When I talk to or befriend most people I try to be aware of where I stand with them. Some people don't exactly fit into what I have planned though. For example, I wouldn't say that Aradia and I were exactly friends but we weren't exactly enemies either. I guess. So when I was invited to her party, truth be told, I was a little mystified. I am pretty sure I was solely invited because I am dating Tavros. They had always been great friends. I suspect at one point she had liked him and he had liked her, but it's not like I can even do anything about that. I wasn't the jealous type. Well not consistently. So when the evening of the party came around, I was getting dressed waiting for Tavros to get home from work. I didn't have much fun at these parties but I had skipped the last few so I figured I should at least make an appearance with Tav to this one.

There was no doubt whatsoever about who would be there. Eridan, the unfriendly hipster. Feferi, obligatory rich girl who wasn't exactly snobby, though somewhat condescending. At least when I am rude to you I am up front. Sollux, the somehow pimp. Karkat and Gamzee will be there without a doubt and where ever those two go Terezi and Nepeta follow.

I always feel really out of place whenever I am with that clique but Tavros fits in much better for the most part. It's not always just them though, random stragglers always show up. Sometimes there are people I don't know at the party but it's not a big deal. Not going to lie, I mostly spend the whole time with Tavros anyway, I get the feeling that a vast majority of the people there don't like me much anyways. There may be a few exceptions, but I don't care much for them either.

I applied some dark burgundy lipstick onto my lips before dabbing it off on the sides. Who needs losers like them? The only person I need is Tavros. I couldn't tell if the bitter feeling in my stomach was from disappointment or determination.

I push the thoughts out of my head and focus on calling Tavros. He picks up on the seventh ring because he is never prompt but I suppose I am not either. "Hey Tav, are you getting off work now?" I ask him as soon as he says hello.

"Um, no... I have a meeting, we talked about this. Didn't we? Why, what is today?" He seemed concerned but I just frowned.

I could feel a sigh building up inside of me. "It was just Aradia's party remember? I guess it doesn't matter now, I will just skip it. Hey, do you want to see that one action movie we were talking about the other day? We could have a lazy day today." I was beginning to warm up to the idea. The only shame was that my make up was perfect and no one would get to see it. Dark smokey eyeshadow and dark lipstick, always a classic. I was wearing a black short dress with leggings that matched the print of the galaxy. Long story short, I looked fabulous for nothing. Well for my boyfriend at least, but I am pretty sure he would be more happy to see less clothes than to see me dressed up.

"You still there?"

"Yeah, sorry. You should go though, Vris. It's not like you have ever really talked to anyone but me at those parties anyway. They're all nice... well. Most of them are nice." He tried to cover up his slip. "I miss you and I am sorry I am coming home late! We can have that movie date. Just later rather than sooner."

We talked a little more going into a little more detail about what we would do on this date before I ultimately decided I would go to the party. If only because I truly did look fabulous. We said our goodbye's and hung up.

I briefly wondered as I put blush on if I was even welcome since I didn't have Tavros with me. I decided I didn't care and walked out the door and hailing a cab. I was unlucky and got the trashiest one probably around. It was beat up looking and smelled like a dumpster. I held my nose and looked out the window the whole time wondering about what to expect.

I got along well enough with Nepeta, Gamzee, and Karkat. Or at least they didn't outright hate me. Not to give off the impression that I am a horrible person that everyone hates. Just... I didn't click well with everyone. And definitely not with Aradia. But I had no time to worry about that as the taxi was quickly approaching Aradia's house. It was kind of crappy, just like my apartment, but it was a house so everyone was as loud as they wanted to be. Even though we were all twenty-two now and had been drinking for several years, there was nothing quite like being really loud and enjoying it.

I threw the cab driver his fare and slammed the door shut. As I walked up her crumbling sidewalk making extra effort to be stable in my wedges I somehow made it to the front of the house. I took a moment to compose myself before I finally knocked on the door.

It only took two seconds for it to be opened by none other than Aradia. "Hi!" She grinned at me. "Come on in, everyone's here already. Where is Tavros?" Her smile disappeared a little bit but not by much. Aradia used to be a very dark person who you could barely have a conversation with. It was really irritating to be around her. But this new cheery version was almost as irritating. She changed out of nowhere, going from wearing all black and dressing like every day was a funeral to wearing pink and freely laughing at everything. For awhile I thought we could be friends maybe but I still feel apprehensive about her for apparently no good reason. As she grinned at me I took a mental note of everything about her house. Like I said before, dumpy. Wood paneling on the walls and orange shag carpet upon which some figures were laying. Others were crowded around the television or just standing in groups.

"He's just really busy," I brushed the question off. I knew I was going to have to keep explaining this all night. I had been left in an awkward situation, I decided as I assessed everyone who was in the room with me. Gamzee was staring at the television in shock, mystified but what appeared to be a commercial for a new faygo flavor. He was a few cans short of a six pack of faygo, if you catch my drift. Terezi was sitting by him looking agitated. She probably naturally gravitated toward him considering how Karkat almost always was with Gamzee at these things. He must have not shown up yet, I supposed.

Terezi was another character. She was born blind but functioned fine without the use of her sight. She always carried around a cane that I never really saw her use. I have been on the business end of it though, she had been known to get bossy and hit people with it. We used to be close friends but ultimately I am pretty sure she decided I was just a plain bad person and dropped me. What can I do about that? Nothing. I don't need her anyway. Okay yes it still hurt a little bit. She looked up, staring dead at me before turning her head back around to trying to converse with Gamzee. Yes, Terezi had some weird abilities. People used to think we were sisters because of our dark as the night hair and slightly tilted up noses, but no. We just happened to look alike a little bit and hang out a lot.

Gamzee finally looked up and said "Hey sis," and giving me a small wave. I don't think Gamzee really cares either way about me which isn't so bad. If anything though he was kind of scared of me. I haven't a clue why, I had seen him mad. If anyone should be scared it should be the rest of us. Gamzee was extremely tall and gangly. He kind of had a big nose which matched his big dopey grin. He had chin length wavy brown hair that was often greasy. He was also one of the nicest out of everyone here.

Which is funny because his best friend is a huge asshole. I can practically hear him shouting now. Oh wait. I literally do him shouting now. At that moment he bursts through the door all the while calling some poor, unfortunate soul a fuck ass. Aradia gave me a sweet look before descending upon the newest guests. I turned around to get a better view of Karkat and the mystery person.

Karkat was the first one in. Everyone liked to joke on him and say he was so mean and loud because he was unfortunately short. He wasn't really though, he was 5'10, which may be short but seems closer to average to me. At any rate, he was an angry individual. The only person who he hated more than everybody else is himself. Karkat had hair that could not be tamed. It went literally every which way and it only went to his eyes. It was a tangled brown rats nest that I almost always found hilarious. It made Kanaya want to go into panic mode though.

He was gesticulating wildly and ranting about something to... hold on a second. "John?" Sure enough the person who was entering Aradia's domain with a ranting Karkat was definitely John. He looked bemused at Karkat's apparent anger to finally looking startled that someone called his name. He looked up at me and grinned. "Hi Vriska!" He said before running over to me.

Karkat looked at us confused as he hung his jacket up, "How do you two losers know each other?"

John and I exchanged an awkward look. "It's hard to explain..." I tried.

"There was a bike involved." John supplied.

"What the fuck ever, god you guys are so weird." Karkat said before finally wandering over to Terezi and Gamzee. They grinned as soon as he sat down. And Karkat called us weird, those three had the weirdest relationship. At this point I didn't even try to understand.

I looked back at John who was smiling pleasantly in blue jeans and a light blue top. He was as cute as ever, which I am now wondering if I can notice as a taken woman. I didn't spend too much time thinking about it, I was already feeling awkward. It was like being awkward on top of awkward, just standing here with John.

"Wanna, uh, sit on the couch?" He finally said. I nodded and we walked over. The couch was red and over stuffed but also had butt imprints in the cushions. "So... I guess this is your group of friends, huh?"

"In a manner of speaking, I suppose so." I hedged around the question, doing my best to avoid any potentially awkward conversations. I wasn't about to break down exactly how I felt about all these people in the room with me and how they felt about me. "What about you, though? How did you meet the angry shouty Karkat?"

"He is... very shouty. And I only know of him because of my sister, you remember Jade? Anyway, she is good friends with him I guess and she wanted the two of us to bond. And by bond I mean me sitting next to a pretty girl and him sitting across the room watching television. Not that I mind really, just funny how life works out!" He said this with a chuckle while slightly blushing. Or maybe it was a trick of the light. I am not good with these things, but I would almost guarantee it.

"Yeah, I guess life is funny that way." I decided to slide in a reminder of my boyfriend. I was paranoid but you couldn't say I wasn't trying. "I was supposed to come here with Tavros but he had to work."

"That's a shame." It didn't sound like he had thought it was a shame at all.

Before either of us could comment on that we heard laughing coming from the kitchen. I wasn't even aware everyone had even left the room. We both immediately stood up and went to the sound of all the cheering. There was an all out war going on with two teams screaming. Everyone was split up into two, dividing the kitchen into a war zone. It was the most intense game of beer pong I had ever seen. Complete with shouting and death threats from Eridan that may or may not have been legitimate. John and I separated before throwing each other a look like "what can you do?" It would be fun anyway. I wasn't going to get drunk or anything just play a little pong.

Which is what I thought would happen; until several hours later when I was totally drunk. During the several hours, there was a life or death match going on, that was no surprise and down right expected. What was surprising was how downright bad I was at beer pong, leading to my aforementioned level of intoxication at this particular moment. After the game ended though, everyone had places to be. They all had cabs or rides, which reminded me I needed to do that. I sent a quick misspelled text to Tavros just moments before my phone died. I hope it sent. Barely anyone was left in the house now. It seemed to be just me, John, Karkat, Aradia (obviously), and Gamzee left. One by one everyone was leaving, the numbers slowly trickling down.

John and I had drunken conversations about the dumbest stuff most of the night, if only because we were really the only two that could stand (in my case) and knew (in his case) each other. Friendship means putting up with other peoples faults. Eventually Karkat and Gamzee disappeared for awhile, leaving it just me and John. We just rested on the soft shag carpet, admiring it before both of us actually ended up falling asleep on it. Obviously none of this was intended or anything. If it was, I think I would have picked a better place to sleep. I woke up with red, irritated skin. If only Aradia's place was just a little nicer.

If I had orchestrated taking a nap next to John in which we may or may not have been cuddling, I would have stopped before Tavros walked in the room to pick me up and saw us. For the record, the jury was out on whether we were cuddling or not. I was a firm no but Tavros was pretty upset about it. So much so that it carried over even after I apologized dozens of times. I mean we didn't even do anything. We just happened to fall asleep in the same general area. At any rate, Tavros took me home barely talking to me at all that night.

I was mostly sober by the point it all happened, but I should not that he did cuddle with me all night. But the next day continued with more silence.