Crystal Methyd hated parties. To say they were "not her scene" would be an understatement. She would much rather be locked in her bedroom at home, but her parents could not care less about what she wanted. They insisted that she come with them to the New Years Eve party that was going on that night at the resort they were staying in. Her family was staying in New Mexico for her entire winter break; they thought a "vacation" would make up for the fact that they were forcing her to move across the country next week. Crystal did not think it made up for it at all, especially since she was not enjoying herself. She had somehow gotten herself out of all of the other resort events so far.
The long list of new excuses she had prepared did not work tonight however, her mother saying, "Crystal dear, it's our last night here. You need to be a normal teenager and socialize. You need to improve on your people skills before starting at a new school, you know. Plus, you might actually have fun!"
Crystal scoffed under her breathe at that. "Doubt it," she thought, but decided it wasn't worth fighting over with her mother any further. She put on a dark green overall dress with a white t-shirt underneath, fishnet stockings, and her docs, and tied her curly brown hair up into a messy ponytail. She then looked herself in the mirror once more and trudged out the door and to the resort elevator, following close behind her parents.
The room felt stuffy despite being quite large, and was filled with uptight looking adults. Crystal scanned the area for anyone even close to her age when her father spoke.
"Honey, we're going to go sit at the bar. There should be some teenagers in there, go mingle!" he said, pointing to another room that was lit up with colorful lights.
Not knowing what else to do, Crystal nodded and headed into said room. Just as her father had suggested, there were in fact teenagers in this room. None that seemed interesting enough to try to talk to though. Crystal opted to stay planted next to the table with the punch bowl and platters of snacks. She mindlessly twirled her hair around one finger while she thought about what her best friends back at home, Daya, Daegen, Lux, and Tiff were doing right now. She decided that they were probably high off their asses at this point, it being pretty late in the night already. "Wow, the things I would do to be there instead of here right now," she thought, but she wasn't there and couldn't do anything about that. Instead of moping any further, she looked around, searching for anyone that looked like they might have something intelligent or at least funny to say, when she suddenly felt her arm being pulled.
In the blink of an eye she was up on a stage looking down at the crowd of teenagers she had been intently watching just seconds prior. When she realized what was going on she quickly found the stairs on the side of the stage and tried to flee, only to be pushed back up by the same man that had dragged her up there.
Parties weren't the only thing Crystal hated. She also hated doing anything in front of a crowd. Whether that was public speaking, dancing, or even singing, which she loved doing in private, she could not do it in front of others. The man that brought her up here didn't know that though, and he probably wouldn't care. Crystal stood frozen in front of a microphone stand as she faintly heard what sounded like a boy protesting being brought up alongside her. He too failed and was soon standing at the microphone beside her. It was then that she realized that they had been picked to do a song for karaoke. She looked over to see a boy around her age with shaggy blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He smiled shyly at her, seeming just as anxious as she was. Knowing she wasn't alone in this painfully awkward situation calmed her nerves slightly.
Having no other choice, Crystal took a deep breath and clutched the microphone in front of her like her life depended on it; it felt like it did. She glanced at the boy next to her for some moral support as the music started playing and words began to appear on the screen for them to follow along with. Thankfully, his lines came first. He sang them with a surprising amount of ease for how nervous he looked and before Crystal knew it, it was her turn.
Her mouth opened without her permission and started singing the highlighted words on the large screen. She felt like she wasn't in control of her own body, but then again, maybe that was for the better right now. Crystal and the blonde boy sang in harmony and as the song went on she started to relax a little bit. The entire crowd cheered as they finished and Crystal stood there stunned. She felt her arm being pulled again, this time by the boy she had just done a duet with, and was soon being led off the stage and to an outside area.
"That was amazing! You were amazing!" the boy in front of her exclaimed when they stopped walking. "I'm Kyle, by the way." He reached his hand out for her to shake it.
"I can't believe I just did that! You weren't so bad either," Crystal said with a small laugh, still in shock that she hadn't fainted on the stage. "I'm Crystal," she replied as she took his hand in hers hesitantly.
"Well it's nice to meet you Crystal. I can't believe I did that either. My friends back at home would never let me hear the end of it if they had seen any of that," Kyle chuckled.
He seemed nice enough that Crystal didn't feel the need to find an excuse to end the conversation. They continued making small talk, about how lame this party was, and how they both would much rather be at home with their friends instead of surrounded by old rich people. Soon enough, the minute-long countdown to midnight started.
"Five, four, three, two, one! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the crowd shouted in unison.
"Well, I better be getting back to my parents, I'm sure they're probably looking for me by now," Crystal made an excuse to leave now that it had passed midnight.
"Oh, that's right. Me too! I-uh- could i maybe-uh get your number before you go?" Kyle stuttered, seeming nervous for the first time since they were on the stage.
"Sure!" Crystal replied, taking his phone out of his hand and quickly typing in her phone number, adding a smiley face next to her contact name before handing it back to him.
"Cool! You know maybe my parents were right when they said this party wouldn't be so bad!" Kyle said to continue the conversation, but when he looked up, Crystal was already gone into the crowd.
Crystal pushed through the clusters of sweaty teenagers and quickly found her parents at the bar, both with a drink in their hand.
"Happy New Year! I'm gonna head back up to the room if that's okay?"
"Happy New Year sweetheart, yeah, sure, go ahead. Here's the key, we'll be up later," her mother slurred, to drunk to protest and try to keep Crystal at the party any longer. "You look like you had fun! I told you you would."
"Yeah, if you consider being forced to face one of your biggest fears fun, then sure," Crystal thought, but she just smiled, took the room key from mother, and headed towards the elevator.
Once in the room, she changed into her pajamas and got in bed. She thought about how uncomfortable she felt earlier tonight, being surrounded by complete strangers, not knowing anyone. She knew this was not the last time she would feel like this, as she was starting at her new school in California in just one short week. She fell asleep thinking about how much she was dreading all of it.
YOU ARE READING
something new | crygi
FanfictionA High School Musical AU where Crystal is the straight nerdy new girl and Gigi is the closeted mean popular girl. I was watching HSM and thought wow this movie would be so much better if it was gay and so this was born.