Starry Eyed

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Anybody who was anybody was going to Star's party, and if you weren't going, you weren't anybody. So even though I was tempted to skip just to avoid any possibly embarassing situations, I basically had to go. It would also be embarassing to not go, and definitely wouldn't give my social life much of a boost.

Ha. What social life?

Most people seem to think that there's a huge deal for girls over exactly what to wear to a party, or on a date. They debate over frilly dresses and Cinderella ballgowns and crappy bridesmaid-dress hand-me-downs from weddings in the eighties, just to find the perfect outfit. But it isn't actually just girls who have issues with what to wear. I was living proof of that, staring in the mirror at myself in bewilderment, looking like I'd seena ghost.

"What do you wear to a party like this?" I muttered to myself, the shower water drumming on the tiles in the bathroom. James was sorting himself out too, and I knew he'd make all the girls drool tonight. Probably set a world record for how many women he could tear the pants off of in one night. His looks were basically effortless for him. Well, not effortless- I mean, he seemed to be constantly straightening his hair and 'striving for perfection'- but he always seemed to know what to wear, and how to style himself. Lucky bastard.

I tried on a pair of shorts, but they basically chilled me to the bone, even though it was only just fall. Trackies definitely didn't fit either. In the end, a pair of grubby jeans I'd forgotten to wash were my only option, and so I chucked an old Green Day tee on and hoped for the best.

Suddenly, a bizarre noise filled the room. I blocked my ears to hide from the dead whale singing Justin Timberlake in the bathroom. Sure, he'd told me he was bringing sexy back, but he couldn't sing that line for sh*t.

"Jesus Christ, James, shut up or we'll have ten thousand whale girls on our doorstep, looking for a boyfriend!"I shouted. If he didn't stop singing, I'd probably go deaf; it was only a matter of time.

"Stuff you," hollered the Ken doll from the shower. I rolled my eyes and glanced at the alarm clock, pretty much ready to go. Ten to six; party kickstarted in ten minutes, so I was good. I didn't want to be all that early, seeing as I'd most likely be one of the first there and end up in a rather awkward situation. But Star would find me anyway, so there was no point shying away. I was many things- a loser, unsociable, a bit of a nerd. But I had never, ever, and would never, ever be a coward.

The party actually started pretty early, for a 'high school' party. I guess that was because Star could only wrap her father round her finger so much before he wore thin. After all, being the law-enforcer of the school, he had to keep some ground rules. And one of the rules was no alcohol, of course, but you could bet Star had slipped some beer and wine into a couple of the Coke bottles.

So I rocked on up to the school hall, five minutes early, just as the music started booming. It was just innocent pop music at the beginning; 'Call Me Maybe', 'Domino', stuff like that. Sort of a collection of 2012 hits. But you could bet that Kanye West and Skrillex would soon make their dubstep arrival.

Wandering into the hall, I was shocked by how many people had already arrived. There must have been fifty students out of the six hundred at the school, already twerking it out before the party had even officially started. Oh God. If Miley Cyrus hit the track, I was pretty sure we were all going to die.

Feeling incredibly awkward, I staggered through the knots of dancing people as they crashed and flopped all over the place. Hands and feet and hot skin blurred around me. Ugh, for my first real high school party, this wasn't making such a great impression on me. I didn't even know who I was trying to find amongst the sea of people. What friends did I have, other than Star?