Someone Willing to Stay

Bottle of Root Beer

I can hear the music blaring from four houses down, where we have to park because the streets are so crowded with cars.
Logan Parker lives on the Yellow Brick Road, that's what we all call his neighborhood. It's a gated community, filled with rich people and big houses. Every house on Logan's street has at least six bedrooms and three bathrooms.
I've known Logan for about three years, ever since Adam became friends with his older brother.
But I've never been to his house. And right now I'm not sure if I'll ever want to step foot in it again after this party.
It's eight thirty and the house is packed, as well as the yard and street surrounding it.
Even though I've never been to a high school party, I didn't expect it to be anything like this.
The music is blaring, strobe lights flickering across the yard, and kids are throwing up in bushes. I can smell the sweat and alcohol mixed together and see the countless couples making out on the lawn.
"We haven't even gone inside and I still feel like I'm gonna be sick." I whisper to Riley who laughs.
"It's gonna be fine."
When we get inside the house, a wave of heat hits me and I take a step back.
Claire looks at me, "We don't have to do this." She yells over the music.
I take a breath, "No, I can do this."
I can feel bodies pushing against mine as the three of us push through the crowd. People are dancing and laughing, throwing cups filled with beer and some other foul smelling liquids around.
"Hey, you guys made it!" David comes up to us with a red solo cup in hand. He smiles at Riley and she grins back.
"And you look great." He says to her.
"You're not so bad yourself." She says back.
I look at Claire and she stifles back a laugh, pretending to gag.
"A few of us are playing beer pong out back and I need a partner, mind if I steal Riley for a few minutes?" David grins at us.
Riley looks at us with a pleading stare.
"Just go." I laugh.
Claire grabs my hand, "Let's go see if they have any snacks."
     I can barely hear anything besides a jumble of voices and a thrumming base.
     I'm clinging to Claire's hand as if my life depends on it. I can't be here. I don't know why I decided to come.
     I look down to make sure the dress is still covering everything. There are so many people here, so many bodies. I can't let one of them see what's hidden under this facade.
     "Barbecue chips," Claire exclaims once we find the kitchen, which is extremely difficult in this large house.
     "Want some?" She asks, stuffing her mouth full.
     "I'm good."
Claire loves food almost as much as she loves her phone, which I find ridiculously unfair because she still remains at the steady weight of a twig no matter how much she stuffs her face.
"Oh hey, you guys came!" Robert walks into the kitchen with a girl on his arm, she resembles him with pale skin and dark black hair. She blushes shyly and gives a timid wave as they approach us.
"Hey, Claire, Melanie." Robert says, smiling.
Claire looks at him and smiles, "Hey, who's this?"
The girl looks at Claire, "Oh, I'm Danny, Robert's sister."
"Oh I've never seen you at school." Claire notes.
"I go to Einstein Prep, the all girls school over on Northridge."
"Yeah, she's crazy smart," Robert says, ruffling her hair, "she's won like every academic award known to man."
Danny blushes and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
I look over at Claire and notice how she's smiling at the girl in front of us, completely ignoring Robert's subtle flirting.
"I'm Claire."
"Nice to meet you."
I can already tell that Danny is shy. She's practically hiding behind her brother, shoving her small frame to be hidden by his.
Claire doesn't seem to care and I furrow my eyebrows as she attempts to make more conversation with the girl.
I shake my head and leave them to talk while I go across the room to look in the fridge for a non-alcoholic beverage.
"Hey, Melanie." Robert abandons the two girls two and comes over to me.
"Hi."
"Mason feels really bad about what happened yesterday." He says and I bite my lip.
Mason thinks I'm mad at him because I fell.
"It's okay, I'm not mad at him." I tell Robert
He smiles and tosses me a glass bottle of root beer, which I barely catch on time.
"Good, he really depends on your approval."
I laugh and shake my head, "My approval? What does that even mean?"
Robert raises his eyebrows, "You don't know? Mason has a c- where did Danny and Claire go?"
We both look over to the space where the girls were originally but they're gone, only an opened bag of barbecue chips is left.
"Oh crap, my mom is gonna kill me if I lose Danny," Robert says, "I gotta make sure she doesn't drink or anything. Wanna come look for them?" Robert asks me.
I'd rather stay safe in the kitchen until Riley decides it's time to head home so I shake my head.
Everything out there is too much, and I don't think I could navigate my way through all those bodies without completely losing it.
"If I see Riley or Claire, I'll tell them you're here." He says to me.
When I'm alone in the kitchen, I take a deep breath.
I didn't even want to come here in the first place, and now both of my friends ran off who knows where, leaving me alone.
I sit down on the stool by the counter and sigh.
What was Robert saying about Mason earlier?
He has a what?
And what was Claire doing? Robert was obviously trying to flirt with her earlier and she completely ignored him, like he didn't exist.
I'm not really understanding anything tonight.
What I do understand, is that for the next three hours, I'm going to be sitting in this kitchen. Alone. Listening to songs I don't know, and hearing the screams and laughter of people I've never met.
I haven't even opened my root beer yet, and I realize I can't get the cap off without a bottle opener. I slam my head against the counter in defeat.
"This is not my day." I groan.
"Woah there, tiger," a voice says, and I look up quickly, "you alright?"
Strangers make me uncomfortable in general. Boys that I don't know make me more uncomfortable than ever.
But this is Logan Parker. He owns this house. And I do know him. Sort of.
I know his laugh, and his obnoxious smile, and I know he has brown eyes because he never shuts up about how warm they look in the sun. I never really understood what that meant.
"Hey, Logan." I mumble awkwardly.
"Melanie, right? You're Adam's sister?" He asks, taking the seat across from me.
"Step-sister."
He looks down at the root beer in my hand, "Need some help?"
"Yes please."
I slide the drink over to him and attempts to open it.
"What do you think of the party so far," he asks while looking at me, "and the house." He uses one hand to gesture around the kitchen and I look around at the marble countertops and stainless steel fridge.
When I look back, my root beer is in front of me, cap off.
I smile, "Thanks, and it's a nice party."
I take a swig of the root beer, glad to finally get something cold.
Logan smiles, making me uneasy, but I push those feelings aside because I'm always weary around boys.
"It's about to get a whole lot better."

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Sorry that's it's been like a whole week since I last updated!!!
Anyways, let me know what you guys think!
Does Logan seem weird to you?
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