9
MOST LIKELY TO PARTY
“I still can’t believeyou convinced me to come to this stupid party,” I say as Lily pulls up the street leading to Hardy’s house. We’re only thirty minutes late, and cars are already lining the street. We’re going to have to walk at least a block to get there.
“What else were you going to do, study?”
“Uh, that’s exactly what I was going to do.”
Lily shakes her head like I’ve just confessed to murder.
In my defense, the words sounded much better in my mind. But as people walk up to Hardy’s, I realize just how stupid that was. By the looks of things, every senior from Citrus Prep is in attendance. While Hardy might not notice my absence, he is one of the only people who stuck by me after what my dad did. I should be here instead of locked inside my room working on equations.
Lily turns the car off and rummages through her center console looking for her lip gloss. When she finds it, sheflips her visor down and puts it on with the help of the mirror. I pull mine down, too and look at the makeup Lily did. My eyes are rimmed with more eyeliner than an emo band from the early 2000s. She’s adamant that I look good, but I feel like I’m playing dress up.
When she’s done putting on her lip gloss, Lily looks back at me. “Hardy is only going to turn eighteen once. His parents went all out for his birthday. Let’s have a little fun.”
I sigh and look up at Hardy’s house. It’s a huge two-story building with a giant yard, an amazing pool, and even a small pickleball court they poured last year when Mr. Porter really got into the sport. Tonight, there’s a live DJ playing music, and I can already hear the bass from where we’re parked.
“You’re right,” I say.
“I know.” She puts her lip gloss back. “You can take a break.”
She makes an excellent point. I haven’t thought about anything but Citrus Scholar for years. Maybe a break is what I need.
“Plus, you look too good to stay home.” She waggles her brows at me.
I run my hands over the dress she convinced me to wear. It’s from her closet and way shorter than what I’m used to wearing, but Lily said my legs looked great from all that running, and I needed to show them off. Now that we’re here, I’m feeling less confident, but I’m not going to make her turn around now just so I can get dressed into something more modest.
“And you look beautiful,” I respond. I’m not just saying that because I feel like I need to repay her compliment. She curled her hair, put on falsies, and even bought a new dress just for tonight. It’s green and brings out the color of her eyes. Lily is naturally gorgeous, but even so, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her look this good.
I know it’s because it’s Hardy’s eighteenth. Lily may not want to admit that she likes Hardy back, but the effort she put into her appearance tonight says otherwise.
She smiles at me. “Okay, let’s go.”
When we get inside, the party is in full-swing. Lily leads the way as we push through the house looking for Hardy. She wants to wish him a happy birthday as soon as possible. The bass from the speakers vibrates in my chest as we walk through the different rooms. Each one is filled with tables that are covered with food and mocktails.
As we make our way toward the back of the house, I can see the backyard. A makeshift dance floor is where the pickleball court usually is. String lights draped over poles mark off the space, and several people are out there moving to the music coming from the speakers. Others are at tall round tables scattered about the yard.
This party is insane, like something you’d see in a movie.
“There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.” Hardy appears from nowhere and pulls Lily into a bear hug lifting her off the ground. When he sets her down, he steps back and stares dumbly at her. “You look…wow.”
Hardy is dressed up more thanusual, too. His hair is freshly cut and styled, and he’s wearing a button-down rolled up to the elbows with dress pants.
Lily blushes as she stares back. “You look good, too.”
“Hey, Ella,” he eventually says to me, his eyes never leaving Lily.
“Nice party,” I say.
He rubs the back of his neck. “Thanks. Only child benefits. My parents want to make sure I have a party to remember.”
“You definitely won’t forget this.” Lily stretches her arms out. “Feels a little over the top.”
“Yeah, well, I think they’re trying to show me how great it is here. They’re still freaking out about me looking at out-of-state schools, and I think this might be a last ditch effort to get me to stay close.”
Lily laughs and takes a step toward him. “Is it working?”
