From Worlds Apart - Marvel FanFiction

VII - Party Gone Wrong

The party came around quickly. Too quickly, may I add. I almost couldn't go because Tony was mad about me telling Peter. It was going to happen sooner or later though, right? The next question was: do I tell Ned? I thought about it, yes I'll tell him, oh, no, maybe I shouldn't. Nah, I should. Or should I? It just kept going back and forth and back and forth.

I picked out a simple red dress from my wardrobe and chucked on a pair of sneakers. I wasn't the kind of girl to sacrifice the ability to walk all night for a pair of heels that if I was human I'd break my neck in. Comfort is always the way to go for me. I slapped on some makeup and left the building, before offering a subtle goodbye to Tony. I didn't allow him any time to change his mind about me going.

Hazel's house was enormous. It was very open with lots of windows, the colourful lights from inside spraying out everywhere. I stood at the bottom of the pathway leading up to the front door, arms folded across my chest, and stamping my feet pretending I was cold.

"Hey, Ariana," I heard Callum's voice say behind me. I span around and smiled at him.
"Hey, Callum."
"Do you want a jacket?" He asked, a concerned expression on his face. "You look cold. Here, take mine."
"No, no," I refused immediately. "I'm fine, honestly."
"You sure? It's really cold out here," he replied.
"Really? I mean, yeah, it is. But I'm not cold at all. Well, I'm sort of cold, but..." I trailed off, taking a deep breath. He chuckled.
"Sure," he smirked. "See you in there." He began walking up the path.

Great, well done me.

A few minutes passed, and I started to get a little impatient. I looked slightly stupid standing out the front watching other guests walk in while I looked like I was doing nothing. If they didn't get here soon...

"Hey, Ariana," I heard Peter call from the car window. He and Ned climbed out. May was sitting behind the steering wheel waving cheerfully at me. I waved back and walked over to the half open window.
"Have a great time!" She exclaimed.
"Thank you," I replied. The beaming smile didn't leave her face until she drove off. I turned around to Peter and Ned.
"You both look great," I said encouragingly and chuckled. Ned smiled at me.
"So do you!" he answered.
"Yeah, you do," Peter added. I looked at him, and he clenched his jaw. I shook it off, still a little... confused.
"Are you ready to go in?" I asked. Neither of them hesitated to walk in the direction of the door, and nor did I. Why did I feel so awkward?

The music was booming through the garden and full of dancing teens. We walked past the pool to get drinks from the table across the garden, as a boy (clearly drunk off his face) fell into the pool, splashing my dress and my wig. People around us gasped, and I only heard a little bit of laughter. Peter gave me an alarming look while Ned just gaped at me. Peter came and whispered in my ear, "It won't fall off, will it? You know, the wig?"
I spotted Hazel, still giggling – of course – making her way over. I shook my head at Peter quickly before Hazel made it over.
"Way to make an entrance, nerds," she laughed, looking smugly at us. "Isn't it a great party?"
"Yeah, it's-"
"Meh," I shrugged my shoulders, cutting Ned off, grabbing his and Peter's arms. "Right, let's go get those drinks-"
"Not so fast," Hazel said. "Ariana, I want to speak to you."
I squirmed at little.
"Ok..."
I watched glumly as Peter and Ned slowly wandered away, Peter giving me a final concerned glare before turning fully away.

I looked up at Hazel. She was taller than me – I mean, it was hard to find many people shorter than me, I was shorter than all of my friends. I folded my arms, not knowing what to do during the awkward silence.
"I think we should hang out more, you know, Ariana," Hazel said finally. I looked at her quizzically. Her face fell, suddenly growing sad. "Why, don't you think we should?"
"No, no, I mean..." I trailed off, taking my eyes off of her to look at the people around us.
"Good, good," she replied. I caught sight of Callum. I waited a moment for him to turn around so I could give him a smile, but he looked very stern. He looked around for a moment, then saw something, probably what he was looking for, as his expression hardened. I tried to follow his line of sight and only saw a pretty innocent-looking girl. She pushed her way through the crowd behind her, and to my surprise, so did Callum.