After Brian was caught eavesdropping and asked for money in return for his silence, Paola tried telling him that she'd tell their mom of all the times she caught him invading her privacy for weeks. He then said that nothing she can tell their mom will compare to him snitching about us going to that party.

Paola pointed out that he'd be snitching on me as well because Ms.Ramirez is the kind of parent that would definitely go and let my mom know of everything that Paola and I were doing if she found out.

I told him I'd give him a kiss on the cheek or something and he didn't budge and told me that Paola needs to 'cough up' money so he can start saving for 'our future.' I didn't know how to respond so I just let her handle it.

After arguing for ten minutes, he accepted five dollars after he initially set out for ten saying that Paola would give him more opportunities to earn money again.

Now on our way to my house, Paola was telling me everything that I needed to know about the party.

Apparently, a guy named Cyrus was throwing the party at his house as a 'Back to School' sort of thing. Not like any of the people going really care about school to celebrate but, hey, I guess any reason is a reason to throw a party.

His parents had gone away on a trip due to it being the anniversary of the day they met so they left for an entire week.

After a couple of minutes of driving some more, we pulled into my driveway and she turned the key in the ignition stepping out of the car making sure to leave her duffle in the car.

Once we walk into my house, we're met with the smell of Jollof Rice as it appears that my mom is cooking again.

Walking towards the direction of the smell and into the kitchen, my mom smiles at us and says, "I was waiting for you people to come back! How was school?"

Paola and I sit on the stools near the counter as we speak to my mom who is in front of the stove and taking the pan of rice out of the oven. We both respond with smiles of our own telling her about our classes, including AP Calc.

"Well, I'm glad that you both are doing well after today, go wash your hands so I can start plating rice for you both." she goes to turn towards the stove again before Paola stops her.

"That sounds great, Mrs.Onuoha. I actually wanted to ask if I could take Karma back to my place so that she can help me with this Calculus assignment we have?"

My mom looks a both of us raising her eyebrows. "How long would you be gone?" she asks me looking at Paola

I don't know how to tell her that I'd need to sleep over without making a complete fool of myself but I end up making a fool of myself anyway because instead of saying anything I start to stutter, "Well um--I--uh" Paola cuts me off.

"I think it'd be fun if we had a sleepover. I could take her to school tomorrow and everything." She smiles widely at my mom. My mom looks as if she is actually thinking it over and I'm surprised.

If I were the one to ask she would definitely have already said no and then would've asked my dad to follow suit with what she says. She's ironically always trusted Paola even though Paola is always the one coming up with situations to get me to 'live a little' even after knowing how strict my parents are.

"As long as you people are only going over there to do your homework. Then I guess it's fine. Karma don't let me hear that you're causing any trouble over there." she warns me as if I'm the bad seed in this room but I just nod my head and say 'I won't.'

When the conversation ends, my father comes home from work, walking straight into the kitchen and greets the three of us saying, 'Good Afternoon.'

My mom tells him that I'm going over to Paola's and he stops and looks at all of us. "What did we get you that new phone for if you're not going to use it to video call in these situations?"

She tells him that we're just doing homework and that Paola will take me to school and bring me back tomorrow. He sighs and says 'ok' before walking upstairs.

"Karma, go pack what you will wear for tomorrow then come back downstairs, you guys should eat before you go." She begins to grab two plates for Pao and I. Me and her head upstairs to go find a dress in my closet.

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After not liking any of the clothes in my closet, Paola and I conclude that I'm gonna borrow a dress from her when we make a quick detour back to her place to let her mom know that she'll be 'staying over at my place.'

We say bye to my parents and drive back to her place, stopping for gas because of how many trips we've taken and are going to take by the end of the night.

My parents and Paola's mom trust each other so when they found out that we wanted to go to the other's house they didn't think to call and confirm each other which we were thankful for.

Paola goes to her closet and thinks it'd be cute if we matched so she got me another little black dress to go with hers which I had no problem with since we always loved to match when we were younger so it'd be nice to do it again.

Paola folds the dress up and puts it in a smaller purse and then motions to me that we should go downstairs. When we can get down there we see her mother and wave at her saying bye and that we'll see her tomorrow.

Getting inside her car, Paola makes sure we pull off before she starts to speak, "See!" she laughs loudly, "I told you that all you gotta do is follow my lead and you'll be fine." she grins proudly at me and quickly diverting her eyes back to the road. She decides to drive us to the 4 seasons hotel and pulls up in the parking lot.

Getting a room was easy since Paola was legally an adult, something that I wouldn't be until Halloween when I turn eighteen.

Once we get into our room we immediately start to get ready. School ended at around two and we've been running around for about 4 hours so it's now 6 PM. The party starts at eight.

We spend time getting ready for those two hours.

If there's anything I learned from my parents, there is no such thing as being on time when it comes to situations like this one. You can always be fashionably late.

Once Paola and I finished getting ready we decided that we would call an uber because she wanted to drink tonight and I didn't know if I was down to do anything right now but just in case, I don't want to be the one to have to drive back.

When the Uber called Paola to let them know they were outside we rushed out and got inside ready for the 30-minute drive that awaits us.

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We walked inside Cyrus' home at around 9 PM. Exactly an hour later than when it started and the party was in full swing. Cyrus lived in a home fit for a king in what looked like a mansion. I wonder what kind of Job his parents would've worked to live like this.

And where do I sign up?

I didn't even know that people in our area lived this extravagantly. The beginning of the song, 'Neva Cared' by Polo G had just started as we looked towards the right to find that there was in fact a DJ providing the music.

I felt the bass of the song beating in my chest and swarming my eardrums as I stand confused next to Paola. She's turning her head looking to see if we can find people that we know but then gives up when she says, "Come. Let's go get drinks." she grabs my arm and pulls me over to the kitchen as I follow behind her lowkey regretting coming to here already.

I'm not made for this social shit. I don't do these types of things and I've never been one to go to parties. But it would be really sad if, a couple of years down the line, my kids ask me what I did in high school and all I can say is that I studied and did a few after school activities here and there with no type of wacky story or even remotely interesting story to tell them.

So I guess I should try to loosen up. It's not every day that I go to parties anyway.

Paola lets go of my hand as we go to the kitchen and we see different kinds of bottles of various drinks. From hard whiskey to chardonnay and tequila to cheap beer, the drinks were literally lined up in these little drink dispensers allowing people to mix drinks if they wanted.

I decided that I'd start off with chardonnay. I don't know if I'm a lightweight or anything but I'm not trying to get too drunk. I think I'll aim for getting a bit tipsy and call it a night.

I mean after all who would be sane enough to take care of Paola since she's definitely a lightweight and she knows it.

She starts to chug a bottle of Heineken beer and her face twists as she coughs and says, "ew." and then continues to chug it down a few seconds later.

I start to feel uneasy as I sip on my wine. I feel a pair of eyes watching me and I begin to look around before settling on this boy all the way across the room sitting on a stool in the living area just outside of the kitchen. His eyes are holding mine in a sharp gaze as he stares at me hard. I notice it's the guy that I almost fell on today after Calculus.

He's with these two other guys. A tall brown-skin guy wearing a beanie and another brown-haired boy. They're all wearing black jeans and black tops with the exception of the other brown-haired boy wearing blue denim and a Justin Bieber stadium tour hoodie in yellow..

His rude ass told me I needed to start walking with my eyes open even after I apologized.

I doubt that he's over it as he looks at me over the rim of his red solo cup. Drinking the unknown substance, I watch as his Adam's apple bobs when he takes a sip. Lowering the cup from his lips he runs his hands through his hair and his eyes move from mine to scan me up and down.

His eyes stop at the hem of my dress before looking back up to meet mine again, slowly licking his lips. I'm assuming he's done with his drink when he drops it and crosses his arms.

Hasn't someone stepped on the back of his fucking shoe when he's walking or something before? You'd think this man has never made a mistake with the way he's sexually harassing me with his eyes.

Feeling uncomfortable I decide to move from his gaze. I'm not gonna let Mr.Grumpy Pants ruin the one night I have off.

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