The Secret I Tried to Keep

Chapter 3

(Dallas in media.)

We rode to Aria's house with the music up. The houses in her neighborhood were huge. In the four years that I'd been friends with her, I'd never been to Aria's house, or anyone's house for that matter. When we finally got there, Aria pulled us inside excitedly.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" She gleamed as we followed her through the house. We passed through the living room where Aria's parents were making out on the couch. Aria only waved them off. "Don't worry about them," she said dismissively as we headed up the stairs. Aria's house was like a mansion. Scratch that... it was a mansion. I stared in awe as we passed a large crystal chandelier. Aria led us down another long hallway and into her room. Aria's room was probably the size of my living room and kitchen combined. The room had a purple and white theme to it. The back wall was just a giant mirror. She had a large ensuite bathroom and a walk in closet. Her room was unreal.

"Whoa, Aria..." I breathed. Aria only laughed as she plopped down on her bed.

"I keep forgetting that you've never been here before. I would give you the grand tour, but you guys took longer than planned with Dria's mom and now I only have three hours to get all of us ready," Aria said as she stood quickly. Aria was really talented with fashion and cosmetics. Scratch that, she was practically a pro. By the end of there hours, we were all transformed into models.

Aria was wearing a gray bandage crop top that hung off her shoulders slightly and pushed her boobs up to show just enough cleavage which she accentuated with a little bit of bronzer glitter. She paired it with red high-waisted shorts that flared and gray ankle boots that had fringe on the sides. Her hair was down in a bed-head messy kind of way. She had a bold red lipstick and a dark cat-eye eyeliner.

Cassie wore a cream-colored floral lace top and a green flow skirt that showed off her long legs. Her hair was pulled up into a high, straight ponytail with a small bump sitting in front of it. She had glitter eyeliner and a nude lipstick with nude heels to match.

For me, Aria put me in a spaghetti strapped v-draped black romper with blue and tan wedges.  The shorts of the romper ended right after my butt. The loose-fitting shorts of the one piece had pockets which were useful because I hadn't planned on carrying a purse. A thin blue belt encircled my waist and accentuated my curves. For my hair, Aria curled my hair with a wand and then brushed through them; giving me a soft loose curl as my thick hair hung to the middle of my back. For my makeup, I had a smokey eye and a simple pink lip gloss. Aria stood next to us in her mirror-wall and admired her work.

"Perfect," she smiled. "Alright, come on. We're already fashionably late enough, Plus, everyone is waiting on us," she said. We walked downstairs to see that Aria's parents were cuddled up on the couch, watching a movie.

"We're heading out," Aria said to them. Her parents looked at us and smiled.

"Wow, you girls look gorgeous! I might have to use you in my next shoot," her mom said. Aria's mom was a manager for a clothing line in town. "Call me if you need anything. Don't drink and drive, and be sure to look out for each other," Aria's mom added. Aria kissed both of their cheeks before we left in her car.

We pulled up to the house of the party and I just gaped at it. It wasn't a far drive from Aria's house since it was in the same ritzy neighborhood. This party looked like something out of Project X, or what all I saw of it. I tried to sneak and watch it illegally on my phone. I only saw about half of it before I was too scared of getting caught by my parents.

"Holy shit," I breathed. We got out and made our way inside. The smell of sweat, perfumes, and alcohol assaulted my nose as my body vibrated with the beat of the loud music. Aria hooked her arms with Cassie and me as the bodies pressed in on us. She dragged us to the kitchen where it was way quieter. A lot of people greeted us as they saw us but we couldn't find our friends just yet. Aria got to work making drink concoctions before she handed each of us a Solo cup and smirked as she held up hers.

"To Dria's first night of freedom," Aria toasted. I smiled as I held up my cup too.

"The first of many," Cassie added. We downed the drinks. It was fruity but it burned. I shut my eyes and coughed once as Aria and Cassie laughed.

"Isn't this illegal?" I asked, referring to the drink. Cassie and Aria shrugged.

"Only if you get caught. It's like, the most ignored law ever," Cassie said. Aria looked away before her face fell.

"Jerk alert," Aria muttered. I turned and saw Zane Reeds. Zane Reeds was a black-haired, hazel-eyed, smooth taking heartbreaker and everyone knew it. He was cocky, rich and hot. He also messed around with Dallas last year. He had her falling in love with him while he was just playing her the whole time. After she had sex with him, he dropped her and moved on to the next one; adding her name to his list of conquests and leaving Dallas with a shattered heart. We were the ones who had to put her back together after everything was said and done. He ruined her. Not to mention he had an on again-off again thing with the school's biggest bitch, Paris.

"Ladies," he smirked at us. Aria smiled at him a little too nicely.

"Ass-wipe," she said sweetly.

"Ouch, what have I done to deserve that?" Zane asked as he held his chest dramatically. He looked especially good tonight with his hair swooped in just the right way and his strong jawline, but all that beauty was tainted by a terrible personality.

"Does the name Dallas ring any bells, or do you need to check your list first?" Cassie glared at him. Zane only shrugged.

"She was a nice girl... she was way too clingy though; wanted to control everything," he said indifferently. Cassie scoffed as Zane turned his attention to me. "Hey, gorgeous, I haven't seen you around before. What's your name?" he asked me. I was so stunned that he would hit on me so openly after dismissing one of my friends. Aria was right; he was an ass-wipe.

"Sorry, I normally apply my asshole repellant before I leave my house, but I guess I forgot today," I said sweetly. Aria and Cassie laughed as Zane's smirk fell.

"Nice one, Dria," Aria said as she handed me another drink. I looked Zane square in the eye as I held up my drink.

"Cheers," I smirked at him before I chugged.