Chapter Seven

It took us two hours, but I eventually found an outfit for the party. Callum ended up getting a few things since we had gone into so many stores. After shopping, we went to the food court to eat, which Callum insisted on paying for. We talked for a while, and laughed majority of the time.

When I am around Callum, I feel like my real personality actually comes out. A personality that I haven't been able to show in a long time. All the shyness that I felt when we first met had slowly dissipated.

I ended up dropping him home around 5. We had decided that since we were drinking tonight, neither of us would take our cars, instead we would take a Lyft to the party. The party started at 9, so Callum would take the Lyft to my house to pick me up, and we'd go from there.

When I got home, I read for a little while, but eventually got tired of the book I was reading. So I went on YouTube to find cute makeup looks for tonight. I'd become quite good at doing my makeup over the years. Never really leaving my room, except to eat, I always had a lot of time on my hands. Recreating makeup looks on YouTube had become a hobby of mine. I never went outside my room with any of the looks, because there was really no point to. However, now that I actually had somewhere to go, I could put my skills to use.

I decided to do a natural looks, with a light shimmery eye and a bold red lip. I was wearing a plain black dress, so the makeup seemed appropriate. I looked at my clock, and it was going to 7, so I decided to take a shower.

When I got out, I wrapped my hair up in a towel to stop the water from dripping down my back. I threw my robe on, and unwrapped my hair. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it, but since I was changing up my look for tonight, I decided  to straighten it.

It took me 45 minutes, but I was finally done. I stared at myself in the mirror, and I looked identical to my mother. In the last picture we took together on my 6th birthday, her hair had been straight, and seeing myself now, it was almost scary how much we looked alike. And for the first time in a long time, I actually felt beautiful.

I took my now straightened hair, put it in a low ponytail, and tied a silk scarf around it. I began to do my make up, praying that I wouldn't mess up and have to start over again. When I was finished, everything came out exactly how I wanted it to. I took off my headscarf, untied my hair, and brushed it so that no hairs were sticking up. Pleased with the look, I finally got dressed. It was almost 9, so I began to pick up the pace.

The dress I was wearing was a sleeveless black bodycon dress, that stopped just above my knee. It was simple, but that's what I was going for. Just as I was putting my shoes on, my phone went off. I grabbed it, and saw that it was Callum calling.

"Hey, I'm outside in the Lyft. I would've come to the door but I didn't want another run in with your stepmom." He said.

I laughed, and responded "I'm glad you didn't, I'll be down in a second."

"Alright, see you soon then." He replied, and hung up.

I grabbed my purse, and chucked my phone and keys into it. Before leaving, I looked around my room, hoping I wasn't forgetting anything. I realized that forgot to take my lipstick.

Quickly running to my dresser, I put my red lipstick in my bag, and sprayed some bath and body works perfume on myself. When I left my room, all of the lights downstairs seemed to be off, letting me know that likely, no one was home. I raced down the stairs, quickly exited the front door, and locking it.

I walked to the car, feeling nervous. I looked so different than I usually looked, and I wasn't sure what Callum would think when he saw me.

Before I could approach the car, Callum hopped out to open the door for me. He was wearing a white t shirt, a jean jacket, and black jeans. He looked hot like he always did. He stared at me up and down, and gulped. I now felt extremely self conscious.

"Hi." I said, giving him a shy wave.

He blink a couple of times, and finally responded.

"Hey."

I went into the car, greeting the driver, and Callum came in and sat beside me.

"Dylan, you look stunning." He said, staring into my eyes.

I bit my lip, trying to hold back a smile.

"Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself." I said, in a low tone, not wanting the driver to hear me.

Callum and I smiled at each other, without saying anything. Then out of nowhere Callum says "Hey buddy, eyes on the road."

I looked up into the rear view mirror and saw that the driver was staring at me, he winked as our eyes met.

Yikes, I thought.

Callum turned to me, and whispered in my ear "He's definitely getting a one star rating."

I could help but laugh, one star seems appropriate.

After 15 minutes, we pulled up to Amy Fisher's house. When I say house, I am being polite. It was a mansion.

We got out of the car and could immediately hear the heavy bass of the music coming from inside the house. A few people stood outside, drinking, smoking, or both. I let out of breath as knots formed in my stomach. This was my first high school party and I didn't know what to expect.

Callum suddenly grabbed my hand and gave me a look of reassurance as we walked through the door together.

Immediately walking in, the smell of marijuana was prevalent. People were up against the wall making out, and grinding to the music in the middle of the living room. It looked like half of the senior class was here.

"Lets go find the kitchen so that we can get a drink." Callum whispered to me, his hand still holding mine.

"Okay."

When we got to the kitchen, a group of football players were taking shots. Callum went over to the cooler, and came back with two red cups.

"It's jungle juice. Be careful, the alcohol will sneak up on you." He said as he handed me a cup.

I nodded, and took a sip. The drink tasted like candy, I wasn't tasting alcohol at all.

"You like it?" He asked.

"Yea, it's good." I responded.

As we continued to drink and talk, Amy came stumbling into the kitchen.

She wore a neon green dress that was skin tight, and stopped right below her butt.

"Callum! You made it! I wasn't sure if you would come." She said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

I wanted to rip her arms off of him.

It was like he read my mind, because he instantly grabbed her arms and put them by her sides.

"Aww c'mon, you don't wanna have some fun with me?" She said, sloppily.

"No, sorry." He stated, send me a "HELP" look.

She turned to me, giving me a once over.

"Wow Dylan, who knew nerds could look like this?! Now I see why Callum doesn't want me, he already has you."

My cheeks started to burn. I looked down to the ground, not being able to meet her eyes.

She continued "And who knew you had an ass like that, you need to wear dresses more often! You're about to make me reconsider being with guys!" She said loudly.

Her yelling seemed to have drawn attention to us in the kitchen, because everyones eyes were now on me.

"Thanks." I said softly, positive that my cheeks were red. Callum grabbed my hand and circled his thumb on it reassuringly.

Out of nowhere, Justin came into the kitchen, walking directly towards us with a pissed off look on his face.

Oh no, I thought.

He came up to Callum and I, and pulled me away from Callum.

"What is wrong with you, Justin?!" I yelled, as I tried to pull my arm from his death grip.

I could smell the alcohol coming from his pores.

"You need to stay away from his guy, Dylan." He said, slurring.

I looked up at Callum, who looked furious.

"What are you talking about?" I said, finally freeing myself from his grip.

At this point, majority of the party goers were tightly packed in the large kitchen.

"He's dangerous Dylan, he's not who you think he is!" Justin yelled, and the whole room became silent.

"What?" I whispered, looking up at Callum.

To be continued..