Are We That Different?

Ayala ///*

I really enjoy photography or used to. My mindset had always been the same, I loved taking pictures— the pictures that capture moments. Moments that would otherwise be forgotten. I think we're lucky to be able to capture a photo, to be able to recall a memory at the glance of a pixelated page. This admiration I have for photos will never change but after high school, I don't ever want to take another photo again.

The only thing to blame is the school newspaper. Something I didn't really want to do, but did so I could have the camera. With the position came a Nikon D3500 and with the constant random tasks I'm given, I'm able to keep it with me.

With this position also came so much school participation. Going to the school sports games, going to all the after-school fundraising and donation events, and school dances and pep rallies, sports practices, and club meetings. Really embracing the school spirit. Let's not forget to mention the constant editing of the school's paper. A light workload was expected, not a full-time job.

I will say a huge plus is having the ability to leave class whenever I want to. The number of times I've left early with the excuse, I have to go take photos of... fill with a random thing. Usually, as long as my camera was out, I'd get away with most tardies and absences.

Putting all of that aside, in this very moment though, it really wasn't worth it.

I aimlessly stared at the jumbled-up words and images displayed on the dimmed screen of my laptop. After a few minutes, which felt like an eternity, I managed to drag and paste things to form a page that I was content with. I went to the next page and basically did a repeat of the process from the previous one. Reading word after word and pairing them with the photo I took and then adding some flare, or so Mrs. Jackson called it. I had been going at this for the past few hours and my will to continue had died after the first.

My head fell back and I felt my neck land on the top of the chair's backrest. The playlist had gotten to the songs that Spotify added to your playlist when yours ran out. I didn't mind since the music was really only there for background noise, and it's not like my music was the only one I could hear.

The hum from my brother's music was behind mine and I could feel the bass vibrating from the floor through my toes. It was always like this, and I never understood why he needed it so loud. It wasn't terrible since we have similar music tastes, and if it ever got to a point where I was annoyed, I'd put headphones in.

In most situations, you would correlate loud music with parties but with him, I never truly know. It could be a party, a shower, or just him hanging out, and these are among the many things he does with the music blaring. This only becomes an issue because of one thing, the music is always so loud that I can't tell if it's only him or other people too.

Every time I leave my room, there is the chance of running into someone from our school. When it's just his friends it doesn't matter, the parties are the problem. These are the big, our whole grade, parties. I usually get a heads-up, but sometimes he forgets to tell me. So, each time I open my door, it's almost like a test of courage.

My feet spun me around until the back of the chair hit my desk, causing me to slowly lift my head from its awkward arched state. My headphones were taken out as I got up from my chair and plopped onto my bed. If I did any more of that newspaper, there was no telling what kind of nonsense I'd start spewing onto it.

The comforter was soft to the touch and so thick that it added a little cushion along my back. One hundred and thirty-five dollars but it was worth every penny. Since getting it, I haven't had trouble sleeping at all, which is why I would have been fast asleep if it wasn't for my stomach. It gurgled at me, filling my abdomen with uncomfortable vibrations. With my best attempt to ignore it, I dug deeper into my bed. The attempt only made it worse. I wanted to eat, but avoiding the risk of leaving my room and walking into a party might have been worth being hungry. My stomach grumbled once more, louder and longer, practically yelling at me to get food.

I exhaled a long, loud sigh as if there was someone there to hear it, before walking to the mirror that took up most of my wall. The girl in the mirror didn't look too preposterous. My hair laid flat on my body, the only volume being from the overloaded hair that bulked out from behind my ear because that was my favorite place to shove it. The outgrown curtain bangs that were way past my chin, hung on by a thread somewhere behind there too. I fluffed the ends of my hair just for them to fall back to where they were. I sighed again and decided that it was good enough.

I should have changed out of my loungewear, just in case there were people here, but there were no signs of any party. No one had accidentally walked in here, mistaking it for the bathroom. Or trying to find a place for sex. There haven't been any voices, screaming, or banging. Though, on top of the loud music and my headphones, if I could hear anything I would have super hearing.

If it was only him and his close friends, then it didn't really matter what I wore. At this point, if any of them wanted to make a pass at me, after the two years we've all known each other, they would have. Even if I was dressed in a bikini, they wouldn't be interested enough to try anything.

I grabbed my purse off the hook and snatched my keys from my desk. As soon as the door opened, a feeling of instant regret dropped into my stomach replacing the hunger. There was a whole group of people sitting in the loft on the couch, and I awkwardly made eye contact with every single one of them in the time span of three seconds.

Instantly, I thought about turning around and just walking back into my room. There was no way I could do that. It would look so weird, only drawing more attention to me. I looked forward and pushed for the stairs. I don't think Adonis told me and if he did, I forgot. This was one of his party parties, and I wasn't even remotely approachable. I had Cookie Monster pajama pants on.

Right after stepping off the last step, I managed to sneak out through the front door. Hopefully, anyone who did see me only saw a glimpse of blue pants and not what was actually on them. Even if it was a very distinct character looking at them.

I arrived back at my house a lot quicker than I wanted to. Jack in the Box was only ten minutes away from my house, and there was no line at twelve in the morning. I thought about calling Annel and asking to spend the night, but I still had to work on the newspaper and my laptop was upstairs.

I tried opening the front door to sneak back in the way I came out, but with my luck, someone had locked it. We all had garage clickers to get into the house. I couldn't even remember the last time I used my house key, or sadly, where I last put it. I sighed and mopped back to my car to push the button.

The garage door lifted, slowly revealing a group of people all conjugating close together. Their position and expressions were suspicious, to say the least. It was probably a good thing that I didn't know what they were doing. The garage was hot and had no AC, there was no way that anything being done was even a little enjoyable. That, or they needed a more secretive place.

My hand gripped the fold of the bag, a wave of anxiousness washing over me. I lipped a small smile to those who did look at me and continued to the door.

"Ayala!" I heard a random voice shout from behind me.

Before I could respond, I felt an arm around my neck. It was more muscular than a girl so that eliminated most of the people who I could have guessed would do something like this. With some force, he pulled me close to his semi-wet body and I got a waft of his cologne mixed with chlorine.

Oh god, it's Richard.

"Were you always here?" His grip got tighter as he pushed me closer to his bare body. "Where have you been hiding?" His eyes were glued to the neckline of my shirt. I don't even want to imagine what he was imagining. He was tugging on me so hard, that even as much as I tried to pull away, my breasts were being squished onto his chest.

Maybe it would have been smarter to have eaten in my car or to have just gone to Annel's.

"Have some fun with me!" My eardrum exploded from the volume of his voice and I almost gagged from the stench of his breath. I could tell he had consumed way too much alcohol. He has always been bold, but not this pushy. Everything was moving so fast, I didn't have any time to react properly. Before I knew it, he was dragging me around the corner with two of his buddies following us.

Many people were staring at us, and it wasn't because of my pants. I knew why. Richard had a girlfriend, a very mean one. The type of girl that no one likes but they keep her around because she makes a better friend than foe. I really hope she doesn't come around until I find a way out and far away from her boyfriend's grasp. I squeezed the bag even harder. I just wanted my food.

Once we were in the living room and past the wall, I saw the full extent of the party. Everyone had those cheap, dollar-store birthday hats on. I must have counted twenty of them in one glance. Balloons floated around, both on the floor and in the air, and streamers were lazily placed on the walls. Knowing my brother, he must have spent too much time on the balloons and just quickly threw the streamers around. Speaking of him, he was nowhere to be found.

My eyes fell onto a couple of girls sitting on the coffee table like it was a seat. Why, when there was a perfectly fine couch, I couldn't give an answer. But, I could tell that the aura of judgment rapidly grew as soon as they spotted Richard and I walking through to the backyard. Was it positive or negative, yet another unanswered question.

Outside, there were even more people. Beer pong tables, clothless people standing around, some in the pool and others packed into the jacuzzi. With the amount of people there, I was ashamed of how I couldn't hear them upstairs.

"Here," One of the friends following us came up and put a red cheap hat on me. The elastic band lightly snapped my chin, I don't think he meant to do that. "Now you are really ready to party."

I accepted the hat with a fake smile and used this as an opportunity to try and push away from Richard since he stopped dragging me along. "No, I really should be leavi-"

"Dude, what the hell are you doin'?" I heard my brother's voice overcome mine, and I whipped my head around to him, hoping that it was directed at Richard.

He pulled himself out of the water. Some of the girls turned their eyes his way. I guess all those years of sports worked in his favor. The eyes followed him as he dripped over to the three of us.

"What bro? She came to party with me." Richard smirked with a cocky expression, one that made me uncomfortable, more uncomfortable than I was when he squeezed me even tighter into him. I had to fight to not make a face of disgust. "To have some fun." He added.

Adonis didn't try hiding his own glare of disgust. His eyes dropped to me and I must have looked like a gremlin desperate for help or something because it looked like he was holding his tongue to not laugh. I still didn't change whatever expression was on my face. I didn't even care how pathetic I looked, or if anyone saw my pants anymore, as long as he would help me.

"Yeah even if she came to the party," Adonis grabbed onto Richard's arm, hard enough for him to slightly loosen his grasp on me. "Why the hell would it be with you?" He used his other hand to shove Richard's shoulder, sending him plunging for the pool. The problem was that his grip was still much stronger than I expected and my center of balance was going down with him. My heart sunk into my stomach. My shirt was white.

I felt someone grab my arm as my foot was about to enter the water. Richard's arm slid off, brushing against my bag of food and bringing it along with him. Small splashes of water plopped onto me as I was pulled back to my equilibrium. My eyes searched for the person who pulled me up and they quickly angled up to Adonis.

I would have thanked him if he didn't have such a stupid grin on his face. One that was waiting for gratitude. My glare was threatening to shoot him for even allowing Richard into our house. I wanted to push him into the pool too, but then I really wouldn't have gone back to my room dry. And all I wanted was to go back upstairs. My clothes were damp, I smelled of a nasty cologne, my food was floating somewhere in the water, and everyone saw me in my pajama pants that I would be sure to burn tomorrow.

I gripped my purse strap with my newly empty hand, and as I was about to tell my brother he owed me money for my food, I heard someone call me from the pool.

"Ayala, Here."

I turned around and saw Ivor standing out of the water. My eyes caught a glance of his chest, and then they continued down to his reflection. Until it rippled away from the water that dripped from his charcoal hair. Once I quickly took in enough of his body, the bag of food he had shifted into view. It was hovering over the water with a couple of darkened spots.

My mouth hung slightly open for a moment before my lips curved into a smile. I'm not sure how he caught it, but I'm glad that out of everything that happened at least my food was salvaged. And that it was him to do it. I wouldn't mind saying thank you to him over and over again, and I got a view of him bare.

Ivor became my brother's friend a few years ago and since then he has come around the house often. I've always had a small crush on him, but it wasn't big enough for me to try and pursue, especially since our conversations have stayed mostly surface-level.

He was a pretty boy with the stereotypes to go along with the title. From the things I've heard about him, he's good in bed but a relationship with him never lasts long. As long as he's single, if a girl asks him out he'll never reject her. So I'm sure I have a chance, but not for the reason I'd want to. However, I had always wondered how true the first part of the rumor was.

"Jack in the box?" He said as his glance found mine. My heart reacted a little but I tried to ignore it and bent over to grab the bag from him. "Curly fries?" He smirked while lowering his hands back into the water. They distorted oddly in the water.

"With ranch," I smirked back, once again trying to ignore the way he made me feel like jelly. "What kind of person do you think I am?" I laughed before straightening my back. I took a couple of steps away from the water, not wanting anything else to go wrong. Now I just have to make it to my room. "Thank you," I said and walked away.

"Sorry, Aya!" I heard Adonis call after me.

"Yeah, yeah!" I yelled back before walking through the back sliding door. I was going straight up to my room while I still had my food intact. Since the bag got wet, I undid the already very weakened fold at the top to peek inside and see how bad the damage was.

"Hey whore, what do you think you're doing with someone else's boyfriend?" Someone bumped into me and the bag dropped onto the floor. From the sound of her voice, it was the devil's girlfriend herself, Kayla. At least one thing went partially right, she didn't show up until after her shitty boyfriend let go of me.

I just looked at her, not wanting to say anything because no matter what I said, there was a high chance it would escalate the situation. I leaned down to grab the bag and she kicked it to the side. After everything that just happened, that was my tipping point.

"Bitch, I'm talking to you." She stepped closer to me, but because of my new found anger, her intimidation seemed more minuscule.

"Yeah, I know." I left the bag to be on the floor. It was trash now. Even if it was still okay to eat, I didn't want it anymore.

"Then why didn't you respond?" Her words were hot and too close to my face. She was slightly wobbling, but I couldn't tell if it was a wrong step on her heels or if she was drunk.

"Because I didn't do anything," I sighed and stepped back, clearly making the point that I wanted nothing to do with her.

"Yeah, you never do anything and yet he's always with you. You wanna fuck him or something?" Her voice rose, gaining even more attention. Where did that conclusion even come from?

I clicked my tongue and laughed aloud "My pinky could give me more pleasure than he could." I didn't think much before saying that and it might have been a mistake. But it did relieve some of the steam that was pent up in my chest.

"Excuse me? Are you saying there is something wrong with him?" Kayla's eyebrows dropped even further, her voice getting closer. She grew even more defensive and I grew even more confused.

She had got to be drunk. I know what I said wasn't the most positive about her boyfriend but did it really matter? With that, it should have been more than obvious that I have absolutely no interest in him.

"You know what." I saw her hands raise to her ears, and that's when I confirmed that she was indeed drunk. There were no earrings for her to take out, yet she still pretended as if there were, setting "them" down on the counter next to us.

"No." I shook my head before grabbing the bag from the floor. I was not a fighter. I didn't know how to fight, And I would definitely not have my first fight be with someone so drunk she was using all her willpower to barely stand upright.

I stepped back, gaining some more space between us. And that's when she tried to hit me. It didn't reach anything, but I was stunned. I was really about to get into a fight over something as stupid as Richard. I didn't want her boyfriend.

"Wait." I backed up more, a small panic in my voice. "I don't want your boyfriend. I have my own."

"And who's that?" She had a distrusting look on her face. At least her arms were crossed and out of attack mode, but now I had to come up with some lie. The only guy I genuinely talked to, and would be even remotely believable, is Julian. I don't know how I'd prove it though.

Right as I was about to say his name, there was a tug on my arm that made me stumble a couple of steps backward. My back pressed into something structured, and the cool feeling of water soaked through my shirt. Some of the fear left me as my thoughts went to my brother. I angled my head up with some relief.

It was Ivor.

~ ♡ ~

Thank you for reading the first chapter !! I will be posting two chapters a day until it's finished!