Chapter 6 //"Aribella, it's a party dress, not a fireman's outfit"
Friday arrives too quickly. I am currently at home sitting at my dressing table in a dressing gown while Emily burns every cell out of my hair.
"Does this much smoke usually come out the straighteners? " I cough. I can't even see straight because the smoke is burning my eyes.
"You complain way too much. God you're not going to get anywhere in life, I'm done anyway"
I look at my dark brown hair in the mirror. It is crisp straight, Emily takes a bobby pin and pins back a strip of my hair that likes to cover my eyes.
I roll my eyes and walk over to my bed.
"What are you sitting on Vincent?" I pull the material from underneath my cat.
"Vincent Van Furball to be exact" Snorts Emily.
"Don't blame me if Elliott and Daniel came up with the name when we were 12. You should have seen the other names they came up with. They were way past PG rating"
I stroke Vincent's back as he purrs. He is a bright orange colour with patches of white here and there.
Actually if you placed Vincent of Winter's head you'd think she had a messy bun in her hair. I can tell you that I know this from experience.
"What is this?" I lift up the shiny dark blue strip of material.
"That is a strapless push up bra Crescent"
"It looks like a piece of cloth. No way am I wearing it, it looks like it will suffocate my nuts"
"Your nuts" Emily asks.
"Yes my nuts or would you rather I called them my blossoms?"
"Well it looks like Vincent rather enjoyed sitting in it" Emily laughs as she grabs it out my hand and picks off the ginger cat hairs.
"I don't see why Elliott even invited me he's probably going to throw me off the roof or throw me in front of a car"
"Or throw you on the bed once I'm finished getting you ready" Emily laughs under her breath.
"What was that Emily?"
"Nothing Crescent and you need to stay positive. Hey, maybe you should start these meditation classes my mom's started going to!"
I give her a horrified expression. "I'm joking girl, lighten up" She rummages through my closest chucking unwanted clothes behind her.
"Maybe I should wear this" I hold up a cute grey dress.
"Yeh totally, that is such a good idea, if you want to die as a nun!"
"Okay then" I chuck the dress behind me. I'll clean it up later.....or maybe never.
"Oh my holy macaroni, this is perfect" She holds up a short blue dress. In the middle, there is a shiny dark blue strip wrapped around the dress. The straps are also the same shiny colour while the rest of the dress is black. And it has a very very low neckline, actually, it isn't even a neckline.
After an argument, I am locked in the bathroom with the bra and dress.
I hear a heavy knock and I sigh as peep my head around the bathroom door.
"You forgot this" Emily holds up a matching dark blue thong.
I cling on to the door as I snort with laughter. "I don't think anyone is going to see my undies, I'd rather wear my granny panties"
"Who knows maybe you'll get a little bit intimate tonight"
I get ready to scream at her until she chucks the underwear in my face.
Things are getting better. I am now locked in the bathroom with a thong, a dress and a poor excuse for a bra. Squad goal !!
***
"Emily I can't breathe" I gasp clutching my chest as she finishes touching up my makeup. It's not my fault that the dress is so tight that all my makeup wiped off on the inside of the dress.
"Crescent the dress isn't that tight. Your such a drama lama. And it makes your 'nuts' look awesome."
"See now you look pretty" I look into the mirror and see the old me.
The me that would obsess over my bronzer, the old me who would tweeze her eyebrows to perfection every night, the old me who used to be fun and crazy.
I hear the sounds of a car horn ring throughout the neighbourhood.
Again...and again.
I see the red Lamborghini parked outside my house and some idiot inside the car is attacking the car horn.
"Ye lasses are such a wee nuisance. I'm gettin' me cane out and I'll whack you around the head ye fuckin' wee plonkers "
It is my dearest next door neighbor. A crabby old woman who loves to make my brothers life a living hell.
She has her head stuck out the window and is swearing in her Scottish accent. I didn't know that country had such a wide range of vocabulary.
"Hi Mrs Andrews" I wave through my windows.
"Aye lassie you tell those lads to keep it down. Tell 'em I was once in the army" I nod and give her a thumbs up, though I have no idea what she is saying.
I look at the car outside my window and feel a shiver of panic run down my spine. Am I really willing to sit in a car with a bunch of horny males?
I run down the stairs and pull on my black converses and quickly tie my laces up. We don't want me tripping over my own feet again.
"Good luck" Emily waves from the top of the stairs. I give her a thumbs up and leave through the front door.
I see Alec beeping the horn and Elliott sitting in the passenger seat with a can of who knows what. It's probably pigs blood.
They do say you are what you eat.
Well I hope he chokes to death on it.
At the back of the car, Aiden sticks his head out the back window. "What the hell are you smiling at?"
"Oh nothing" I cough into my hand trying to cover the smile on my face.
"Hurry up we're late enough as it is?"
I open the passenger door and see Elliott give me a weird look.
He's wearing a pair of dark blue denim jeans and a maroon jumper that's hugging his figure. The jumper is damn tight. A bit too tight, nobody needs to see the outline his 6 pack.
I look at his face and see his hair is nearly completely covered with a navy blue beanie.
Someone call the fire brigade and send help, hot boy in beanie alert! Females must proceed with caution!
I bite the inside of my lips as I realise how attractive he looks.
Not him Crescent you're talking about the beanie aren't you.
The contrast of the dark beanie makes his eyes stick out among everything in the whole street. And the fact that I love beenies doesn't help my situation.
"Out Elliott, I want to sit in the passenger seat" I signal for him to get out the car.
"And who made you in charge. This is my car"
"I'm not sitting in the back squashed in between 2 horny immature boys. I want to keep my panties on thank you very much"
"It seems as though your mouth has gotten sharper than I remember. That hurt Cress" Aiden holds his chest as he pretends to fall on Carter's lap and die.
Carter does not look impressed.
"Get off man" Carter shoves Aiden against the car window. That is a really hard shove.
"Sorry man. I didn't know I was giving you a boner"
Alec bursts out laughing at the front of the car. Carter's cheeks are bright red; he mutters something under his breath but I don't catch a word he says.
"Come on Elliott, please "
I open my brown eyes wide and put on a light pout.
I blink my eyes a few times.
He stares right into my eyes for a few seconds. I can see a tinge of worry in his mesmerising blue eyes.
He suddenly throws his hands up in defeat and swiftly climbs out the car, but not before he gives me a once over.
All 3 boys stare at him as he goes in the back and shoves Carter along.
I happily climb into the front seat and put on my seat belt and hum to myself.
"Dude that was you told" Alec's face is masked with shock as he starts the car up.
***
"You guys are making my ears pop" Groans Aiden from the back seat.
I can barely hear what he's saying because the music is cranked up so loud in the car.
I and Alec are singing a duet at the top of our voices. I think we are actually pretty good, get your ass here Simon Cowell and come give us a record deal.
"You wouldn't know talent if it hit you in the face" I shout above the music.
I don't know why I am so happy. Maybe my nerves are getting ahead of me? Or the boys have put some sort of laughing gas in the car.
We finally reach in front of the huge mansion. I can already see people standing outside drinking cans of beer.
I feel the cold blood run through my arms.
Will I regret this? Why am I really doing this?
I know why I am doing this. Not because Elliott wants me to come but I want to show Aribella and Winter that I am not their doormats.
I can already imagine Emily sitting on my computer writing the new gossip.
Ex-cheerleader making her big return
To be perfectly honest I don't want to go back to the horrible bitch I used to be.
The car door opens and I see Elliott standing by the door holding a hand out.
I put a smug look on my face and hop out the car and brush past him. I hear him sigh behind me.
As I look around I see a blonde haired girl hugging a lamp post and telling it how much she loved it.
"I just want to say that you look stunning Dawson " I jump at the sound of the voice. His breath tickles my neck and I can smell his sweet honeysuckle scent.
Turning around, I nudge him.
"You have to stop that you jerk" He's smiling at me showing off his perfect white teeth though I know he smokes a lot.
"That dress is so..... revealing"
"Ah well its a 'you can look all you want but you can't touch' situation" I give him a sickly sweet smile and run off ahead to start a conversation with Alec.
Inside the house, there is deafening music, drunk dancing teenagers and a lot of alcohol.
I gently scratch my wrist as I feel nerves rise up in my stomach.
I wish the dress was longer as I have to keep on tugging it down.
We go into the large kitchen and I go and sit on one of the stools. I look around me and recognise certain people.
No sign of Aribella or Winter. It is my lucky day.
"Can I get you anything?" I turn my head around to look at Carter's blue eyes.
"Yeh actually, I would like a vegetable supreme pizza with extra mushrooms and sweet corn, a huge glass of vanilla coke, and a single large white chocolate cookie"
"Now that makes me wonder why you're so thin"
"Oh wow did the school's golden boy just compliment my weight" I fake gasp.
"Is that so hard to believe?"
"Uh Yeh. Now, what do you want?" I ask getting straight to the point.
"How about a dance. Why not use some of those social dancing skills?" He holds his hand out. Eventually, I take it, no need to cause a scene.
We sway with the other people dancing to the music in the middle of the fancy living room.
"You really do know how to move your body" Carter smiles which makes me laugh.
And I realize that Carter isn't truly as bad as the rumors paint him to be. He is an annoying jerk at times but he is also a gentleman. If he wants to be.
"So where are the others?" I ask.
"Aiden is probably doing body shots. Alec is probably dry humping a sofa and Elliott is probably doing 2 girls in one of the bedrooms upstairs"
I blink at him. Well, I didn't need that much detail.
"So what do you usually do?"
"I'm not the party type of guy. But I was hoping I could get you drunk and we could go skinny dipping but you don't seem like the type of girl that likes to consume alcohol"
I take back what I said Carter is anything but a gentleman.
He sees the bewildered expression on my face and cracks into a smile "I'm kidding Crescent"
I let out a sigh of relief before he continues "I mean we can keep our clothes on in the pool" He suggests, but I just laugh at that and hit him lightly in the chest.
"Well, well well look who decided to show up" I would have know that voice from anywhere. That sharp, squeaky voice. "Wow you're really brave to wear that outfit"
"Aribella, it's a party dress not a fireman's outfit" I smile sweetly.
Her face hardens and she narrows her eyes. It's been at least 1 year since I have last spoken directly to her.
She is wearing a black dress that had a single strap. There are 2 diamonds cut out the side which reveal her slim figure.
Her outfit literally shouts 'Open for business' as she flips her dark glossy hair behind her back.
"Poor Crescent you were kicked off the cheerleader team and you lost all your fame and friends. By the way is your dad still hammering that blondie?"
I can feel boiling hot blood running through my veins. My fists ball up but I let out a deep breath and smile.
"What can I say, at least I'm not a volunteering prostitute"
A ring of laughter runs around the room.
Aribella's cheeks turn bright red, the hate in her eyes burning through my brain.
I glance around the room and catch a glimpse of Winter standing in the kitchen door frame. A jock has his arms wrapped around her waist. She is wearing a tight white dress.
White is her thing. She always wears white.
Right now she isn't looking at me. She is glaring at Aribella.
"You're a lying bitch"
"A bitch is a dog, dogs bark, bark is on trees, trees are a part of mother nature. Mother nature is beautiful. So Aribella Jones thank you for the compliment"
I can see around the room the words take a moment to sink in.
Aribella stands there slightly stunned. She opens her mouth to vomit more shit until I cut her off.
"By the way, Shrek called he wants his face back"
She begins shouting a load of rubbish. I turn around ready to leave. Carter places a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I'm completely startled because I didn't realise he was still here.
"Your mother deserved what she got and you'll end up just like her. A lonely, rotting bitch "
I spin around taken aback by what she just said. My eyes widen at her. Could she really stoop so low?
I grab the red cup filled with liquids out of Carter's hand.
I forcefully throw it in her direction.
The cup explodes all over her, the tips of her hair are drenched. I'm happy that Carter hasn't drunk much of his cup.
"I think you're a bit wet, should I get one of your jocks to help you out"
The room is stunned into silence.
If looks could kill you would be 10ft underground.
The look in her eyes told me she is going to kill me. She takes two steps forward in her killer heels and my heart freezes. I lift my arms up to cover my face ready for the impact.
It's okay. Anything but the face.
But there is no impact. There is just a crowd of gasps.
I peel one eye open and see someone standing in front of me. My view of Aribella is blocked by the figure but I can see the person in front of me holding her right fist in the air.
I step to the side and I can't believe who just saved me from the devil.
It is as though time has frozen.
Elliott's blue eyes are darker than usual. It makes him look almost menacing. They hold Aribella's eyes in place, so much rage is plastered on his face.
I can see his grasp on her wrist, tight because his tanned knuckles have turned white.
And here's me thinking Elliott would enjoy watching me getting beaten to the pulp.
"Don't you dare touch her" His voice is filled with icy cold venom.
Even I'm shocked. Aribella's face is consumed with worry and you can tell she's slightly terrified.
He drops her wrist.
I've never seen this side of Elliott. Either he's being sarcastic or idiotic, never.....protective.
I must be imagining it. Yeah, this is all a dream.
He turns around but doesn't look me in the eye. He nudges me forward and I let my legs take me where he wants me to go.
The crowd makes a pathway for us to go through. I glance at people's faces and see it masked by surprise.
I look up at Elliott's hard expression and I can't help but attempt to humor him.
"So were you really having sex with 2 girls at once. Aren't you worried about spreading your STD's"
Elliott's expression takes a 180 and looks bewildered as Carter clutches his stomach laughing.
Elliott glances at Carter and gives him a look saying 'You're so dead'
Edited.