everything I didn't say

nine

"Knock knock, can I come in?" Julie says from outside the bathroom. I open the door, finishing my eyeliner. "I just need to brush my teeth." She says.

She grabs her toothbrush and toothpaste as we share the mirror, which doesn't work out as well as she probably thought it might have. We both laugh and I finish first, so I leave the bathroom.

"Hey, what are you doing this weekend?" She asks me in the kitchen when we're both done getting ready for the day.

"Nothing, I don't think. Why?"

"Would you want to go to a party with me?"

"Uh, yeah I guess." I shrug. "Whose?"

"It's for Niall. Jared's making me go and I seriously don't want to go to it alone."

I bite my tongue. "I think he might be mad at me."

"For what?"

"For ignoring him the other day. He still hasn't talked to me since."

"He's a baby. He'll get over it, please come with me. I'm practically begging you." She holds her hands out in a pleading motion.

"Yeah, okay. I'll go." I tell her and she smiles widely. "Yay! You're the best."

I walk into the kitchen and Julie stops me. "Let's go out to eat instead."

"You always wanna go out, I think you have forgotten I don't have a job yet." I laugh.

"Then apply for one! We could go to the diner, I get an employee discount."

"Are you sure?" I ask and she nods. I grab my bag and we head out to the diner. Julie drives, she takes this drive almost everyday and has the shortcuts to avoid traffic memorized.

We arrive and are seated, and Julie chats with her coworker who waits on us. She orders a pop and some chicken wrap, I just get an sweet tea and some sandwich that looked decent.

The food is good and our conversations are always light, and neither of us brings up a tough topic so it isn't awkward and the mood never changes. I like this friendly and open side of Julie, the side I see most of the time. Just not when Niall's around.

Niall. Why is he still mad at me? What will he say when I show up to his party? Maybe he won't care, and maybe he won't even notice. Who knows.

*

On Saturday, Julie picks out a really cute outfit for me to wear. The floral print shirt makes me look even tanner than I already am, and I love that. I let her straighten my hair, making it appear maybe an inch or two longer. I like it.

She wears heels and I laugh at her decision, they look uncomfortable as hell. I drive.

We pull into the parking lot of the fraternity and it is already jam packed.

"Jesus, how many people are here?"

"You'd be surprised how popular Niall is." She laughs.

"Yeah, I guess." I agree as we walk inside. Julie stays by my side unlike I had expected, and we walk around trying to find Jared. Someone hands me a drink as we walk and I set it down in the kitchen. Julie finds Jared and goes to talk to him, leaving me in the kitchen by myself.

Someone bumps into me from my side, splashing me with a bit of their drink.

"Oh gosh," They say, turning towards me. "Sorry." I look up to him, trying not to get mad.

"It's whatever." I say, grabbing a handful of napkins. 

"Here, do you need help with that?" He reaches towards my side where the spill is.