Persisting Anyway

6) The party

By seven thirty I was convinced that all of my fingers had blisters. I hated curling my hair, and I could never reach the back of my head. So far it had taken me an hour to complete most of the curling. After half an hour, I had put on music because my gasps and "ouches" were annoying silence fillers.

The burns and pains paid off. My hair actually looked pretty good. My mother's motto when I was little was: it hurts to be beautiful.

I was never one to wear a thick layer of makeup; I usually wore just blush and mascara. I added eyeliner and eye shadow to the ensemble though. My eye shadow was pink on the outer corner and faded to white in the inner corner, the eyeliner was thin on the top and winged out the slightest bit.

I was dreading looking for an outfit to wear. What do you wear to a party? I scanned my closet to find something party worthy. I opted for a lace shirt that was ¾ sleeves tucked into a tan skirt. A brown belt with a bow separated the two pieces of clothing.

Not too flashy, but cute I decided. Downstairs, my mom was working on a painting. She looked up when she heard my footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Oh, darling, that looks so pretty. I can't believe that my little girl is going to her first party!" My mother was all too excited when I told her that I was going to a party. She had jumped up and down in a circle. Needless to say she was excited.

"About time since its senior year." I mumbled into my mom's shoulder. Her hug was crushing me. She let me go but held me out at arm's length and looked at my outfit again.

"I have something that you can wear." She rushed off into her room and came out with a tiny necklace. It was a small pink rose. "Your dad bought this for you when you were first born. It had been hiding in my jewelry box, and I had tried to find it forever! I found it this morning. You should wear it." Adoration was laced in her voice.

She put it around my neck; I immediately fell in love with it. "Thank you." I whispered.

Mom quickly wiped away a tear that had discreetly fallen. "When does the party start?"

"Carter said eight o'clock."

The clock on the microwave read 8:10. I kissed my mom goodbye and waved to Bradley. I knew where Josh's house was only because of Rory. During sophomore year Rory had insisted we go to Josh's house just to see it. I remember the trip because some security guy had come out of their front door and asked why we were there. Instead of answering, I just sped off. It was probably the scariest thing in my life. I also have a photographic memory, so that helped.

By 8:17 I was pulling into the street and parking near Josh's house. Music was so loud I could hear it from outside. Some people were scattered on the lawn out front but most people were inside.

People stared as I walked past them. I saw eyes move up and down which made me extremely uncomfortable, especially since it was from boys.

I looked down at my shoes and quickly walked inside. Music was so loud it gave me a headache. Someone walked up to me and offered a cup. I pushed it away as soon as it came into my peripheral vision. I did not even see the face of who offered it, I was too scared. I walked around the whole main floor and still had not found Carter, the house was huge.

The music was annoyingly loud. I messaged my temples to try and alleviate the pulsing; somehow it had managed to pulse to the beat of the music.

"You look like you need to lie down." A boy's voice spoke into my ear. His breathy voice tickled my ear and made me scrunch my face together. "There are a ton of rooms upstairs." He suggested.