Chapter 8

"C'mon, Please..."

"I never said I wouldn't go. I said I'd think about it."

"Alright, fine." Tessa nods, wounding a strand of her chestnut brown hair around her finger, delicately. Something I observe she only does when she's thinking hard. "But let me know when you decide to come. It's the birthday party for one of my friends, Cassidy."

The students of East-Lake High are lively and buzzing over an upcoming party, in which everyone's invited to. As far as I know, it's the eighteenth birthday party for a girl named Cassidy Wilson, who's stupendously rich. Her parents have decided to leave town for the weekend, so she's planning a massive party in her luxurious villa, in the Eden Estate.

Personally, I am not a fan of parties, or any sort of big event. I'd be perfectly content at home, watching Netflix whilst eating my weight in popcorn. I once finished a whole tub of Nutella with a plastic spoon, in under three minutes during a tampon advertisement. I'm a legend.

"Like I said, I'll think about it."

"But-"

"Shouldn't we be meeting the others for lunch?" I sidetrack the conversation smoothly, glancing behind me. Tessa shrugs before opening her locker. I force myself to hold back a proud grin, when I catch sight of the poster just next to her locker mirror. It's a perfect sketch of Ryan Westford, coated with glittery hearts in each corner. She's drawn him perfectly, outlining his every feature. I'm aware of Ryan's many fans worldwide, but it's so strange to know that my new friend has some sort of crush on him.

"We can catch up with Ian and Daniel after school, just before the party." Tessa chirps, slamming her locker shut before continuing down the corridor.

"Wait, it's tonight?!" I blink in bewilderment, hurrying after her as we turn the corner. Tessa releases a heavy sigh, shaking her head at me. "What? I didn't think it would just... pop up on such short notice! What if I had plans?!"

"Well do you?"

"Not really, but..."

"Then it's settled. You're coming. I'll be at your place by nine tonight, to get ready. Don't worry about texting me your address, I already know where Aaron lives. And you live next-door, right?"

"Unfortunately."

"It's settled then."

I divert my eyes away from Tessa, and notice an unpleasant sight right in front of us. Just a few lockers down, I spot Aaron and a blonde girl pressed up against one of the lockers, kissing her as if his life depended on it. I mentally gag at the sight. Mostly due to what the girl is wearing.

Jesus Christ, I've seen bikini's that cover more skin, than her outfit does!

"What are you looking at?" Tessa follows my gaze and groans, rolling her eyes. "Here we go again..." She mutters, marching right up towards the 'busy' couple. She places a hand on Aaron's shoulder and yanks him away from the blonde girl. Surprisingly, Tessa is very strong for her size. They finally pull away from each other.

"What the hell!" the girl shrieks with a hand on her hip, darting deadly daggers in Tessa's direction. She's wearing the skimpiest white mini-skirt and a purple crop top, fully exaggerating her figure. Her long blonde hair cascades down her shoulders, curled into delicate ringlets. "Get lost Tessa. We're busy!"

"Yeah, I can see." Tessa mutters, before turning to Aaron, who's anything but embarrassed. His eyes are dull and unexpressive, just as they always are. Without portraying any sign of anger, shock or embarrassment. Just a slight hint of irritation, but that's nothing new. "Take your little slut somewhere private next time, Johnson."

"Why should we move?" the little blonde bitch interrupts. "Are you jealous? Or do you just enjoy irritating us on a daily basis? Tell her, Aaron!" she turns to him with an icy glare. He roll his eyes.

"We need you to move, because that's Charlotte's new locker." Tessa sighs, gesturing towards me with her free arm. Oh great. "Now beat it Kennedy, before you infest it even more."

So this is Kennedy...

"Who?" Kennedy turns to me with a heavy scowl. I respond with a casual sneer. I already don't like her. Back in Wisconsin, I never really had to deal with anyone like her. Everyone knew me, so nobody really attempted to get on my nerves. But here in California, things are bound to be different.

"If I throw a stick, will you go away?" Tessa snaps, clearly irritated. But Kennedy doesn't seem to hear her. Kennedy's scowl is still fixed on me, trying her best to scrutinize me as if I were a very difficult maths equation.

She mutters something under her breath, throwing evil daggers in my direction before sauntering away, swinging her pale-pink Louis Vuitton handbag, before barging shoulders with me in the process. I sigh, turning to Aaron with a raised eyebrow. "Who's that? Your girlfriend?"

He doesn't even crack a smile at my response. "You're funny." he says flatly, before shoving his hands into his pockets. He takes a few steps back before proceeding to stride back down the corridor, disappearing around the corner. Well goodbye then.

Tessa snorts, turning to me. "Aaron doesn't do relationships. He has booty calls, pretty often. Ian claims that it's just to 'relieve his stress'."

"Stress?"

"Whatever that means." she shrugs.

Before I'm able to question her any further, my gaze is distracted as I catch sight of a familiar figure, heading straight towards us. Daniel beams as he finally catches my gaze, with a easy smirk on his face. "You girls are missing out on spaghetti and meatballs in the cafeteria." he grins.

"I think we'll survive." Tessa rolls her eyes, just before her phone starts ringing in her pocket. "One second, I need to take this..." she says quickly, moving away from us, to answer her phone.

I start unloading my textbooks into my locker, with Daniel just standing there like an idiot with an amused smirk on his face. It's starting to get on my nerves. Any true gentleman would offer to help me out. I mean, these books are seriously heavy!

"Mind giving me a hand?" I suggest casually.

"Na. I'm good."

Wow.

"Are you going to the party tonight?" Daniel asks, watching me shove my history book into the locker with an exhausted grunt.

"Not sure yet. Why? Are you and Ian planning on going?" I question with the raise of an eyebrow. He stares at me as if I just asked him if he owned a pair of legs.

"Booze and girls? Na, I think I'll pass." he scoffs, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I manage to grin, rolling my eyes before slamming my locker shut. "I never miss a good party."

I open my mouth to say something but I'm cut off when I notice Tessa making her way towards us again, anxiously biting her lip. Before I can ask her what the problem is, she plasters on a forced smile. "The bell just went off, we should be heading to class. We've got the same Chemistry lesson, Charlotte."