17
By the time we get to Charlotte’s house, it’s pitch-black outside and the party is in full swing. The music is loud and plays throughout the house, and various Solo cups and empty beer bottles cover every table in sight. A couple of people are playing beer pong on a gray folding table in the hallway, with others around them cheering them on. There are a bunch of people I’ve never seen before all over the place, and I decide I don’t mind. As far as I can tell, any fights or drama happening tonight will not involve me or my friends.
Following Aiden through the house, I greet random people as we pass. Everyone seems friendly, and older, since Jake is in college.
“Aiden! We were wondering when you were going to get here!” Charlotte exclaims. “Where’s Amelia?”
I step around Aiden and watch Charlotte do a double take. “Ohmygod.”
She gets unnecessarily close to me, picks up a strand of my hair, and holds it an inch away from her face. “Your hair! It’s so pretty.”
I shift my head and my hair slides out of her hands. “Are you drunk?”
“No. But my friends took so long to get here, and I was all awkward and alone. So I joined in on some drinking games.”
“Where’s everyone else?” I ask her, looking around the crowd for our friends.
She waves her hand noncommittally. “Here somewhere. They said something about hot college girls and took off.”
A group of guys walk by us, the one in the lead winking at Charlotte as he passes, leaving her blushing and biting back a smile. When he’s out of sight, she turns back to me and exclaims, “Oh my god, did you see that?”
“The one who totally just checked you out? Yes!” I exclaim.
Thisis what I’ve been missing. Just being at a party, having fun, talking about boys with one of my best friends.
Aiden dips his head near ours. “I’m going to find the guys. Don’t get into too much trouble.” He drops a kiss on my head and turns to get lost in the crowd.
“Okay, so that guy is one of Jake’s best friends.” She grabs my arm and leads me to the living room slash dance floor.
We spot him near the wall at the far end of the room, talking to some other people.
“His name is Marcus,” she continues. “Isn’t he so hot? Jake gets mad at me when I say it, but it’s not my fault he’s friends with hot guys.”
Marcus is a good-looking guy, with broad shoulders, dark skin, stubble covering his jaw, and what seems like an outgoing confidence and an easy smile.
“Why don’t you go over there and talk to him?” I ask as Aiden comes back to us. “Did you find them?”
“Yeah, they were . . . preoccupied.”
I fake gag and laugh with him, not asking for any more details since I can already guess what’s keeping the guys “preoccupied.”
Charlotte looks at us, then at Marcus, then down at the drink in her hand. “You know what, I think I will.”
She downs the rest of her drink and hands me the empty cup before making her way through the dancing bodies and over to the group of people Marcus is talking to.
A Siren of the Heartsong comes on that I like, and I automatically move my hips a little to the rhythm.
Aiden notices. “Dance with me.”
I’m taken aback a bit. For some reason I can’t picture Aiden dancing.
“Really? You want to dance?”
He grins, and I set Charlotte’s empty cup on a table as he pulls me onto the makeshift dance floor. He tugs me closer to him, and together we move to the music, laughing and singing along to the songs that come on. My heart soars. I’m having so much fun that I forget I’m not Amelia. It’s just me and Aiden having fun at a party like anyone else our age.
Aiden dips his head and his lips graze mine before he’s yanked away from me and we’re ripped apart. Confused, Aiden turns to see who pulled him from me, and we find a very angry-looking Noah, yelling something about “How could you cheat on Amelia?” over the music.
Cheat on Amelia? Did I hear him right?
I can’t hear what Aiden’s saying, but Noah looks over at me for the first time and stills.
“Amelia?” Noah asks.
“Yeah?” I reply.
Noah’s eyebrows draw together in confusion for a second, then he bursts out laughing.
“Oh my God, dude, you scared me,” he says to Aiden. “Sorry, but I thought.” He pauses and scans me. “From behind and in this lighting, I thought you were Kaitlyn, you know, ’cuz of the hair.”
The blood drains from my face. Oh no. Everyone’s going to think I changed my hair because I wanted to look like Kaitlyn. Maybe I should’ve gone darker instead of lighter.
Noah notices my uneasiness. “No, don’t get me wrong, you look great! Superhot, like always.”
I laugh when Aiden shoves him, and Noah turns to apologize to the guy he bumped into. He tells him it’s not a problem, then notices Aiden.
“Hey, Aiden Parker, right?”
“Yeah, do I know you?”
“Oh no,” the guy says. “But I’ve seen you all over the news. Sorry about your shitty father. But hey, recent polls have said his popularity is decreasing, so congrats.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Aiden replies before the guy is off talking to other people.
Noah continues talking to me, but Aiden retreats into his own mind. That’s not the first time someone has said something like that to him, but that’s probably the first one who’s actually old enough to vote and knows what’s going on in the polls.
“There you guys are!” Mason comes up to us. “We’ve got a problem.”
A problem? Really? A problem?! Can’t we just go to one damn party without someone telling us there’s a problem?
Automatically, I scan the place for Ryan, but stop when Mason adds, “It’s Chase.”