Running Away From a Past Life

Chapter 2

     The rest of the week at Middleton High passed by pretty quickly. I had met a few more people. There’s this girl who I sit by in 3rd and 5th hour named Olivia who I also sit by at lunch. She has copper-ish brown hair, hazel eyes, and she’s just a little shorter than I am. Another girl named Madison, who’s in 1st hour with Ian and I, and also my 4th hour, said she was going to Lauren’s party on Friday too. She has light brown, almost dirty blonde hair, and green eyes. She invited Olivia and I to go with her and a couple of girls to Lauren’s party. Ian was invited to go with some of his friends so I told him he could go with them because I had a ride and I would just meet him at the party. I was finally starting to feel settled in somewhere in this new town.

     Friday arrived and Madison told us girls to bring our stuff to her house after school and we could all get ready for the party there. I ran home first to grab my favorite pair of dark skinny jeans, a glittery tank top with a stylish black jacket, and pair of black heels that weren’t too overdone. After throwing this into my bag I walked to Madison’s house, which was conveniently close to my Aunt’s, and found the other girls cramming into Madison’s bathroom to put on makeup and find cute outfits to wear. I already knew Madison and Olivia, and was introduced to Madison’s other friends, Corinna and Jen. They were all nice, and Jen was excitedly talking about Lauren’s last party and how 'epic' it was. I asked if anyone else ever threw parties, and Olivia laughed and said,

“There are some other parties, but none are nearly as awesome as Lauren’s or Taylor’s. They’re the popular girls,” she said as she made air quotes with her fingers, “so everyone goes and there’s always a great DJ.”

By this time I had put on my outfit which was, as Corinna said, freaking hot. And Madison put on my makeup. Somehow it reminded me of my old life, but at the same time this was different, I wasn’t being rebellious for once, just going out and having fun with a group of new friends. My new dark hair made the outfit look even better. I found myself thinking about Ian’s reaction, and realized how dumb it seemed since he was just a guy that I’ve been hanging with recently, I don’t even know if he actually likes me in that way. Not to mention the little secret that we share about juvie, my plan when I came to Middleton was to get away from my past, but here a little bit was still following me in a way. At the same time, I don’t mind…Ian seemed sincere when he told me that it wasn’t his or anyone else’s business, and I trust him with my secret. Just then, my phone vibrated and it was a text from Ian saying

“U excited!?”

So I replied with “maybe just a lil :)”

I didn’t even realize that Olivia was standing next to me, beaming.

“Ash has a crush on Ian!”

I hoped that the other girls didn’t hear but they’re like vultures when it comes to this kind of juicy gossip and were already running over to get details.

“We are just friends! Plus, he seems like the player type.” I defended.

“Oh please!” Jen laughed, “that boy is all about his ego, he acts all bad-boy-ish and flirts with just about any girl, but he’s had like one girlfriend ever from junior high. And even though he’s supposedly a juvenile delinquent or whatever, he just likes to piss people off for no real reason. Plus the cop thing was an accident. Haha!”

“I bet he really is a sweetheart, you two should totally go out!” Madison said.

“Not to mention, there’d be so many girls jealous of you, hell…I’d be a bit jealous of you, he is so hot, but he’s only ever flirty with girls, nothing more. I’m sure we’ve all tried to claim him at one point or another,” Corinna said teasingly as she finished putting on her makeup. I dismissed the conversation and all of us girls piled into Madison’s SUV and began our excited journey to Lauren’s party.