As Taylor carefully finished up with her red lipstick, she puckered her lips and took one final look in the mirror. Her smile quickly turned into a look of disappointed as she only saw an insecure, lonely girl who yearned for more than just brains. Of course she was happy, she was lucky to have been so blessed and loved in her life. But sometimes she just wanted to fit in. Sometimes she wanted to be more than the straight A student who spent her life baking. Sometimes she wished she could have friends, or even just that one person she could go to for advice or comfort no matter what.
Okay so maybe this party might not be the best place to find people she wanted to surround herself with, but it was worth a shot. Taylor needed to make the effort and this was the first step.
Lara had followed through on her promise and text Taylor the address, to which she put in her phone and discovered it was only a ten minute walk away. Although this meant she had to stick to wearing ballet flats rather than the heels she had first decided on. Taylor was wearing a floral dress that hit just below the knees, and the flats seemed to match better than the heels anyway.
It was around seven pm when she arrived at the party, and once she saw the already full house of rowdy high schoolers, she was starting to doubt her decision to come. This was a bad idea. No Taylor, you’re here now. There’s no turning back. You can do this. She cleared her mind of all the negative thoughts and took a deep breath, entering the house. The strong smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke hit her instantly, and it was almost enough to already send her tipsy. Her eyes surveyed the room, and she wasn’t exactly sure who she was looking for.
“Taylor!” The voice startled Taylor, as she turned around to find Lara now standing in front of her. “I see you made it.” She had the same mischievous smirk plastered on her face that Taylor was now starting to notice. She knew she shouldn’t have come here. But once again, she had used her heart instead of her head. “Follow me.” She motioned for Taylor to follow and she was lead into the kitchen of the very large and extravagant house. Whoever owned the house would have a lot of cleaning up to do tomorrow, as cups were littered everywhere, some half spilled over the floor along with food and even… clothes? Taylor couldn’t help but wonder how people were already drunk enough to start taking their clothes off. When they arrived at the kitchen, Lara instantly clung back onto her boyfriend Harry, as he glanced at Taylor for a second before planting a kiss on Lara’s mouth.
“Have you ever taken a shot, Taylor?” Lara picked one up off the tray of shots and thrust it into Taylor’s hands before she could refuse, while everyone else followed and picked one up for themself. Taylor was confused as to whether Lara was trying to befriend her or not. Maybe it was a situation of keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Although Taylor couldn’t quite figure out what she had done to the girl to make her dislike her. Taylor hesitantly took the shot, screwing her face up as she watched everyone swallow theirs so easily. Taylor wasn’t a drinker, but she didn’t mind the occasional drink or two.
Taylor couldn’t help but notice the way Harry was glancing at her occasionally, and she wondered what exactly his deal was. She watched the way Lara had her arms wrapped around him protectively, but Taylor could tell he wasn’t as fussed on her as she was attached to him. He didn’t have that sparkle in his eye that people got when they were in love. He wasn’t at all holding her, and to be honest it looked like he couldn’t give a damn about her.
And Taylor’s thoughts were confirmed when someone suggested a game of spin the bottle, Harry being the first to kiss another girl as Lara looked on jealously. Taylor sat back on the couch, not too fond of joining in. But that didn’t stop the bottle from landing point blank on her.
“Oh um no, I’m not playing.” She shook her hands profusely in front of her as she refused. This wasn’t a game to her. Kissing may have just been kissing to some people, but to her it meant a lot more. “She’s not playing, I’m not kissing her.” Harry replied as Taylor looked away and rolled her eyes. Harry was one of those guys she despised at her old school. They thought they were everyone and more, and she couldn’t stand the attention guys like him got.
All eyes were on Taylor, especially Lara’s, as she looked nervously at Harry, who had spun the bottle that landed on her. He had a look of disgust on his face, and Taylor felt like she was in the fifth grade all over again. He obviously didn’t want to kiss her, and she didn’t want to kiss him. Her first reaction was to leave, just get out of there and never go back. She would rather have no friends than people who treated her like nothing.
“I… I can’t.” She bounced up from the couch and headed towards the door, accidently knocking over a vase on her way out. The glass vase fell to the floor and shattered into tiny little pieces all over the floor. A sharp pain shot through Taylor’s arm as she realized a few small pieces had struck her arm hard enough to cut through her skin quite deeply.
Instead of leaving, she decided it was best to find a bathroom and clean her arm up first. The first place she looked was upstairs, finding the bathroom, still hoping no one had followed her. To be honest she just didn’t want to be around anyone right now. Glancing at her arm, she shuddered at the sight of the blood, looking away almost immediately. All she could do was put her bleeding arm under the running water of the sink and hope for the best.
“There are some bandages under the sink.” Taylor jumped at the strong, British accent she couldn’t quite recognise. Her head shot around to find Harry leaning on the bathroom door. She wasn’t quite sure how to react; he had just rejected her only minutes ago, and now here he was offering her bandages? Taylor wasn’t buying it.
“I’m fine.” Harry rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. He hardly knew this girl, but felt like he was responsible for her arm. Yeah sure he was an asshole 99% of the time, but she was hurt and he had caused it. If he had just kissed her she would probably be fine, but he would be in shit with his girlfriend because apparently she had it out for the new girl.
“Girls are so stubborn. Take the god damn bandages and just say thank you! Your arm is bleeding all over my sink.” He got the bandages out himself and took her arm as she scowled, but let him wrap them around the cuts.
“You know not all girls need guys to come and save them. I was perfectly fine.”
“Girls are so damn frustrating…” Harry mumbled under his breath as Taylor heard him. He really wasn’t doing anything for Taylor to like him one bit. She just took a deep breath, counted to five in her head and calmed herself down before she said something she would regret. This guy was frustrating her more than anyone had before, and she had hardly spoken a word to him. How was that even possible?
“So this is your house?” Taylor was curious as to why someone would be insane enough to have an out of control party at their own house. But then again with the attitude he had she wasn’t surprised. But Taylor was still really just confused as to what these people found fun about this.
Harry really wasn’t here for a conversation, especially with her. “Yep.” Finishing up with the bandage, he washed his hands and grabbed a hand towel from the rack.
“Sorry about the vase.” Harry just shrugged it off. “It’s just a vase. Not like it’s worth anything.” Before Taylor could reply, Harry was heading back out of the bathroom, leaving Taylor to wonder what exactly had just happened.
