PARTY (KIRAN)

KIRAN

Mom gave me the car tonight to get to-and-from this party that she insisted I go to. She said it was a great opportunity to make friends and that the new kid never gets invited to things on their first day.

I wanted to find a gym to work out at and work on my technique, but I am still yet to find a decent gym that I can do any kickboxing in. No place I've seen so far has a boxing ring or decent equipment for practicing.

Pulling up to the address that Aurora gave me, everyone was parked in the grass out front of the house, or rather, mansion would be more appropriate, all scattered around. I decided to reduce the risk of anything happening to the car by parking across the street and by the sidewalk instead.

There were scarce any neighbors here and every house had numerous acres of space - I'm sure no one will mind my parking here.

I questioned before getting out of the car if I should really be here. I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. Making friends my first week here really isn't that important to me, but if I go home and my mom finds out that I didn't even step foot in the place, she would get on my back for it. Dammit. Maybe I could just hide out somewhere for the next four or five hours?

Headlights pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked in the rearview mirror, noticing another car going to park in the grass out front of the house. I got out of the car and began my walk up the long path to the front door. I'll show up just behind these people - that way I'm not walking in alone.

They were a couple of people walking hand-in-hand in front of me a few meters. The girl had heels and a little dress on, while the guy was just in a t-shirt and jeans, much like my own choice of wardrobe. I couldn't help but think 'God, girls really dress up for little parties here.' That, or this girl in front of me is exceptionally bougie.

Stepping in after the couple, my thought of this being a "little party" was completely thrown out. It looked like the entire student body showed up and was mingling on both the first and second floors of this mansion.

The place was polished and opulent, with marble flooring and dark, stained wooden doors to give it some rich color that matched the warm, lavish furniture.

I spotted a table full of drink options and headed right for it. There were so many people here that it took a while to maneuver through all of the bodies who were dancing and laughing to get to the drinks.

Not even looking at what I was grabbing, I used my keys to pop off the lid and took a swig of the lukewarm beer to wash away my nerves. I cringed slightly. Who bought this beer? If Gabe is so rich, you'd think he would of at least spent a pretty penny on some decent booze.

"You kind of look like an actor," a blonde girl approached me out of nowhere and mentioned, completely ignoring the courtesy of an introduction. She placed her index finger on her chin and tapped it, "I just can't figure out which one. You have this... smoldering intensity about you," she says and points up and down my body.

"Thank you?"

She giggled, and her eyes darted to a friend of hers. She reached out to the brunette and pulls her over, saying, "D, doesn't he look like an actor?" They both looked at me like they were analyzing my features. "Is it James Franco? Or maybe Theo James? He looks like some sort of James." She waved her hand in dismissal, looking like she had given up her guessing.

"No, not a James," her friend, now known as D, said as she looked at me intently, "John. He looks like John K when he had the long, dark hair." She was looking at me but was talking to her friend as if I were a photograph on the wall that they had been admiring.

Feeling awkward under their scrutinizing gazes, I smiled awkwardly and let my eyes wander the room.

The second I smiled, the blonde snapped her fingers and said to her friend, still ignoring the fact that I'm a human being, "Yes! You're so right! John K with the intensity of Theo James."

The two of them nodded at each other and then went back to looking at me. I still had a blank look on my face, unsure of what to do with myself. I have no idea who John K is, but I've been compared to Theo James and both Franco brothers before, among others.

"Oh, come on," the first girl said with an eye roll, "He does the song 'If We Never Met' and has a dog and sings all of his songs to his girlfriend in like... every music video!"

'Because having a dog and girlfriend narrows down the music industry so much,' I thought to myself sarcastically and had to bite my tongue to stop myself from actually saying it.

"Sorry," I shook my head with an apologetic smile and shrug.

A new song started playing, differently paced than what else had been playing earlier, and the blonde in front of me said "Oh! This is him! Listen! It's his song '6 months," she had her finger pointed upward and at the ceiling and then at her ear, she started swaying her body along with the rhythm of the acoustic guitar.

"Look," the brunette next to her said gently and nudged her head to the side.

We both followed her gaze and found Gabe there, standing in front of a speaker and putting his phone away in his pocket before saying, "Happy anniversary, baby," with a smug look and his arms out for an embrace. Aurora appeared from around the corner and came to give him a big hug and peck on the lips.

"Aww, so cute," swooned the two beside me and I had to resist the urge to glare at them.

Why did I want to glare at them? Damn these anger issues. Aurora is free to kiss anyone she wants, especially her boyfriend, and it shouldn't be getting under my skin like this. Maybe it's because they're being disgustingly cute that it's making me want to vomit.

"It's their half-year anniversary," said the blonde to me as if I had asked while I still had my eyes on the happy couple across the room.

As if she felt eyes on her, Aurora turned and smiled as she saw the three of us. Giving Gabe one last peck on the cheek, she hurried over to us and hugged her friends before turning to me and exclaiming, "You came!" with big eyes and an excited look.

I pulled the folded piece of paper that she had snuck into my pocket two days ago out of my jeans pocket and held it between my index and middle finger, telling her with a smirk, "Cute."

She giggled and hid her face in her shoulder again. She seems to do that whenever she blushes. Her friends took a step back and told her that they would be roaming around the place, both of them with mirky grins and mischievous eyes. Did everyone think that I had a thing for Aurora? Literally every time I've been with her it's because she approached me. Was it because I called her cute?

"I told you that you would make friends here," she looked back over her shoulder at the two girls who were now dancing.

"Friends is probably a stretch. I don't think you can call them friends if you don't know their names."

Aurora chuckled, "The blonde is Jen, and the brunette is Dani. Boom, now your friends!"

I hummed as I looked at the two before bringing my eyes back to Aurora. Taking in her features, I noted the grey cardigan she wore atop a blue blouse with a pair of black leggings and some flat boots. Her hair was straight, and makeup was minimal, her signature headphones missing.

She noticed my staring, so I quickly asked, "You're not drinking?" I had noticed she didn't have a cup nor bottle in her hand.

"I'm the designated driver tonight."

I narrowed my eyes at her, "Something tells me you're the designated driver every night."

Aurora laughed and tucked some hair behind her ear, "Yeah, pretty much, but I don't mind it."

I looked around and saw how many people were drinking here. Was Aurora expected to take all of them home herself? I set my beer down on a nearby table, deciding to be a secondary designated driver so she isn't stuck driving the entire student body at 3 AM.

She noticed my gesture and told me, "You don't have to do that."

"I want to," I said with a grin and she smiled back gratefully, "Besides," I pointed to the bottle and added, "that beer sucks."

She chuckled at me again.

"Hey babe," Gabe said as he joined us. He kissed Aurora's forehead and wrapped his arm around her before turning his attention to me and asking, "You the new kid?"

Gabe looks something along the lines of a young Rob Gronkowski with less muscle. He's a wannabe Gronk.

"Yeah, I'm the new guy."

He nodded his head for a second and twitched his jaw to one side, "Do you need a drink, man?" he lifted his own bottle as he asked me, it was the same kind of beer I had just put down and I had to hide my cringe.

"No thanks," I grinned, "I'm going to be another designated driver tonight."

The look on his face was a mixture of expressions. He looked impressed, barely, taken aback, and he looked like he was coming up with some nicknames for me for Monday.

He almost chuckled, "The designated driver? Why would you do that when we already have one?" He looked down at Aurora and squeezed her shoulder slightly, looking at her like he was proud, but I noticed that Aurora's smile had died down a little.

"What better way to learn the town than by driving around it? And if I help get people home safely while doing it, then it's a win-win," I smiled politely at him and noticed that Aurora was smiling broadly at me again.

Gabe scoffed, "Whatever, dude," then took a swig of his own drink and walked away again.