Fair Warning

Chapter 7

"Come on, Hayles, it's New Years Eve!" Mel cried over the phone. She had spent the past 20 minutes trying to convince me to go to the party at Colin's house. Colin was also on the football team and is one of Ryan's good friends, he is also one of the popular jocks that I had no interest in getting to know, despite Mel dating one of them.

"Yeah and I want this year to just fucking end. This year is a nightmare, you're dating Hunter so I'm stuck having to hang out around Ryan, Kat being Kat, my parents always fighting, I'm just done with this fucking year!" I cried.

I heard her sigh before she said, "I get it, Hayles, but that's why you need to get out of your house. You need to have some fun, get out of your head and stop thinking. Let's ring in the new year and leave this crap year behind us."

"I hate you," I said in a defeated tone and I heard her smile.  I knew she wasn't going to give up trying to convince me to go to this party and after hearing my parents bickering non-stop for a week and a half of Christmas break, I wasn't in the mood to fight anymore. 

"You love me," she said before hanging up the phone. I shook my head and threw my phone to the other side of my bed, throwing myself back down on the bed. Within minutes Mel was in my room and dressing me like a Barbie, skimpy clothes and all.

"I miss the days when I could dress myself," I muttered while she was doing my hair.

As usual we were fashionably late so the party was in full swing when we arrived, mostly because Mel took forever deciding what she was going to wear.  It was another beautiful house only a few blocks from me, which was nice because I could walk home after the party.

We walked through the door and the smell of beer immediately hit my nostrils making me cringe. The music was loud and the living room was full of dancing drunk teenagers. I dodged them in order to make my way to the back of the house, where I assumed the kitchen was.

I mixed myself a few drinks, downing them quickly before mixing the last drink and with it, I wandered around the huge house. I finished my drink and was staring at one of the paintings in the hallway when someone slammed into me, pouring his drink down the front of my dress.

"What the fuck!" I screamed at him, pushing him away from me and wiping my soaking wet dress.

"I'm sorry about that, I didn't see you there," he explained then continued, "hey, you look familiar, are you Kat's sister?"

"Boy do I ever loved being called that," I muttered, spinning on my heal and walking away from him. I really should have that name tattooed on my forehead.

He grabbed my elbow and stepped in front of me, putting his hands up in a defensive motion when he saw the anger written all over my face.

"I'm sorry about the drink, and about the Kat's sister thing," he said and I looked up for the first time. He was gorgeous, dirty blonde hair and shimmering green eyes that I swear were sparkling. He was wearing jeans and a basic sweater that was rolled up to his elbows. Damn men, why couldn't I wear jeans instead of this stupid dress?

"For the record I look nothing like Kat," I stated, trying to keep my anger on my face as it slowly deflated just by looking at him.

"You're both gorgeous," he said and I glared at him. How he or anyone else could think Kat and I looked anything alike, was beyond me, we were total opposites in every aspect.

"I'm going to get cleaned up," I said, ducking into the bathroom as another girl exited. I toweled off the dress as much as I could, but I was still damp and reeked of beer.

I walked out of the bathroom, fully ready to head home but ran right into the back of someone. He turned and I had expected the guy who spilled his drink on me but when my eyes locked on his blue ones, I stepped back in shock.

"You just love hitting my back, don't you?" Ryan asked, flashing me his perfect smile.

"Of course you're here," I said and turned to walk away before he grabbed my wrist and spun me around to face him again.

"I'm sorry what I said at the diner that day..." he started and his smile evaporated after seeing me glaring at him, my arms crossed in front of me.  I didn't believe a word he said and I wasn't interested in his fake apology.

"Oh there you are, here's a drink as an apol--" the guy who spilled his drink on me said, appearing in front of me but stopped talking when he saw that I was talking to Ryan. I shook my wrist out of Ryan's grasp and smiled at the stranger who just saved me from a conversation with my enemy.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ryan asked, glaring at the guy.

"It's a party," the guy answered flatly.

"You two know each other?" I asked, looking between the two who were continuing to glare at each other.

"Yeah, we go way back," Ryan said without looking at me, continuing with his glaring contest with the guy.

"Well as much fun as this has been, I'll see you two later," I said and turned to leave. I walked into the kitchen and made myself a drink since I didn't get the one the guy had got for me.

I heard one of my favorite songs start playing so I made my way into the living room and started dancing with everyone in there. A few songs later I was spun with someone's hands on my waist and I looked up to see the guy who spilled his drink on me, his hands still on my waist as we danced together.

After a few more songs I led him into the kitchen for another drink and away from the pounding music, hoping I could at least get his name before the night ended.

"It's almost midnight!" someone cried and everyone crammed through the glass doors to the backyard where the fireworks would be starting. The TV was set up outside and we watched the countdown on the screen, standing in the huge backyard as people continued to rush outside before midnight.

"Five!" everyone shouted together as we watched the New York Times Square ball drop on the TV screen. 

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One," I heard the guy say next to me, he turned my chin up and kissed me softly as I heard the pops above us as the fireworks started. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year," I said, still stunned that he kissed me. He put his arm around my waist and we stared at the sky, watching the fireworks in the sky. It was a cliché moment that I never thought I'd like or even experience, but with him, it wasn't so bad. I even caught myself smiling.

"My name is Mike," he whispered in my ear and I laughed to myself, realizing I just kissed a guy without knowing his name. I never thought that would happen to me either. It's been one minute and this year is already better than last year, I thought and smiled even wider.

"I'm Hailey," I said and he leaned over and kissed me again.

"Nice to meet you," he said when he stopped kissing and I giggled.