No Pants Required

t w o

What did you even wear to parties, anyway? Louise wondered to herself.

She rummaged through her tiny closet, pulling out clothes and throwing them on her bed.

To wear, or not to wear? That was the question.

Finding her tightest pair of jeans, Louise immediately tugged them on and went searching for a top.

She pulled out shirt after shirt, but to no avail.

Finally finding a crop top shoved into the back of her closet, she threw it on without looking.

Sauntering over to the mirror, Louise checked herself out. With horror, she realized what the shirt was. 'I ❤ BOOKS' was scrawled across the front in sparkly felt pen. Underneath was a huge mustard stain.

With disdain, Louise took the shirt off and proceeded to shove it as far back into her closet as she could. It brought back bad memories.

Pulling a sweatshirt over her head, she went to consult Lucy about her outfit crisis.

"What do you want?" Lucy drawled as soon as Louise stepped over the threshold and into her room.

"I-I was wondering if I could borrow a shirt for the party." Louise mumbled, feeling threatened by her older sister's presence.

Lucy sighed and got up, sifting through her drawers. "Here," She said, tossing a blouse at Louise. "Try this one."

"Thanks." Louise trudged back across the hallway and into her room.

Once again, she judged her outfit in front of the mirror. The flowy pale pink shirt had a lacy patterning that covered the front half of her shirt. It brought out her rosy cheeks.

She fishtailed her hair to the side and added some mascara and concealer.

"Louis!?" She called out.

No response. She wandered down the hallways and peered into his room. It looked like a train wreck. Louis himself was laying on his bed, eyes closed, and earbuds in. Louise could hear the music all the way from the doorway. So she stomped over to the bedside and yanked the buds out.

His eyes snapped open.

"What time do we leave?" She asked.

He grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

They piled into the family Honda Accord and took off towards Mulberry, a small town to their west. It was a ten minute drive, tops.

Which was spent in an uncomfortable silence. Just the way Louise liked it. Louis, on the other hand, kept fidgeting and opening his mouth like he wanted to say something. Louise silently giggled at his expense.

Louise quite liked silence. It was the best atmosphere for reading, which is why she absolutely adored the library. It contained all the things she loved most. Beanbags, silence, and most importantly‒books, of course.

"We're here!" Louis exclaimed, and Louise looked up at the gigantic house in wonder. The outside of the house was barren, so as not to get the drunken teens that were inside into trouble. But Louise was sure the inside was totally crazy.

"Is this even legal?" Louise questioned.

"Nope."

Louise looked at him like a deer in headlights. "Then why are we here?"

"To have fun, duh." Louis tossed his skeptical twin a sloppy grin and clambered out of the car.

Louise slowly but surely followed suit. She ventured into the house looming before her and her eyes widened at the sight, Teens were everywhere; she couldn't find a clear space.

And Louise liked her own personal space. She was on the edge of being claustrophobic, to be truthful. This was definitely going to be problematic.

She pushed and shoved her way through the crowd, trying to find a quiet and empty space. The search was fruitless. After searching every room in the house, she came up empty handed.

Although, she realized, there was one doorway at the end of the hall that she hadn't tried. Stepping over some passed out bodies, Louise scampered over to her last chance at escape.

Throwing open the door, Louise discovered that a stairway lay before her. So, of course, she ran up it.

She was greeted by the cool air of the late afternoon and the brisk mountain breeze.

She glanced around; no one was there. Spotting a cup filled with clear liquid, Louise picked it up and examined it closely. It had to be water, right? She downed the glass.

Wrong.

Either the water there tasted really strange, or that wasn't water.

Louise was going with the second option, seeing as she was already beginning to feel light-headed. Her body wasn't accustomed to alcohol.

Suddenly, a burst of sound broke her bubble of quietness. A group of four had just found her space.

One of the girls spotted her sitting in the corner. "We're playing Dare, care to join?"

A/N: thanks for getting this to 118 in short story :)