Chapter 97

[Third Person's PoV]

When they arrived at the given address, they were all stunned as they looked at the large house; it almost appeared like a mansion all of its own.

"Has Lizzy always been this rich?" Peter asked in confusion.

"Apparently. Who would have thought?" Gwen said, looking at the mansion that was flashing multiple colors, with loud music playing inside.

"How have you guys been friends with her for this long and don't know her parents are rich?" Felicia asked, looking at them weirdly.

"Sorry, my bad. I should be asking everyone I meet about their and their parents' financial situation to see if we can be friends or not," Peter said sarcastically while parking his car.

"Don't patronize me, Parker. I mean, you guys should have obviously had a clue at least," Felicia retorted, glaring at Peter.

MJ just shrugged her shoulders slightly. "We knew she was well off, but not by this much. We've never been to her house before actually; this is the first."

They all then got out of the car as Peter just finished parking. "Well, at least we know she isn't with Harry for his money," Peter muttered towards.

Gwen and MJ both elbowed him on the side, causing him to rub the back of his head awkwardly.

As soon as they entered, they were kind of surprised by what they were seeing. Everything was mostly dark, and the things that were visible were the glow sticks people were carrying, some even had face paint on that glowed in the dark.

"This isn't a party, this is a fucking rave!" Felicia yelled over the loud music.

"Woohhh! let's fuck bitches and smoke crack!!" Peter yelled, pumping his fists up and down with the music.

MJ and Gwen looked at Peter with a shocked expression, not knowing how to react to that statement.

Even Felicia looked at Peter with surprise for a bit before shrugging her shoulders and joining in his celebration. "Hell yeah, Parker! Let's gooo!"

Seeing Peter and Felicia walking ahead pumping their fists, MJ and Gwen looked at each other for a few seconds before shaking their heads and sighing. They soon started walking behind them.

As they walked around, there were some women carrying a bunch of necklace-like glow sticks and handing them out.

Peter took a couple, sharing them with the others. He wore two of them, one around his neck and the other like a crown.

"Where are Harry and Lizzy?" MJ asked over the music.

Peter took out his phone and sent Harry a text, to which he got a reply in a few seconds.

"Follow me!" he said as he guided them as if he had been here before, leading them through the crowd before heading up some stairs.

They continued walking past some rooms before Peter entered the fifth one, where he stood frozen in surprise seeing Harry and Lizzy in bed making out, luckily with their clothes still intact.

Peter slowly backed away, closing the door softly. "Sorry, wrong room. Continue what you were doing."

"Wait, Peter, stop."

Peter just gave Harry a deadpan look. "How are you going to tell me where you are and then start making out? It's like you wanted us to catch you in the act… Pervert."

Lizzy looked away shyly with slightly red cheeks, but that wasn't the only thing that was red; her eyes were too.

Harry let out a sigh. "That wasn't my intention. I was comforting her, we might have just slightly gotten out of hand with it."

The girls, upon noticing Lizzy's red eyes, immediately went to check what was wrong as their female instinct got activated.

Peter closed the door behind them as they started asking.

"What's wrong?" Gwen and MJ asked with worry, while Felicia stood by with a curious look.

It was Harry who answered. "I'm sure you saw the mess outside…"

"You mean the freaking rave? Let me guess, this wasn't her idea," Felicia said with a deadpan expression.

"Why don't you just kick them out? This is your house, isn't it?" Peter looked at Lizzy in confusion.

Harry let out a tired sigh. "I said the same thing, but she's afraid of what everyone would think of her and that'll destroy her high school reputation, thus making the next 3 to 4 years absolutely hell for her and being labeled as the girl who couldn't handle throwing a party."

"Bitch–" Peter said, giving Lizzy a 'You for real?' look.

"Peter," Harry said in a warning tone and a look that said, 'Don't.'

Peter sighed and raised his hands in surrender, understanding where Harry was coming from.

"No, Peter is right… Really? You won't kick them out just for that reason?" Felicia asked, giving her a look of disapproval.

Lizzy glared at Peter and Felicia. "Unlike some people, I can't deal with criticism really well. I care what people think about me; it affects me when people talk behind my back. I can't be like you two who can do whatever you want and ignore everyone else."

Felicia just let out a groan. "You're just making it more complicated than it needs to be. It's not like you're going to become an outcast or something. You'll have your friends, which are the people here. What more could you possibly need?"

"You just don't understand… What if I get bullied, harassed, or tormented for destroying the party? For you, if such a thing happened, you would probably beat them up or something or fight back. I can't do that… I'm too weak for that."

Peter had a feeling she wasn't talking about physical weakness.

"None of that is going to happen. It's not like any of us are ever going to let you go through that if it did come to that," Gwen said, rubbing Lizzy's back reassuringly.

But Lizzy just shook her head, "You guys aren't always going to be looking after me, and I don't want to be a burden…"

"Wait, so how did this all happen in the first place?" Peter asked, confused.

"Well, I started inviting the people in our class, mostly first years, which included some of the second years, and the Jocks, the football team. The jocks and second years then invited their upperclassmen, and they invited their upperclassmen who then invited their friends. When they all appeared, I didn't have the heart to send them away and cancel the party."

Tears then started pooling around the corners of her eyes, "All I wanted it to be like was what was shown in the movies and shows, where they throw an awesome party with red solo cups, loud music, and fun stuff. Not this mess. I don't even feel like the host of the party."

Before they had a chance to sigh depressingly, Peter issued an ultimatum, "Okay, so here are your two options: either you cancel this party and show them who's boss by kicking them out.

Or,

You firm it to save face, you keep all what you are feeling and just try your best to enjoy the party… well, what you can for the most part, while ignoring the part that makes it bad."

"Are those truly my only options?" Lizzy said unsurely.

"If any of you can come up with a better plan, then I'm all ears."

Lizzy's lip quivered before she let out a defeated sigh with a single tear rolling down her eye. She gave them a smile as she then said in a fake cheery voice,

"Let's enjoy the party."