zentropy | mileven.

⁵⁾ god only knows

[MIKE POV.]

❝ i may not always love you, but long as there are stars above you ! ❞

━ CHAPTER FOUR.

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"WE'RE ALL going," max beamed, punching lucas playfully in the arm. he rolled his eyes and sighed, letting out an unenthusiastic "fine," even though I could tell from the little upturned corners of his mouth that he was excited.

and in all honesty, I was too.

it was our first high school party. it was like a rite of passage in some way. people who had been to high school parties seemed to wear the achievement like a badge of honor that sent a message to everyone who was aware of it that they'd lived. they'd really experienced high school.

"I don't know if I should," jane spoke up, her hands tucked in her pockets.

"why not?" I questioned, cocking my head in confusion.
"it's probably just gonna be a waste of time anyways,"
"we'll all be there," I reassured her.
"won't make a difference. plus, you know I don't do well in social situations with people I don't know."
"neither do I," I remarked, causing her to smile.
"yeah, I guess."

***

the room seemed to bustle with different sources of light coming from different directions, along with a mixed bowl of loud chatter and quiet conversations. it wasn't as populous of a party as I'd thought it'd be, but there were quite a lot of people, mostly from our grade.

"troy seemed to really get it together, huh?" lucas observed, eyeing the new surroundings.

"the slime ball throws a good party," dustin remarked, starting to dissolve into the mesh of people dancing, as will, max, and Lucas followed.

I peered over at jane who's eyes had widened and was looking left and right and the dancing kids who all had red plastic cups gripped in their hands.

"you ready?" I asked her, an encouraging look on my face. she nodded slowly as I began to walk toward the crowd.

"wait," she suddenly chirped. I looked back to see her hand extended towards me, her eyes unsure and her face nervous. I hesitantly took her hand in mine, something I rarely did, (the last time we held hands was a year ago when we arm wrestled in my basement) and pulled her along with me into the depths of the party.

the unspoken dress code of a high school party in the 90's seemed to be the boys wearing their average everyday clothing while the girls wore something they'd choose to dress in if the were to go to a halloween party dressed as drew barrymore, mariah carey or gwen stefani. it was evident that I had followed suit, as I was just wearing the striped shirt I'd worn that day to school, and so had the rest of the guys. max had also followed this unspoken dress code, as she was flaunting a shimmery crop top and some fitted mom jeans that looked like something liv tyler would wear, but jane was the odd one out. she had just worn her everyday oversized flannel and baggy jeans, paired with her dirty gym shoes and her messy hair.

and so we got plenty of looks as the two of us made our way through the crowd, hands gripping each other tight in order not to get lost.

as we finally approached troy's sofa on the other side of the room, jane plopped herself down and took a deep breath.
"wow," she muttered, a sense of worry lingering in her eyes.
"you'll be fine, here, I'm gonna go find the others, stay here, okay?"
she nodded as she rested her head on her palm, giving me a quiet "mkay" in reassurance.