Fat Girl ✔️

The Party Begins

I honestly don't know what I was expecting.

The party was exactly how I imagined it, only sweatier. Teens crowded the halls, empty drinks were scattered across the floor, and the music was so loud it sent vibrations up my spine. we pushed through the crowd as we made our way inside. Jackie and Sarah were gone by the time I turned to look for them, and I prayed they wouldn't do anything stupid.

"El! You made it!"

Spider-Man greeted me in the foyer. He pulled off his mask, and a mop of messy brown hair came out. Blake smiled down at me. "Nice costume," He said, tugging at my bloody shirt.

"Thanks," I called back over the music, searching through the crowd for anyone I recognized, "The bruised cheek really brings the look together."

I waved goodbye to Sydney as she disappeared into the crowd, already blending right in with everyone else. Sometimes I forgot how familiar she was with parties like these, and just how many of these kinds of parties she'd been to. She fit right in, already knowing exactly who to talk to and what drinks not to touch. As she slipped away into the crowd, I turned back to Blake.

"Let me show you around," He offered, grabbing my hand. I followed him to the kitchen, where bowls of untouched food sat on counters. "Don't touch those," he warned. "I have no idea where they've been."

He pulled me away from the room and up the stairs. I recognized a few people as we ascended, and the music started to fade as we made it closer to the top of the steps.

"This is my room," He said, leading me to a door with a sign on it that said 'Off Limits'. He unlocked it and pushed it open.

It was different than I expected it to be.

Instead of a messy lion's den with leftover pizza under the bed and football trophies hung from the walls, I was greeted by a surprisingly neat room. A king sized bed, made, sat in the corner of the room. The walls were bare save for a few framed photos. A bookshelf and a small closet were opposite me.

I made my way across the room to a shelf of photographs. There were pictures of him and his family. In the most recent photos, his family looked detached. A young Blake sat next to his older brother and Father. His mother sat next to them, not touching any of them.

"That was the year before my parents got divorced," Blake said, coming up behind me. "I guess I should've known."

I moved down the line, focusing on a photo of him and Julian. It was a selfie of them after a football game, both smiling brightly. I'd never seen Julian smile like that, that genuinely. IN my perception he would always be evil. I guess different people saw different things.

As I looked down at the photo, I remembered why I'd come. I promised myself I would find out what was going on with him and Julian. I turned to Blake, opening my mouth to ask him.

But before I could say anything, I spotted Jackie, just outside the room. The leaned against the banister of the staircase, holding a red solo cup in her hand and talking to one of the boys from the lacrosse team. My eyes narrowed.

"Oh no you don't," I muttered.

"What?"

I pushed past Blake, making my way towards her. "I'm so sorry. I'll meet you downstairs...There's just something I have to do."

I didn't wait for him to answer before marching over to the staircase. Pushing the cup out of Jackie's hand, I watched as her drink went flying. It splattered onto a nearby couple.

"Did you forget about our rules?" I spit out, crossing my arms. She rolled her eyes as the boy walked away.

"I wasn't even doing anything," She said. "That was lemonade."