Chapter 5

"What about this one?" Valentina stepped out of her now perfectly organised closet, "and please don't just say it's nice like you have been for the last three outfits."

"It's pretty," she screwed her eyes closed and looked as if she wanted to scream, "you know I'm not good at deciding this stuff, Val. Just pick something you're comfortable in."

"I don't need to be comfortable if Finn is going to rip it off of me."

"Too much information," she laughed and retreated back, pulling out a red dress and changing into it. Despite my lack of knowledge in the latest trends and fashions, the dress looked better than the other ones she'd tried on.

The red dress was halter neck, showcasing her incredible figure, yet maintaining the modesty that her mother would allow when she leaves the house. "I think that's the one," I announced as she stood in front of her wall-length mirror, adjusting her hair and glancing over the outfit, "and I'm not just saying that to make you finish trying them on."

She seemed to favour the dress a little more once she'd added the necessary accessories to bring the outfit together. "Now it's your turn."

It barely took half the time for me to pull a few outfits from my bag and pick one out. "You sure you don't want to wear one?" She dangled a few dresses from her hand, ones she'd already tried on.

"I'm sure," I tugged the black jeans up my legs, jumping up and down to pull them over my hips to where I secured them with a plain black belt. I'd simply paired the jeans with a white, square neck singlet.

Despite the lack of colour to my clothing, I felt comfortable to walk into the party and I knew that wearing a dress would've just had me pulling it down every few minutes and worrying that I didn't look good enough, especially beside Valentina.

"You look beautiful, Savannah!" She gushed, handing me a red lipstick to apply before we left. "You'll definitely turn some heads tonight. And hopefully I'll turn Finn's"

With Valentina continuing telling me about Finn, I'd realised that I hadn't told her about my recent encounter with Tyler, although it wasn't exactly an event to broadcast. We'd barely shared a few sentences, more than Josh and I had, yet it wasn't as torturous as I'd assumed it would've been.

"Mom, we're ready!" Valentina called whilst we both descended the stairs. I couldn't imagine how much her feet would be hurting with the tall, black heels she was wearing, whereas I had opted for a pair of heeled boots, hardly reaching the same height.

"You both look beautiful."

"Thank you, Maria," Valentina's mom was one of the most laid-back and carefree mothers I had ever met. Her and my mom had struck a close friendship when Valentina and I had met, but they were both so different with my mother's relentless temperament and Maria's happy-go-lucky attitude.

She dropped us off in the next town over, oblivious to the wreck of the house we were about to enter. The door handle of Maria's car vibrated with the pulsing music whilst plastic cups and drunk teenagers littered the front yard, and it was barley nine o'clock.

"Be safe girls, and make sure you stay together," Valentina kissed her mother on the cheek before I thanked Maria and followed out of the car towards the house that had somehow surpassed my expectations for the size.

I didn't know a lot about this Finn, but it was now extremely evident that money most likely grew on trees for his family. The house was larger than most I'd seen in the centre of Beverley Hills, and it was difficult to measure up against those.

"Let's find Finn," I was escorted through the house by Valentina, obviously having been here and knowing where to go. The smell was caught in my nose as soon as I inhaled, grasping the sudden trace of cigarettes, alcohol, vomit and vape, all mixing to form a repugnant odour.

We'd managed to find ourselves in the kitchen, surrounded by people around our age or a little older, situated around the counter or perched up on top of the tables, drinking out of plastic cups and participating in conversation.

Valentina handed me a cup and poured us both a mix of vodka, beer and lemonade. "Better catch up," she linked her arm with mine and we both consumed the liquid before pouring another.

"There you are," A gruff voice called out from one end of the kitchen, causing Valentina's arm to fall from mine. She squeezed through the pack of teenagers congregating in the kitchen and clasped her arms around an athletic-looking guy.

His dishevelled hair was dirty blonde, now even more tousled with her hand running through it. She leaned up and pressed her lips against his, both hungrily attacking each other's faces until someone shouted something from the crowd. "Get a room!"

I watched as Valentina's cheeks reddened at the interruption and she pulled away, dragging him closer to where I was still situated, savouring the taste of the alcohol I was drinking.

Finn's hand fell straight to her ass, hovering over it as he grinned confidently at me. "Savannah, meet Finn," her arm was tucked around his shoulder, keeping a close contact between them.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled but his attention was elsewhere, reciprocating every knuckle touch and greeting from each person that walked by. I sensed an air of arrogance about him, but that was never surprising when meeting the person Valentina was dating.

However, before another word could be exchanged, they both invaded each other's personal space again, assaulting both their faces and lips, causing me to look away. "I'm just going to use the bathroom," I spoke out loud, but I knew Valentina would be too consumed with Finn to hear.

The excuse was used to get away from the third wheel position I had somehow landed myself in. And although I felt out of place completely when I entered the main room where everyone else was, it was a hell of a lot better than watching Finn and Valentina in front of me in the kitchen.

"Ketchup girl?"

With the second time I had heard that same voice, I somehow felt my heart slip down into my stomach again, causing it to create an uneasy feeling through my body.

When I turned to meet Tyler's gaze, Harvey and Josh were stood beside him, both stoic looking and unbothered with seeing me in front of them, although I happened to grow apprehensive when I watched Josh's jaw clench at the nickname.

"Uh—Hi," I felt at ease when Josh and Harvey escaped elsewhere, most likely not wanting to converse with the girl they had both probably grown to hate already.

"They're not as bad as you think they are," Tyler noticed my hesitation, paralysing me when he wrapped his heavy arm around my shoulders, "just like two scary teddy bears."

I relaxed slightly when he pulled his arm away and stood in front of me with that same smirk, he had used so many times before with every girl I'd see him with. "You must be following me, Tyler."

He let out a howl of laughter and positioned his body against a door frame beside him. His blonde hair was still styled into the familiar quiff, paired with a casual dark shirt and jeans. "That's my style, you know," he joked as I smiled, "I stalk a lot of people, and I think you're my favourite, Sarah."

"It's Sav—"

"Savannah, I know, I'm kidding," I playfully hit his shoulder, immediately regretting it once I remembered who I was speaking to, despite how much tamer he seemed when Josh and Harvey weren't around him.

"So, how do you know Finn?" He asked me with pondering eyes as I turned in an attempt to see if Valentina was still around where I had left her, but her plastic cup was the only thing still situated where we had been in the kitchen.

"He's dating my friend."

"One of the girls you sit with at lunch?" He posed as a question as I nodded, still discreetly searching for her to assure myself that I would be going back home with her tonight. "So that's the reason you're walking around without a purpose."

"Pretty much," We both laughed quietly under the music growing louder.

"Care to join me in some beer pong?" He pointed over to an extended room, dimly lit by a rustic light bulb in the ceiling, bringing a vintage feel to the small area. "Can't be much worse than being alone."

"I wasn't—" I stopped from continuing at the realisation that I had been standing like a loner when he'd spotted me. He lifted his eyebrows before I followed him over to the crowd of teenagers, cheering and shouting every once in a while, when someone would land a successful throw.

"We'll play," Tyler announced as a mass of people moved aside to allow him to walk through. I couldn't imagine his reputation would have reached another town entirely, yet people around us seemed to marvel in the way he stood at the end of the table.

I positioned myself beside him nervously, hoping that when he said to join him, that he simply meant to watch him play a game. "Myself and Savannah," I looked up into his mischievous eyes before Tyler looked back at the two guys at the other end, "versus you two."

The two guys beamed confidently and instructed someone to pour out the drinks and hand them the ping-pong balls. "Ladies first," one of the much more muscular guys announced, tensing his body against the tight shirt he was wearing and skimming me a ball across the table.

My judgement had slipped slightly with the two drinks I'd already finished seeing as when the ball left my fingers, it bounced only once before narrowly dodging the cup I was aiming for, causing the crowd to sound in disappointment.

I was surprised that I hadn't felt more embarrassed, but I knew my competitive side was able to block out the people watching us, with the only aim being winning this game. "Unlucky."

The muscular guy facing me then threw his ball, landing it perfecting into the cup directly in front of me. His eyebrows lifted with the cheers around him, causing my eyes to stay attached to his whilst I consumed the beer in a few short seconds, proving that I was not going to back down so easily from a little game of beer pong.

"Nice one," Tyler nudged my shoulder and threw his own ball, flawlessly landing it into the cup on the other side of the table, resulting in the other guy downing the drink in front of him and wiping his mouth aggressively once he'd finished.

I was relieved, however, when the same guy missed the cup he had been aiming for, matching my pathetic score of zero.

Testosterone easily outnumbered me, but that failed to distract me from throwing one of the balls and landing it into a cup between both the guys. I couldn't help the overwhelming joy of actually getting it in as I wrapped my arms around Tyler as he grasped onto me in celebration.

I pulled back from him when the impact of what I was doing had entered my mind. "Sorry," I mumbled as the game continued, ensuing the countless drinks I had consumed. It caught up with me quickly once the game had finished and I stumbled over to the stairs and perched down beside Tyler.

"That was fun," My announcement was followed by Tyler's genuine smile and a giggle falling from my lips. Alcohol churned around my stomach; the sounds drowned out by the music still pulsating around us.

However, our short-lived conversation had ended pretty quickly when the music died down and the sounds of angered shouts and grunting initiated. Both Tyler and I stood, myself swinging slightly as we searched for where the attention had focused onto.