October, 2018
One more hour until Kate was coming to pick me up and I already felt butterflies overwhelming my stomach. This is the first party I've been too since I moved to Runswick, and it bugged me that I didn't know what to expect.
I sighed, finally finding the energy to push myself out of my bed and get ready. I haven't tried on the costume I had bought yet, but it fit as expected.
The dress hugged my waist then flowed out to the top of my knees, while the sleeves puffed out to my wrist.
Looking in the mirror, I felt slightly self conscious but quickly shrugged it off. I slipped on some semi-sheer tights before heading to the bathroom to do my hair and makeup.
I ended up loosely curling my hair and only applying eyeliner and mascara, making my eyes pop out more than normal. Picking up my phone to look at the time, my breath hitched. Kate would be here any minute.
While inwardly I was freaked out, I stared long and hard into the mirror, until I perfected a face of false
enjoyment.
As expected, I calmed down, slipping on black, tie up ankle boots that had about three inch heels.
Right on time, my phone buzzed.
kate: i'm here, get ready to party!
me: be right out!
Carefully trying not to fall, I walked down the stairs and out the front door. Not to my surprise, my parents were away on a business trip, so I didn't have to worry about being back at a certain time, although knowing myself I'd probably get bored by eleven.
Kates shiny red car was parked in the driveway while she sat on her phone. As I approached the vehicle, she looked up at me she smiled and waved.
Here we go.
"Oh my god! Avery you look amazing!" She exclaimed. I laughed, returning her smile.
"Thanks, you do too! Let me guess, you're a witch." Kate's costume was exactly like something I avoided buying. It was a little shorter than mine, and was sleeveless. She wore black fishnet gloves that went to her elbows and instead of leggings, Kate wore black heeled boots that covered her knees. Her blonde hair was curled and tied up in a perfect pony tail.
However, I wasn't lying, she did look great. Kate could pull off anything.
"So, I hear this is an annual thing." I spoke out, attempting to make conversation.
"Yep, it's been going on since freshman year, but I think this time it's gonna be extra hype. Dawson really went full out." Her voice showed clear excitement.
I nodded, going silent for a moment. I didn't know Dawson Johnson hardly at all, but Kate seemed to be close to him. "How far away does he live?"
"About five more minutes." She responded. I replied quickly and we carried out the conversation.
Fairly soon we arrived. Dawson's house was huge, larger and grander than Kadens, and it was already filled with people. The ridiculously loud music was muffled from where Kate parked and I could vaguely see that rainbow lights shined and cars were everywhere. All of this and I hadn't even stepped into the house yet.
I stepped of the car and walked next to Kate, luckily all of my nerves seemed to vanish.
"Don't be intimidated, most of these people will be passed out by ten." Kate laughed as we approached the driveway.
"I'm not intimidated, this will be fun." I reassured her.
At this point, even I was unaware if I was telling the truth.
As we entered the house, I bit the side of my lip. My eyes scanned the mansion. The music playing was almost deafening, multi-colored, flashing lights swallowed the room and to my right a couple was very much making out.
At this point, I was unaware of what to do next. Do I get a drink? Socialize? Follow Kates lead?
Very quickly, my decision was made for me. As my eyes flickered between various strangers, I failed to realized that we were being approached by Dawson Johnson, whom was accompanied by Cole Jennings.
I assumed that Dawson was dressed as the Bachelor. He wore a blazer with no shirt underneath, along with a red rose pinned to his jacket. Without the several hours I had spent watching the show, while being slightly forced by Olivia, I probably wouldn't have come to this conclusion.
Cole was dressed as what looked like a prince, he wore a white, loose, long sleeve shirt along with a crown and tight black jeans.
"If it isn't Kate and... I don't believe we've met. Anyways, welcome!" Dawson spoke loudly, I could tell he wasn't completely sober. Kate laughed airily at his comment while I smiled tightly, desperate to find a way out of this situation.
We had met once, but I was thankful he didn't recall it.
"If it isn't Dawson, guy I don't know and Cole, guy I wish I didn't know." I retorted in a fake sweet tone. Both of them laughed.
Dawsons eyes narrowed a bit, not maliciously, but to study me. A look of realization crossed his face, and he immediately spoke up. "Oh, of course. How could I have forgotten the talk of the town, Avery James. I didn't realize I was talking to a celebrity."
"I guess I could say the same to you." My voice came out more annoyed than I would have liked, and Dawson caught onto it.
He lifted his drink to his lips, winking at me. "I'll drink to that."
I had no desire to carry on this conversation, this kids ego was through the roof and I'm not nearly drunk enough to deal with it.
"Of course you will." I bit out, before attempting to excuse myself.
"Wait, Avery! There was one other thing I wanted to ask." Dawson called, his voice slurred.
I rolled my eyes, but looked back to him. "Yeah?"
"I'd be careful with Wells. You may interest everyone now, but that will fade and then you'll fall into the shadows, just like him."
Dawson had officially pissed me off, but I had no desire to start anything with him. "Bold of you to assume that I'm half as shallow as you. I don't care about reputation."
Though my words were even and mature, Dawson's eyes widened. He collected himself immediately. "Then I guess this is the last conversation we'll be having, A."
While I felt the urge to snap at the nickname, I decided to take the high road and walk away.
"Where is Wells anyways? I'd be good to see him at a party every once and a while." Dawson called out mockingly. Cole lifted his drink to make it look like he took a sip, but I saw the liquid fall back into the cup before it even reached his mouth.
Whatever act are you trying to put on Cole, I can see right through it.
"Like I know. I don't keep tabs on his location." I turned to see that Kate had left.
Fantastic.
"So you're a pirate. I mean, pretty basic but you can pull it off." Cole wore a smirk as he spoke and earned a laugh from his friend.
What the hell?
"And what are you? A manwhore?" I responded, my voice filled with attitude. Cole tilted his head slightly, while Dawson let out a low whistle.
"No, I'm a prince."
"I wasn't talking about your costume."
"Dawson, let's go." Cole rolled his eyes while turning to his friend.
"You can go man, I want to find out a little more about Avery here." Dawsons expression showed that he most likely gonna be a total asshole until I made a scene. Cole didn't leave.
"Actually, I'll go. As interested as you are in me, I'm frankly not that interested in you. Plus I've been trying to leave for the last five minutes." I bit the side of my lip in annoyance, before walking straight through the two of them and began to look for Kate.
Luckily, it didn't take long before I ran into her, as she was carrying two drinks.
"Here you go." She handed the orange solo cup to me. I thanked her even though I didn't plan on drinking what was in it.
"So, why aren't you with Kaden tonight?" She asked, taking a sip of her drink.
"I'm allowed to got places without Kaden." I laughed, attempting to cover my annoyance.
"I know, I know. What's the deal with you two anyways? Yeah he's hot and all, but a total bore now."
"Nothing is going on between us. We're just friends." I assured, unknowingly taking a sip of my drink.
Kate nodded before leaving, which honestly was fine by me.
About thirty minutes went by and I had talked to various people. I was still bored. I had been sipping on the same drink since I got here and by the time I finished it, I decided to finally go look for Kate.
My heels clicked as I made my way up one of the many staircases in Dawson's house, having to avoid at least six people who were passed out and another ten who were making out.
There was no sign of her, so I decided to check the basement. Drunk guys dressed as Donald Trump and Barack Obama attempted to play ping pong, while several others took shots. I furrowed my eyebrows, looking down attempting to avoid their attention. I walked down a hallway before hearing a familiar voice coming from behind a closed door.
"Seriously, I'm good." Cole spoke with a laugh, hinting slight seriousness.
"Come on, don't be a coward." Another familar voice said in a teasing manor.
Kate.
I didn't realize it until now, but I had pressed my ear slightly against the door.
"Yeah, man. Trust me, you won't regret it. It's just a little fun, you know, perk of being a rich kid." Now Dawson had joined the conversation.
"Listen, I'm not interested." Cole started to sound annoyed.
"We're just teenagers being a little rebellious. What's wrong with that?" Now a voice I didn't recognize spoke with a giggle.
"Guys seriously, go at it all you want but I'll pass." Cole replied with his voice flat.
Okay, I had two options here. One, run home, or two, go in and see what the hell is going on.
Swallowing the fear that arose inside of me, I decided to go with option two.
I gripped the door knob before walking into the room. Kate, Dawson, Cole, two random girls and a random guy sat on a couch. Kate was on Dawson's lap laughing, the other guy was passed out and the two girls were all over Cole, who just looked super uncomfortable.
"Avery, I thought you might show up." Dawson exclaimed. Something was seriously wrong with them. They didn't seem like they were drunk, they seemed more out of it.
My breath hitched as I looked down at the table in front of them.
Oxy.
Oh fuck.
My heart picked up pace. It's not like I'd never come in contact with shit like this before, but it still made my skin crawl.
Alcohol? Not great but fine every once in a while, but I didn't fuck with pills.
To my relief. Cole sprung up from the couch, walking towards me.
"Sorry guys, forgot to tell you, I have to drive Avery home." He looked at me reassuringly, but I couldn't tell if he was high or not. Based on the information gathered from my previous eas-dropping, I'd say no, but I couldn't be so sure
"Aw, but she just got here!" Kate pouted. I flinched.
"Kate, it's okay. Let Cole and Avery have their fun." Dawson winked at Cole, he looked super uncomfortable.
"Don't worry, we won't tell Kaden." Kate laughed. Before I could respond Cole dragged me out of the room.
He sighed in relief when the door shut. He looked as panicked as me.
"Are you high?" I asked bluntly. He turned to look at me in a way that implied that I was crazy for even asking.
"No, but I am driving you home." I followed Cole up the stairs as he exited the basement.
"Can you drive?" Implying that I wanted to know if he was drinking or not.
Cole rolled his eyes. "I had one drink an hour ago. I'm fine." Earlier, he had repeatedly taken fake sips out of a red solo cup, but not actually take a single gulp.
However, I still took my fingers and widened his eyelids, checking if they were bloodshot.
"You having fun there?" Cole asked sarcastically. I ignored his statement.
"Okay, I believe you." Soon enough we reached the front door, opening it and leaving the house. It was eleven PM, I hadn't made it nearly as long as I predicted. But frankly, I was just grateful to be out of there.
"Care to explain to me why you were being such an asshole tonight." I asked, opening the door to his car and getting into the front seat.
"I'll admit, I was being a totally douche, and I'm actually sorry." Cole let out an exasperated sigh before continuing.
"It's just, Dawson is complicated. I know he seems like an asshole, because he absolutely can be one. But Dawson is my best friend, and I think I'm the only friend he has-" Cole stopped talking, he looked like he didn't know what else to say.
"It's fine Cole, thank you for getting me out of there."
"Trust me, I wanted to get out of there just as much as you did." He reassured.
"Hey Cole, can you actually drop me off at Kades?"
"I'm hurt Vree, don't you wanna go to my house?" He faked an offended tone.
I rolled my eyes. "You know, you can drop the whole 'player' act around me. I see right through it."
"There's nothing to see through."
"Yes there is."
"Enlighten me."
"You're still in love with Kendall." I swear the car jerked slightly after I spoke, Cole's jaw slightly dropped.
"So I'm assuming she told you everything."
"Yep."
"Well, I'm not still in love with her." Now I was the one laughing.
"I know you put up the whole 'too cool for everyone, playboy' act, but that just makes it more obvious."
"I don't even know what you're talking about."
"The reason you date multiple girls at once is because you want to inwardly prove to yourself that you can get any girl you want, probably in hopes of feeling better about the situation with Kendall." I knew I was probably being too straight forward, but after how he acted today I wasn't really worried about how he would take all of this.
"You can try to convince yourself that I have a deeper meaning behind my actions, but hate to break it to ya' Vree, I'm just bored."
"Most people don't just go sleeping with the whole school when they're bored."
"No offense, but what I do and who I do is really none of your business." He replied. I cringed at his bluntness.
"Way to make things uncomfortable."
"It's true." Cole shrugged.
"Then why do you still work at Mugs?"
"It's a job."
"You and I both know you wouldn't have any problem with getting a job anywhere else."
"You guys need me, half of our customers come in just to see me." Great, back to the confident asshole act.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure they come in to see Kade, you just give them the attention that he doesn't." I spoke in a mocking tone. Cole rolled his eyes.
Finally, he let out a huff and spoke."Fine, you win. I still work at Mugs because it's the only time I can see Ken, you happy? She goes to a different school, she lives on the other half of Runswick and she hates me, if I quit Mugs than I'd never get to see her." Coles voice expressed defeat. It was loud, but he wasn't yelling.
I'll admit, I was definitely not expecting him to actually give in.
"I knew you still had feelings for her." I exclaimed with pride.
"Here Vree, I'll admit my feelings for Kendall when you admit your feelings for Kaden."
My mouth fell wide open.
"I don't have feelings for Kade." I dumbfounded.
"Bullshit. It's obvious you do. It's okay though, I think he has a thing for you too."
"He does not! And I don't have a thing for him." I argued,
Cole laughed. "Then I don't have any feelings for Kendall."
"But you're lying!" I threw my hands up in the air dramatically which earned a small smile from Cole.
"And I think you're lying."
"But I'm not!"
Cole's car approached the gate of Kaden's neighborhood. He rolled down his window and reached to type in the password. As soon as he was finished, the gate opened.
"Then why did you ask me to drop you off at Kaden's?" Cole smirked.
"Because he's my friend."
"Kendall's your friend, Molly's your friend, why didn't you ask me to drop you off at one of their houses." As much as I wanted to deny it, Cole was right, I didn't know why I chose Kaden over Kendall and Molly, but I wasn't gonna show him that.
"Thanks for the ride Cole." I said genuinely. Cole must've caught on to my not answering his question, because a smile spread across his face.
"Anytime Vree." I gave Cole one more smile before exiting his car.
Approaching Kaden's door, I could hear Coles car pulling away.
Taking a deep breath, I knocked on Kaden's door. It didn't take long before he opened it, wearing black sweats and grey t-shirt.
"Wait, wait, wait. Let me guess, you're dressed as a teenage guy who doesn't care enough to dress up on halloween?" I smiled, Kaden shook his head and laughed.
"Ave, you're doing it wrong. I believe you're supposed to say 'trick or treat' actually." Hearing the lightheartedness Kaden's voice was enough to make my night better.
"Can I come in?"
"Sure. I'm guessing the party didn't go great." Kaden spoke as I was already halfway to the kitchen.
I sighed. "The furthest from great that it could possibly be."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"At first it was just Dawson being an asshole."
"I mean, it doesn't surprise me."
"But it wasn't just him, it was Cole too. Dawson implied that Cole and I hooked up before class and then Cole brought you into it an-"
"Cole brought me into it?" Kaden's voice showed clear shock.
"Yep. Then I noticed Kate was gone and left then when I found her she basically just gave me a drink then left so I forced myself to be social and talked to people-" Apparently I was talking a little too frantically, because Kaden cut me off with a small smile on his face.
"Ave, slow down a bit."
I took a deep breath. "But when I got bored, I went looking for Kate again and when I finally found them, they were all high. Like, not weed high, like oxy high."
Kaden's eyes widened. "Holy shit."
"I mean, I know I'm probably overreacting because it's 2018 and oxy kills more people than breast cancer now, but it was a lot to see. They were just so... out of it. Cole, thank god drove me here."
"Jesus Ave, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" His voice sounded genuine.
"Of course, I mean I'll be eighteen in March, I'm being way to overdramatic, it's not like I just saw a puppy get ran over with a car."
Kaden's facial expression looked concerned. "I'm happy you came here." He admitted.
Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a hug. He didn't hesitate to return it.
"Me too, just remind me never to go to a party again." I spoke, attempting to make my tone seem less shaken.
"Will do."
Kaden and I sat on the couch watching re-runs of Ghost Hunters, laughing at how over the top and dramatic they get.
With these types of shows, I got more scared of the backstories than the actual detection. So when they freaked out over a creak in the floor, I found it pretty amusing.
"Was Cole drinking?" Kaden asked out of the blue.
"Actually no. He was fake drinking though." My response made Kaden smile slightly.
"Why?" I asked again.
Kaden shook his head. "It's just, Cole stopped drinking when him and Kendall were dating. She hates it." Soon, I returned the smile Kaden already wore.
"They are so in love."
Authors Note
hey guys! so yep here's another chapter. its super long and kaden is barely in it, sorry. but on the bright side i don't hate it yet. next chapter is the start of november!!!! which means we'll be switching back to present day for the first bit of it.
so i know this chapter is a bit heavy (depends on what you consider to be heavy) but it kinda showed more about cole????? i'm trying to develop all of their personalities, so i guess this was kinda cole's chapter?????
also if you see any grammar, spelling, etc. mistakes, please please please let me know.
anyways, have a great rest of your day!!