Page 2 of Only Forever

“I think it’s a good idea for you to go out tonight,” my mom said, over her plate of food. I had told her about Chloe dragging me to the party. “This is your last year of high school and you should make the most of it.”

I sighed, stabbing the ziti with my fork. “I promised Chloe I would go, so I will. But I’d much rather stay home. We could have done a movie marathon.”

“Sorry, kiddo,” my mom replied. “Even though I would love that, I brought a lot of work home. I’ll probably be up late working.”

Even my mom was pushing me to go to the party. What was I, a social pariah that needed to get out more? Admittedly, I stayed home more often than not, but I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that.

We had just finished the dishes when the doorbell rang. I knew that would be Chloe coming over to get ready together. She was holding a large duffel bag when I opened the door, the seams practically bursting with how full it was.

“You know we’re just going to a party, right?” I said dryly as I eyed the bag she was carrying. Chloe shouted a hello to my mom as we went up the stairs to my room. “We’re not planning on moving in.”

“We need outfit options,” she said enthusiastically, dumping the bag on my bed and opening it. She rustled through it, pullingout several pieces of clothing. “I didn’t know if we wanted to go casual or glam it up a bit.”

“Definitely casual,” I said, looking skeptically at a glittery crop top she pulled out. “Oh, no,” I said, backing up when she tried to hold it up against my chest. “First of all, I’m like a foot taller than you, so nothing you have is going to fit me. Second of all, I’m not planning on going dressed like a disco ball.”

“Hmph. You’re no fun.” Chloe dropped the crop top, and walked over to my closet, flinging the door open. She groaned as she looked at the clothes hanging inside. I had to admit I wasn’t the most stylish when it came to my clothes. I preferred to dress in dark or neutral colors, and my outfit was almost aways jeans and a top. A sweater or turtleneck in the winter/fall, and a simple t-shirt when it was warmer. I had no interest in clothes, and just wanted to be comfortable.

“Wait,” Chloe exclaimed, her expression brightening. She practically skipped to her duffle bag and pulled out a pink sweater. She held it out in front of her, beaming. “This will look amazing on you.”

I studied the sweater critically. Despite being a sweater, it was short-sleeved, which would be perfect for an early spring evening. But there were gold threads weaved throughout, which made it seem like a glowing puff of cotton candy. It seemed too frivolous and girly for my liking. I glanced down at the navy tee I was currently wearing.

“Can’t I just wear what I’m wearing now? I have nobody to impress.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Yes, you do! You need to impress ME! I’m tired of you always hiding in plain clothes. You’re too gorgeous to try and be a plain Jane.”

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “I think you need to look up the meaning of gorgeous.”

Chloe waved her hand dismissively, cutting off anything more I had to say. “Just try it on. I love this sweater but it’s too long on me so I never wear it. It’ll be perfect for you.”

I knew Chloe would never relent until I tried it on, so I did her bidding. I turned to look at myself in the mirror, and I had to admit she wasn’t wrong. While it may have been too small for her, the bottom of the sweater just hit the top of my jeans. But it was more form-fitting than I had thought, and I wasn’t sure if I liked that or not. It clearly outlined my shape, although I wasn’t curvy by any means. My chest was like the rest of me—average.

“It’s perfect,” Chloe squealed. “It even looks good with those damn jeans you’re always wearing.”

Before I could open my mouth to object, Chloe had pulled out a humongous makeup bag and was dragging me to my desk, pushing me down to sit in the chair. It would be too tiring to argue with her about the sweater, so I decided to just go with it. It was just a sweater, after all, with a modest neckline that showed nothing.

I even let her do my makeup for me, although I insisted on a natural look. I was normally just a chapstick girl, and I couldn’t stand the feeling of makeup being caked on my face.

“Look at how good you look,” Chloe said, holding a mirror in front of me. I had to admit that she knew what she was doing. My eyes looked much bigger than normal, and the eyeshadow she had used made my eyes look deep and luminous instead of the ordinary brown they usually were. With a hint of blush and a pink, almost nude, lipstick, she had nailed the natural look.

Chloe got ready herself, putting on a short pleated black skirt and a cherry red top. With her makeup done, she somehow made herself look like a sexy pixie fairy. She twirled around in front of my full length mirror.

“What do you think?”

“Now that’s what you call gorgeous,” I said. Chloe was a natural when it came to putting together clothes and makeup, and it was a skill I had always admired.

We still had time to kill before heading to the party, so we hung out in my room, listening to music and talking about anything and everything, from our latest tv show obsession to gossiping about our fellow classmates.Thiswas my idea of a perfect Friday night, and I wished we could stay in instead of going to the party, but I knew Chloe would be crestfallen if I backed out, and I didn’t want to disappoint her.

We got into my car when it was time to head over, and despite it only being a ten minute drive over to Dan’s house, it might as well have been to a different planet. Modest homes gave way to large mansions, where elaborate landscaping blocked views of most of the houses.

I turned onto Dan’s street. Despite living far removed from the wealthy section of town, I knew this neighborhood well because I had spent much of my elementary school years here. Jason lived a couple of streets away from Dan and we had split our time equally between his house and mine. One of the things I had missed with my friendship with Jason fizzling out was his parents. They had both been really kind to me, particularly his mother. Especially when my father left.

I shook those thoughts away. I didn’t want to be in a melancholy mood. Despite not initially wanting to go to the party, there was no turning back now and I might as well make the best of it.

When we pulled up to Dan’s house, there were already lots of cars parked out front and tons of people on the lawn. There were string lights criss-crossing the front lawn of the house, giving plenty of illumination since it was already pitch-black.

“Tracy and Monica are already here,” Chloe said, looking down at her phone as she texted. “I told them we just got here and would find them.”

After maneuvering my car behind a huge Hummer, we made our way to Dan’s house. The door was wide open so we just let ourselves in. I wondered what Dan’s parents thought of him having these huge parties all the time, but I knew they traveled a lot and often weren’t home, so they probably didn’t care as long as nothing was damaged. Dan always got away with a lot because his dad was friends with the police chief, so they never busted his parties for underage drinking.

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