The Rebel Girl’s Fated Love

The Invite

Tiffany's P.O.V.

Moving from Georgia so recently, I was surprised that I was actually invited to this party tonight.  It's the first party of sophomore year, and I had just moved to Santa Ana, California only at the end of last year.  Not many people know me, only my best friend Melanie knows me.  Well, no one actually knows the true me, only the things they've heard about me from school.  I noticed last year that when I moved here, everyone loved to talk about me, but no one actually attempted to learn anything about me.  I can't say that everything they've said about me wasn't true, though, like the fact that I got kicked out of my old school for fighting too much.  My parents decided it would be best for us to move back to Santa Ana to be closer to the rest of our family.  

You see, we moved to Georgia when I was five because my dad got a promotion with his company that was too good to resist.  However, what people don't tell you about moving to such a small town, is that there's a lot of big drama that comes along with it.  Everyone was always up in my business, anything I ever did was spread completely around town before school even started the next morning.  So, I made it known that I'm not the one to mess with, seeing as I've been training in martial arts since I was a kid.  However, the principal of my old school finally put his foot down when I got into a fight with the wrong person, his son.  He expelled me without even listening to my side of the story.  It wasn't my fault that his son had spread around school that he took my virginity, bragging about it like it was some kind of victory, even though it didn't actually happen.  

That's how we ended up here, though, in sunny California again.  My parents moved me here under one condition, that I only fight from now on in a proper gym, to which I agreed.  They felt that a bigger school would benefit me better, and my grandparents being around to help them out with me, would benefit them better with being able to handle me.  Unfortunately, high schools all work the same, though.  Word soon got out as to why I had left my old school, and the whispers quickly began.  The only person I ever noticed not whispering to anyone else about me when I walked by, though, was this really shy girl with jet black hair, who was always reading books in the commons area during lunch time.  She had such a sad vibe that surrounded her all of the time, never talking to anyone and always keeping to herself.  If she wasn't reading, she had her ear buds in listening to music.  I saw her at the skate park one day skateboarding, something me and her have in common as well.  I decided after only two weeks at Santa Ana High that I wanted to make her my friend, getting the feeling that she needed me just as much as I needed her.

Melanie and I clicked right away, having a lot of things in common.  We listened to the same music, have the same hobbies, and even have the same crude sense humor.  We meshed perfectly together.  When Melanie finally decided she could trust me, she confessed to me about everything she had been through in the past year.  I was completely spot on when I said that she had a sad vibe, and believe me when I say that she had a reason to be.  Tucker Anderson, the school's heartthrob, had been her best friend since the second grade.  When high school started, he decided he was too good and popular for Melanie, and ditched her for the cool crowd.  Only a month after she lost her best friend, her dad left her and her mom, abandoning the two of them.  The girl had been through hell, and it was very noticeable.  I decided to take her to the fight gym with me one day, because she refused to talk about anything emotional with me.  I figured that if she wouldn't talk about it with me, she could at least express it through fighting.  She caught on quickly, impressing the s**t out of my coach.  Now she's become a part of our gym family and is thriving from it, becoming one of the best fighters in the state.  Even better than me, if I do say so myself.

"Please, Mel, please come to the party with me tonight!  It's the first one of the year and we were invited!  Aren't you curious as to how the high and mighty popular kids spend their Saturday nights?", I beg Melanie as I talk to her over the phone.

Melanie lets out a frustrated sigh, "Tiff, you know that if it was any other party, I would go.  This party is being thrown by Chad Cooper, though, which means Tucker is going to be there since they're best friends."

I stayed silent on my end of the line, thinking over what I could say to convince her, "What if we go with Gloria, and if you see Tucker she can take you home and I'll just stay there myself?  Please?  What happened to always being up for adventure and experiencing everything together?", I plead with her one last time.

Melanie groans on the other end of the line, and I instantly know that she's going to give in, "Fine!  If Gloria goes, then I will go.  I don't want you staying there by yourself, though.  We will ask Parker and Gregory to go with us too. If I see Tucker, I'll just find something else to do with the two of them, and Gloria can stay with you."

I squeal at her, surely deafening her from my sudden outburst, but I don't care, "Yes!  Thank you!  You call the guys and I'll call Gloria.  You know that she's always up for a party!  Plus, Parker doesn't care what you guys are doing as long as he's hanging out with you.  It's the perfect plan!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah.", she says to me with an annoyed tone, "What time does it start again?"

"It starts at seven, which means I'm coming by at five to get dressed with you.  Gloria can pick the two of us up and we will meet at Parker's house.", I quickly tell her before she hangs up.

"Fine!  I'll see you at five.", she says to me.

"Thank you!  Love you, sweet cheeks!", I tell her quickly, the line ending as soon as I say it.

I search through my closet to look for the perfect outfit, finally deciding to wear a green sequin tank top and black ripped skinny jeans.  I pack my outfit, hair products, and makeup into a small duffel bag before walking downstairs to ask my mom for a ride to Melanie's house.  Once my mom drops me off, I walk straight into Melanie's house without knocking, knowing her mom is at work right now and that Melanie is expecting me.  We take turns showering and I do my makeup and hair in her mirror as she lays on her bed flipping through a magazine.  I look out of her bedroom window when something moving catches my eye, only to see Tucker in his bedroom getting dressed for the party as well.  

Unfortunately for Melanie, along with everything that had happened between the two of them, she still had to live next to him and his bedroom is still directly across from hers.  She tries to avoid him the best she can, but she's at least becoming more comfortable with sitting on the front porch of her house now, even if he's outside.  The two always just ignore each other, which makes it easier for her.  I'm sure she would hate it even more if he was friendly towards her at home, but ignored her at school.  I do, however, see the pain in her eyes when he brings girls over.  I don't understand what that's about, though, seeing as they had only been friends and nothing else.

I quickly close her bedroom curtain so she can't see him getting dressed for the party.  I don't want her backing out before I even get the chance to get her out of her house.  Not to mention, Tucker doesn't deserve to be able to gaze out of his window at her.  She's absolutely beautiful, a blind man could see that.  The only reason she doesn't click with the popular crowd is because she's into different things, voices her opinions, and has a crude sense of humor.  They all think she's weird, but I think she's completely awesome.  Even if he doesn't like her personality, it doesn't mean that he doesn't fantasize about her while he does dirty things to himself.  So, I'm putting a stop to it before he even has the chance, by shutting her curtains and not giving him the satisfaction of being able to see her laying on her bed. 

"Are you almost ready?", I hear her say, a bored look on her face as I stare back at her through the mirror.

I grin at her playfully, "Just fixing up the final touches."

"About time.", she says as she rolls her eyes, before going back to her magazine.

Melanie isn't as girly as me.  Even though we both have a punk rock style, I'm the one who puts more focus into my look.  I love to wear makeup, not because I'm trying to impress anyone, but just simply because I like it.  Melanie wears no makeup at all, because she doesn't like the effort it takes.  She's gorgeous no matter what, though.  I also wear clothes that accentuate my curves a little more than she does.  Like the fact that I look like I'm dressed for a party tonight, yet Melanie is dressed in black cut off jeans shorts and an ACDC tee that she's cut into a crop top with a flannel shirt to tie around her waist, because she likes to be more comfortable than anything.  Another example, I'm wearing heeled combat boots tonight, yet Melanie is wearing simple black converse.

"All done.", I tell her as I shove my mascara wand back into it's tube.

"Finally!", she groans as she sits up on the bed and makes her way towards the door.

Before she even opens her bedroom door to go downstairs, we hear the doorbell ring, meaning Gloria is here.

Melanie looks back at me with furrowed brows, "How are you always able to finish up right when it's time to go?"

"It's called having great time management skills, sweet cheeks.", I tell her as I wink at her.

She rolls her eyes at me before turning around and walking out of her room.  I walk down the stairs behind her and we both greet Gloria happily, following her to her car once we've finished hugging her.  Gloria is a year older than us and is the only one of us that can drive.  Her dad is our mixed martial arts coach, which means Gloria is a fighter as well, seeing as he's been training her since she could walk.  She hates the way he pushes her so hard, though, and acts out rebelliously because of it.  Once we're in the car, we drive to the next town over where Parker and Gregory live.  Parker and Gregory don't go to the same school as us, but go to the same parties since we hang out with the same crowd.  I secretly think Gregory is gay, but he hasn't came out of the closet yet.  I also think Parker is secretly in love with Melanie, but she doesn't want a relationship, so he just acts cool about it and they're more of a friends with benefits type of deal, making out at parties from time to time.

"You look beautiful as always.", I hear Parker whisper to Melanie as him and Gregory slide into the car, before he leans over and kisses her on the cheek.

I can feel Melanie's tension radiating from the backseat the second he kisses her cheek, but it quickly dissipates once we all start joking around with one another as we drive down the road.  We pull up to Chad Cooper's house and I'm shocked to see so many teenagers already out in his yard and roaming about the house.  My old school in Georgia only had about five hundred kids in their high school, where as, Santa Ana has about three thousand.  It's not like I haven't been to a party before, because I had, but that was in Georgia.  I had told myself it was going to be bigger than the parties I was use to, but I wasn't expecting this.

All of us climb out of the car once Gloria parks it, and I can feel my heartbeat speeding up with anticipation.  Tonight is going to be a memorable night, I can feel it.