Parker

Holden had suspiciously disappeared somewhere as soon as Allie got to the party, so I was stuck sitting on the couch with an almost empty drink in one hand.

I couldn't see how Holden could proclaim himself 'The Love Doctor,' considering his obliviousness of his own feelings for Allie. We'd known each other all our lives, and Holden could continue insisting I was naïve, but he was as oblivious as they came.

"Hey!" Clarissa exclaimed, weaving past the huddle of people in front of me. "Glad you could make it," she grinned, taking a seat beside me.

"Cool party," I replied. "Your parents aren't going to freak out when they get home?"

She rolled her eyes. "You worry way too much," she laughed. "They went to London for some business meeting. Who knows when they'll get back," she added softly.

For anyone else, the idea of a weekend alone in a house might've been exciting, but for us, it wasn't just weekends. More often than not, it'd be weeks, or even months. When we were both five, I'd spent two months at Clarissa's with her nanny looking after me.

"Remember when we were five?" She suddenly said. I laughed. How could either of us forget.

"We were going to get married that summer," I grinned. She laughed and took a swig from her bottle.

"And you were scared of the dark," she teased.

"As if you weren't," I retorted.

"I wasn't. I had to beg the caretaker to buy me one of those stupid nightlights. He got you a fairy one, didn't he?" She giggled.

"That's because you told him it was for you!" I laughed.

Clarissa's family and mine had been friends for a long time, but then a business venture went sour, and suddenly we weren't coming to theirs for afternoon teas and dinners. Then as we grew up, things changed.

Clarissa Jacobs was no longer the girl who ran around in the backyard bare foot making mud pies and playing hide and seek. She'd realised, just as I had, that we had big shoes to fill. Her friendships became calculated, and everything was a competition.

I couldn't even be sure that we'd be friends, or even acquaintances, had I not been a Lennox. But the way she was sitting next to me, bobbing her head erratically and knowingly out of beat with the music made me think of us when we were younger.

"I'm going to get a refill," I said, getting up.

"Easy. It's in the kitchen fridge. I'm going to go catch up with some other friends," she replied. I could still remember the way through her house as if it'd just been yesterday. My favourite hiding place used to be behind a huge vase in her hallway. As I walked down the hallway, it was clear that vase was no longer there. Since then, I'd only been to her house a handful of times whenever there was a party.

I grabbed a beer from the fridge, twisting the cap off and tossing it in the bin. I shuffled past the people packed in the hallway. Suddenly, I bumped my arm against someone, sending some of the beer out from the bottle.

"Sorry," my victim exclaimed quickly. That was an awfully familiar ponytail. She turned around and her eyes widened momentarily when she realised it was me.

"You always apologise for things you don't do?" I smirked, finding myself at ease that I'd run into Daisy.

"Fine. I take it back," she shot back with almost no emotion on her face. Weird. Was I misreading the situation? Had I spilled the entire bottle on her?

"Can't do that," I said with a grin, trying to ease the tension. "I think they have some towels around here," I added, turning around to try and find a waiter.

"I'm fine," she said again.

"I'm sure Clarissa has a spare top or something."

"I don't think your girlfriend would be impressed with you offering me a shirt. Besides, I think she's looking for you." She turned and began walking away. What girlfriend? Without thinking, I grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Daisy! Jeez I thought I'd lost you for a sec there," Elaine exclaimed, rushing towards Daisy. Elaine linked her arm with Daisy's and pulled her away, shooting me a dirty glare the entire time.

How Holden could be bothered keeping up with different girls continued to baffle me. I couldn't even figure out this one. Why had she been avoiding me all week? Had I taken that night on the rooftop completely the wrong way?

--

Sorry for the huge delay in updates! Uni has been slaughtering me and I am so d e a d.

Pls don't kill me fo the short chapter :~)

I thought this would give everyone some idea of what their lives were like before, and also a different side to some of the characters!

As usual, thank you for reading & pls remember to vote if you enjoyed it!!

PS. Expect another update soon.