker Tyler Carson who hollers from the adjacent living room, surrounded by the rest of the football team, making an impenetrable circle of muscle covering something of interest. Finn turns back to look at me with pleading eyes and I sigh internally, I know that I won't see Finn again until before we leave, and he'll most likely be very drunk. But I can't keep him from his friends, I'm not one of those people, so I smile at him weakly.

"Go, I'll catch up with you later. I need to be home before three," I tell him, raising my voice to be heard above the music. He nods.

"Love you," he says before kissing me longingly, before jogging over to join his friends, all of whom greet him with loud roars of joy and slap him on the back. I catch a glimpse of the genuine grin on his lips at being so adored by his peers. It makes me sad to think about how he'll react when we graduate and he has to say goodbye. Shaking my head of the thoughts that plague me again I push my way through the crowds to the kitchen and spot my best friend, Olivia Hope in the corner of the room. Her blonde hair hangs curled around her perfectly shaped face, not a blemish to be seen on her skin and her lips are stained red, complementing the black skirt and red blouse she's wearing. She is circled by the rest of the cheerleaders who make it their daily goal to torture me whenever Finn or Olivia aren't there to protect me.

The girls are all whispering to Olivia with malicious-looking smirks on their lips, which Olivia is mirroring making me feel uneasy. As soon as they notice me standing a couple of feet away all of them smile widely, their practiced, fake cheer smiles which spill the hatred like water through a crack. They all wave and gesture me over, calling out my name in excitement. Olivia breaks through their ranks and leaps into my arms, squeezing my body of all its air.

"You came! I bet Finn ten dollars you wouldn't come! Jeez, thanks babe," she grumbles with a petulant frown and crossed arms but it soon changes to a laughing smile, throwing her head back in laughter.

"Sorry, Liv! You should've told me and I wouldn't have come!" I chuckle, taking a small sip of the exotic smelling drink in my hand, Olivia copies my action and, like a domino effect, so do all the girls behind her.

"Don't worry about it, babe! I'm glad you came! Everyone says that tonight is going to be a night to remember so you're lucky you're here to be a part of it!" She cheers and grabs my hand, throwing it into the air triumphantly. She starts to lead me into the throng of dancing bodies when one her followers cuts in.

"And being with Finn guarantees you're going to play a huge role tonight, I'm sure!" Olivia throws the girl a scathing look over her shoulder but I catch the wink that sticks in my mind like the after-image of a flash.

"Ignore her! Just enjoy the night, babe!" She reassures me and twirls me around her hand and sways her hips in time with the music. The cheerleaders follow behind us, having resumed their whispering to one another, texting on their phones and general bitchiness. I down the rest of my drink and try to shake the girl's words from my mind so that the nerves would vanish too but the thoughts would not disappear.