reckless | mgc

two

"Addy!" Calum cheered, his thick eyebrows raising and his face displaying an excited expression. "How was the party?" He took a seat across from her at the lunch table, unwrapping his sandwich and waiting impatiently for a response. Calum had the time of his life that night, and everyone in the entire school knew it. He got wasted literally an hour after they arrived at the party, which caused Addy to have to (with much difficulty) drag him from the event and push him into the passenger seat of her beat up car and bring him home safely.

"It was okay," she responded after some thought, unsure of how much Calum knew about her and Michael talking. She wasn't necessarily worried about him finding out; she just knew he'd hold it over her head for the rest of her life and she was one hundred and fifty percent sure she wasn't about to deal with that. Calum broke out into loud laughter.

"Okay, Addy? The party was crazy! We had so much fun! It had to have been better than okay." She sighed, knowing it would be like this. Calum was always convinced that everyone had the same party experience he did, when in reality no one really did. Whenever Calum got even a sip of alcohol his brain immediately went into what Addy liked to call "the fun zone." On the inside Calum was having a wild time, spilling beer down people's fronts as he laughed a little too loud and a little too long at their jokes. He thought everyone in the place was experiencing the best night of their entire life, which in reality was only the case for a few freshman girls who felt important because they'd been invited to a house party. On the outside he was just annoying, making a little too much noise and taking one too many shots off of a cheerleader's stomach. It was okay, though, because people like Calum are the reason parties really get going and stay going all night; parties sort of lived and died with him. Calum was literally the life of the party.

"You," she said, putting emphasis on the word. "You had so much fun. It was just okay for me, I guess." Addy hated talking about stuff like this, especially with Calum. It made her feel kind of stupid, to be completely honest. Partying just wasn't her thing, you know? It made her feel like she was growing up wrong or that she wasn't being a teenager in the right ways. She just wanted to worry about her grades and get into college at this point, but part of her wanted to focus on just being a teenager. It was mostly because of her parents- the richest, most proper people in the entire neighborhood with the highest expectations for their only daughter. Sometimes, she had to admit that she felt suffocated with the idea of her future. She wanted nothing more than to please her parents, but she also wanted to experience being in high school. Between her parent's idea of her becoming a successful young woman and her burning desire to do something stupid just once, Addy was torn.

"Why don't you ever have a little fun?" Calum smirked, bringing Addy back to reality. "I don't even know how we've stayed friends this long. Nothing wrong with a little party, baby." She stuck her tongue out, smiling along with Calum.

"First of all, never call me baby again," Addy said, having a hard time controlling her giggling. "Second, you know parties aren't my thing. My parents don't even know I've ever been to a party before. You literally sneak me out every time." It was true. Calum and Addy had made an elaborate plan in sophomore year to sneak her out of the house for some upperclassman party that Calum had been invited to, and to their surprise it actually worked. They'd decided after that to use the same technique for every party. The plan was foolproof, really. Addy's parents were strict, but they weren't strict in a way that they never left Addy alone. Most of the time she was alone, to be honest. Her parents worked fancy jobs and long hours, networking constantly with important business people and going out to company dinners. They assumed Addy would stay perfectly sat in her room, studying for chemistry or calculus or trigonometry with her next door neighbor Luke (who was a math genius). Really she was sneaking out to wild house parties full of high classmates and illegal drinking, only to feel guilty and stand in the corner unnoticed. Calum loved being best friends with Addy. Not only did it give him someone to hang out with when he was bored, but it gave him a fully believable excuse to go to these parties, simply telling his parents that he'd be over at her house for the night. Addy's friendship with Calum just worked nicely for the two of them; and on top of that Addy had someone who knew everything about everyone, which could be extremely useful at times.