5 The Welcoming Party

I return home after spending the whole afternoon at Joe's, it became a habit since she settled here, we can find tons of things to do together even in this little town. And today was spent checking if we got everything needed for the baby's room since the furniture already came and the rest of the decoration would be delivered the next morning.

It's 8 p.m already which means that I should start getting ready for the party but before I take a quick shower, I realize that I haven't actually told my parents about it so I go downstairs to find them both sitting in the living room watching an old movie.

"Hey," I say and my dad pauses the movie before they both turn to me "Sorry to interrupt your movie night but there's a party at the Moran's, like tonight, it's a welcoming party they said and..."

"And you're going? I thought you hated their kid!" Interrupts my mom.

"Well I dislike James, that's right but parties are a chance for me to get to know my peers as you say."

"And will you be returning home?"

"I'll probably stay with Caillie or maybe..."

"We don't need to know the details," Laughs my dad "You can go."

"I didn't mean it that way!" I say frustrated "I'll just go and get ready."

I go back to my room leaving them both laughing behind me. I take a quick shower and decide to blow dry my hair. After standing for 10 minutes contemplating my wardrobe, I finally decide to put on a black and red embroidered short long-sleeved dress and my black boots, I apply a red velvet lipstick and mascara and finally take my leather jacket in case I get cold since I'm taking my bike.

When I reach the gate of James's house, I can hear the music loud and clear. The place was pretty crowded, even though it was chilly, people were standing in the garden and by the pool. I take a tour around the house looking for Callie and Ethan but they were nowhere to be found and here I thought I was the one coming late.

I go outside and get away from the noise and decide to call Callie.

"Hey, Nicki..." she starts as soon as she picks up and I could sense the guilt on her voice.

"Where are you! We agreed on meeting here at 9:30."

"I'm sorry, I totally forgot to call you, Ryan made me a surprise and came over, it was unexpected!" she says apologetically.

I can't help but grunt "fine! I'll let it go just this once" I pause for a moment "have fun!" I finally say cheerfully realizing that if I don't she'll probably pass her night feeling guilty.

"Thanks, babe! I'm really sorry and I'll make it up to you!"

"See you Monday!" I say before I hang up and then decide to call Ethan.

"You better be coming!" I say as soon as he picks up.

"Well..."

"You've got to be kidding me! What's up with you! You were the one who wanted to come to this party in the first place!" I say on the edge of losing it.

"I have this project with Skylar and he wanted to work on it this weekend."

"You could've met tomorrow or better, you could've called me maybe!"

"Well he's already here, I'm sorry but he's Skylar." he whispers the last part.

"I hate you!" I say before hanging up.

I can't believe that after nagging me to come to this party, they simply ditch me without even a warning. Let's at least hope that Mark is not occupied with another girl.

"Hey," I turn around to see Mark right behind me "what are you doing out here by yourself?"

"You're my savior! Can you believe that they stood me up!"

"Oh come on, I'll keep you company!"

"Thank you!" I say cheerfully, hugging him.

"Now let's get you a drink and then we'll dance our asses off."

I laugh and follow him inside, he serves a cup, a mix of different drinks, his own cocktail he said and it tasted really good, then we joined the dance floor, the music was too loud to speak so we just danced our asses off as he said.

At some point, James came at us and asked me if I could dance with him, I accepted and Max left us saying that he'll come to find me later.

We dance for a couple of minutes before he asks me "do you mind if we go talking in someplace quiet?" he's basically screaming over the music.

"Let's go." it'll do me good to get away from this noise, my head started to hurt me already.

He guides me upstairs to what I assume is his room "we can talk quietly here," he says after shutting the door behind us "I have a bottle of bourbon put aside for special occasions, would you like a drink?" he asks.

"Yes." i say walking around the room "you changed your room." I comment

"Yea, I chose a bigger one."

He hands me my cup. I used to come here when I was a kid, I remember his room being a lot smaller than this one with pale blue walls and toys everywhere, this one, on the other hand, has one dark red wall while the other three ones are white also

replacing the toys, different medals from all sorts of competitions were filling his shelves, I knew he was active but this still surprises me.

"You're beautiful." I suddenly felt his breath on my neck, I jump a little only now realizing that he was right behind me. he puts his hand on my shoulder and turns me around. "I know I was such an ass the other day, I shouldn't have asked you that way. it was no way to ask a girl out."

"It's fine."

He was so close to me, he had his eyes moving back and forth between my eyes and lips. I'm not sure what I'll do if he tries to kiss me.

"No, I want to make it up for you. I know you don't appreciate me and I know I made

it easier for you to hate me but all I'm asking for is one date and maybe then I'll

be able to change your mind about me but if I don't then I won't ever bother you

again."

I don't know what to say truly, I can't be rude and tell him that I do truly not like him and I can't either accept his request and give him the slightest bit of false hope.

"You don't have to answer me right now."

"James, I can't promise you anything but i'll keep in mind the date thing and I appreciate the fact that you apologized for the other day, I'll call you and tell you when we can have that date." I smile at him and kiss him on the cheek and then leave the room.

The house was so crouded, you could barely breathe with all the smoke, even the poolside was full of people. It's just at parties like that that you realize how many people you don't know, especially for someone like me who's not that social.

Thankfully I know the house well enough, I used to come here and play with James so I get out to the garden and find a quiet place so that I can smoke. I sit on a bench behind the house, you can barely hear the music here, I lit my cigarette and look at the sky enjoying this moment of peace.

"May I?" I jump in surprise, I haven't heard anyone coming my way. Do people actually enjoy sneaking up on me! I look to the left to find Ian a couple of feet away, he totally scared me.

"yea.." I say hesitantly and he smiles at me, I can't get my head around the fact that he started acknowledging me. Does he change personalities on the weekend! Because he certainly acted like he doesn't know me during the whole weekend even though I'm sure I didn't just imagine our dance last Friday.

"Not a party person huh?" he asks.

"Not this type of parties actually, but you, on the other hand, seemed to fit in." I respond, I admit I've been watching him the whole time.

"Have you been watching me, Miss Stanley? I'm sorry that's all I've got from class and Mark didn't have the idea of introducing us the couple of times that we met."

You would've got my name if you didn't ignore me, that's what I actually want to say but instead I simply say "Nichole, or you can just call me Nikki"

"Nice meeting you Nikki," he says with the most charming smile I've ever seen "so Nikki, what kind of party do you like exactly?" He was now facing me.

"Well not the ones where you have to act all fake, faking that you enjoy their company and all," I say and then wish I just gave a clear answer, small ones for example.

"I thought you'd fit in this kind of places, you seem like the carefree type"

"I think you're the one who's been observing me." I say trying to flip the tables and he actually laughed nervously and changed the subject directly after my answer.

Surprisingly I felt comfortable talking to him, he's an easy-going person, fun to talk to and I enjoy his company which really surprises me.

"Did I tell you that you're beyond beautiful today and that I couldn't keep my eyes off you!" he asks out of nowhere with his charming smile.

"I don't believe so, no" I can't help but smile.

"Then Nikki, you're the most beautiful girl in this party." I smile again, I admit I'm growing fond of him. "You know," he starts adjusting a strand of hair behind my ear "I've been thinking about a way to come and talk to you since I saw you entering the house.."

"And?" I ask leaning closer to him urging him to continue.

"And finally I got the chance to.." he leans closer and kisses me slowly, he seems hesitant as if acknowledging my reaction, isn't it obvious that I'm craving him! The kiss was passionate and sweet, cherry vodka, one of my favorites.

We separate when we run out of oxygen, he puts his forehead on mine and smiles "do you want to get out of here, go somewhere quiet?"

"your place maybe?" I say with the sexiest smile I have, he smiles back that fucking perfect smile will

drive me mad.

He stands up and takes my hand, he leads me outside. when we reach my motorcycle, I spot Mark not so far away, he waves at me but then smiles when he sees our entwined hands and mouthes a "have fun".

I get on then hand Ian the spare helmet "nice ride!" he says before sitting behind me. I wasn't wasted, I was totally sober, I barely drank a full cup of alcohol but Ian's hands on my thighs and his breath on my neck, made me feel wasted.