Make My Way

Chapter Thirty-One

Aria's POV

The school's annual snowball dance was coming up in December and people had already started finding dates. I had no idea who would ask me and I didn't know who I'd say yes to either. Blake had already asked Aurora yesterday, so I knew he wouldn't ask me.

He had come up to her holding a plate of spaghetti. He held up a sign that read:
What's the 'pasta'bility that you'd go to snowball with me?

He offered her food. Of course she said yes.

Everyone naturally automatically assumed Merrick and Vivian we're going together even though they still weren't officially dating. Liam and Willow were also going together. Easton had asked Everly, and they were going as friends. The same went for Xavier and Lila, they were like brother and sister.

That left Stella and I waiting. Stella knew Luca wouldn't ask her since he still had a girlfriend, but she was still hoping. I didn't know what would happen for me but I had a feeling I'd go even if no one asked me.

My phone dinged and I looked to find a text message from Caden.
Party at my house tonight. Be there. Bring whoever you want.

Naturally, I snapped Stella to get her opinion. We debated the pros and cons of going and staying home for a while before deciding to at least go for a little while. We invited a few other of our friends and called it good.

At 11:00 that night, I said goodbye to my parents and got in Stella's car, since we were carpooling. When we got to Caden's house, even though it was only 11:30, the party seemed to be in full swing. Couples were making out in dark corners and I heard some suspicious thumping from upstairs.

The music was pounding so loud, the house was shaking. Already drunk people were standing on tables dancing and, of course, grinding. I knew less than half the people in the room, so I assumed that people had started wandering in at some point. The scent of fresh alcohol stung my nose.

There were empty bottles of beer and Jell-O shots laying around on the coffee table and floor. We had both sworn not to drink at a high school party and neither of us were even really tempted to. Stella and I wandered for a while, having short conversations with a few people we knew and waving at others. After the first three guys we had never met before try to grab our butts or start grinding with us, we got a little uncomfortable. I hadn't been particularly excited to hand out in a party full of underdressed girls and horny teenage boys in the first place, but it just kept getting more and more stuffy in there.

It wasn't until, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my very first boyfriend from eighth grade that I turned around fast and liked for a way out. I saw the door to the backyard pool open and pulled Stella towards it. I took in a deep breath of the fresh air and sighed in relief. Finally, the smell of cheap beer and body odor had been mostly cleared from my system.

On the porch, people were smoking and drinking but once you passed them and made it down the stairs and onto the patio by the pool, the intoxicated people seemed to spread out. By the covered pool, there were a few lawn chairs and several groups of mostly sober people stood talking casually.

I collapsed into a lawn chair and Stella sat down next to me. Glancing at my phone, we had been in the house for over an hour and a half. It was 1:45 AM. I had a sudden realization. "Stella, didn't Aurora say she might come?" She nodded hesitantly. "Then where is she?"

Right on cue, Aurora came up behind me and set her chin clumsily down on my head. "Aurora, are you okay?" I asked, worried.

"Yeah! I'mmmmmmmmmm...." Her word drifted off. "Great!" She snapped back into focus. "Your eyes look like rainbows." She turned to Stella. "Wow, you have a really nice butt Stel. You know that?" She slapped Stella's butt. "Oh!" She exclaimed excitedly, "Firm!"

Stella rolled her eyes and grabbed hold of Auras shoulders, trying to stop her constant swaying. "Aura, are you drunk?" Stella question her softly.

"No. I'm most certain-an-an-anly not drunk." Her hair fell into her face and she made no effort to move it out. "I didn't drink anything. Nothing. Not a thing. Nope. Not all night."

"Wait," Stella stopped her rambling, "Open your mouth and stick out your tongue." Aura did and we could see that it was stained with color.

"Aura, what did you eat?" I stepped in.

"The only thing I had here all night was some of those personal sized jello things. They're sooooooooooo cute! And they taste good." We gave her an annoying look and she got confused.

I shook my head. "Aura, you need to go home."

"But I don't wanna go home," she whined. Stella and I looked at each other in agreement. We stood up and guided Aura towards the gate to the front. We had just made it into the grass when she turned and projectile vomited into the flower bed. She groaned. "Do you think there was something in the jello?" she asked innocently.

"There was definitely somethings in the jello," Stella muttered under her breath.

"I'll go grab some paper towels from inside to clean her up a bit. Take her to the car," I told Stella.

The stench of body odor and alcohol was worse now and was mixed with puke. As I was going into the kitchen, I stepped over at least three people passed out and two making out. In the kitchen I ran into none other than Caden himself.

He took a swaying step towards me and I stepped around him to get to the paper towels. I ripped off a large section and turned to leave, only to find Caden blocking my way. He leaned in closer to me and his breath reeked of cheap alcohol. His face was inches from mine and the stench was overwhelming. I almost gagged as I pushed him away.

"Aria, don't," he begged.

"Caden, you're drunk, it's three AM, I think the party needs to end," I told him.

"I'm not drunk, you're just blurry," he told me firmly and I laughed out loud.

"Caden, if you don't get everyone out of here, I will."

"Fine," he gave in. He ushered everyone who wasn't passed out out of his house. I made sure that no one drunk was driving and if they didn't have a ride I found them one.

Stella and I ended up bringing a drunk Aurora and a passed out Xavier to Stella's house with us. It didn't seem like Xavier had been drinking but I think he got in a fight with someone who had at some point and was knocked out cold.

It was a very eventful night for all of us. Now Aurora knew not to eat the Jell-O shots and Xavier probably wouldn't pick a fight with a much larger, slightly drunk person again, though he would definitely have some pretty big black and blue marks to remember it by.

Stella and I had picked up a pack of energy drinks for ourselves before the party so we weren't particularly tired. When Aura and Xavier were safely tucked into separate guest bedrooms, we sat in the living room and talked.