Adopted By Harry Styles

15

I sit in the back seat with Raquel. Lauren was riding in the passenger seat. Jade reaches her arm back to hand me a black piece of fabric. "I brought you this one. It's one of my favorites," she says. "You'll definitely look good in it."

When I hold the shirt up, I was surprised at how revealing it was, or that she would expect me to wear something like this. I wouldn't even think of owning something like this, but I guess I should've known better than to expect a more modest top from Jade.

"Thanks, Jade," I say, though the thought of wearing her top made my stomach churn considering I've never been too confident with my body.

"Drive slow, let her put it on now to see if it fits alright," Raquel suggests.

"And get down low in case someone looks in the window," Lauren adds her bit of advice. It seems they've all had their experience getting changed in the car.

I nod my head and take the seatbelt off before moving to the ground and changing my top. I knew I'd have to change into my T-shirt before I went back home. Harry would flip if he saw me in this, I'm sure of it.

"Right, how does it look?" I ask when I get back into the seat.

Raquel turns back toward me and smiles. "You look better than Jade does when she wears that top," she says and Lauren seconds it.

Jade laughs. "Fuck off," she jokes.

It was clear which house was Luke's—cars were parked in the driveway and all along the street and there were people hanging out in groups outside. The doors were open and I could see people hanging out in there too.

Jade parks in the closet spot she could find, which happened to be three houses down from Luke's. "Holy shit," I say in awe. "There are so many people."

"Just wait an hour, it'll be even more crowded," Jade says. I'm sure Jade, Raquel, and Lauren all thought I was weird for not being used to parties and normal high school things. Part of me was worried that they'd eventually think I'm too lame to hang out with.

We walk into the house and the first thing I notice was the smell. Cigarettes and weed. And then I saw some beer bottles on countertops. I tried my best to act like I wasn't surprised. And, really, I shouldn't be surprised. Jade told me she'd get me to smoke when she invited me. The most surprising thing, I think, was how trashed the place seemed and it was only quarter past six.

"Hey!" Someone calls out. I look over to see Luke waving us over. "The girls have arrived." He held a beer in his hand and had a lazy smile plastered on his face.

I follow the rest of the girls over to Luke, Mike, and a few other boys who were gathered in the corner of the living room. "Want a beer?" Luke asks us.

"Do you even have to ask?" Lauren says. She walks behind Mike where the cooler was and grabs two beers in each hand. I notice Mike keeping his eyes on her as she walked.

Lauren hands each of us a drink, me being the last. "Want it?" She asks when I don't grab it.

"I...no, I'm okay actually," I say. I knew I wasn't supposed to drink, and I knew I'd regret it later.

"Boo," Mike says, earning a few laughs from the other boys. "Don't be boring, Maddi." He smirks at me and I blush. This wasn't the Mike I was used to. He was always pretty quiet in school.

"Mike, quit it. She doesn't want one," Luke says. I was surprised to see him defending me, judging by his drunken state.

"C'mon, don't want to be the only one without a beer, do you?" Mike continues as he lifts his own bottle to take a sip.

I look at Lauren who was still holding the beer out and then back at Mike who was now watching me with a smirk. "Just one beer," he says. "I only want you to have fun, let loose a little."

I nod my head. "Fine," I say, not wanting the others to think I'm a prissy. I pop the top off the bottle and lift it to my lips, tilting it back just enough to get a tiny bit of beer in my mouth.

"What was that? Take a real sip, yeah?" A boy standing next to Mike chimes in.

"You guys are ridiculous. C'mon Maddi," Jade finally speaks. I follow Jade and the others to the kitchen. There was still a fair amount of people here, but it wasn't as crowded as the living room.

"Drink that if you want to, not because a boy tells you to," Jade points to my beer as she speaks.

I lean back against the wall and nod my head. "Of course," I say and take another sip. I wasn't doing it because a boy said so, but because I told myself this is the only way I can fit in. "Tastes good though. Too bad it's illegal."

Raquel shrugs her shoulders. "Don't worry about legal. Worry about having fun," she says. It reminded me of some inspirational quote you'd find on tumblr or Pinterest, only Raquel made it sound cool.

"But, if you do want something legal and fun, I recommend you try this," Lauren says. She pulls out a bag of weed and tosses it in the table.

"Smoking?" I ask.

She nods and wastes no time rolling some blunts. "Just weed. It's not bad or anything," she says.

Jade takes the first blunt from the table and lights it. "You'll get used to the smell," she says. I'm assuming she noticed my disgusted face. She picks up the next blunt. "Open up," she laughs.

I smile and open my mouth enough for her to put it in my mouth. I watch as she picks up the lighter and lights the end of my blunt. "All you have to do is breathe in," she tells me, and I do just that. I take it out a second later and cough.

Jade laughs. "Not that much at once," she says.

"Same thing happened to me my first time," Raquel says. "Make sure when you take it out of your mouth you hold it between your index and middle finger and look off into the distance. Makes you look experienced." She smiles at me and I laugh.

"Will keep that in mind," I say. I put it in my mouth and try again, this time taking a smaller breath. "How's this?" I take the blunt from my mouth and do as Raquel said, putting it between my fingers and looking away.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a natural," Jade says.