“Can you forge a signature on my detention slip for me?” I ask suddenly.
“Why can’t you?”
“I guess I’m nervous that I will mess it up and it will be obvious. I would just feel better if you did it.”
He smirks at me, “You could always just go ask your parents.”
I shake my head quickly, “No, they can never know about this. They would kill me. Besides, they are out of town.”
“Out of town where?” Hayden asks curiously.
I am quiet for a while. “A place.”
“Whoa, what’s with the secretive answer?”
“Never mind, we can talk about that another time. Just can you do the signature for me?”
“Okay…” he says slowly, confused at why I snapped at him.
I nod. “Thanks.”
There’s another beep from Hayden’s phone and he looks up smiling a little, “Party’s at eight.”
I look over at the glowing red numbers on the digital clock on the bathroom counter. It was 7:30. I do one last once over at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a black shirt with hints of gold shimmer all over. Jessica had dropped off some clothes earlier because, well, I was in dire need of a new outfit for tonight. Thank God she did otherwise I would be wearing a baggy grey sweatshirt and tennis shoes instead. I look down at the brown, knee-high leather boots that were half a size too small. Jessica had freakishly tiny feet. My black skinny jeans that had a few rips were tucked into them. I put one more pat of powder on my nose and check to make sure my gold eye shadow and dark black eyeliner and mascara weren’t smudged.
I unlock the bathroom door with a click and see Hayden sitting on the bed wearing a blue plaid shirt and black skinny jeans. And his hair. Oh, that hair. It framed his face perfectly and the blue in his shirt made the green in his eyes pop more than they usually did, if that was even possible. I felt my body stall in the doorway, taking in his god-like appearance. There wasn’t anything special or different about him tonight, but at the same time, there was. I wanted to just run up to him and kiss him. But hey, if you had a boyfriend named Hayden Sharpe who looked like he did, wouldn’t you want to do the same?
He looks at me strangely, “What?”
I shake my head, not even realizing that it had taken me a few seconds to respond, “Nothing.”
“Why are you looking at me funny?” he asks standing up. He flicks his head to the right, moving the hair out of his eyes.
I shrug, “I’m just happy, I guess.”
He smiles and inches towards me. I feel the pressure against my forehead as he pushes his against it. I get lost in the jungle he calls his eyes and next thing I know, we are kissing. I feel the feeling you get in your stomach when you are on a rollercoaster and you are at the top of the very last drop of the ride. I didn’t want it to end.
Hayden pulls away and I feel myself moan. He laughs, “Sorry Jen, but we are going to be late. We have to pick up Daisy and Jessica too.”
Jen. I like it.
“We aren’t taking Lance too, are we?” I ask as I follow him out the door.
“No. He’s going with Kelsey.”
“Good, that would be a very awkward car ride.”
We pull up as Taylor Swift’s “22” comes on the radio. The house we pull up in front of isn’t even a house. It’s a mansion. Big, white stone pillars stood on either side of the grand brown wooden doors. Each window had a stain glass painting on them, and you could tell they were polished daily. There was a four car garage and the driveway had about 10 cars already parked in it. I recognize Zac’s motorcycle parked across the street. I feel myself smile. Hayden parks in front of the mailbox. He turns off the engine and I get out of the car. I look at Jessica and admire her outfit; a pink little dress with a black leather jacket over it and black heels. It really went well with her hair color. Next, Daisy got out of the car, in her usual baggy jeans and a plain grey, long sleeved shirt.
“Why did you have to wear the most boring outfit ever?” Jessica whined at Daisy.
Daisy just shrugged.
“Well at least take my earrings so I don’t feel like falling asleep when I look at you,” Jessica demands as she takes out her sparkling diamond hoops. “And take off that damn beanie. Jesus this is a party.”
Hayden locks the car, “I’m just now realizing you girls are really mean when it comes to clothes.”
“I’m only trying to help,” Jessica says innocently.
I laugh and link my arm through Hayden’s. Walking up the cobblestone path, I can hear the music pumping from the house. People were sitting on the hoods of cars in the driveway and laughing uncontrollably.
Maybe this party will be fun.
“Jenna,” Daisy whispers in my ear. “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”
“It’ll be fun,” Hayden says, clearly overhearing what Daisy had said to me.
“Yeah guys. I can’t wait,” Jessica agrees.
I give Daisy an encouraging nod and Hayden opens the door. Doesn’t even knock or anything. Just walks right in. On the way here, I really did not think there would be that many people at this party. But as soon as Hayden opens the door, I can tell by the noise that there were clearly more than two hundred people here. I feel my grip on Hayden’s arm tighten.
I feel his warm lips against my cheek and some of my worries begin to melt away. At the bottom of the stairs is a big group of people all holding red plastic cups. Everyone in the group is laughing and talking and I want to be a part of it for some reason.
A tall guy with black hair standing in the center of the circle, locks his eyes on Hayden. A huge smile grew on his face.
“Hey everyone, it’s Hayden!” he says making his way through the crowd. He throws an arm around Hayden and I let go of him, “The party’s here!”
What does that mean?
Everyone cheers and next thing I know, we are the center of the circle.
The guy who had announced Hayden’s arrival spots me and embraces me tightly, “You’re Jenna! Be careful tonight, I am sure a lot of angry guys who lost to Hayden at the auction are here.”
The guy laughs and Hayden looks nervously at me. He clears his throat and says, “Jenna this is my friend Stan. This is his party.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say trying to ignore the bad feeling in my gut.
“You too, hot stuff,” he yells over the music with a wink.
My eyes flash to Daisy and Jessica, and I quickly push my way out of the circle.
“You guys okay?” I ask.
“Girl, please,” Jessica scoffs. “I’m gonna go dance.”
She walks into the next room and Daisy rolls her eyes, “And I’m going to go watch her. Have fun with Hayden.”
She winks and follows Jessica.
I turn around and see Hayden standing behind me.
“He was kidding, you know,” he yells reassuringly. “Stan makes inappropriate jokes all the time.”
I shrug, “It’s fine.”
I don’t even know if Hayden heard me because I couldn’t even hear myself. He nods anyway and then nods toward the room opposite the one Daisy and Jessica entered, “Let’s get something to drink.”
I grab his hand as he leads me through the maze of people. I could tell the room was a living room but I couldn’t actually see any furniture.
Along the way, this girl with bleached blonde hair runs up to Hayden and hugs him.
“Hayden! It’s been so long!” she shouts. I feel my blood start to boil. Hayden doesn’t hug her back, but then again he doesn’t push her away either.
She eyes me, “Who’s this?”
I glance at our entwined hands as Hayden says, “This is Jenna. My girlfriend.”
I felt reassured at his words, but that melts away as the girl laughs.
“She’s so adorable! I didn’t know you liked younger girls, Hayden. How old is she, like 12?”
“No, she’s a freshman, Victoria,” Hayden says, sounding bored.
“Oh, a three year age diff
erence how cute. Well, I’ll see you around Hayden,” she says as she ruffles his hair and walks away.
I look at him questioningly.
“She doesn’t go to our school,” he says plainly.
We walk through a swinging door and enter a humungous kitchen. I felt like I was in a restaurant kitchen it was so big. And yet again, the room was impossible to navigate through.
“Stay here, I’ll go get us drinks,” Hayden says dropping my hand.
I do as I am told and stay next to the pantry. I watch all the couples around me dance, talk, laugh. A few of them were making out on the counters reminding me of earlier this morning when Hayden and I were doing the same thing. I feel myself become uncontrollably hot, probably because there were too many people in this room at once. And everyone who was dancing up against each other was sweating, making the whole place smell, causing the whole thing to become even more unbearable. It was just a hot mess.
A couple minutes pass before I finally see Hayden coming back towards me. He smiles and hands me a red cup. By this point, I am so thirsty I chug the whole drink. After a few seconds I feel the burning in my throat and pull the cup away from my lips. I spit it out in a mist and Hayden laughs.
“What the hell is that?” I ask looking at the yellow liquid in the cup.
“That is some cheap ass beer,” he explains, taking a sip of his own. “What did you think it was going to be? Punch?”
“Do I seem like the type of person who drinks beer?” I yell; half because I was mad and half because of my nearly bursting eardrums.
“Jenna,” he pleads. “Just have some fun.”
“I can have fun without needing to be drunk, thanks,” I say as I hand him back the cup. I shake my head, “I can’t drink that.”
Hayden sighs and turns to walk away, “Fine.”
I probably should follow him but I notice through the sliding glass window someone sitting on one of the couches outside. I quickly open the door letting the cool air hit my skin. It is quiet out here; the door blocks out the music well enough to actually have a conversation. A voice in my head is telling me to go talk to Hayden, but I don’t want to deal with that right now.
“Hey,” I say, sitting next to Kelsey on the couch.
She looks a little frightened to see me, “Oh, hey.”
“How’s it going?”
“It’s going good,” she nods.
“Good.”
There is an awkward silence and I look at the people in the yard. Couples were lying on the grass looking up at the stars and surprise, surprise, more people were making out. I saw some smoke coming from a small group of people near the dark area on the side of the house. I feel myself shiver.
“So, are you here with Lance?” I ask as casually as I can.
“I know what you are going to ask, Jenna,” she says. “Might as well just ask.”
“Okay,” I nod. “What happened, then?”
“I couldn’t go to school that day because I woke up feeling so sick. But I slept for like three more hours and I felt better so I decided to go to school. I got there around lunch time and was walking to your table when Lance pulled me into a supply closet and kissed me,” she explains.
I feel my eyes widen as I remember that Lance wasn’t there that day at lunch either. So that’s where he was.
“I tried to stop him, but it just happened so fast. I slapped him after. I swear I tried to stop him, I don’t cheat on my boyfriends.”
I nod, “I believe you. I don’t doubt that Lance did this.”
“Well, after that the bell rang so I had to get to class. But after school I was waiting in the parking lot for Nolan when out of nowhere again Lance came and kissed me. But this time Nolan, and everyone else saw too. I will never forget the look on Nolan’s face. I tried calling him and texting him but he never answered!”
“Okay, so why were you holding hands with Lance the next day?” I question.
“He was the only one there. None of my friends would talk to me. You guys wouldn’t talk to me. He was the only one that would.”
“And you didn’t stop to think that he was the one that messed everything up in the first place?”
“I’m just…” she sighs. “I’m just not good at being alone. And Lance is a really great guy.”
I feel myself laugh at that but quickly cover it, “Well, I guess it is good you are happy.”
She smiles, “I just wish I could tell Nolan what happened. He won’t even look at me.”
“I’ll tell him,” I say standing up.
Kelsey looks at me with hopeful eyes, “Thank you.”
I smile back, “Well, I’ll see you around.”
“Bye.”
I make my way back to the door and enter the house. A heat wave hits me as soon as I take one step onto the wooden floor. I look around the room for Hayden but I don’t see him. He was easily one of the tallest people here so it would not be that hard to find him. He must not be in the kitchen.
I walk into the living room and glance around there too. No Hayden. But I do notice my best friend sitting on the silver couch laughing hysterically. The hoop earrings Jessica had given her to wear earlier were shaking furiously with every head movement she made. Daisy looked really happy. I don’t think I have ever seen her look this happy when she wasn’t studying or when she wasn’t in the tutoring hall where she knew how much smarter she was than everybody else in the room.
I looked at the boy next to her who was making her laugh so hard and was surprised to see it was the boy I had been talking about less than a minute ago. Nolan.
“Cute, aren’t they?” I hear someone say in my ear.
I look up at Zac and smile, “They aren’t a thing, right?”
He laughs, “No.”
“Good, because I did not know this was going on.”
“Neither did I.”
I stand there staring at my best friend’s alter ego and then Zac’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts.
“Where’s Hayden?”
A sinking feeling attacks my stomach. I had forgotten about that. “I honestly don’t know.”
“Well he’s around here somewhere,” Zac looks around. “You want a drink?”
I shake my head quickly, “I am not drinking any of that nasty beer.”
“I was talking about some soda,” Zac laughs.
My ears perk up, “They have soda here?”
Zac laughs again, “Well, yeah.”
Well that’s something Hayden forgot to mention.
A couple minutes later, Zac comes back with a Coke for me. I pop open the can and watch as he takes a sip from his plastic cup.
“How can you drink that stuff?”
He smiles, “Loads of practice.”
I feel myself shudder and gulp down my Coke.
“Well, you were thirsty.”
I laugh, “Well it’s so hot in here!”
“Want to dance?”
“Sure,” I respond. “But just a warning; I’m a terrible dancer.”
He smiles, “So am I.”
I drop my Coke can on the already littered floor and follow him to the room where everyone was dancing. It was about 50 times hotter in this room than everywhere else in the house. Zac leads me through the labyrinth of people until we got to an area where we weren’t being squished. We are really close to the speakers and I have a feeling I won’t be able to hear in the morning. I stand there watching Zac, not really knowing what to do since pretty much everyone around us was grinding.
Zac starts to jump up and down, pumping his fist in the air. I can’t help but laugh; he reminds me of a little kid. I start to jump with him and he then grabs me and spins me around. We both start to laugh and then we start to dance like normal people.
A couple minutes later, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to see a swaying Hayden. His hair was a mess and he reeked of alcohol.
“May I cut in?” he asks.
“How much did you drink?” I ask folding my arms.
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“I don’t really know,” he responds clueless.
“Hayden!”
“Just dance with me,” he says, leaning in to kiss me.
I move away causing him to stumble. “I’m not going to kiss you like this.”
He pouts and then I see that Victoria girl and one of her friends run up. They both grab onto Hayden’s right arm. I see a look of annoyance on Hayden’s face.
“Hayden!” Victoria screams. “Where did you go?”
“You disappeared so fast we didn’t have time to get you another drink!” her friend yells.
Well, screw this.
I grab Hayden’s face and kiss him for as long as I can. I open one of my eyes and see Victoria and her friend sulk away. I pull back from Hayden, coughing at the terrible taste now in my mouth; it was so strong.
I see Hayden smile stupidly and Zac clears his throat.
“Well, I’m just going to go over there,” Zac says walking to the door.
I feel bad but I can’t leave Hayden like this. All these crazy ass girls will attack him.
“Jenna,” Hayden yells into my ear. “Do you want to-?”
I stop listening to him as I notice Zac’s confused look. I follow his gaze and feel completely frozen.
“Jenna?” Hayden pokes me and then follows my gaze too. Out of the corner of my eye I can see his jaw drop open.
Leaning against the banister of the stairs was Jessica, sloppily making out with some tall senior guy.
Tom Stephens.
The Tom Stephens who called me a slut and got Zac detention for two weeks.
And now my best friend was making out with him.
Hayden mutters something too quiet to be heard over the music and stumbles through the crowd of people, following Zac who was already making his way towards them.
Shit shit shit.
I feel myself lunge for Hayden’s arm but he tugs away.
“Hayden!”
“I’ve got it Jenna!” he yells back in annoyance.
I can’t help but notice how much he is swaying when he walks.
Oh God.
I know it’s pointless to try to stop him so I run ahead of him and get to Jessica and Tom just as Zac does.
“Tom!” Zac yells and he pulls away from Jessica. I run up and grab her by the arm and tug her away.
The Last Girl Page 13