Chapter 10

Cheers to New Years

When I say I invited everyone, I mean everyone. From the geeks and the nerds to the It-Girls and the jocks. It didn't matter where you were on the social bar, you were here. At first I didn't think anyone would come. After all, it is New Years and I'm still sort of a nobody . . . but everybody came. Everyone I called showed up, which is surprising because I called last minute. The actual inviting was easy, the hard part was getting everyones numbers. That was a process.

I walked around my house, greeting everyone and introducing myself. Some were really sweet, some weren't as welcoming, either way, Jack was right. Jack had this idea the other day, for me to have the party. He said it'd help me get noticed and that it might even convince people that I'm in the popular crowd without doing much else. I didn't want to do it at first, but Jack practically thew me into the hours of phone calls. I didn't believe anyone would come as I said before, but now, seeing everyone, Jack was right.

I tried looking for him, but people kept trying to talk to me - did I just say that? I finally gave up after a couple of the nerdy people jumped up in front of me. "K-Kim!" Someone yelled. I turn my head toward the direction of the group of the nerds. I look at them and smile. I was gonna just keep walking, but they waved me over, and I'd feel rude if I just ignored them. I sigh and walk over them.

"Hey, you all enjoying the party?" I say smiling.

"This is our first party! I can't believe we were invited!" A scrawny boy with ginger hair says happily at me.

"Of course! It's New Years! I invited everyone!" I say perkily.

"Everyone?" Another boy asks me.

"Except one, but I think everyone knows who that is. . . ." I say flatly before walking away. Everyone in the school knows Lindsay and I hate each other, and no one has seen her yet. I take a deep breath and sit down at my kitchen table. The decorations Mika had put up looked amazing and the food my mom made is delicious. Speaking of my mother, I can't believe she agreed to this. I think gave her an excuse to go somewhere with dad, they never really get to spend time together anymore. Mika was little mad at me though. He was supposed to go out with his friends but they were all coming here, so he had to stay home. Which, it shouldn't matter considering he's going to see them here anyway. . . .

"Hey Kimsters!" I here Mika say as she takes a seat next to me.

"Hey. Oh, by the way, thanks for letting me borrow your dress." I practically shout over all the music.

"You should keep it." I sigh.

"No, I shouldn't. You said yourself that it's one of your favorites!" I protest.

"Yeah, but it looks better on you."

"But-"

"No buts. Keep it." Mika says flatly before walking away into the crowd of people. I sigh and look at my dress. I'd been wearing Mika's clothes for the past week. Every night she'd bring a different outfit over. Then we'd both go over to Jack's house and talk about our plans to take down Lindsay. Although we never stayed on that subject, we'd always end up talking about other things. Like our families, school, or some random stupid stuff. The plan was finally in action. At first, I hated the visits, but now, I look foward to our Take-Down-Lindsay visits.

Speaking of Lindsay, her little minions showed up. They were standing awkwardly at by the door, I guess they're lost without their puppet master. I walk up to them enthusiastically. "Lorie! Heather! You guys made it!" I say cheerfully.

The awkwardly smile at me "Yeah, well our schedule cleared up last minute. We were passing through your neighborhood and figured we'd stop by." I nod at them and tell them that I'm glad they're here before walking away. It sounded like Heather had rehearsed that sentance, which made it obvious they were lying.

"Enjoying the party? By the way, you look great." I smile at the sound of Jack's voice. I haven't talked to him since we decided to have this party, and it made me feel more comfortable being around him,

"Hey!" I say brightly "This is amazing! Everyone came, even Lindsay's minions!" I say.

"Of course they did. You got everyone curious, they all just had to come." He says "You know this night just keeps getting better and better!" I follow Jack's eyes and the small gasps.

My eyes widen as I see Lindsay walking in with a look of disgust on her face. I see her scanning the room until she spots her two minions. Her eyes narrow and she looks ready to kill. I grab Jack's hand and walk closer towards them so we can hear.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing here?" A lot of people stopped dancing and looked towards the drama that was unfolding.

"We were just-"

"Stop. I thought you were my friends! We agreed not to come to this lame party! Now come on!" Lindsay says reaching for them. I step in front of them.

"Lindsay, they have a right to stay and so do you." I say getting annoyed,

"This party is a joke Kim. Whats the theme? A Day in the Dweed Life?" I glare at her.

"Lindsay, it's time for you to go" Jack says through gritted teeth.

"Fine by me, I wasn't going to stay anyway!" Lindsay says storming away. Lorie quickly follows, but Heather surprisingly stays behind. "What? Are your legs broken? Come on Heather!"

"I-I wanna stay. . ." Heather says looking anywhere but Lindsay.

"Fine. Stay, but we are done."

"Heather, come on!" Lorie says. I look at Heather, hoping she'll stay and find some better friends but she ends up grabbing her purse and following Lindsay like a lost puppy. I sigh and turn back to Jack. He grabs my hand to take me to the dance floor. He stops somewhere in the middle and starts dancing, I look at him for a second and realize he wants me to do the same. I immediately do grab his hand and keep walking until we reach the punch.

"We are not dancing!" I whisper yell.

"Why not?"

"Because I can't!"

"Come on, you can't be that bad!" he says grabbing my hand again. I pull it out of his grasp though.

"You haven't seen me dance. . ." I say in a rushed tone.

"I'll be with you."

"Dance with you? Please, that's even more embarrassing! You know what, I'm just going to get some punch and go talk that cutie over there!" I say pointing to some random dude that I've never seen before. Jack makes a weird face at me.

"Kim, that's your brother." I blush a deep shade of red.

"Oh, yeah. It is. Well then, I guess I'll just get some punch then!" I say quickly getting a cup before disappearing into the crowd. My brother - out of all the guys, my brother. I couldn't have pointed at the quarterback of the football team? Or Drake Myers, the guy who has a record deal? I'm so distracted by my thoughts that I run smack into Zayn Caslin, aka hawt-ee. I've had a crush on him since . . . forever.

"Kim! I was looking for you!" My eyes widen in shock.

"You were? Why? I mean - I'm not disappointed or anything. . ." I say nervously. i scratch the back of my neck awkwardly.

"Yeah, I was. Anyway, I know this may not be the greatest time to ask, but will you go out with me?" I freeze. Oh my falafel balls. . . Did he just - he just - OH MY GOSH! Zayn Caslin just asked me out!

"Yes! Yes, yes, a million times yes!" I say cheerfully, he gives me a confused look "Oh sorry, I bet that sounds desperate. . . . I mean, of course." I say more calmly, he smiles at me.

"Great. Saturday at seven pm?"

Without even thinking if I have anything planned that day, I immediately say, "Perfect. Oh and sorry about freaking out on you, I've kind of had a crush on you for awhile." I say blushing.

"Really? I was afraid that you would reject me, I've had my eye on you since you started hanging out with Brewer. . . ." I blush. He had a crush on me?! The Zayn Caslin?

"I'll see you Saturday." I say walking off to go tell everyone I know. I walk over to Jack. He is going to be so happy! If I'm really dating someone from his crowd instead of fake dating him than it will really convince people that I'm part of his crowd!

"Jack! Guess what?" I say cheerfully.

"What?"

"I scored big!"

"What do you mean?"

"I got a date with Zayn Caslin! He asked me out just a second ago!" Instead of the high five I was expecting, his face fell.

"I thought you were just gonna fake date me?" He says slightly hopeful.

"Yeah, but this is real! I'm sure some people would suspect our fake dating. . . ." Why is he reacting like this? Why would he be mad?

"Oh. When's your date?" He says more calmly.

"Saturday at seven pm."

"That interferes with our Take-Down-Lindsay time. . . ." I roll my eyes.

"Jack, we do that every night. We can just raincheck. I thought you'd be happy for me! Dating someone like him would make me part of your crowd!"

"Yeah. Right."

"Then why are you so mad? Zayn is one of your friends!"

"I'm not mad," he snaps at me.

"Right. That's really convincing. . . ."

"Kim, I'm not mad. Look I gotta go." With that he stormed out of the room and closed my door with a slam. I'd never seen Jack act like this before, I don't know how to deal with it. Usually he's friendly and teases me a little, but this?

I don't know why we even got in argument over it! Argument, my first real face to face one with Jack. It should't even be considered an argument, because he was the only one being so mean! He didn't even have a reason to be mean!

I mean, he obviously doesn't like me or anything! I was the one who liked him, and I was stupid for falling for him in the first place. I man yes, sometimes I get lost in his eyes or notice how perfect he can be but - what am I saying?

Someone must've spiked the punch. Why else would I be thinking this about Jack?

A/N: HAPPY 2014! Can you believe it's been a year already?!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! That's pretty much all I have to say so...

Byeee!

~Juliana