Be Your Everything

s i x t y s i x

"Let's call it a night, guys," Feldy calls into the mic before finally removing his headphones. The boys file out of the sound booth, leaving their instruments on stands on the way out.

"Ashton, Ivy's hosting a party The Peppermint Club tonight." Clarke reads the text from her friend with details of her plans, and then looks up at us. "She wants us all to come."

"Tell her we'll be there," Luke tells her.

"Me and Kat will meet you there later," Michael hands his girlfriend her jacket before putting on his own. "She's got some sorority thing we have to go to tonight."

"We don't have to go to the date party," she insists.

"I'm not facing the wrath of Bennett for you missing another party," he chuckles and gives a general wave goodbye. "See you tonight."

Kat mumbles something to Michael about meeting up with her friends as they leave. With the group reduced to six, the remaining few of us look around to figure out who will be next to speak.

"I'm heading back to my hotel to get ready," Clarke says with her eyes locked on Ashton. It's obvious she wants him to come along, but she's too afraid to invite him.

"Let me give you a ride." He pulls his keys from his pocket and jingles them as an invitation. "I promise it's a lot more comfortable than an uber."

"First coffee and now a lift," she giggles, taking his hand and leading him out the door, "Ashton Irwin, you're spoiling me today."

"They're cute," Beth says once they're gone.

"Looks like it's down to the four of us once again," I look at the time on my phone and see that it's nearly 8pm. "Let's get some dinner, head back to the apartment to change, and then we can go to the party."

"Cool," Luke nods and leads us out of the building. The moment that we reach the front door of the building, I take my designated place at Luke's side and walk to the car with him, climbing into the front passenger seat to leave Calum and Beth in the back. A couple of fans that were waiting outside for us snap pictures on their phones the entire time, and even though we all played our parts well, I'm not sure I'm ever going to get used to having eyes on me, just waiting for me to screw up and blow my cover.

. . . . .

No matter how many times I look over my outfit in the mirror, I cannot get myself excited to go to this party tonight. My black jeans and tank top combo have been accented with Luke's denim jacket to make the fans go crazy, and my makeup is simple but fierce. Even after slipping into my favorite pair of heels to complete my outfit, I have no desire to leave the house.

"Eleanor, will you zip me up?" Beth pops her head into my room with one hand clutching the back of her dress shut.

"I can handle that," Luke offers, and Beth accepts sheepishly while he quickly secures the dress shut. "Lennie, you look like you're about to pass out."

"I'm just not up for partying," I admit. Ever since we got back from dinner, I've been dying to just plop on the couch and catch up on The Bachelor.

"So you and me will stay in tonight," Calum says from my bed. He's been lying there on his phone while I get ready, but this is the first time he's spoken in a while. The idea of spending my evening on the couch with Calum instead of in a crowded club is like music to my ears, but unfortunately, it's not as easy as that.

"Baker's gonna flip her shit if I go to a party without her," Luke groans. I know he's just as frustrated as the rest of us in this situation. "There's going to be so much press at that party. Someone's going to start shit if I go and you don't."