𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

parties & porches

cliché | hs | wholesome
1126 words
unedited
june 8 2020
—
parties. i was never fond of them, nor did i have any did i have anything against them in particular. at the end of the school year, wyatt, the school's "popular" kid always threw a party at his house. his parents were relatively wealthy, and wyatt liked to use their family mansion for all his parties. so tonight, at the end of my junior year, my friends convinced me to attend this party.

honestly, there was usually illegal stuff, like drugs, alcohol, etc. but, my parents never knew that i went. my two best friends mahea, luna and i got ready in luna's bedroom. "why do you two always drag me to these crazy ass parties?" i complained, zipping up my skirt. "because," luna responded, "you literally never go out. and if you go to at least one party, it's gonna be this one." mahea nodded, whispering about me being single and applying mascara.

i leaned back in the chair. mahea has a boyfriend, giovanni and luna has a girlfriend, kehlani. they both knew of my crush on ruel. originally, he and wyatt were friends with the 3 of us, but we fell off in sophomore year. i had a crush on him the whole time. in fact, most people knew i liked him. but ruel being ruel, was oblivious to it. i knew he was going to be at the party and i was dreading it.

"trust me," mahea said, sensing my tension, "you'll be fine." i turned to look at her, "it always gets awkward when im near him."

"yeah, probably, but im sure it'll be fine. i know it's kinda sad, but he still sees you as a friend," luna shrugged, a sympathetic look on her face.

"whatever," i whispered. "ok i'm ready," mahea said, standing up, "you guys ready?"

luna and i nodded; the 3 of us piled outside the home and into mahea's car. eventually, we arrived at the enormous mansion. mahea ran inside, greeting her boyfriend. "it's gonna be okay," luna said, pulling me into a side hug. "okay." i whispered, walking into the crowded home.

music blared throughout the speaker, cups laid across the floor, food scraps lay scattered on counters and couches. although, everything was drowned out by my confusing and despairing thoughts. i wandered through the home, searching for something to take my minds off my emotions.

before i found something interesting, mahea's voice broke me out of my thoughts. "y/n!" she called, waving for me to come over to the circle of teenagers, playing a mix of truth or dare, seven minutes in heaven and spin the bottle. and of course, ruel was sitting in the circle, his back turned slightly turned to me.

i gave in, walking towards the circle and sitting down. mahea explained the rules to me shortly and the game commenced. rounds of the game continued, luckily none of them involving me. "okay ruel, your turn."

i watched as ruel spun the bottle, the rest of the group anxiously waiting. i wanted it to be me, but at the same time i didn't. as the bottle began to slow down i felt a twist in my stomach; just my luck, the bottle landed on me.

my eyes practically bulged out of my head. ruel looked at me, standing up and walking towards the closet. we closed the closet door and i turned to face him. "get it van dijk!" i heard someone yell, internally face palming myself. ruel moved slightly closer to me. he seem nonchalant. here i was, losing my shit internally and he seemed to only see this as a game.

i get that it's a game, but it still sucks. at this point, how could he not know that i liked him. as the gap between us closed, he slowly leaned down. we were practically centimeters apart, but i whispered, "im s-sorry, i can't do this," before running out the closet and the house. "y-" he attempted to say before following me out the closet. the stench of alcoholic and rowdy teenagers leaving my senses, the cold fall air refreshing me.

i barely heard the muffled chatter over the music but i managed to make out some things. "what happened?" "did you do something?" "was she good?" "should we check on her?"

"no it's fine, i got it." ruel responded, running past all the teenagers, seeing me on the porch. "hey, you good?" i looked up at him, a single tear running down my face. "im fine, can you just go back inside."

"nope. not until you tell me what's wrong."

"im fine," i said, a little harsher than intended, wiping away the stray tear. "come on y/n, please, just talk to me. that's all i need. look," he said sitting next to me, "i know we haven't talked in a while, but im still your friend."

"that's the thing," you said, turning for gaze from the pavement to him, "friend. ruel, i don't want to be your friend, i want something more than that i guess."

a dumbfounded look crossed his face, not entirely processing what you'd said. "so you ... like me?"

"yes. and practically the whole school already knows, or suspects." you responded, wondering how oblivious he could get. you looked away from him, relieved to have told him how you felt, although saddened that it might end up worse that it ever was.

"okay," he said, shifting his body to catch my gaze. his hands suddenly clammy, a result of the sudden change in mood. "y/n," he paused i like you too."

"no fucking way dude," my mouth dropping and my speech seeming to go on autopilot as i covered my gapping mouth with my hand in embarrassment.

ruel busted out laughing, snorts occasionally escaping, causing me to laugh as well. we sat on the porch steps chuckling and catching up for what felt like hours. eventually, we both laid, out back against the top step and legs draped over the rest, silently looking at the sky while the soon to be frat boys dumped vodka into the thousand dollar fountain and swam in it.

"never thought i'd be confessing my feelings to you while chad's drunk ass is dry humping a statue in the side yard."

"so romantic van dijk."

"hey,  you love me. i know you dooo," he laughed lightly, extending the o at the end of do.

"i might," my grin growing as i turned on my side to face him. our lips almost locking as the crowd of our friends screamed "get ittt!" behind us.

maybe parties aren't so bad after all.

KAYS THOUGHTS 🌧
so sorry i haven't written in a while.
this is hella cliche and long but i love it
stay safe babies
love you <333