The Player And The Nerd •Jiley•

•Part 31•

It was a few days later now, and I got a text from Thalia.

"The party the other day was great fun and there's another one this evening. It starts and ends earlier than the last one but I reckon it will still be a blast. You down?

I thought back to the events of what happened last time. Minus the first feeling of nervousness, getting yelled at by James, and waking up with a hangover it wasn't actually that bad.

Sure, text me the details xo

T- no need, Giselle is gonna pick us girls up and take us there. Be ready by 5pm! Xxx

That meant I had 3 hours to finish my schoolwork before having to get ready. I picked up my pen again and began scribbling down notes out of textbooks...

"Hii" I greeted as I hopped into the back of Giselle's car. She was driving and beside her was Amy. Then there was Sky Thalia and I in the back.

"Who's ready to get hammereeeed" Amy said raising the roof from the front. I giggled, knowing that she had probably had a drink or two already. Either that or she was acting crazy from excitement.

"Where even is this party?" I questioned, knowing literally nothing about where we were heading.

"It's not even that special, it's only at a skatepark down the road" Sky said as she looked down on her phone.

"I bet the musics gonna be terrible, and people will only be passing around a bottle of vodka and taking a swig" Giselle complained.

"Well do we know anyone else who's going? They might make it less boring" I said with totally nobody in mind.

"Well it's Laura and her mates from another school organising it. We wouldn't even be going if it wasn't for Hunter asking me to go" Thalia said sassily.

"So Hunters going, nice. I need to catch up with him" Sky smiled.

"Does that mean the lads will be going?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, I'm totally forcing Eldon to dance" Giselle laughed as she parked up perfectly. We all jumped out the car and began walking over to the area of skateboarding stuff and park benches.

There wasn't nearly as many people as there was at the last party, and because it was still daylight it was easy to spot James in the crowd.

He was stood talking to his mates with a sprite can in his hand.

I noticed the girls walking off so I quickly began following them. We all took a seat on a skateboard ramp and I noticed Giselle handing out bottles of fizzy drinks such as sprite and coke.

"Here Riley" she tossed one at me since we were sat too far away to reach.

"Thanks!" I smiled as I unscrewed the lid and took a greedy gulp.

Everyone began laughing at the face I made once I tasted the vodka in my now burning throat.

"Really?" I laughed as I shook my head.

"What's a party without alcohol?!" Amy giggled.
—
The girls and I spent a while just sat around sipping our drinks and chatting about the most random things. Eventually it was time to stretch our legs and go for a dance.

"You're actually good" Giselle said watching me. To me it was nothing special, just a random bit of footwork.

I'm glad I wore sandals instead of heels.

"Thanks, you're not too bad yourself."

We danced around and eventually James came over to me along with Eldon.

"Hey guys" I greeted them with a smile.

"Hey what's up" Eldon smiled back.

"Not much, how about you guys?"

"We're just chilling. This party is pretty.."

"Pretty chill from the previous one?" I laughed causing them both to nod.

"Maybe things will get crazier when it gets a little darker?" Eldon looked up at the sky that was not long from setting completely.

"Yeah perhaps" I nodded and took a sip from my drink.

"Wanna come and hang with us for a bit?" James asked.

"Yeah sure!" I smiled trying to act cool.

"Actually I need to go and find Sky but I'll catch up with you later Ri" Eldon said as we shared a quick hug before he strode his long legs across the park.

"So, what do you wanna do?" I said to James.

"Uhh lets go and sit on the skatepark."

I followed him over and watched as he casually ran up a huge ramp and pulled himself up to a sitting position.

"Yeah there's no way I'm getting up there" I murdered seeing how high it was.

"Tryyy" James laughed and begged. I did some pathetic jump in attempt to grab hold of the top but I was still miles off.

"I'll help you up" James laughed as he slid down the ramp.

"Can't we just sit on the floor?" I laughed, glancing up at the high platform again.

"It's better up there, trust me."

Sighing and nodding, I allowed James to push me up. It was a bit of an awkward struggle but finally I was sat cross-legged and staring at the view of the party.

"I told you it was better" James chuckles from beside me. I just shrugged- I hated admitting I was wrong.

We spent a while talking about all sorts of random things. The sun began to set, and the party seemed to be firing up. I waved to my friends every now and again, just so they knew where I was.

"What changed?" I asked James after a while of silence. He looked at me confused.

"You know...I heard a lot about you...what happened to when you were always the bad kid and stuff?"

He sat silently for a while, just gazing out onto the open grassland.

"Nothing changed...I just met you."

I was even more confused now.

"What does that mean?" I turned my head to face him.

"I'm still a young, reckless kid, Riley. I just happened to have met you and I wanted to help you out. Nothing changed" he replied sounding annoyed. I decided not to pester him, and for the rest of that night we sat there in silence.
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