ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜɴᴛ|ʜ.ꜱ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄ

Ariella

"i told you i would be here at ten! why the hell are you still in jeans?" whitney exclaims, tossing her arms up as she sees my outfit.

i look down at my attire, what was wrong with it?

she notices my confusion, smacking her lips, "you aren't going to your first party wearing jeans."

"hey, it's not my first party!" in my defense, it really wasn't.

"attending your sisters birthday party doesn't count."

"of course it wouldn't, it's my birthday party too."

i unbutton my jeans, sliding them off and allowing them to pool at my ankles before i kick them off.

"right, forgot you had a twin."

"yeah and she's evil. you're lucky you got stuck with me, the angel."

"oh please, even an angel would know to wear a dress to their first party! don't flatter yourself."

"whit!" i playfully smack her arm as she throws comments at me.

"here, i had a feeling this would happen so i brought plan b."

i stare wide eyed at her, confused and shocked.

"Jesus ari! not that plan b! i knew you wouldn't have a party dress so i brought you one of mine."

i instantly let go of the breath i was subconsciously holding. i slide off my shirt, taking the dress from her and slipping into the thin material.

"it's a little small on me—"

"if it's tight, good, that's how it's supposed to be. now put these on and let's go, we're running late."

i roll my eyes and slip on the heels she gave me, making sure to buckle them securely so i don't twist an ankle.

i stand up and instantly felt a little dizzy from the height difference i'm use to. the large full body mirror in the corner of my room gave me an accurate view of myself and i have to say, this is better than jeans.

||

"maybe we should just go for dinner, i'm starting to get a bad feeling whit" i tugged, twisted and pinched the hem of my dress, trying to calm my anxiety as we sat outside the house.

"you just need a drink, once you take a shot you'll be fine."

i instantly start shaking my head as i was not planning to drink. dance, maybe but drinking was not on my list.

"i'm not drinking—"

"why the hell are we here then? because i'm drinking and you aren't about to leave me hanging by myself!"

she was standing on the curb, waiting for me to step out of the car but my heart was racing too much. i felt like i couldn't move my legs.

"Jesus ariella, i'll carry you in if i have to," her cold hand wrapped around my wrist, pulling me out slowly, giving me enough time to gain my balance in these heels.

"it'll be fine. we can leave whenever you want to leave but you need to at least try to have fun."

i nod as we started walking towards the large building full of drunken people.

"we are only free once before we have to grow up and get a job, raise a family, all that bullshit."

she's right. soon enough i'll be living the rest of my days and when i look back at the life i'm living now, all i'll see is nothing but loneliness.

one night of having fun won't hurt me, i deserve a break. i deserve to feel something other than lonely.

before i could blink, she opens the large door to the house and my vision has to adjust.

it's dark throughout the house besides the flashing color LED lights. i felt my body shake slightly from the extremely loud sounds.

the music and the talking combined made my ears ache but i continued to get pulled farther into the building.

"see, not too bad right?" she had lead me to the kitchen where it wasn't too crowded. a few people stood around with drinks in their hands, one or two people making out with one another but it was a lot calmer in here.

the music was slightly muffled from the walls, just enough for me to actually hear whitney.

"i guess it's not, smells weird though," i scrunch my face up from the strong smell causing whit to laugh at me.

"it's weed, i can get us a blunt if you wanna try it—"

"no! no it's okay, i'm not trying to get high tonight."

"you might be getting second hand high so be ready, it's not as bad though."

"how would i get high without smoking it?" i cross my arms over my chest as she pours a clear liquid into two cups.

"you're so smart, how do you not— this house is a fucking hotbox. you know what that is?"

i mentally slapped myself for being so dumb. i nod and take the cup from her, "i wasn't thinking, yes i know what that is."

she smirks as we walk out to main room again where a majority of the party was at, making it stuffy and hot.

"whose party is this anyway?" i ask as i bounce in my place while whits body flowed naturally to the music.

"don't know, just know that there's a lot of people here that don't give a shit about anything. big house equals lots of money and lots of people equals popularity. clearly someone i wanna get to know," she bites her lip, grinding herself against me and a few others around.

"you have a boyfriend, whit."

"ari, shut up! he's an asshole just like your boyfriend, that's why they're best friends. i'm not taking his shit anymore, i want a real man and i want it tonight," her eyes gaze the room, scanning people's faces to see which guy will be the lucky winner.

"lux isn't an asshole, he's just selfish sometimes," my body started to buzz and heat up. i didn't realize but i finished off my cup of... whatever whitney poured in here.

she immediately stops dancing and singing, staring straight at me.

"you want another drink?" she takes my cup and before i could answer, she walked past me and into the kitchen.

when she came out, she had a lit blunt and another cup full of another liquid.

"hold this, i poured too much into your cup."

she handed me the blunt while she poured some of my drink into her cup.

as i stood there waiting with the little, rolled up stuffed paper in between my fingers... i couldn't help but try it.

i placed it between my dry lips before inhaling. the hot smoke filled my lungs causing me to pull it away and cough several times.

whit chuckles at me, ready to hand my drink back, "i knew you'd try it if i had you hold it, that's why i gave it to you."

"are you purposely trying to get my high and drunk?"

"maybe," she smirks, "you need to relax. plus, you drank by your own choice, i just poured it."

i rolled my eyes, taking another hit before giving it back to her.

even though i was stationary, i was feeling the effects of the alcohol and the weed. my whole body tingled, i was sweating, i hated it.

the room began to spin, everything was moving so fast and we had hardly been here for an hour.

"i need to step outside," i quickly step away from the floor to find the exit. finally after bumping into several sweaty, cross faded people, i found a glass door that leads to the backyard.

once i felt the cool breeze hit my hot skin, i sigh. i was doing fine and all of sudden a wave of stress came over me.

there was something about the way whitney looked at me when i stood up for lux. she looked overwhelmed before she rushed to get me another drink. that damn look she had.

"ariella, what's going on?" whits voice snapped me out of thoughts. she sat next to me in a lawn chair, waiting for me to respond.

"nothing, just think weed and I don't mix—"

"don't lie to me ariella," she shook her head at me like my mom does when she notices another flaw.

i hesitated to tell her the truth, thinking i should just continue on with the weed story and hope she believes me eventually. i don't, she'll know. she knows everything about everyone.

"why did you have that look earlier?" i finally looked at her and when i did, she froze. her body stiffened slightly, shifting in her spot.

"what look?"

"when i mentioned lux, you had this look on your face before you ran off to the kitchen."

"i think you're drunk ari—"

"now you're the one lying, don't lie to me whitney."

"don't use my words against me, ariella. you know i hate that and i have no idea what you're talking about," she stood up, getting ready to walk away but i grabbed her wrist.

"what are you hiding from me?" i squint slightly, trying to figure out what was going on.

"let go of me—"

"not until you tell me—"

"i told you i don't know! get off me!" she flung her arm down, yanking her wrist out of my grip.

she turns her back to me but before she could walk inside, i spoke up about her randomly acting out.

"if you have nothing to hide, then why are you getting so defensive? Jesus whit, we've been friends since second grade! you've told me everything and now all of a sudden you can't?"

she purses her lips together, walking back to me quickly. her face was inches from mine, i could feel her breath.

"whatever lux told you about tonight isn't true."

i was taken aback, "what?"

"don't play dumb ari. what did he say he was doing tonight? going to a game? doing homework?"

"after work he's headed to peytons. thought you would know since peytons your boyfriend?"

peyton and whitney have been on and off for a year. peyton is a player just like lux, they cheat and they manipulate, it's just what they do.

she's still with peyton the same reason i'm still with lux. they're good at being manipulative.

she shakes her head, "he's not going to peytons. peyton is his ride to some girls house, he's going to a girls house so they can fuck."

she was trying to hide that from me? all along i thought it was something simple but no, it was that my boyfriend was planning to cheat on me once again.

"why are you trying to hide that? what the fuck whitney, you're supposed to tell me this shit!" i didn't mean to swear, i hardly ever do that. i also didn't mean to push her but i did it without thinking.

my hands placed on her chest before giving her a hard push back but my body was given the same action when she pushed back.

"because you never listen anyway ariella! how many times has that piece of human trash cheat on you?" before i could blink she responded for me, "i can answer that since you seem to always look past his bullshit. over six times!"

it hasn't been that much.

has it?

"more than six fucking times have i warned you about him cheating and you're still with him because he gives you the attention you lack! what would make a difference this time? why would i keep wasting my time to not be heard!"

i couldn't even move my lips to respond nor was my brain processing properly to make out a sentence.

"i tried to be nice and get you out of the house but all night you've done nothing but complain! be fucking grateful ari!"

that damn sentence. if i hear that sentence one more time, i'm going to lose my mind.

"see! you know i'm right because you're just fucking standing there! you know you wouldn't have listened to me. you know you would've went back to him, kissed his ass and sucked his dick for him to keep you around—"

the feeling of force spread across my knuckles and hand and before i realize... i had punched whitney.

she hit my jaw and she hit it hard. i fell to the ground because what i had done was not thought out, i didn't mean to hurt her.

she kept hitting me over and over again until someone pulled her off. it was tall male wearing nothing but black clothes.

everything became a blur the second i hit the ground, all i felt was whitney's punches and the cold air.

"alright, sissy fight is over, party is back on!" a girl screams and the crowd of people start rushing back inside after letting out, "awes."

when did they all come out here?

my vision was slightly blurry but i could see enough. the guy kept pulling whitney back but before she gave up trying to get out of his strong grip, she looked at me on the ground and spat on me.

"ungrateful bitch."

||

i hated this chapter but i promise it gets better!

leave me some feedback in the comments and voting!

<3