A Rainy Day | ✓

❀ 18

I found Olivia at the living room where she entertained one of the guests. She seemed to be gravitated by my gaze and she turned to me, smiling widely once she'd determined who it was. The guest she was previously talking to, walked away with no care, mumbling about searching for a drink.

"Cameron's not here yet." She told me and I nodded even though I wasn't sure why she'd mentioned only that to me. The effect of his name somehow made my palms a lot more clammy, making me shift my hold on the clutch and present in my hands as I told myself for the millionth time today that the flusteredness that I'd experience that one time was only temporary.

Even as I said this, deep down I knew that this change was not temporary. I discarded the thought at the far back of my mind, unsure of why I even thought that. Maybe because it was the party, or maybe it was the promising presence of a certain birthday boy that was making me a lot more nervous.

"Is anyone else here yet?" I asked, diverting the topic away, for the benefit of me and also to soften the burning curious gaze that Olivia was giving me.

"No, Charlie called a few minutes ago. Said he's picking both Sophia and Cameron up." She explained, smoothening down her jeans even though they seemed to already be skin tight. "Well, normally I wouldn't offer a minor this, but would you like a drink? You look like you need one."

I'd drank before, sure, with my not so colourful however still countable experience of partying, but I had a weird feeling in my gut due to nerves and I wasn't sure if mixing alcohol in it was going to help ease or make it worse. I wasn't going to risk it, I decided, so I shook my head.

"Do you have juice?" My mind strayed at the image of those carton juice boxes filled with not so authentic but still sweet and delightfully tasting fruit beverages.

"Yeah," Olivia said, hooking an arm through my elbow. "It's in the kitchen." I realised the purpose of why she looped an arm around my elbow. It was because more people had arrived and seemingly already intoxicated, movements sluggish and it made me wonder if they'd already drunk before coming here.

I didn't really recognise any of them but they looked around my age, so I assumed that they went to Olivia's school and that she'd invited them just so they could loosen up. Olivia's white tiled kitchen was almost unoccupied save for the two girls who were refilling their red solo cups with more beer, at a wooden-barrel-resembling beer keg.

Olivia released my arm and made a beeline to the fridge and swung it open, bending down to search through it as I leaned against the cool kitchen island. She emerged later with a carton with a picture of a half sliced apple on it.

She passed it to me and when I held it, the coolness spread across my fingers as I placed the gift and my clutch gently onto the counter to fumble around with the carton to try and pry the straw encased in plastic off of it.

Olivia crept up next to me and picked up my carton for me. She easily popped the straw off by peeling away the plastic. She poked it into the given area and passed it to me. I didn't know that I was craving it so much until it touched my tongue, spreading the coolness as well as sweetness of the apple flavour across of it.

I began gulping it once I realized my want towards it.

What I failed to notice was that Olivia had been watching me the whole time, a question evident of her face, an eyebrow raised inquisitively, her lips pulled in a curious frown. She searched my face for an answer and when I realised what she was doing, I faltered, my eyebrows raising despite the hard poundings of my heart.

"I have a speculation," she said matter-of-factly and it only made my heart race even more. "You-" She was cut off by the sudden ringtone blaring through the air. She paused before reaching into her pocket and producing her phone.