CHAPTER FORTY !

[ real life, imessage ]

- ❝ HIS SILHOUETTE ❞ 💌

ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ !

the party is already in full swing by the time the group arrive. astoria can't help but notice how annoyingly nice harper's house is, with tall ceilings and an elegant blend of modern and classic architecture. they've already walked past the front lawn, which is adorned with fairy lights that cast a soft glow across the entrance. a few people are smoking and talking outside, but other than that all of the excitement seems to be inside.

even from outside, the group could hear the thumping bass of the music reverberating through the night. now that they're inside it's even louder, causing the grand chandelier hanging from the ceiling to shake a little. despite the elegance of the house, the trace of partying has already left its mark.

there are red solo cups scattered on every available surface, and a few confetti-filled balloons float lazily near the ceiling. astoria wonders what the event is that has caused the girl to throw such a large party.

skye is already grinning at the sight of all of the alcohol bottles in the kitchen. he takes nick's hand, entwining their fingers, and drags the boy into the next room. nick rolls his eyes, but lets himself be pulled into the kitchen all the same.

"let's get drunk!" skye calls, already grabbing a cup and pouring himself a drink. nick crosses his arms, leaning against the counter.

"i'll pass," he replies, pressing his lips together to stop himself from smiling at the boy before him.

"you should know by now that when i say let's get drunk, i usually mean that i get drunk while you watch me embarrass myself," skye clarifies jokingly, taking a sip of whatever mixture he's created.

nick gives him a knowing look.

"you're not embarrassing," he tells skye.

it's skye's turn to roll his eyes now as he takes another sip of his drink. nick just sighs. "what are you rolling your eyes for?"

"you're kinda corny sometimes," the boy replies, his brown eyes filled with amusement. there's already a slight pink to his cheeks, which nick secretly hopes isn't just from the alcohol he's consumed.

"alright, i'll be a dick then, i suppose," nick scoffs, his lips curving upwards slightly. "we can have an enemies to lovers moment instead."

skye chokes on his drink, coughing before looking at nick with wide eyes. he blinks a couple times, shocked, before placing his cup down on the kitchen counter and crossing his arms, mirroring nick's stance.

"wow," he mutters, pretending to be annoyed. "was the friends to lovers trope not enough for you?"

nick's mouth forms a full smile now and he tilts his head to the right, still looking at skye.

"ehh, it can get a little bland sometimes," he replies, grinning.

"you're so full of shit, nick," skye says, grabbing the boy's hand once again. "let's dance."

"absolutely not," nick shakes his head. skye huffs, looking at the ceiling.

"i can't have a boyfriend who doesn't dance," he says at the ceiling, shaking his head. his head is, unfortunately, already a little fuzzy from his drink, causing him to start spouting all of his current thoughts. nick's eyes widen, but he smiles.

"boyfriend?" he questions, and skye uses his free hand to cover his face, now suddenly embarrassed.

"shut up, i'm drunk," he mumbles through his hand. nick shakes his head in dismay, squeezing skye's hand.

"i mean, i don't exactly want a boyfriend who's a lightweight," he shrugs, adding a joking tone to his words. "but beggars can't be choosers."

skye removes his hand from his face and laughs, shaking his head.

"god, you're so full of shit," he says, and nick narrows his eyes at him.

"you already said that."

"i meant it."

skye picks up his cup and takes another swig of his drink, before turning back to nick.

"let's dance."

this time, nick doesn't disagree. he just nods, allowing skye to lead him into the main room.

she's been at the party for maybe thirty minutes, and astoria is already sick of it. in her friend group, there's two extremes: those who hates parties and those who adore them. while she doesn't exactly jump at every opportunity to attend a party like skye and luna, for example, she's not like matt and chris who stand in a corner complaining about how much they want to go home.

when she's in the mood, she'll happily enjoy a party. tonight, though? tonight she is not in the mood.

for starters, the fact that she's at harper's house, of all people, makes her a little uneasy. she knows the girl hates her and astoria isn't exactly fond of her either, so that's awkward. also the fact that harper accused chris of cheating on her with astoria, and now... well, yeah.

astoria can't help that she loves chris. the thought makes her stop in her tracks, realizing how weird it sounds to say that. it shouldn't be, because she's known it all along, but she struggles to believe that it's now a reality. not that it was a fantasy before or anything. that's just chris trying to get under her skin.

she immediately sighs when she turns her head, feeling like she's summoned the literal devil where she's been thinking about the girl so much. harper, looking just as annoyingly pretty as her house is, is currently strutting towards her, drink in hand. the fact that chris' ex happens to be one of the prettiest girls astoria has ever seen only makes this more annoying for her.

"astoria!" harper calls out, her voice sounding sober as ever, much to astoria's dismay. she was hoping that the girl would just drunkenly shout at her for a couple moments before getting bored and walking away. but since she's sober, astoria has the impression that this conversation is going to be particularly insufferable.

"yeah, hi," astoria mutters as harper stops and stands next to her. the girl furrows her eyebrows, before tucking a strand of her long, silky, black hair behind her ear. astoria hates how insecure it makes her feel about her own hair, which is wavy and unruly.

"i'm surprised to see you here," harper muses, swirling her drink around in her cup. "here, and not with chris."

"and?" astoria replies, crossing her arms and continuing to face forward, focusing on the party before her rather than giving her any other form of acknowledgement.

harper clicks her tongue, now moving to stand directly in front of astoria, disturbing her once-pleasant view of skye and nick dancing together in the living room. she's tempted to roll her eyes but doesn't, determined to be the bigger person in a situation she knows she definitely does not have to be.

"where is chris, anyway?" harper questions, sliding her tongue over her top teeth. astoria shrugs.

"i'm not interested in arguing with you, harper," she says casually. "and neither is chris."

the girl's eyes widen, and she presses her lips into a thin line.

"you literally stole my boyfriend," she says, even going as far as to point an accusatory finger at astoria. "and i'm not going to let that slide."

astoria almost laughs as harper's words sink in.

"um, he broke up with you?" she manages, able to hear the amusement in her own voice. she's tempted to add get that through your thick skull, but remains quiet. it'll only cause an even bigger fight that she doesn't have the energy to partake in.

harper just stands there, becoming visibly angrier by the second. it's clear she doesn't know what to say, having started the argument anticipating it to go in a direction that it hasn't. the pair continue staring at one another, until astoria decides she's had enough.

"can you please tell me where the bathroom is?" she asks sweetly, and instead of answering, harper just points at the stairs. "thanks!" astoria grins, turning and walking away from the party's host, leaving her standing awkwardly by herself.

jesus christ, astoria thinks, shaking her head as she ascends the stairs. she stops in the middle of the hallway, realizing slowly that all of the doors look exactly the same and she has no clue which one is actually the bathroom.

she doesn't get any more time to think about it, though, because all of a sudden a girl comes rushing out of the room closest to astoria, looking shocked and positively terrified. she spots astoria instantly, her brown eyes widening as she reaches forward and grabs her wrist, grabbing her wrist and dragging her into the next room.

astoria blinks, a little disoriented, but after a moment she realizes she's been pulled into the bathroom. typical. the blonde-haired girl is frantically closing and locking the door behind them, leaving astoria honestly just really confused at what the fuck just happened.

she's got so many questions, but instead she just says, "hi?"

"hey," the girl sighs, leaning back against the door and slowly dropping to the floor. she sits there silently for a moment, before clasping a hand over her mouth, closing her eyes like she's in pain. astoria furrows her eyebrows in confusion, trying to figure out whether the girl is traumatized or just very, very drunk.

"are you alright?" she asks, grabbing the girl's attention once again. she nods, removing the hand from her mouth and tucking a strand of her light hair behind her ear. she takes a deep breath, before making direct eye contact with astoria. both of their brown eyes meet and it's only now that astoria can see that her eyes a little bloodshot. so she's drunk, then.

"yeah, i'm good," the girl says. "i'm maeve."

"rory," astoria replies with a smile. "do you go to somerville high?" she asks then. "i don't think i've ever seen you before."

"no, i live in the next town," maeve shakes her head. "a friend invited me."

astoria nods, before looking around the room awkwardly. she's only just met maeve and while the girl seems nice enough, she's got no clue why she's been dragged in here.

"sorry i dragged you in here," maeve says apologetically, as if she's just read her thoughts. "i just... needed to hide and you looked comforting, so."

"i looked comforting?" astoria repeats questioningly, and maeve just nods.

"you have really big eyes, like a teddy bear," she shrugs. astoria's eyes widen.

the pair fall into a calm silence, the only noise being maeve's heavy and ragged breathing. astoria gazes down at her from where she's sitting on the floor, and decides to join her. she too crouches down, before sitting on the bath mat opposite maeve, who's still leaning against the door.

"are you sure you're okay?" astoria asks, causing maeve to freeze for a second, before she unsurely nods.

"yeah, i just did something really dumb," she says. she does sound a little drunk, but astoria is now thinking she may actually just be in shock from whatever's just happened.

"do you wanna talk about it?"

maeve chuckles, nodding. astoria raises her eyebrows.

"sorry, i'm making this sound dramatic and traumatizing, but it's really not," the blonde girl says. "it's actually really stupid. sorry, i'm probably wasting your time, you probably want to get back to um... your friends, or something."

astoria leans back against the bathtub, now curious. this is by far the most entertaining thing that's happened to her all night, so she's happy.

"nope, i'd actually prefer to hear your story about what you did that was so traumatizing that you dragged me into this bathroom," she grins, earning her a large smile from maeve. she must gain energy from that, because she suddenly leans forward and presses her hands together like a child about to tell a scary story on halloween.

"okay, so..."

fifteen minutes earlier...

"absolutely not," maeve says with a shake of her head, already expecting the reaction she's going to get.

"oh, for fuck's sake," dante grumbles, rolling his eyes. "you're so boring."

"i'm not boring," maeve says defensively. "i just... don't want to do it?"

dante huffs, placing his drink down on the floor next to them, as there's nowhere else to put it, before crossing his arms. he looks visibly unimpressed but maeve refuses to be swayed.

"if you were in my place, you wouldn't do it either," she tells him, and covers his face with his hands out of pure frustration.

"obviously not," dante says. "i am in a relationship."

"what if i was in a relationship?"

"oh, please."

maeve frowns, while dante just laughs at her. "mae, i did not drive all the way to the next town to bring you to this party just for you to be lame," he tells her.

"yeah, you brought me to this party because you fucking hate the girl that's hosting, and because you're hoping your favorite, quote, couple who isn't a couple, finally become official tonight," maeve replies, crossing her arms.

"okay, well, that too," dante says, defeated. "but i also want you to be interesting, for once. you're the reason i moved, by the way."

maeve furrows her eyebrows.

"you moved because of your dad's job," she says.

"actually, i moved because you're boring," he replies. "my dad thinks so too," he adds.

the girl sighs, leaning back against the stair banister. a moment later, dante's girlfriend, mal, appears behind her from where she's just walked up the stairs. the black-haired girl smiles at the sight of them, and maeve can't help but smile back. she's only met mal a few times, but she already loves the girl.

"what's going on?" she asks maeve. "why does dante look so pissed off?"

"he always looks like that," maeve shrugs, causing mal to laugh.

"i'm pissed off because maeve is lame and won't do my dare," he clarifies.

"what's the dare?" mal questions, folding her arms across her chest.

"it's fucking ridiculous," maeve tells her. "he wants me to go into that dark room and kiss the first person that walks in."

"i think that's considered harassment," mal says, raising an eyebrow. dante rolls his eyes at the both of them.

"it's a party," he huffs frustratedly. "lighten up!"

"i don't want to do it," maeve says.

"i couldn't give a fuck if you want to do it or not. you're bisexual for a reason, mae. this is a great opportunity for you to stop moping over she who shall not be named and put yourself out there!" dante replies, grinning.

"actually, maybe it could be a good idea," mal muses, her eyes now filled with mischief. "if you're still crying over your ex."

"i am not crying over my ex- jesus, what do you tell people about me?" maeve says, turning to dante and scowling at him. dante just shrugs.

"i mean, i don't talk about you all that mu-" he begins, before his attention is caught by somebody walking up the stairs. he grabs maeve's arm, dragging her over to the room and literally shoving her in, before shutting the door behind him. he knows it's pitch black in there, and maeve is literally useless in the dark, so she won't be able to get out... until somebody else comes in.

grinning, he walks back over to his girlfriend and nods in greeting to the boy ascending the stairs. he looks a little stressed out, looking around the hallway as if he's really disoriented.

"hey, you okay?" dante asks the boy, who turns to him and nods slowly.

"yeah, i just need somewhere to... chill for a bit," he replies, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes. dante presses his lips together to stop himself from smiling, before pointing to the door right in front of him.

"that room's free," he shrugs nonchalantly. the boy looks at the door, before turning back to him and mal.

"thanks," he nods appreciatively, before walking over to the door, opening it, and stepping into the room. once he's disappeared, dante turns to mal and grins excitedly.

"wait..." mal starts, knitting her eyebrows. "what if he turns on the lights?"

dante's smile grows as he points to the light switch on the outside of the room.

"luckily, harper's weird ass house has some rooms where you can only turn on the lights from the outside," he explains. "and because i'm literally the next albert einstein, i chose one of those particular rooms."

"i'm surprisingly impressed," mal nods, earning her a glare from dante.

either way, the pair look to the room one last time, grinning at one another before walking down the stairs, leaving maeve and the boy alone upstairs.

now...

astoria blinks, watching as a blush creeps across maeve's cheeks.

"so, that's it," she says, and astoria can't help but grin.

"of course it was dante," she says.

"that kid needs serious help," maeve replies. "i love him, but he's insane." astoria just laughs, nodding in agreement.

"so?" she then asks. "do you know who it was?"

"no," maeve sighs. "i could only make out his silhouette. which isn't very helpful, since i don't know anyone here."

"oh, true," astoria agrees, strangely disappointed. "we should go find him!" she says suddenly, going to stand up.

"no!" maeve yelps, taking hold of her hand and pulling her back down. "he can't know!"

"why not?" astoria questions.

"i- i don't know?" she shrugs. "what if the kiss was bad?"

"by the way you described it, it sounded like he was pretty into it," astoria tells her. maeve's cheeks become even redder, and she buries her head in her hands. astoria smiles, shaking her head. she's not sure she's ever been so entertained. "you want him sooo bad," she teases, causing maeve to look back up and frown at her.

"shut up!" she replies. "i don't want him. it was just a nice distraction, you know?"

"riiiight," astoria says, giving her a knowing look. maeve sighs.

"it doesn't matter anyway," she says. "i'm going back home tomorrow so i'll never see him again."

"um, no," astoria argues, taking out her phone from her pocket. "give me your number and we'll hang out next weekend."

maeve's eyes widen, but she accepts astoria's phone and types in her number. astoria smiles, setting her contact name to 'maeve 😉😉😉'. she's about to put it away again when she notices a few messages from chris.

ⁱᵐᵉˢˢᵃᵍᵉ !

rory👎 ; astoria
christopher👹 ; chris

christopher👹
hey
where are you?
contact name is fucking shit btw i will be changing that once i get face id on your phone

rory👎
who says i'm gonna give u face id

christopher👹
me
but anyway
where are you

rory👎
i'm upstairs with maeve

christopher👹
who?

rory👎
maeve

christopher👹
...
who's maeve?

rory👎
my new bsf
and she's friends with dante

christopher👹
that kid knows everyone i stg
i think you should come downstairs btw

rory👎
oh?
why

christopher👹
well first of all matt won't stop ranting abt something
i would tell you what it is but i stopped listening like 5 minutes ago
and also i miss you
sorry that sounded dumb
i don't miss you i'm just bored

rory👎
smoooooooth
i'm omw

christopher👹
okay hurry up matt's driving me crazy
oh and bring maeve she seems fun

rory👎
i haven't told u anything about her

christopher👹
well anythings better than matt rn so

rory👎
LMFAOOOO
okay cominggg

christopher👹
good
see you in a second
love you
i love you***
sorry i got a bit nerv at first

rory👎
if i didn't know better i'd think u were drunk LMFAOOOO

christopher👹
SHUT UP
hurry up you're so fucking slow

rory👎
IM COMING
see u in a sec i love u
loved by christopher👹

MEET MAEVE !!

the fact that ppl thinks it's chris in the room.... cmon now let's trust my man he's no longer an opp 😔

━ ava ᥫ᭡