SKINNY DIP TILL THE SUN COMES UP

2.

Cleo Montgomery.

"We should go to Ella and Easton's party tonight" Nara says, she is lying on her stomach on my bed, her purple-painted toenails are swinging cheerfully in the air

"Nara, you know I don't like parties" I groan. I once went to a party a few months ago and believe me, I will never go again

"I know but you need to live a little" Nara turns around and stares at the glow in the dark stars I stuck to my ceiling when I was six, "I promise you it'll be fun"

Nara is right, I have to enjoy life more, but I am the kind of person who reads a book for fun on a saturday night.

"Cleo I really want to gooo" Nara sings.

Nara and I are the exact opposite of each other. While I prefer to sit at home and watch a movie like the hobbit or narnia, Nara goes to parties or she does fun things with friends but yet we've been inseparable since kindergarten.

"Fine" I sigh and flop down next to Nara on my bed.

"Yes!" Nara cheers "I love you cleobear"

"Cleo and Nara!" my mom shouts from downstairs, "dinner is ready!".

Without finishing out conversation Nara and I run down the creaky wooden stairs that lead to the attic/my bedroom, from the hallway I hear voices in our kitchen which is weird since my mom is in there alone.

"Ah Nara and Cleo these are our new neighbors" my mom says when we enter the full kitchen, "This is my daughter Cleo and her friend Nara" she introduces us

Georgie Lee Garcia.

Two girls enter our neighbors tiny kitchen. They look my age.

"This are Lorenzo and his kids Zigmund, Luca, Cypress and Georgie" our neighbor Tess introduces us to them "They just moved in across the street"

That's right, I survived the 23 hours and we officially are Ferndale residents. I don't know if I'm happy to be here yet or if I'm still pissed at my dad, for now I'm just tired and hungry so thank god our new neighbor Tess invited us over for dinner.

"Nice to meet you" Cleo says while taking seat at the table.

Tess scoops big pieces homemade lasagna on our plates and within no time we finished it, even though it is not an Italian pasta like dad makes it  was delicious and especially after such a long day in which I only had a cheap gas station sandwich and some cheetos.

"Thank you so much for inviting us Tess" dad thanks her.

"Oh don't mention it, I love having guests over" Tess replies.

Weird enough my brothers were calm during dinner and not eating like pigs like they usually do. They even are helping Tess with the dishes now.

"Hey Georgie, Cleo and I are going to a party tonight and we were wondering if you'd like to come with us." Nara says surprising me, I'm not really in the mood for a party after such a long day but what else am I going to do the rest of the evening, I definitely don't want to spend it with my brothers so I accept Nara's offer. Nara gives me a warm smile before grabbing my hand and pulling me up the creaky stairs.

"She said yes" Nara says excitedly when we reach the attic, "When I say it like that it sounds like I proposed to you" she giggles.

I ignore Nara's joke and look at the full attic room, the ceiling is painted dark blue and is filled with glow in the stars. The walls are white except for one, which is the same dark blue as the ceiling, the walls are full of movie and band posters. In the corner is a bed full of colored little cushions, on the other side of the room is a desk full of school supplies and next to it is an overfull bookcase and a few piles of books next to it.

"Oh yeah..." Cleo mumbles "This is my room.. as you can see I'm kind of a nerd".

"It's cool" I smile at Cleo, this room really is cool.

"Of course it's cool" Nara says jokingly "Anyways we've got a party to ready for".

"What kind of party is it?" I ask while sitting down on the bed with all the pillows.

"Easton and Ella English are throwing it, they're very popular, very rich and they live in some big ass house" Cleo says.

"So a house party?"

"Yes" Nara says while flipping through Cleo's closet "And the fact that they are both incredibly hot will ensure that the entire town will be there, oh Cle you should wear this". Nara holds out a salmon pink dress.

"No Nara please pick out something normal" Cleo sighs.

★★★

It's about an hour later. Cleo, Nara and I stuffed ourselves into Nara's small car and we are on our way to the party. Honestly I am quite nervous, I know nobody there, I hardly know Cleo and Nara, and I have no idea what to expect.

"So how well do you guys know the hosts?" I ask.

"Ella and I used to hang out a lot but I don't know Easton that well" Nara says while driving "We're almost here by the way".

I look out of the window and see all the big houses, I guess Cleo wasn't kidding when she said that their parents are rich and that their house is big.