Chapter 7

                                    

                                          
Chapter 7

When the clock read 7:30 pm I quickly slipped on a black tank top, some white shorts and some black wedges. I didn't want to over do it but I still wanted to look good for Calum. A quietly tip-toed down the stairs, but was greeted by my mother when I reached the bottom.

"Where are you going?" She asks suspiciously.

"To a friends house," I reply as I try to push past her.

"Elliana's?"

"No,"

"Then who's?"

"Harrison William's" I mutter as I turn to face her. My mother knows Harrison because he and I used to be very good friends when we were in pre-school.

"Oh he's a nice boy," She says, "I guess you can go."

"Thank you mum, I promise I'll be back by eleven," I briefly hug her as I rush out the door.

I quickly get in the car and drive to the party. I wish I had made up with Ellie. She was the one who helped me when I fell into the pool at the last party, and if I run into another problem she won't be there for me. What if they all make fun of me when I get there. Coming to this party is a bad idea.

I get myself together as I walk into the party with my head held high. I push through the sweaty bodies as I try to find a break through the crowd. I notice that everyone is wearing a halloween costume except for me. Of course they weren't wearing those over the top costumes that children usually wear, but I saw many girls dressed as slutty bunnies or cats and many shirtless guys wearing nothing but swim suits, I'm guessing dressed as surfers. However, majority of the people were dressed as strippers. 

"Where's your costume?" A familiar voice calls from behind me. I turn to see Calum wearing his perfect smile. I'm happy to see that he isn't dressed like most of the other boys, and is wearing a jersey with two thick black lines drawn under his eyes. 

"I didn't know we were supposed to wear one," I answer shyly as I feel my cheeks beam with redness. 

"Well it is a halloween party," He laughs, "I have an idea," He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a small circular container. He takes the cap off and slowly dips his finger in it. He removes his finger for me to clearly see his finger tip covered in a black substance. I could feel my pulse increasing rapidly as he steadily brings his finger to my face and draws a line underneath each of my eyes. The way he gently brushes his finger against my cheeks bones, careful not to be to rough, only makes me long for his touch even more. As he comes to the end of the second line he does not pull his finger away. His gaze meets mine, our eyes locked on each others. Unable to look away, I get lost in his perfect chocolate brown eyes. I had alway been so scared to even look into his eyes, that I never really noticed how beautiful his eyes really are. I feel goosebumps crawl up my arms, as I instinctively pull away, my gaze awkwardly falling towards the floor. By the look on my face he can tell I felt uncomfortable, but I really didn't. If anything I felt more comfortable than I ever have when I am with him. I'm just worried that Danielle is going to pop up somewhere, and ruin the moment for me. Turns out I am so paranoid that I just ruined this perfect moment myself. He awkwardly brings his arm to the back of his neck and scratches it lightly. I positive that he only does that when he is around me. Why does he have to do this? We were both just stuck in our spots, his eyes locked with mine, and now he is acting like he is uncomfortable. If he wasn't so confusing to understand, maybe I would be able to understand his feelings towards me, if he has any.

"That's better," He comments as his eyes move to the thick black lines under my eyes. I awkwardly shift my weight to my other foot, trying to think of something to reply. I feel like we are back where we started. These past few weeks it almost seemed like our relationship was progressing. Not romantically, but as a friendship, which is still a start. Now we are in the same place we were the night of the first party. We are both awkwardly standing here not knowing what to say. 

"Calum," Someone addresses him from the other side of the room. We both look in the direction of the voice to see Harrison Williams. He flashes Calum a look, and I could tell he was trying to remind him something. He walks towards us, and casually rests his his elbow on Cal's shoulder, Calum looking slightly uncomfortable, and that was my cue to leave.

"Well I'm gonna walk around. Thanks again for the face paint," I thank him briefly, as I turn to walk out of the big mob of people surrounding me. To my surprise he abruptly grabs my wrist, gently yanking me around to face him. 

"Wait, you remember Harrison right?" He asks me with out making eye contact. By his expression I can easily tell he is slightly annoyed, like Harrison is forcing him to do something he doesn't want to do. I nod confusingly, as my gaze shifts from Calum to Harrison and back to Calum. 

"So what have we missed?" I'd recognize that stupid nasal voice anywhere. I turn to see Danielle dressed as a striped cat wearing basically nothing but a bra, booty shorts, and cat ears, and three other people walk towards us. She flashes me that same stupid devilish smirk before snaking her arm around Calum's waist. I try to hold my laughter when his expression doesnt change. He doesn't even acknowledge her he just hesitantly wraps his arm around her shoulder. 

"We were just about to introduce Victor over here to someone special," Harrison grins at Danielle and Calum, before turning his attention back to me. I furrow my eyebrows wondering who they could possibly be introducing me to. Everyone at this party is from our school so it's not like I don't know most of them already. Danielle lets out an evil little snicker, and I roll my eyes which will probably only make her hate me more. I focus my attention back to Calum, who appears to be extremely uncomfortable at the moment. It seems like they are forcing him to do something he doesn't want to do, and he wishes he could be anywhere else but here right now.

"So victor," Harrison continues, "I'd like you to meet Owen," He reaches his arm around a boy standing behind him and pushes him towards me. The boy happened to be very light weight and came slamming into me. I stumble back but manage to remain standing and keep the boy from falling. I hear Danielle snort, but I ignore it and smile at the boy and his eyes almost pop out of his head when he returns me one of the biggest smiles I had ever seen. I send a puzzled look in Harrison's direction. He seems to get the message because he informs me that the boy is his younger brother that's in year 9. 

"I don't understand," I countered for I still can't comprehend why they want me to meet this boy. 

"Oh poor little, clueless Victor," Danielle began as she took a step towards me. She patted my head lightly, pretending like I was a little kid. I flinch away from her hand before she continues, "You see the only reason you were invited to this party is because Owen over here thinks you're hot, for some unknown reason. He promised Harrison he wouldn't tell his parents about the party if he invited you. So Harrison had Calum invite you to the party." 

My face drops at her statement, as the boy takes a step towards me. I'm flattered that he likes me, but I can't believe they're trying to set me up with him.

Danielle chuckles when she see's my reaction, "Oh I'm sorry, Did you think we actually wanted you here?" She cackled slightly, before bursting into laughter. The other two people started giggling hysterically along with her, while Harrison just has a smirk playing on his face. I turn towards Calum, who had already been looking at me. His plush pink lips part when our eyes meet, as if he were going to say something, but nothing comes out. His eyes are filled with regret, which only gives me the urge to cry even more. I'm getting the same feeling I got at the last party. I swallow the lump in my throat, but it only causes my stomach to knot. I take a deep breath, trying to keep the tears from coming down. I hope that Calum is going to say something but he doesn't, his eyes stay locked on me, the same regretful expression doesn't leave his face. I shouldn't have expected him to say anything anyway, he cares to much about being popular and his stuck up friends. I know the only reason this whole situation feels like a stab to the chest is because of the fact that Calum was apart of it. If Calum hadn't been apart of this whole plan, I wouldn't be on the verge of tears at the moment. One minute he makes me feel like he actually likes me, and the next he acts like he doesn't even know me. The fact that I am utterly in love with this boy only makes it hurt more. Why the hell does he have to do this to me? I glance at Danielle and her friends who are still laughing. I turn back to Calum and give him one more chance, but he says nothing. So I turn away and start to push through the big mob of people and make my way to the door with nothing but a broken heart.