Jeremy
"It's still a great party, even though Auriana and Brooke are hanging out with Jake and Jimmy the whole time," Nikki said.
"It's our own fault, we wanted Auriana and Jake to get together," Emma said. It was like she'd heard them.
"Hey, wanna dance," Auriana laughed as she walked over. She had left Jake at the table with snacks and drinks. She had been with Jake all night and felt a bit guilty about leaving the others alone.
"Sure!" Skylar, Scarlet, Emma, Nikki and Renee said in unison. The six of them walked to the dance floor. After five songs, Brooke joined the group. Jake, Jimmy and I sat on the edge of the stage.
"I want someone who loves me too!" I whined. I had never really felt like I liked anyone before.
"Then we'll fix that for you," Jimmy said. Jake, Jimmy, and I burst out laughing.
"But seriously, what kind of girl wants me?" Girls often gave me the stink eye. They didn't like me enough. Or maybe it was my humor that the others just didn't get.
"Hey, any girl would be lucky to have you as a boyfriend!" Jake said. He put a hand on my shoulder.
"But everyone thinks I'm weird."
"You are," Jake replied. I rolled my eyes and punched him in the arm.
"Ouch!" Jimmy and I burst out laughing while Jake rolled his eyes. They looked back at the girls who were all happily dancing together.
Skylar
"You were right all along," Auriana said. She was standing with her back to the boys.
"About what?" Nikki asked.
"Jake and me." We looked at her with a "duh" look.
"I'm going to get a drink," I said. I quickly walked away from the group. Ugh, why do I feel so weird around Brooke? Okay, she's with Jimmy now but why do I care so much? I don't like Jimmy at all! I thought to myself. Because I was so lost in my own thoughts I didn't realize my cup was overflowing until I felt the cold liquid running down my hand. That startled me out of my thoughts and I quickly put the cup down. Mrs. Taylor handed me a cloth.
"Just clean it up," she said with a friendly smile. I took the cloth with red cheeks. I tried to avoid her gaze, you couldn't keep anything secret from Brooke's mother, she found out about everything eventually.
"What's wrong Skylar?" I shrugged.
"I don't know myself... I think I'm jealous?"
"Because of Jimmy?" I nodded, embarrassed.
"Honey, being jealous isn't always a bad thing, it shows that you care about someone. You never have to be ashamed of that," Mrs. Taylor said. I gave her a weak smile.
"Thank you, Mrs. Taylor." I quickly drained my cup.
"No problem, honey. Would you like a piece of rainbow cake?" I nodded enthusiastically. Rainbow cake was one of the bakery's specialties.
"Yes, please." Mrs. Taylor cut off a piece of rainbow cake and handed it to me.
"Thank you."
Auriana
"Mmm," Nikki said. She shoved another piece of brownie into her mouth.
"If you want, we can make you a platter of whatever you want." The friends looked at Mrs. Taylor.
"If we want our own platter?" Renee asked. She knew Brooke's parents were always generous, but this might be a bit too much.
"Yes, tell me what you want."
"Oh, I want a platter of salmon wraps," I said enthusiastically. My mouth was watering at the thought.
"I want salmon wraps too," Jake said quietly.
"Brownies!" Nikki and Scarlet said in unison.
"Cupcakes!" Skylar, Emma, and Renee shouted. They couldn't resist the cupcakes from the bakery.
"Cookies!" Jimmy and Jeremy said in unison. Mrs. Taylor wrote everything down on her phone.
"I'm going to make them, can you handle it by yourself, honey?" Mrs. Taylor asked.
"Sure," Mr. Taylor laughed. Mrs. Taylor walked to the school kitchen.
"Brooke, can you take over? I have to use the bathroom," her father said. Brooke rolled her eyes and went behind the tables.
"Jimmy? Will you help me?" Brooke asked in a baby voice. Jimmy sighed and stood next to her, knowing he couldn't say no to her anyway. The rest of us walked back to the dance floor.
"This is the coolest party ever!" Emma cheered.
"Yes, really…" My eyes fell on someone in the corner, "…terrible!" My friends looked at me like I'd gone crazy.
"What?!" Renee asked in surprise. I gestured to the corner.
"Look over there." Before the others could say anything, I walked over.
"Hannah? Are you okay?" Hannah looked up but her gaze hardened immediately when she saw who it was. She was sitting on the ground with her face in her knees.
"Go away!" Her angry had absolutely no effect on me.
"No, I know it was wrong of Jake, but that doesn't mean you have to be mad at me, I didn't do anything." I sank to my knees and tried to look at her.
"I know," Hannah sighed. She buried her face in her drawn-up knees again.
"I know it hurts." I hesitated for a moment whether or not to put my hand on her shoulder, but decided against it.
"It's not that." She seemed to swallow the rest of her sentence.
"What is it then?" She was silent for a moment before answering
"I'm mad at myself, I thought he really liked me, but it turned out he was just using me and I didn't even realize it." Hannah looked at me with tearful eyes. I carefully held my arms open and Hannah almost immediately crawled into them and cried. I comforted her by stroking her hair.
"Shh, there's a sweet boy who will love you, but it's not Jake. You deserve a boy who will go all out for you."
"Thank you Auriana." She gave me a small smile.
"No problem." Hannah let go of me and stood up.
"I'm going to get something to drink." I stood up myself and checked to see if she was really okay.
"Okay, I'm going back to the rest."
"Hey Auriana…" Her words made me turn around.
"Friends?" Hannah asked uncertainly. I nodded in response with a smile, which made her smile.