The Party

I walked into the party with low expectations.

I spied one of my classmates entering the room. But I didn't go over to her. I was with my crush, and I wanted my night to end with the dreamy memories of us laughing together, us holding hands under the table-cloth.

I fussed with the collar of my turtle-neck sweater. A bead of sweat made its way down the back of my neck. Hillary droned on, unable to see what was right in front of her; a boy bored of her small talk and weary of her not-so-subtle hinting.

My dress was a rumpled mess from all the times I stepped on it by the time I entered the ballroom. Just as I had expected, none of my friends are here. It's amazing how alone you could feel in a crowd full of people.

I spied Hillary leaned up against a marble pillar, coyly chatting with a man who had his back toward me. I could feel her eyes landing on me, but she ignored me. That was probably good. I didn't want to talk with her.

"Didn't you hear me?" I couldn't stop my voice from sounding snappish. I was feeling a small prickle of anger as I tried to level my voice.

Brian looked back at me, the look on his face answering my question for me. He was obviously not paying any attention to me. If he hadn't been so cute, I would've turned on my heel right then to find some other guy.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "What did you say?" Her blue eyes studied me and I felt as though her stare was like a blade to look at.

"I asked you if you liked her designer stuff from this year."

Oh yeah. I was snapped back into the vein clothing talks. And I hadn't heard any girl use the word 'stuff' as much as she had in the last five minutes.

My high-heels made my strides less dignified as I tried to walk past Hillary and her newest boyfriend on the way to the punch table. But one skinny heel caught the hem of my skirt and with a loud, "agh!" I tripped and fell.

It would've been hilarious to see Amanda fall if Brian hadn't looked away from my face and helped her up. And if he hadn't kept looking at her.

This girl had just fallen, and so of course I helped her stand up (no wonder why girls in heels fall so often!) But the moment I looked into her brown eyes, it seemed even more impossible to turn back around to Hillary again.

So I didn't.

This guy was just staring at me. And the weirder part was that he was cute. A cute guy was just staring at me. And I kind of liked it.

I also enjoyed the way that it looked like steam was coming out of Hillary's ears.

Brian asked her if she was okay, and she said, like, yeah, she was. And I thought that was just a perfect time for him to turn his back on her. He'd done his good deed for the day, so he could just stop talking.

But he didn't stop talking. In fact, the nerve! He asked her what her name was.

"Oh, that's just Amanda. She's from school. A grade below us." I made sure to let him know that she was young. But he didn't seem to mind.

I thought it was more than a little weird for Hillary to add that 'just' before Amanda. This girl was obviously more than what Hillary would ever be. There was something about this new girl that made my heart speed up and my cheeks to feel like they were on fire. And when she smiled at me, even after she heard what Hillary said, I liked the feeling that came over me.

"Well," I finally said awkwardly. I didn't know why, but my heart felt all light and airy. "Um, thanks for helping me up. You two enjoy your night." Even though I was feeling drawn to this guy, he was talking with Hillary. So he was probably just as stuck-up as she was.

When I said that, Hillary put one manicured hand on his shoulder. He looked back at her, and I turned and walked away from him, my heart feeling like it had been left back with him.

I almost liked Amanda in that moment. But my feelings toward her quickly turned to hatred when Brian faced me and said quietly, "I don't think this is going to work."

She looked shocked when I said that. And like she wanted to murder me.

I knew that there was nothing between us at all, but she seemed to think so.

Her fake-lashes beat repeatedly as she debated on how to answer. Finally, the vile from her soul slipped out between her reddened lips.

"Wow." She laughed, but her laugh was strangled. "And here I though you were smart. But I guess you two are meant to be. She's the fallout from fifth grade, and you? You are-"

I had cut her off, feeling almost untouchable. "Thanks for your blessings. I hope that you find a guy that will make you happy." Her mouth dropped open and she stared at me, incredulous.

And then I turned away.

I was at the punch table, trying to get my emotions back in check when I felt someone come up behind me. I assumed I had been taking too long here, and quickly spun around starting into my "I'm so sorry's" when I saw who it was.

It was the cute guy that had me so confused. And Hillary wasn't with him.

"H-hey," He stammered, all nervous. "I'm Brian."

"Amanda," I said, than flushed a deep ruby when I realized that he already knew that.

"Um, you want to go dance?" He blurted out, his words a rush.

I stared at him. There was determination in his warm green eyes, as well as fear and something that made my pulse quicken.

"Sure," I had murmured, so quietly that I wouldn't have doubted if he had missed it.

But his wide smile said he had.