"Willow? Where have you been I've been waiting for you." The stern voice of my brother knocked me out of my trance that Theo seemed to somehow put me in. Theo glanced at me as he exhaled a puff of smoke before wandering over to his car.

I shook my head of my stupid thoughts when Callum came to stand in front of me. "Did you hear me?" He waved his hand in front of my face. I softly nodded at him and he let out a slight soft breath. "I need to go home and practise for tomorrow."

I shook my head. "I've got work and I'm taking the car with me." I told him and his face scrunched up in annoyance. From the corner of my eye I could see Theo and the rest of his friends look over.

"I need to get back home!" He reasoned but I just shrugged at him, not knowing what else there was to say.

"I have work. Get a licence and you can drive yourself anywhere you like. But for now you're going to have to catch a ride from someone." I told him and walked over to my car that was annoyingly parked next to Theo's...again. As I walked round to the drivers seat I sucked in a tight breath as I was purposefully avoiding the intimidating eyes that were looking at me.

Managing to inserting the key into the ignition, I wasted no time in driving straight out of the parking lot. But just before turning right, I allowed my eyes to look in the side mirror. I caught a glimpse of Theo and he placed the cigarette between his lips again, a cloud of smoke lifting up into the air as he exhaled.

🝮🝮🝮

"Thanks Nicky." I said as I took the envelope of cash from her hands. I squealed at the feeling of the cash inside the envelope.

"You've been working hard lately. Well done." She muttered, but luckily I could still understand her kind words. Never in my life would I have expected to hear Nicky, my boss, thanking me for my hard work when all she seemed to do was be unkind to me.

"Thank you. See you over the weekend." I waved and made my way over to my car. Before heading home I made a quick stop at the bank to put half my earnings in there.

I had to save up for college because I knew my Mom wouldn't be able to afford paying for both me and Callum. It wasn't fair on her. But Dad, I didn't know anymore. I didn't know what was happening. Everything was just so confusing but I tried my best to not dwell on it because I knew it was probably all talk and rumours.

"Honey, is that you?" I heard my Mom's voice call out as soon as I opened the front door. I slipped out of my shoes and placed my bag down by the stairs.

"It's me!" I called back and wandered into the living room to kiss her goodnight. "I'm going to bed. I love you Mom." She leant up and kissed my head.

"Goodnight sweety." At her words I ambled my way upstairs into my room with no other words to be said. My body felt heavy and my feet felt achy and sore. I really hadn't been off my feet all day.

I quickly changed into my pyjama's and washed off my makeup before jumping into bed. The exhaustion was finally catching up to me.

About twenty minutes passed of me staring up at the ceiling thinking about Theo.

He was in my mind twenty-four seven and he wouldn't go away. No matter how much I thought about something else, it would always come back to him. About his hair, his words, his smirk, his height, his muscles and tattoos and also his voice. His voice had a chokehold on me and sort of liked it. But what I didn't like was that he was with Stephanie. The amount of years I had been at the school as her, I had seen her boyfriends here and there. She had many of them and they always seem to be hated because if the nasty things she'd say about them. But everyone seemed to love Theo and I felt like he was different. Different from her past boyfriends. He seemed stronger - and not physically stronger although he was - I meant mentally. He seemed like the style of not taking anyone's shit. He seemed like he knew what he was doing and he knew how hot he was.

I abruptly sat up against the headboard of my bed and grabbed up my phone from the bed side table, my eyes flinching at the sudden bright light.

Before I could think about him anymore, I was typing him up in the search bar on Instagram, checking to see if he at least had an account.

"Woah." I mumbled in awe as I my fingers cheekily pressed onto his account. He had a vast amount of followers which didn't surprise me one bit.

I could almost scoff when I could see a picture of Stephanie and Theo together. He was hugging her from behind whilst she was taking the picture in front of a mirror.

The more I scrolled down his page, the more I saw. His whole feed was in black and white. It was mostly pictures of his car, of him, and of him playing rugby and football. My fingers sneakily scrolled further down and I came across a certain picture that caught my eye.

It looked like it was taken a while ago because he didn't seem to have the lip ring that he had now and he looked slightly younger.

The picture showed him topless as he was sat back on a chair, a cigarette placed between his plump lips and a backwards cap on his fluffy head of hair. All the while as he was eyeing the camera as it was taken a few steps away from him. As for his outfit, he wasn't wearing much. He was wearing a pair of denim jeans that hung low on his waist, showing off his very obvious v-line that disappeared down beneath his Calvin Klein boxers.

I very carefully swiped off that image and continued to scroll down his page, making sure not to tap on anything - I had done that before and I was utterly embarrassed. But luckily it was only a celebrity and not someone from my school.

I jumped, thinking I had pressed on some random button, but really, I had just got a notification from the group chat.

Apparently there's a party tomorrow night. Who wants to come?

Me!

It's a school night though.

Ik, but it's a welcome back party.

Loads of people already said they are

going.

Who's party is it?

Marcus'. Ik he's not the best of

people but least we know it's going to be fun.

Will people be drinking?

Cadence it's a party of course!

My parents won't let me.

I'll get my Mom to call up yours and say you're over mine for the night.

Really? Will that work??

Yes! I've done it many times. I'm very experienced.

Ok. But I'll only come if

Willow comes!

Pleaseeee come Willow!

It'll be fun!

I'll come, but can you guys

stay with me.?

I've never been to

a party before

You've never been to a party

before?

Neither have I, but-

I sent a few more messages back and fourth before switching off my phone and plugging it into charge.

Tomorrow was my first ever party that I was actually going to go to. I didn't know how to feel. I knew Mom would tell me not to drink and all of that kind of stuff, but I would make sure I was careful. Plus, I had my friends to make sure I was safe.

Officially ruining my nails from biting on them so much, I immediately threw the covers off me and ran over to my closet, looking for something- anything that I could wear for that party. Luckily I didn't have any late shifts at work until the weekend so I could relax and enjoy this weekend.

I frantically scanned the ins and outs of my closet, but there was nothing that shouted 'PARTY'.

Then I stopped, reminding myself of the dress my Mom had kindly bought me.

I grabbed the dress out of the untouched bag and took it out, feeling the silk melt like water in my hands. This was the best dress I had ever owned. The only nice dress I had, actually.

I stripped off of my pyjama's and shimmied my way into the dress. I stuck my hand up in the air then down to the zip that wasn't budging. I groaned in frustration but it finally decided to zip up after jumping and standing in different positions.

I walked in front of the mirror and stared down at myself. I felt pretty every time I wore this dress...and now I could finally wear it to my first ever party that I was going to.

I sent my friends a quick picture and smiled as they replied instantly.

I LOVE IT!!

: That dress looks incredible on you :)

I like it.

I quickly thanked them and shimmied my way back out of it and into my pyjama clothes. I hung the dress up on a hanger and made my way back into bed.

For the rest of the night I had just stared at the dress, wanting the next day to come quickly.

🝮🝮🝮

Me and my friends made it out of school together. Angel said it would be a good idea to go back to her house to get ready since her Mom was cool with us going to the party whereas our parents probably wouldn't be as chilled with the idea.

Cadence decided to catch a ride with me meanwhile Charlotte went in Angels' car. "Turn left." Cadence pointed and I steered the car in that direction. Cadence turned up the dial on the radio and started to sing into her hand - I had to admit she wasn't the best at singing but it was a laugh good fun listening to her. "I can't wait to party!"

"Neither can I." I said and winded down the window a tad to allow some air into the car. My blonde hair was dancing around in the wind and even the sun today was brighter. I grabbed my glasses from the cup holder and put them on as I saw the sun appear out from the clouds.

I had no idea what the party was going to be like or what was going to happen. I felt excited yet so nervous.

I just hoped that the girls would stick by my side because I had heard horror stories about what could happen at parties.

Soon enough we pulled up to what I could only

assume was Angel's house. The house was big, way bigger than mine was - but it wasn't as big as some of the houses that were here in Los Angeles.

Although it wasn't a mansion, Angel's house was super nice. The walls were painted in a marine color - a very beach-like vibe - but it fitted in considering the beach was only a walking distance away. I saw a porch wrapped around the house and it appeared to have a nice, well kept yard, a driveway big enough for about five cars.

We all got out of our cars and Cadence followed me up the drive by my side. Angel laughed as she saw my reaction.

Angel grabbed onto my wrist gently as she opened the front door, guiding me in.

"This is your house?" I asked, absolutely gobsmacked.

Angel stifled a laugh and nodded, gesturing for us to follow her through into the kitchen. "My Dad's a contractor, he built it." She told me and the girls nodded. They must of known this already since they had known Angel for longer than I had.

I walked around the open planned kitchen, admiring the wooden table and marbled counters, a simple sheep rug on the ground as it walked you out to the yard. In the yard sat a couple of outdoor lounge chairs, a bonfire pit smacked bang right in the middle.

I couldn't help but turn back to Angel with a jealous feeling in my chest. "This is so cool. I can't imagine what your room must look like."

She threw her head back, laughing. "Want a drink first?" She opened the fridge, moving the door aside for me to have a look inside.

We all made our way upstairs, drinks and a couple of snacks in our hands. As we neared the door, Angel turned to me as she swung open her bedroom door, her eyes expectant for my response.

I stared at the room as the girls straight away collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion. The bedroom had tall windows overlooking the quiet road and from where we were and I could even hear and see the beach. She had a double bed full of pink and white blankets, a small fire place and a tv in the room right in front of the bed.

This was every girls dream bedroom!

"I'm not even surprised." I shrugged amusingly and Angel laughed.

Charlotte stood up, kicking her shoes aside and taking off her jacket to drop it onto a random chair. "Are we going to try on our dresses now?"

Cadence slid off her shoes and bounced on the bed, her red hair bouncing in its messy ponytail. "Yes!"

I went slid off my school back and my shoes and put them away out of harms way. I took my bag with my dress in and took it out. The other girls were already stripping and getting into their dresses meanwhile I was self-conscious of my body. I hugged my waist and, "Can I use the bathroom?" I asked and Angel nodded.

I raced into the bathroom and felt relieved when I knew no one was going to be staring. I looked down at my dress in my hand and smiled before taking off my old clothes and putting it on. I fluffed up my hair in the mirror and grabbed my clothes into my hands and piling back out of the bathroom to go out my stuff away.

There was a sudden knock at the door and Angel got off her bed to go open the door. Her Mom was coming in with a tray full of glasses and alcoholic drinks. "I got a few different drinks since I didn't know what you girls preferred." She set the tray down on the desk and kissed Angel's head.

She waved to Cadence before her eyes caught onto mine in surprise. "Oh! Who's this?" She asked and I fumbled with the end of my dress.

Angel walked towards me and pulled me over by my hand. "Mom this is Willow. The girl I was telling you about."

Angel's Mom beamed, opening her arms for a hug. "It's nice to meet you Willow. Wow you're very pretty!" She commented and I briefly hugged her. I felt my cheeks heat up from her compliment. I had never really gotten complimented like that before unless you counted some stupid boys saying it as a dare or as a joke. I stepped back from the embrace and smiled shyly at her.

"Thank you."

Angel's Mom looked around the room, her well-maintained eyebrows furrowing. It was easy to tell she took good care of herself. It could be for the way her hair had no grey strands, that her lashes were extensions or that it was because of her makeup being perfectly done. "I'll be downstairs if you girls need me. Feel free to ask for anything." She told us before closing the door behind her.

I faced towards Angel. "Your Mom's so cool."

She chuckled. "She tries her best." She said. "By the way that dress looks so good on you." She told me as she dragged me over to the vanity and pushing me gently down on the cushioned seat.

Charlotte and Cadence stood behind me and took some pictures through the mirror whilst Angel was grabbing some makeup and accessories. lYou're okay with makeup, right?" She asked, pausing. I gave her an affirmative nod and she smiled, taking out a couple makeup brushes and a few other bits. I wasn't much on applying makeup everyday - I did it every so often but not all the time because A: I couldn't do my makeup to save my life, B: I got major breakouts.

Cadence switched on the speaker and connected her phone to it, blasting some sob music by accident.

"Are you depressed?" Charlotte asked and Cadence giggled.

"No. Don't you have a playlist that you just listen to when you're sad?" Charlotte shook her head.

As we all took in turns getting our makeup done, I popped open a can of gin and took a sip, not caring to pour it into a glass. "Can I have some?" Cadence asked, poking her head over my shoulder. I passed the van behind me and she eagerly took it before giving it back to me. "Damn this's tasty!"

Just before we left Angel, ran over to me, clipping a pearl necklace around my neck. "You can have it if you want." She whispered to me.

"Are you sure?" I turned to look at her, my fingers grazing along the necklace.

"Of course I am. I think it really suits you and fits really well with your dress." She smiled and I hugged her. It was a bit of a rational idea but I knew I didn't overdo it because she swung her arms around me and hugged me back.

As Cadence called us over for a group photo, I saw Charlotte staring at us. But she looked away before I could register the look on her face. Angel grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the mirror and Cadence took a whole bunch of photo's of us.

I quickly made one of the pictures as my phone wallpaper before shoving it away into my purse.

"Willow, do you have Insta?" Charlotte asked, scrolling on her phone trying to find my account.

I briefly nodded and got my phone back out. "I don't use it much so I haven't actually posted anything." I passed her my phone so she could add me and the same with the other girls.

I had never posted anything on Instagram before I only went on there if I was stalking- friendly observing people's accounts. I closed my purse with my phone in it and made a mental note to myself that I should post on there some time.

I walked behind the girls downstairs, careful not to trip and break my ankle with these heels. This was the fourth time I had worn heels and I think I was getting progressively worse each time.

Seeing us ready to leave, Angel's Mom - which I had come to learn was called Catherine, threw the pink fluffy blanket off of her and got up, walking over to us. "As your temporary parent for tonight, I'm telling you to be sensible." She pointed at us and Angel groaned.

"Okay whatever, thanks Mom. Bye!" Angel quickly said and we all ran out, just before thanking Catherine for having us. We climbed into Angel's car that was parked out on the drive and I buckled myself in.

With our energy levels up on the rise, we made it to the party in less than fifteen minutes.

When we pulled up, I saw streams of colorful lights and heard the loud sounds of music flooding out from the open door and windows of the house. My mouth dropped in awe as I took in the size of it. Everyone at school seemed to have big houses and fancy cars. I wished I was one of them.

Marcus' house was nothing like how I imagined it to be. It was a large lake house that was placed right by the water and even had a gate that Angel drove through and parked in a corner next to a certain Mustang.

Surprisingly, Charlotte's face lit up as she saw his car parked there. But it was probably because of how expensive it looked.

As we timidly made our way further up the drive and trying not to walk into people who were stumbling or even throwing up on the sides into bushes, I felt a surge of excitement travel through my body. I think partially of the excitement was knowing he was here.

"Stick together, yes?" Cadence whispered to me.

"No way am I leaving you girls tonight." I reassured her and she took in a deep breath which told me she was just as nervous as I was.