CHAPTER 18: This is no time for Harry Potter references

Decisions taken impact our lives in different ways. There are way too many reasons and believed instincts upon which we base our decisions on. Taking them out of anger or spite, taking them after consideration or simply taking them in the moment. Of course, there are consequences born from those decisions – could be good or bad.

Taking the decision to attend Vicious Veronica's party – I know, the lame attempt of me trying to sound all revenge-y – was a regrettable decision I took. It was merely in the moment. And there was no question as of whether the consequences will be positive or negative. It involves me and Veronica, come on. The answer is crystal clear.

I put on my dark wash jeans and a plain black tee, tying it on my waistline due to its length. My hair was currently sitting as a messy bun on my head and my on-the-go white converse adore my not so poised feet.

I return Maddie's glare with a smile, knowing well what she was playing at.

"I'm not playing dress up with you, Maddie."

"But why?!" She cries as she holds up her hair straightener and some weird makeup brush in her hand. Yes, they were hers. You wouldn't find anything girly in my room. All my room had was a closet, a bed, some posters around the wall and a bean bag near the window that overlooked California's other apartments.

"Because. No interest as I stated before." I roll my eyes, opening my closet to look for a new scrunchie considering mine fell off the balcony due to Aaron.

Don't ask because I have no idea.

"At least for the party. You never ever dress up-

"Exactly." I turn to her and raise my eyebrow.

"So dress up now. It will be the final time I'm asking you this." She moves around with the two items in her hands, as I push her away trying to look for a scrunchie.

"You've been saying that for the past few years!"

"That's because you never say yes!"

I huff and look at her, "Maddie, look. Why don't you dress up, honey? We only have like fifteen minutes before we leave. Don't you want to dress up for Aaron?" Bitch move, I know. I shouldn't be creating hopes for her but this is the only way she'll get out of my hair. Besides, I know that deep down Maddie knows Aaron will never be into her. She deserves way more than him and I'll make sure I'll kick Aaron's ass for leading her on.

Maddie started crushing on Aaron ever since high school started. First day at a party when he supposedly winked at her and offered her a drink, peppering her with compliments and gossips. She lost her heart to him then and there.

That bastard.

My countless attempts at getting Maddie out of her dream bubble always backfired on me when she always asked me to set him up with her. I had no interest in doing that – Maddie doesn't deserve a guy like Aaron who played girls.

"Really? You think he'll notice me?" She gushes as she quickly takes the dress that was lying on my bed.

"Uh...not sure, Maddie. I'm just saying, you do want to impress him, don't you?" I hesitate, knowing well that the night won't end happily if she dresses up but finds Aaron in some bimbo's arms.

"Of course, yes! I'll be out in a minute!" She rushes off to the bathroom, with her dress in her hand and all her accessories in the other. I sigh and take the hair tie hanging in my closet before tying my messy blonde hair in a low ponytail. I take a look at myself in the mirror, knowing I don't do this often. My white converse had some stains – ones that I couldn't wipe away easily. I continue looking at them until someone nudges me. I quickly look up and see Maddie in a floral dress, her brown hair in light curls and her face was adored by the light makeup she'd put on.

I must say, she looked magnificent.

"Whoa, beautiful. Who do you want to kill tonight?" I turn around to see Aaron on the doorway, his arms crossed and a leather jacket hanging on his elbow.

I see Maddie blushing like crazy and I mouth a big "Fuck you" to Aaron. He chuckles and signals we have five minutes before we leave.

Upon him leaving, I'm attacked by an excited Maddie who closes her eyes and smiles, gushing over how hot Aaron looked. I let out an angry sigh and force a smile, remembering that telling her off won't do anything good to me.

We walk out of the room as Maddie reprimands me like a mother due to my dirty converse – I have the same stains in my life, Maddie.

I shake my head and playfully drag her across the room till the car as she continues blabbing about how I should get talking with any random dude who would come up to me.

First question Maddie, who would even come up to me?

We all settle in the car – me, Maddie, Aaron, and Draven – and drive off to Veronica's. Jason wasn't there since some of the soccer team guys picked him earlier.

As Veronica's place comes into view, I gape at the sight and surprised that I was the only fool who is reacting like this. It was a freaking mansion!

"Close your mouth, Summer," Maddie says as the two boys chuckle. I close my mouth embarrassingly and continue to stare at Vicious Veronica's monster-sized mansion.

My palms are sweaty – I realize – as we step out of the car into the chilly air sifting past us slowly. I was still wary of Veronica's actions for the night and I don't think any amount of fun, distractions or wine could help me get over it. Speaking of, I'll term Veronica's party as bogus if she has no wine on the list. Wine is an important essence of life.

And who said that?

Me, of course.

Just as we all make our way towards the door, we spot Jason and a few of the soccer dudes outside, in the gazebo, drinking and hollering like drunk wolves.

They ought to stop watching The Originals.

Aaron and Draven run up to them – excuse me, us? – shamelessly, leaving two girls alone. Not that it bothered me. Maddie takes my hand and we walk in, shaking our heads at the thought of why such boys were created.

As soon as I walked in, I meet Veronica's eyes and a dubious smirk adorns her dark cherry coated lips. She starts walking toward us, her very short black dress flowing flawlessly. I had to admit over here that she could definitely pull off anything, given that body. All a pretense though, isn't it? Her real face is somewhere lost far away in a land accessed through platform nine and three-quarters.

This is no time for making Harry Potter references.

I forcefully stand my ground, refusing to show Veronica any signs of fear or doubt – exactly what she wanted from me.

However, before she could reach me, she is pulled up by some boys on the dance floor to which she doesn't refuse. Before I could blink, I see hips grinding and dirty dancing.

Gross.

I roll my eyes, looking over at Maddie whose eyes were already roaming about, undoubtedly searching for my stupid brother.

"Maddie!" She jumps and looks at me, "Why don't we get drinks?"

"Summer, you want to drink?" She quirks her lip in confusion, a habit I often found funny, but not in this situation since right now, there was much more going on in my head.

"Sure. We've come to enjoy, haven't we?" I smile and give her a thumbs up so that she doesn't suspect my weird ass behavior. She shakes her head and walks off probably toward the kitchen.

I take this chance, sighing in relief, and search around in hopes of finding a way that leads to the bathroom. It was definitely a labyrinth here – Veronica's labyrinth.

I go to my left and see a hallway to which some people came in and out of frequently, believing it would surely go to the bathroom. Before I could turn, I see Caleb with Blake, Noel and the rest of the boys. It doesn't take him long to see me. I stand, not even bothering to wave or nod – a simple gesture to show acquaintance – since it was already awkward enough. We didn't even know whether we should talk or not. Ignoring him, I turn and walk down the hallway. After about a minute, my luck was supportive since I found the bathroom right there.

After washing my face and hands due to the excessive dread building up inside me, I get out of the room, wondering Maddie must be looking for me. But before I could even take three steps ahead, I'm tackled by a guy with an unbearable stench coming from his foul mouth. My head hits the wall and for a moment, I almost see stars but I quickly shake my head in an attempt to assess the situation.

"Let go, you bastard!" I squirm under his hold, not opening my eyes for a reason unknown to me. When I finally do, I'm surprised to see some guy I often see in school. His eyes seemed hazy – he was drunk. Couldn't take a genius to figure that out.

"How about some fun, bab...baby?" He slurred while his hands tried to grab my waist.

I do now believe this party was one terrible mistake.

***

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!

Doubling up on the updates, y'all. Be happy 😂

I know, I know. No cliches in this, I promised. Getting cornered by some drunk dude in a party and prince charming coming to the rescue is a normal tradition in Wattpad stories, I reckon that. Don't worry - this is Summer we are talking about. Couldn't think about being a cliche, right?

Tell me what you think of this chapter or what could happen next down in the comments below!! Vote and comment as usual - get this poor life here a smile 😂😂❤

Adios!