Rivals to Lovers

18. Big Halloween BASH pt. 1

*The Next day*

I sighed staring at the costume on my bed. Why did I ever agree to go to this party in the first place.. It's bad enough I have to deal with Brianna at school but at HER party? Not to mention Braxton and Ashton.. I sat down defeated I grabbed my pillow and held it to my face letting out a scream. I fell back on my bed and stared at the ceiling.. Oh El what did you get yourself into. I picked up my phone and checked for new notifications I noticed a message from Ashton and sat up. I clicked on it and the text read "Hey, hope everything is okay, figured i'd check in on you since you got stuck at home." I feel like i'm living in a paralell universe. My bestfriend became my enemy and my enemy is becoming.. well, as much as I hate to say it a crush.. I sighed and texted back "I'm good, thanks for checking on me." Send, god that sounded so awkward.

"Ella!" I heard my mom call from downstairs. I stood up and opened my bedroom door "Whats up?" I yelled while peaking my head out of my room. "Can you come down here for a second?" She yelled back. I rolled my eyes and made my way down the stairs. She was putting her shoes on and seemed like she was in a rush. "I wanted to tell you Mr. Gray asked if I could work overtime tonight at the firm. Will you be okay here by yourself?" She asked. If she isn't here it'll be super easy to sneak out. "Oh uh yeah thats fine, i'll be okay" I said with a half smile. She smiled back and put her hand on my cheek. "That's my girl, I love you sweetie."

"Love you too mom" I replied. "Okay off I go!" She opened the front door and ran out closing it behind her.

I let out a sigh I had been holding. Then a thought crossed my mind.. No there is no way Mr. Gray would know about that party. I'm worried for nothing. I checked the time on my phone 7 P.M, I've never felt this anxious before in my life.. I heard my text tone go off and checked it. "HeyI overheard my dad talking to your mom about going in for some overtime. Does that mean you can go to the party?" Ashton texted. My eyes widened and I heard my heartbeating in my ears. Shit..

I tried thinking of a lie on the spot.. "I'm sorry I really wanted to go but i'm super sick.. I must've caught a cold at Liam's" I replied. I mentally slapped myself that was such a stupid response. I'm just digging myself deeper. I saw the text bubbles pop up on the screen my heart was in my stomach. "Do you need anything? I don't have to go to the party." He replied. I felt a flutter from his response.. He used to bully me so much and now it's like a whole new person.. "No no i'll be okay you go have fun :)" I texted back. "I won't have too much fun trust me" He said.

"Me either, i'll be stuck in bed all day.." I lied. "That sucks i'm sorry, you sure you don't need anything?" He asked again. "Nope, I promise i'm okay.. Just gonna get some sleep." I replied and turned off my screen.

4 hours later..

I looked in the mirror and couldn't believe who was looking back at me.. It's almost time to leave for the party so I decided to get ready. I curled my hair, and watched a video on makeup ideas.. I did my best but the person looking back at me didn't look like me one bit. The angel costume was very short and I could def tell there was some cheek exposed. I slipped the heels on with the costume and looked again.. I posed in different ways trying to make myself feel better but nothing was working.. I heard my phone ringing and walked over to my nightstand to grab it. "Hey Liam" I said as I asnwered. "Hey i'm here, you ready?" He asked.

"Yup be down in a sec" I said as I hung up. I grabbed my phone and carefully made my way down the stairs so I wouldn't trip. This is the first time i've ever really worn heels. I swung open the front door and shut it behind me. His bright headlights blinded me so I covered my face as I walked to his car. I opened the passenger side door and slid in. "Liam, why the hell do you your headlights on?" I scolded him. "I didn't see your moms car so I figured she wasn't here" He shrugged. "She isn't but what if she was!" I scolded some more. He laughed as I rolled my eyes. I looked over at him and noticed his devil costume. He had also put some red color contacts in his eyes. "Damn you went all out mr devil." I laughed. "Does it look okay?" He asked. "I think it looks good how about mine? I feel like it looks stupid." I replied. I noticed him look up and down at my costume and his face became serious. "El, you're the most beautiful angel i've ever seen.." There was a brief silence and he cleared his throat as he scratched the back of his head and looked away. "I mean well ya know not in a weird way.." He nervously said. I laughed "Thank you Liam, let's get going" I said as he put the car in revserse and backed out of my driveway.

We drove for about 20 minutes and I heard music blaring. I saw a huge house lit up in the distance and a bunch of other cars parking everywhere. We pulled up the long driveway and the house came into view. "Holy f**k, this is Brianna's house?" I asked.

"I was thinking the same thing.." He said. "Let's park there" I pointed to a empty spot in between to other cars. Liam put it in park and looked over at me. "Let's do this." He said as he got out. I got out and closed the door "Let's just hope everyone is too drunk to notice us." I said as we began walking up the driveway to the house. I noticed at least 60 people outside as we got closer and felt my heart sink.. I ignored it and just kept walking alongside Liam. "Dayumm" I heard a group of guys say as they stared at me walking. I ignored them and kept walking as I heard whistles and other things. There was another group circled around a beer keg. "CHUG CHUG CHUG" They all screamed as one of them was upside down with his mouth on the keg with his legs being held by his two friends. "Let's go around back I think that's a good place to start" Liam yelled over the loud people and music. I nodded my head as he grabbed my hand and led to toward the back yard. There was people walking past us with red cups laughing as we made our way down the little walkway. We stopped in our tracks when we got to the entrance and stared at all of the people. Brianna had a huge in ground swimming pool and hot tub. It looked like people had brought swimsuits. The pool had at least 15 people in it alone and the people standing around the pool were laughing and dancing with cups in their hands. "Maybe we should get a drink?" Liam said.

"That sounds like a good plan" I yelled back. I noticed a little drink table with a guy standing behind it. I pointed and started making my way through the people "Excuse us, sorry" I said as we past through. The guy standing at the drink bar was Nash.. Great. "El? Oh shitttt I never expected to see you here what's up" He laughed. "Yeah it's not really my thing, just give us two beers please" I said. "You got it" He grabbed two red cups and started filling them up. "By the way" He said as he set them down "You're lookin real good tonight" He bit his lip. My eyes widened and Liam stepped infront of me. Nash put his hands up in defense "Leave her alone Nash" Liam said. "Hey man calm down, I was just givin her a compliment.." He laughed. Liam rolled his eyes and grabbed our drinks "Lets go" He said as I followed him. We walked into the house from the back patio door and the house was full of people. Everyone in different costumes made it hard to tell who was who. I scanned looking for Brianna, Brax or ashton. I didn't wanna bump into any of them. "Here" Liam handed me my drink. I grabbed it "Thanks" I smiled and took a sip making a foul face. "God this is disgusting, I never knew beer would taste so bad" I said. Liam laughed "It gets better the more drunk you get"

Liam and I awkwardly made our way to the kitchen to stand and talk. There was a bunch of other people in there getting snacks and talking amongst themselves.