Author's Note: I forgot mention in previous chapter that the Rugrats gang in this story are in their mid to late teens, with Angelica and Susie being the late ones obviously. The previous chapter already mentioned the age of one of the gang, just do the math hehe.
Song: Can I Have This Dance (High School Musical Cast)
The awaited Saturday came and almost everyone in their school is talking about their excitement of going to the party through different chat forums and mass emails. Kimi was just about to get her hair blow-dried when she heard a sound from her phone. She walked over to the bed to see who it was.
"Hey Kimi, I already had my several selections with me, can we change in your place? I do not want my mom interfering with our choices " It was Lil's text.
She giggled lightly and prepared to type her response "Haha, good thing my mom is not the interfering type. I was about to choose my outfit too, so your text would've been more perfect." she typed and sent it back.
Not long minutes after, she heard another ring from her phone. "I also texted Susie to be with us in your place, I hope you don't mind. She also promised to give us a lift to Savannah's and our way back home later tonight."
"That's so good of her, she will definitely give a second opinion to our choices, so she'll be helpful for sure." Kimi responded, genuinely owning what she said as Susie is one of her great friends.
"Awesome, we'll be on our way." Lil replied in the text. After laying down her phone in the bed, she started blow drying her hair.
She was in the process of blow drying her hair when she suddenly heard a car horn coming from outside. She heard her father call her name from outside. "Kimi, Lil and Susie are here!" Chas shouted, and seconds after that she heard a knock from her bedroom door.
"Come in!" Kimi shouted as the door opened, revealing her two best friends behind the door. Lil walked towards the bed while Susie closed the door behind her. Both teens are still in their casual outfits, preparing to change with all the clothes they're carrying in their arms.
Lil laid down a bunch of outfits she brought in the bed. "So, where do we start?" she said while placing her hands on her hips to concentrate on the choices. Kimi is in the process of fixing her hair into two buns when Lil starts to try some of the outfits that she brought.
She lifted her top and removed pants, getting almost naked to change for another look. Kimi and Susie did not see much as both of them were busy choosing their respective outfits from their selection of clothes.
"What do you think of this, girls?" Lil asked as she stood in the middle of the room wearing a tight shirt and nude colored cargo pants
"Eh, I think the nude color pants blend too much with your skin color." Kimi suggested as she looked narrowly at the outfit.
"I agree, plus the cargo pants look too big for you." Susie added in the conversation as she walked towards Lil's direction "Why don't you try wearing these jeans?" She suggested as she lifted the jeans with her hand, presenting it to Lil.
"Okay, if you guys said so. I'm not really a fashion expert ever since, glad you two are here to help. I was aiming for a lowkey outfit for this party, so I hope you can help me finalize the look I had in mind." She replied and accepted the jeans from Susie's hand to change.
Kimi changed to her red one shoulder top that stops at the end of her ribcage which exposes her midriff. She wore a red fishnet stocking that extends above her hip underneath her low boot cut dark blue jeans for her bottoms. She looked in front of the mirror to examine the whole outfit on her.
"Damn, that look perfectly suits you girl. If I don't have a rival, I might ask you to be my girlfriend." Lil commented and got a laugh from Susie.
"What do you mean you have a rival?" Kimi turned her head towards Lil being clueless on what she meant by what she just said.
"Duh, I mean rival by the way Tommy has been looking at you for the past few years. The guy is obviously drooling for you, I can see it in his eyes." Lil answered as she combed her hair thoroughly, aiming for a simple bob hairstyle.
I can't understand what they're talking about, Kimi thought. She did not notice anything unusual with the way Tommy is treating her lately, they still banter the same way as they did in the past.
"Maybe he's just looking to a different thing, and it just happens that I was in the same direction, there's no way I was his type. You guys saw the type of girls he dated, and I'm definitely not in that league." Kimi argued as she continued to fix her overall look, thinking she's not on par with the typical bombshell beauties he had dated in the past.
"You mean girls he dated years ago? he barely had any dates nowadays." Lil rolled her eyes. It is true that it had been years since they saw Tommy date.
"Trust me, I have been seeing him stealing glances at you on several occasions. I'm sure it was not an accident as he was staring for too long." Susie claimed while changing into a simple spaghetti strap floral sheath dress that ends in her ankle and pairing it with a one-inch heel to finish the look.
"Don't even pretend you aren't attracted to him. You literally carved both of your initials in your basement back in middle school." Lil teased remembering that incident over five years ago.
Lil bringing up the Halloween incident that happened four years ago made her nervous, it was one of the most horrible moments in her life. She almost made her brother and his best friend break their friendship. She may be attracted to his dark-haired friend, but there is no way she will split a strong and established friendship.
"I told you I only liked him for a short period of time, nothing more than that." Kimi defended while wearing her one-inch kitten heels. She wished so badly that the conversation topic changes before she explodes.
Susie and Lil seemed to not treat that conversation as a big deal and moved on immediately. Kimi noticed this and took a big sigh of relief.
Lil fixed herself as she got ready to present her new outfit choice to her two best friends "What do you think?" She said wearing a round neck forest green top that has the word 'Dream' on the front. She paired it with a denim pencil cut skirt, and brown above-the-knee boots.
"That's perfect!" Susie and Kimi gushed at the same time.
"Now come on, let's get this party over with." Susie said as they all went downstairs.
They walked in the stairs lined up. Susie was just about to open the door when Kira showed up holding a tray, looking like she just came from the kitchen. She stopped and smiled to admire how the girls looked.
"You girls look so beautiful." Kira complimented, beaming as she looked at them in their very gorgeous outfits.
"Thank you, Mrs. Finster." Lil politely replied as everyone in the living room looked at her.
"Oh Kimi, please don't drink any alcohol, okay?" She added and looked at her daughter in concern.
"Don't worry mom, this party is just a way to catch up with everyone." Kimi assured, looking back and forth to both Lil and Susie who both nodded.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Finster, I'll be the one to tell you when she drinks." Susie jokingly remarked.
Everyone laughed at her remark and after all laughter died down, Kira encouraged the teens to go ahead and enjoy themselves. Following that encouragement, all the three girls sat in the car and Susie drove all of them to the party.
As expected, the house was already packed with different kinds of people when the girls got there. There are some people in the room that they're not too familiar with, probably freshmen. Everyone was talking, drinking, and obviously having fun in different ways. Kimi was in the middle of examining all the people around her when she felt a fingernail poking her arm. She turned around to see who that fingernail belonged to.
"Hey girls, I didn't expect to see you here and wow, what a nice outfit you all are wearing tonight!" Angelica said, being impressed by their choices. She is wearing a pink checkered square-cut crop top and short skirt, paired with pink cut-out heels. She looks like one of those girls you could see in a Mean Girls film.
"I love the pink overalls, girlfriend!" Susie applauded with a fascinated look on her face.
"It's just my bare minimum, sweetheart." Angelica replied in her usual cocky tone. "and oh, Susie, there's a lot of new people here." She added while pulling Susie in her side to turn her attention to some of the people they have never seen before.
"You guys go look for the rest of the gang. I'll be with Angelica to catch up for a while since we haven't met for months due to my camp activities last Summer." Susie explained as both Lil and Kimi expressed their goodbyes and went with their original plan about finding the rest of the gang.
Phil pulled the Toyota Corolla car his dad gave to him from his last birthday. Legally, he's not fully allowed to drive yet, but he has done it anyway since his fifteenth birthday. It's the car the guys are currently using to get to the party.
"Welp! Lil just texted me. She said she's been looking for all of us for thirty minutes now, so we better get going" He advised as all the guys pulled out from the car.
The guys walked towards the house and saw a crowd of different high school students there. Different groups of people greeted Tommy as he arrived at the party due to him being semi popular. Phil parted from the two boys for a little bit to chat with some random girls they were passing by, he got a bit of a reputation. Chuckie, who's obviously not a social person, stayed with Tommy as they walked along the crowd.
Tommy finally saw her at the punch table with Lil talking with some of the modest girls at school. He saw her genuine smile and bright red top that made her stand out from the group. She is breathtaking and he couldn't help himself to steal a long glance.
A woman's voice suddenly pulled Tommy out from being captivated. "Finally, you guys came!" Lil groaned. "Where's Phil?" She added and put her hand on her hip as she questioned the boys. The group of modest girls whom they are talking with are now starting to leave the punch table.
"He's chatting around with some of the ladies, you know him very well." Chuckie answered while fixing his glasses.
"Ugh, stay here you two." She said while grabbing Chuckie's wrist. He was surprised by her sudden grip at first but allowed her to drag him afterwards.
"Chuckie and I are going to get Phil, I cannot let him drink too much, he might get in trouble just like the last time we went to a party like this" She added and left with Chuckie to find her twin brother in the crowd of dancing and half-drunk teenagers.
Tommy and Kimi were left at the punch table. He grabbed a glass and filled it with punch when he heard her speak.
"Hey, are you having fun?" Kimi asked as she leaned at the table.
"It's alright, the atmosphere is just a little boring for me but it's fine." He replied and sipped on his glass.
"I'm sure you'll find your way, this is going to be a long night for sure." She smiled and looked at him while drinking from her punch glass. They stared at each other for minutes until some people paraded on their moment.
She saw a gorgeous brown-haired teen very familiar to her, wearing a revealing top. She must admit, it is a gorgeous and attractive look. The girl is accompanied by some of the popular girls in their school.
The two of them got caught off guard but were immediately able to turn their attention to them. She recognized the brunette being Rachel, Tommy's girlfriend during middle school.
Rachel lifted her arms and was excitedly about to say something.
"Tommy! I'm so glad to see you're here." Rachel beamed and hugged him afterwards. Kimi was surprised by her sudden appearance but kept it to herself. She was wearing a butterfly shaped halter crop top that revealed her back paired with a black boot cut jeans.
"You know each other?" Brianna asked as she got curious by the possible connections of the two. She was with Rachel when they approached the table. Brianna's group of popular girls recruited her in their circle during this party.
"Yeah, he's my ex-boyfriend." She replied confidently. "I used to live near this town back in middle school. Tommy and I met at the time we were studying at Hebrew School, such fun times in my opinion." She finished leaving Brianna with an amused expression.
The three girls in her back looked at each other in amusement, all getting pleasantly surprised by that information.
"I cannot say I'm surprised that you had such a hottie for an ex-girlfriend." Brianna remarked as she looked back and forth on the two of them.
Rachel turned her attention towards the woman Tommy was talking to when she arrived at this table. "You're Kimi right? one of Tommy's friends who attempted to get us back together back then?" She asked while looking into her eyes, trying to confirm her memories about her. Great, another memory she is trying to bury being brought up.
"Yes I am, what's up?" Kimi replied, trying to sound calm and confident.
"Nice outfit, it suits you well." Rachel said randomly, attempting to end the conversation with her as she is not interested in catching up with this girl.
"You too, love the look." Kimi slyly replied, just as uninterested as this she was towards her.
Rachel composed herself and grabbed his hand. "Come on, Tommy, hang out with us!" She excitedly suggested while pulling him to go to their group. Kimi stood still and watched all their movements, she caught Tommy looking at her while the girls pulled him away. She nodded and smiled at him to make him comfortable and non-verbally confirm that she was okay with that.
In reality, she wasn't really okay by the abrupt disturbance of their conversation. She would've loved to chat with him for more, but she has to recognize that he is popular enough to attract the attention of all those popular groups of people.
Deep inside, Tommy was quite disappointed by the sudden end of their conversation too. In their group, it is not usual for the two of them to manage long conversations mainly because of gender barriers, but he still considers her as one of his important friends. He would've loved to spend the entire party with her.
An hour later, the DJ started to play some romantic songs for those who wanted to participate. Kimi saw them two dancing in the middle of the floor. She saw a bunch of popular teens around the dance floor cheering for them. She cannot lie to herself and admit that she felt uncomfortable seeing that.
She walked around the crowded room, completely forgetting to find Lil and Chuckie when she suddenly bumped to a body.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" Angelica exclaimed in irritation until she saw who it was.
"Kimi, Where's Lil? Have you already found the rest of the gang?" Susie asked in concern as Kimi remembered that the two of them have been hanging out together since they got here.
"Chuckie and Lil are dealing with Phil's shenanigans while Tommy is out there on the dance floor." She said and pointed toward Tommy's direction.
"I never saw that girl before." Susie commented while looking at the girl dancing with Tommy.
"I believe that bimbo is Tommy's ex-girlfriend. I saw her briefly before in their house a while back. I am not aware that she's studying here." Angelica retorted since she doesn't remember any memories of interaction with Rachel, it's just that she knew her by the face.
Susie turned her attention to Kimi who's obviously not looking like she's in the mood tonight. "You seem to walk around here bored, are you okay?" Susie asked genuinely while patting her shoulders. Signs of disinterest are visible in Kimi's expressions.
"I'm fine, just looking for someone to talk to, I guess?" Kimi answered on the spot, trying her best to conceal the real reason for her lack of mood.
"Girl, we're here. If you want someone to talk to, you can talk to us." Susie suggested, extending her hands to caress her arms.
Angelica looked occupied, seeing her eyes being far away from their conversation. "Susie look, they're having a drink-off there!" She said pointing her hands to the location where a bunch of people are having a drinking competition. "Let's see what's up!"
"But what about Kimi? She doesn't have someone to hang out with here?" Susie responded with a concerned expression on her face.
Angelica growled and turned her attention to the Japanese teen. "Are you perhaps interested in joining us there?" She offered with an obvious forced tone in her voice.
"It's okay, you guys go there. I'll be fine here. I'm not allowed to drink anyway." Kimi replied, encouraging the two to go to that group they are interested to see.
"Are you sure?" Susie hesitated.
"You know me too well, I'll be fine I promise!" Kimi affirmed.
After hearing that reassurance, Angelica quickly pulled Susie's arms to pull her to that group, ignoring the fact that Susie is still concerned about her friend. Susie figured that Kimi is strong enough to handle herself, thus she let it go.
Eventually, Angelica and Susie were not in her sight anymore. However, Susie has a strong feeling regarding the reason why she is feeling the way she is right now.
Kimi walked through the crowd, passing by different couples who are now making out on the couch. Her mind mentally cringed at the sight. She continued to walk and stopped when she realized she finally got into the silent part of the house, a huge and empty balcony.
The balcony has different pots of plants on every corner with the view of the city. She walked towards the handrail to look at the neighborhood and silently allowed herself to be consumed by its peace. Her mind suddenly awakened when she heard a sound from a cat nearby.
It was an adult Persian cat walking towards her direction. She calmly called the cat as it moved closer to her. When it finally got near her, the cat sat and Kimi started to pet its head.
"Are you alone here like me?" She whispered to the cat while continuously petting the adorable animal. She looked upward and saw hundreds of stars and a moon in a clear sky. She wishes so badly that her life will always go like this.
Her desired peace suddenly broke when she felt someone lean on the handrail beside her. "Hey, sorry for leaving you in a sudden earlier." She turned her head beside her and saw it was Tommy who looked exhausted by the way he's breathing rapidly.
"It's fine, I'm aware of how crazy a lot of girls are about you." She remarked and giggled. After that little statement, she returned her attention to the sky again and he spoke.
"Why are you here alone? Don't you like to socialize with those people? I thought you like doing that." He looked at her narrowly, getting curious about her answer.
"I'm just not in a mood tonight and I can't explain why. I-it's just- there's a lot of things going through my mind." She stuttered and breathed deeply. It is true, she is not in the mood which is surprising since this is a lively event that she usually likes.
"Maybe a little dance might ease your stress?" He said softly as he extended his hand for her to take.
The breeze suddenly became warm as she stared at his extended hand. She hesitated at first, but eventually gave in and took his hand. They positioned themselves for a little dance in the middle of the huge balcony. He put his other hand to her waist, and she placed her arm on his shoulders in return. The two teens heard a faint sound of romantic music coming from the inside and danced along with it.
Their bodies gently swayed in sync, feeling the weak sound of the music they can hear. Their eyes met and gradually, she felt butterflies in her stomach. He suddenly felt nervous and looked away from her to turn his attention to the clear stars above. He did not know what changed, he is usually chill and confident around her but currently he feels like everything is about to explode.
The dance made her feel safe and secured as she leaned her forehead on his shoulders. He was shocked at first, then eventually smiled at the feeling of her head on his shoulder. He leaned gently on it in return.
As the night goes by, the two of them talk and banter alone on the balcony as no one seems to notice their absence from the party inside. They shared laughs together as they brought up jokes and embarrassing moments that had happened in the past few years. He had dated a lot of girls before, but he honestly hadn't felt this comfortable with a girl before. He's now having first hand experience on the talkative and jolly personality of his long-time friend.
Eventually, Kimi offered for them to leave and find the gang. She noticed that people from the inside were starting to desert as reflected on the shadows seen on the curtains of the balcony. On the other hand, Tommy was a bit hesitant to go as he wanted to stay all night talking to her. She insisted by saying that the gang might be worried about them now. Eventually, he agreed and they left the balcony quietly together.
They walked together to a now messy and drunk teenagers filled room. They saw people knocked out in different laying positions on the fancy couches. Susie's eyes spotted them and went in their direction.
"Where have you guys been?" Susie wondered and turned her head to Kimi. "Kimi, I want to inform you that Lil is driving her brother's car on their way home. Phil was mad drunk and she wanted to make sure to look out for him and safely bring him home." She explained and turned her eyes to Tommy "Lil suggests that you ride with us since they already rushed to get Phil home, is that okay with you?" She asked curiously, urgently waiting for his response.
"Sure, if it doesn't bother you." Tommy agreed, genuinely liking the idea.
"Great. Now let's get home before these drunk zombies get anywhere near us." Susie tiredly remarked and texted Lil regarding their arrangements. She slid her phone in her bag and directed the two to follow her to her car. Everyone was quiet and tired on the way to the car.
Once they got there, they quietly slipped into the seats with Susie driving while Tommy and Kimi sat in the back.
Susie turned on the car's radio to have a background noise as the silence was irritating her ears. She quietly snuck a look into her car mirror to look at the two sitting in the back, and just as she expected, both were knocked out with their heads leaning on each other. She smiled at the view and continued to drive.