"Tonight? When? Why? And where?" Voicing out every single question that was in my mind somewhat felt better, but it only grew Edward's carefulness and hesitance in his expression.

"We decided we're having a party at one of my friend's houses, just for some fun and you know... Get to know each other kind of thing," he answered, searching my face keenly for any refusals but I stayed blank. "Some of our classmates will be there, and don't worry about drinking, there wouldn't be much of that stuff,"

People and more people and socialising were the last things I would've wanted to do. And considering Edward's proposition, I didn't think it was going to last on a good note since our classmates would be there, and if they saw us together, they wouldn't assume anything nice about us. "I don't know if that's a good idea,"

"I know, but I want us to try. We can make more friends that way," he tried defending. "Trust me on this one, I wouldn't let anyone hurt you." After seeing my crossed expression, he added, "Or your dearest friend, Marilyn."

Just thinking about the mere thought boiled an unsettling feeling inside of me. I knew I'd rather just dive into fanfictions alone in my bedroom at night, but I also didn't know how to say no without coming off rude to a polite invitation. "O-okay." I accompanied my agreement with nodding.

The awkward, the most unmanageable circumference finally dissipated with him letting out a sigh. My incessant contemplation didn't die though, only increased with every passing minute as I headed home.

The next thing I knew, I sat on a rickety chair in a dimly lit lounge, with only neon lights to illuminate the room. I dusted my plaid skirt every once in a while, with fixing and readjusting my crew neck sweatshirt, to keep my fidgeting hands occupied. Marilyn had given me the pep talk beforehand that we needed to embrace the risk, and if it wasn't worth it, we could always go back. And that such risks shouldn't stop us from exploring new people and whatnot. From what I could tell, university was already boring her, and if she had a better hobby than just burying herself in study books, she probably wouldn't need to go through the trouble of all this. But perhaps that was just me.

It was because of everyone that I had decided to decline Edward's offer to ride me to this place because I didn't want to put a wrong impression of me, and especially of him in front of everyone else. Therefore, I just took a bus instead.

I had assumed I was a little early as my eyes scanned the massive room with only a handful of people. Marilyn lived quite far off from the place, so she still hadn't reached it, even though we both had left at the same time. Edward on the other hand was nowhere to be seen so both their absences left me in quite an edgy composure.

"Hey, I'm Amanda and she's Rosaline," Two very pretty girls introduced themselves, seating beside me as they held some kind of concoction in cocktail glasses. "We never talked but you know, we're in the same class as you," One of them added.

"Oh yeah, I'm so sorry," I stuttered nervously, unable to formulate coherent words. "I'm Michelle by the way,"

"Ooh, pretty name for such a pretty girl." The red-haired girl, whose name I assumed was Rosaline, smiled. My eyes beamed at them back, as they made some light chatter with me about random things, grades, friends, everything else.

They seemed quite nice and polite, but that didn't stop me from keeping my guard up. I only revealed a little bit about myself while they talked and talked animatedly about which singer, they thought was the cutest and didn't hesitate to ask my opinions on them.

It was only minutes when Edward arrived, with a group of his friends, his bright electric eyes searching the room before landing on me. I felt my heart stop, sort of reminding me of the moment he first saw me in the university auditorium. "Excuse me girls, but I'll need her for a moment," Before I even knew it, I heard him address the redhead and brunette, and they smiled, nodding together before seeing me off.

"We look forward to seeing you again!" One of them chirped, and I shyly waved them goodbye.

His dress was very casual, a loose black tee that clung onto his body whilst showing off his tanned skin, paired with dark blue jeans. Without a word, Edward took my handbag in his as I shuffled again with the hem of my shirt in nervousness before I reluctantly took my handbag back. We walked to another far corner of the room, while I constantly checked the time on my phone, probably the tenth time in those two minutes. That was when I finally decided to break the silence. "You know doing your assignments all night by hand was easier than what you're putting me through right now,"

"You're already making new friends, so I don't see how troublesome that is compared to studying," he dramatically replied.

Edward stopped right in front of a group of guys, with some pretty-looking skimpy girls along with them, as our presence caught their undivided attention. The unfamiliarity and the unreadable expressions of the students made my uneasiness grow exceptionally to the brim.

"Oh, you must be Michelle?" One of the tall girls, almost my height in heels perked up. Her accent was severely British. "He never shuts up about you,"

"Yes, I am." I blushed, looking anywhere but at him. As if on purpose, Edward took the lead, introducing me to the group as if I was someone he knew for a long time. The brimming anxiety inside of me dissipated with time, as everyone busied themselves with drinks and chatter.

When I finally had Edward's full attention, I confronted him. "Why did you have to introduce me to them like that?"

"You say it as if it's a bad thing," He answered, with a slight frown, and I sighed.

Peeling my stare away from him, I replied. "I don't know... Honestly, I feel like I'm leading you on. This isn't right."

"But what if it is?"

Before I could continue the conversation, Marilyn interrupted, feeling relieved to find me in the crowd. She greeted Edward before exchanging hugs with me. "Sorry for getting so late, it was the bad traffic, not me." She wore a stunning knee-length black dress, as she sat down beside me, sipping on some cold water she must've brought from her home.

"Truth or dare Marilyn?" I heard Andrew intervene, who I was almost sure secretly liked her. I saw Marilyn's cheeks flush at the mention, and she shrugged her bare shoulders before taking a long sip of her water.

"As long as it's not anything inappropriate, I'm up for it," She replied. "What about you Michelle?" She asked, and I felt Edward tense up a bit, beside me.

"Well..." I trailed off. "As long as it's harmless, then okay."

"Truth," She replied innocently, and almost everyone in the room could see Andrew's eyes lit up.

"Do you want to do this?" Edward whispered to me in hesitance.

"No Edward, I wasn't even sure about coming here, but here I am," I said. "Plus, I cannot leave Marilyn just like that,"

"But I didn't bring you here for this." He scowled, and I frowned at his words.

"Do you, in particular, like someone?" Andrew asked, gathering some nearby curious audience, and Marilyn simply smiled in response.

"No, because I'm aromantic," she spoke, earning multiple gasps and cheers from the people around. Even I was surprised by the revelation, although I was friends with her for a while now.

"Really Marilyn?" I turned to look at her and she laughed.

"Yeah, fun fact about me," She added proudly. "Who's next?" Her eyes scanned the room, as she knowingly took the hint from my gestures that I didn't want to be questioned just yet. "Truth or dare, Drake." She smiled at him, and he chuckled back, making his presence known in the room.

"Dare," he stammered, with a bottle of alcohol in his hand.

"I dare you to show me the last texts you sent to the last person,"

A faint cheer was heard from his friends, and I saw Drake's body stilled at the mention. "No, I'll pass." He quickly tugged his phone into his pocket.

"Oh, come on, that's not fun," Edward pushed, looking at him amusedly. "You can't back away from a dare like that," The words of the agreement were followed by multiple other people in the room. His friends began to encourage him to go ahead, and a few more shots of the drink later, he obliged quite confidently.

"I don't care what anyone thinks of this," he huffed, his dark skin looking pale due to too many drinks. He stood up, trying to compose himself and unlocked his phone, scrolling through the apps, to open WhatsApp, and showed off the screen in the room on full display.

That was when I realised what he had done. Edward's teasing mood shifted an entire degree to a blank stare, as he glared at the texts, and then the name.

"Yes, I like her, so what?" Drake confessed in the silent room, addressing everyone in the room challengingly, before it broke into a chatter of encouragement and some of the students, shipping him and the said person. And the said person was me. And the drunk texts I had supposedly received, were from him. Some girls in the corner, Rosaline and Amanda gasped at the confession and smiled at me in surprise. To say I was taken aback would've been an understatement. It was beyond comprehension for me to think that he would do something like this, for someone like me.

I simply stared at him in return, my face, devoid of emotion. Marilyn noticed my discomfort as she announced that it was time to move on to the next person now.

"Okay Michelle," Drake slurred, picking me again out of all people. "Truth or dare,"

"She doesn't want to do it," Edward interrupted, shocking everyone again.

"You don't get to speak for her Ed," Drake fired back, making Edward's calm stare icier.

"It's fine Edward, please... I don't want to create a scene," I pleaded in a small voice, and I saw his hollow-eyed stare meet mine, looking back and forth between my eyes. "I'll take the truth," I quickly replied to just get over with it.

Drake steadied himself before continuing. "Would you go out on a date with me?"

I was instantly reminded of a distant memory of him, asking me out, and I gaped nervously at Drake, fearful of any bad consequences. I inhaled and exhaled, trying to keep myself together, and didn't know how to respond to him without anything bad happening.

"It's okay, you don't have to answer." Drake stomped onto one of the cigarette stubs, before exiting the scene. I bit my lip in sheer nervousness, feeling bad and upset for him, but I couldn't see myself confronting him about it anytime soon, because of the awkward tension between us now that he left to linger. I looked around the room to make sure no one was laughing or snickering around, but no one was, a serious expression etched on everyone's faces.

That was when Amanda, broke in. "When will it be my turn?" She huffed, easing the tension down and waiting for someone to ask her.

"Truth or dare Anna," Rosaline asked.

"Truth of course!"

"Have you ever smoked or did any drugs?" The redhead girl asked amusedly, and Amanda huffed.

"Such a boring question, and to answer it, of course, I haven't! Do I look like a druggie to you?" Amanda squealed to defend herself. Already feeling bored, she then searched the room to find a better target for the game, and honestly, I was beginning to feel tired. "Edward!" She finally pointed.

I looked back at him, already forgotten him being there, sitting beside me. He just seemed very serious while scrolling and doing things on his phone, before he looked up and shook his head at Amanda.

"Truth or dare?" She inquired.

"Dare." He smiled confidently, finishing his cigarette.

"I dare you to do whatever you had planned to do for her," She encouraged with a curious-toothed grin.

"It's nothing, I just wrote some poetry for my favourite muse, that I just wanted to share with everyone here." He pulled out a guitar, with that.

So much for hiding my and Edward's association. But this time, it felt different. No one seemed to judge or even care about us as much as I didn't care about who was associated with who at the place. It was a refreshing feeling, to say the least.