The Newbie

After a long, 8 hour flight, it felt nice to finally land. Even though we hadn't been gone long, it seemed as if everything was different. No one had an accent here and everyone was super friendly. Back in London, everyone seemed to be in a rush, it was like being in New York. I was just happy to be home, even if it is only for two weeks.

Right as my parents, Riley, his friends and I walked to our baggage claim, I spotted my friend Maddie. She was wearing her usual dark blue jeans, cowboy boots, and her green winter coat. I was so excited to see her. We went through middle school and freshman and sophomore year together. Last year we only had lunch together, but that didn't bother us. We spend almost every afternoon together after school and on weekends we always go to the parties together. Maddie wasn't the biggest partier but she only went to make sure nothing happened to me. I loved her for that. There is nothing I wouldn't do for this girl. She hadn't changed, besides the fact that she finally got contacts. A lot of the girls at school used to make fun of her because of her glasses, but I loved them. They were different and made her stand out. That was one of the reasons I became friends with her in fifth grade. I didn't care what people thought about me. I had a friend in almost every group you could think of. I dated our quarterback for two years until my family moved. I was friendly with his group of friends and those were the parties we would normally go to.

Once we got our bags, my parents told us to go ahead with Maddie and that they would meet us at the house. Our house in North Carolina was awesome. Next to the main house, we had a cottage and a stable. We had a couple of horses but when dad decided to move us, we sold them to a friend of ours who promised to keep them fed and healthy. I can't wait to pull into our driveway and head into my old room. I rode up front with Maddie while Riley, Harry, and Sam sat in the middle row and Tom and Jack sat in the back. I had missed the smell of her car. It always smelt like the black bamboo candles, which were my favorite. I turned on the radio and Sam Hunt was playing. I heard a groan from the back and I turned to see Harry rolling his eyes.

"Do you all really listen to country music or is that just a stereotype?" I turned to Riley who was quick to answer.
"Well, not everyone listens to it. It depends on the person. I know Jamie likes Sam Hunt and those people. I personally don't like it that much. For someone was born in New England, Jamie is pretty country. It's strange but she enjoys it. She's always at rodeos and the bull riding tournaments. Once, our parents told her she couldn't go, so she told them she was going to Maddies to study for an exam and they sneaked out and went to the races." While Riley was telling embarrassing stories to his friends, Maddie gave me a look.

I knew what she was thinking. She was asking me if the boy sitting next to Riley was the one I was always talking about. I nodded and laughed. Almost every week I messaged Maddie giving her updates. For some reason she feels as if Ashley is going to turn on me and get most of her friends to hate me, just because Harry is friends with Riley. Every time she brought it up, I told her she was crazy, but recently it somehow felt as if Ashley was pulling away from me. Right on cue, I got a Facebook message from Ashley.

Message from: Ashley Andrews
Hey love, how was the flight? Tell me all about your trip! Cnt wait 2 hear everything! XX

It almost seemed as if she knew I was thinking about her. Weird. We pulled into our driveway and I got so excited. It seemed as if it had been ages since I had been here.
"Welcome home girly!", Maddie hugged me, after she put the car in park.
We all got out of the car and unloaded our bags and headed inside. I immediately headed towards my room, which hand't been touched. The queen be was made neatly, waiting for me to mess it up again. There are no words to describe how happy I was to be home.

A couple of hours after we arrived, Mom and Dad brought home their stuff and left, once again. They went to catch up with old friends. Maddie still hadn't left. She helped me unpack so we could leave and meet up with other kids from school. The minute I finished unpacking I looked at my phone and realized I had a couple of missed messages. Two from Jason, my ex, and three from my group messages with a couple of girls from Cary. They all said the same thing: We heard you were back and want to meet. I replied to all of them saying that I would be stopping by school tomorrow and we could all get lunch or dinner. I knew there was a party going on this weekend since it was Jason's birthday on Friday. Before my parents left, they asked me to get the mail, which I did. Without thinking, I opened a letter addressed to both Riley and I.
The letter stated: Dearest Riley and Jamie Castillo , you have been invited to Jason Williams 18th birthday. Starting at 9:00 pm there will be free entertainment and a night you won't remember. See you then

I shook my head and showed Maddie the invite. I know she had gotten one in the mail a couple of weeks ago but I wasn't expecting us to get one. Riley and Jason have been friends since the sixth grade when they both were on the football team. Riley for sure would be going and bringing his friends and Maddie wanted to go because I was back in town and there would be nothing else to do.

The next two days Riley showed his friends around Raleigh while I visited all my old friends and caught up on all the gossip. On Thursday we all went to Cary Academy to show everyone our old school. All of Riley's old lacrosse buddies came swarming up to him as if they had found their leader after losing him for years. I could tell that his friends felt awkward so I took them on a tour of campus. While the five of us were walking towards the gym, I could feel someone staring at me. It was Jason and a couple of kids who I was friendly with. I turned to them and waved. They quickly came over. Tasha, Jason's ex, commented on how nice I looked. She looked me up and down and I could tel she was being a bit protective of Jason. As he came over to greet me, Harry stared at us. I had told Harry about Jason but I never told him his name or the reason why we broke up.
"Hey Jamie. You're looking great, as usual." Jason said, as he hugged me tight, "I've.. I mean. We've all missed you around here. It's just not the same." I smiled and looked at my shoes
Jamie's outfit
"I've missed you guys too, oh guys, these are Riley lacrosse buddies back in England. This is Tom, Sam, Jack, and Harry" I said quickly, hoping to end this run in and get away.
"I've heard about you guys. Riley is really excited to be on the team" Jason stated and then glanced towards me "Well, we've got English with Henrys. We can't be late. I'm assuming I'll see all you guys on tomorrow?" And with that, they all walked away and towards Room 114.

The guys looked at me confused. I guess Riley never told them about the party. Last night when I spoke to Riley alone, he said that we were all going.
"Uh well, Jason is having a party tomorrow and he said we could all go. Riley had told me the other day that he was planning on going since they are close friends. That is if you guys don't mind going." I looked around and Riley was gone. He had left his friends with me. I sighed and continued to walk around the school until we found him again. About an hour after we got to Cary, we left. There wasn't much to show them without them getting bored.

Friday night could not have come any slower. Maddie had come over at 8 pm to start getting ready. As I predicted she wore her cowboy boots, ripped jeans, and long sleeved shirt. The boys were already showered, dressed and ready to go. Riley had found two bottles of wine in the cooler and opened one while they waited for us to get ready. Once Maddie and I were dressed we headed downstairs to join the guys.
Jamie's party outfit

Harry was the first one I saw as I entered the living room. His hair was combed and he looked gorgeous. I couldn't help but stare. He was wearing this white deep-V Calvin Klien shirt, black jeans, and was holding a black coat in his arms. Out of no where Riley appeared with a glass of wine.
"Here. Drink up before you don't get the chance" He winked and handed me the glass. By the time Maddie and I had finished our glasses it was already 9:45. Almost everyone would be at the party by now. Of course we had to be fashionably late. We were the people coming from a different time zone now.
I grabbed Maddie's car keys and headed towards the drivers seat. She didn't mind. I was so used to driving her old car to parties that she forget it was her car at times. When I got in the car, it felt strange to drive, especially her new car. She had just gotten a white Q7. She sent me pictures but it looked different in person, besides the fact that there was ice and snow all over it.

"Are we going to die? I've never been in a car where Jamie was driving" Tom joked. As a response I jerked the steering wheel hard and then proceeded to drive normally. It took us 30 minutes to reach Jason's house. Normally it would have taken us 15 minutes but there was traffic in his direction. The whole school was invited it seemed like. There was no parking anywhere. It always helps to know the neighbors. Riley got out of the car and asked Jason's neighbors if we could park in their driveway. We promised not to make too much noise coming back to the car.

Walking into his house felt strange. I hadn't been there since the day we ended things. Everything was the same. Nothing was changed or moved. His parents were very OCD about that. If one of them wanted to move something, they had to consult the other and that always led to an argument. The party would be held outside, naturally. Nothing could get broken that way. The fire pit was already started and I could tell people had started to drink by the amount of screaming going on.
"This is what you're missing back in England", Maddie poked my shoulder and then pointed to a girl named Ryan, who was puking in the bushes. I couldn't say I missed this. A lot of kids back in England didn't get this drunk, at least that's what I've seen. Minutes later I caught Jason's glance and headed over towards him. Riley and the rest of our group followed closely, to make sure they don't lose each other.

"You guys made it! Great! Here's a beer. Jamie do you want wine or something? I remember you don't drink beer" Jason shoved me a bit. He was tipsy, but not drunk. I shrugged and smiled, "Mads, wine or beer?"

"Wait. You don't drink beer?" Harry looked at me stunned. Right. The last party we went to I had a couple of beers
"Not really. I mean I'll drink it but it's not my drink of choice. I'm fine with beer Jason. No need to go out of your way" I looked at Maddie for support to end this conversation.
I grabbed a beer from Jason and headed towards the fire pit where a couple of girls from my old Physics class were. They asked a lot about my new school and how everyone was there. One of the girls kept turning around and staring at someone, so naturally I turned around and saw she was looking at Harry. I laughed, not realizing that the girls heard me.
"That's a kid I go to school with. He's close with Riley. He's always at our place so I've gotten to know him a bit." They seemed more interested now. All they could talk about was how hot he was. I couldn't disagree with them, but not out loud. I quickly glanced at my phone and saw I had 3 messages from Ashley. I had forgotten to answer her the other day and I guess now she's a bit worried. I told her I was at a party and I would speak to her once it was over. There was no way I was going to talk to her right now.
I looked back over to where Harry was and I noticed one of the girls had gotten up and started to talk to him. I felt a pang of jealousy rush over me. Who am I to get jealous? We weren't together. The only thing we had done was talk. We hadn't done anything else but that. There was just something about him that drew me in. I think it was the fact that he didn't really speak much about himself. He always kept the conversation at neutral point or he asked about you and what you were thinking or what your story was. It was a little weird. But I liked the mystery.

Riley tapped my shoulder as I took sip of my beer.
"I got you wine. You don't have to drink that crappy beer" He handed me a new solo cup, filled with a red liquid.
"I love you" I replied. I smelled the cup and instantly my sinuses were filled with the smell of red wine. My favorite smell ever. I wouldn't say I was addicted to wine but I just really, really liked it. Once I finished my drink I was on a mission to find Jason to refill my drink. I passed Harry and Natalie and refused to look at them. I didn't want him to see that I was jealous. He shouldn't know. I doubt he would even notice but whatever. I finally found Jason. He was inside on the living room couch. I closed the door beside me and sat down next him.
"So why is the birthday boy sitting alone, at his own party?" I nudged him and laughed. He just looked at me. It reminded me of the week before I left. I had come over to tell him that it just wasn't going to work once I moved to England. I knew he understood but the look in his eyes just made me cry even more than I had that night. He looked sad and lonely.
"I've missed you Jamie" I knew that was coming. I had missed him but there were certain things that made me forget him easily. He was a jerk at times and the fact that he not only was talking to his ex, while dating me, he was planning to hookup with another girl the minute I left.
"I've missed you too, but now is not the time to be sad. It's party time! Come on. I'll share my wine with you loser" I grabbed his arm and we headed to the kitchen.
We walked back outside together and I saw Harry glaring at us.
"Looks like I have competition" Jason joked and walked away.
I walked over to Harry and sat down next to him
"Having fun? I saw you talking to Natalie" I said, trying to mask my jealousy.
He nodded and sipped his beer. "So that's your ex?" His voice cracked at the word "ex" It made my stomach turn, in a good way. I nodded and changed the subject.
"What were you and Nat talking about? Anything interesting? She thinks you're super hot by the way" I laughed
"Yeah she told that part. But she kept going on about how a shame it was that you and Jason broke up"
I felt the awkward silence. I sipped my wine and just stayed quiet. As if they knew it was getting awkward, Maddie and Sam grabbed my arm and started chanting. Within minutes, I was being dragged to the keg. I looked around and everyone was smiling waiting for me to do a keg stand.
"...31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37." Everyone chanted while I was upside down, chugging the beer. At 37 seconds I had had enough. I spit out the nozzle and was set back down on the ground, right side up. I wiped my mouth and headed towards Riley.
"Tell me you did not film that!" He was already shaking his head and locking his phone so I couldn't delete it.
"This is SO much fun!" Tom and Sam cheered together. Maddie was talking to Jack and Harry. I walked over to them and it seemed as if our conversation from earlier just didn't exist.
"So how was that beer?" Harry asked. His eyes seemed to gleam as he spoke to me. I forgot he had asked me a question. I was lost in his eyes. His perfect, green, shiny, eyes.
"Oh. It was you know, foamy" I was lost for words at this point. Maddie and Jack walked away. I sat down on the bench and Harry sat down next to me.
"You know, you never answered my question earlier. Are you having fun?"
"Yeah, it's a fun party. Different than the ones back home. Unless you decide to lecture me about how I treat people again then it would be the same." At first I didn't realize he was joking and then I laughed. I was a little late but to my excuse I was drunk.
Once again my phone buzzed. It was Ashley. I couldn't imagine what she wanted. I ignored it and opened up snapchat.
"Smile!" I screamed, holding my camera out to take a picture. Harry leaned in and grinned,"Aww. We look adorable" I said and I kissed his cheek, without thinking. I added the photo my story and then put my phone away.
"You know there's something I've been meaning to tell you" Harry tried to complete his sentence, but we interrupted by Riley saying we had to get back home.

Notes