To Our Pinky Promises

Chapter 24

"And who are you going to be with?" Mom's voice came through the speaker of my phone.

"Just a friend from school." I answered her without looking away from the mirror as I applied some mascara to my lashes. I didn't want to risk poking myself in the eye with the damn thing.

I drew away from the mirror to inspect how my eye makeup looks so far as Mom spoke once again. "Okay, just be careful and don't go home too late, okay?"

I grinned and hummed in agreement, trying to contain my joy when she decided not to question or grill me any further about where I'll be going or who I'll be with, which is usually what she does when I tell her I'm about to go out. I ended the call and the my phone's lock screen lit up, showing me the time.

"Shit, I'm late, I'm late." I frantically waved my hand that was hovering over my make up that was in disarray on my vanity table. I grabbed my lip gloss and applied some for the finishing touch and got up to my feet, snatching my purse on my way out of my room and putting my phone inside. I stopped by the door to grab my house keys and to put on some flats just as I hear a car's honk outside.

"Coming!" I yelled out, although I wasn't sure the driver would be able to hear me from all the way in here.

I slipped into the flats and opened the door to my house, stepping out and locking it behind me. Once the lock clicked in place, I dumped the keys in my purse and jogged to the car's passenger side.

"Hey," I greeted Alex breathlessly as I got into the passenger seat.

"Took you long enough," he teased as he pulled out of my driveway and drove out of my neighbourhood.

I rolled my eyes at his reply. "I didn't even make you wait that long. It was barely a minute."

Alex waved it off, chuckling. "So, excited?" He asked.

I placed my hands on my lap and wrung them together but showed no other signs of anxiety as I shrugged in the most nonchalant way I could muster.

Alex raised an eyebrow at my lack off enthusiasm. "Come on, really?" He gauged for a more desirable reaction.

Sadly, my stomach was twisted too tightly for me to be able to deliver. I shrugged once again. "I'm just slightly nervous," I admitted.

Alex didn't miss a beat. "Everything's gonna be fine," he reassured. "And hey, you didn't bring any books this time, isn't that a good sign?" He tried.

Actually, that wasn't a good sign. My heart plunged when I realized I had forgotten to take a book with me on my way out of the house. But Alex was trying so hard to cheer me up, I didn't want to spoil his efforts so I plastered a smile that was a bit too big to be natural and nodded along, hoping he wouldn't sense the force I had to use to play along.

Fortunately, the drive wasn't too long. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that I didn't want to spend time with Alex or that I didn't enjoy his company, because I do. Being around Alex is exhilarating and to put it simply, it puts me in a high (without the pills, of course). I just have a bad feeling about tonight in particular and I want it to end quickly so that I won't have this bitterness brewing in the back of my throat at the anticipation of something going horribly wrong tonight.

When we arrived at the party, it was already in full swing. "Looks like we're a bit late," I commented as I unbuckled my seatbelt. Alex tsked at me, shaking his head. "It's called being fashionably late."

His remark put a smile on my face as I stepped out of his car and shut the door as he turned off the car's engine and exited the vehicle too. He waved at me to come along as he walked to the front door and I tailed along behind him obediently like a lost puppy. He rang the doorbell and someone miraculously heard the doorbell ringing over the music blasting from the speakers and answered the door.