Let's Pretend It's Love

Paper lanterns hung from the trees, each of them swaying slightly in the August breeze. The tiny candles inside them helped light up the party. The brightly colored decorations, along with the large bonfire and the full moon, were able to keep the party well lit, while still giving it a bit of a mysterious allure.

Elise followed the lanterns, as they guided her away from the Zeta house. In the distance, through the rows of trees, she spotted the large bonfire the Jamboree was known for it. The fire was probably 20 feet wide, and broke a half a dozen fire codes, but somehow they got away with it.

The music was so loud it shook the surrounding trees, and made it evident that the party was in full swing. Elise knew immediately that the Omega boys had set up their sound system. They were known for being tech savvy, thanks to the house lead, Liam Payne.

Elise made her way past the large McDowell lake, which had been donated by the founders of the Zeta house. She stepped carefully over the branches that littered the pathway and made sure she didn’t stumble.

Further down the path, she spotted Rhianne and Liam, who were fiddling with one of the speakers that seemed to be on the fritz. Elise shouted at Rhianne, but the moment she did, the speaker began working again and her voice was drowned out.

Rhianne looked ecstatic, a bright grin wiping across her face, and she pulled Liam in for a kiss.

Elise smiled at the pair, before turning away. Her attention moved to the large bonfire in the distance, which seemed to be growing. Groups of people were standing around, lifting up their cups and cheering. If Elise didn’t know any better, she’d say that there were at least a thousand people there, but the more rational part of her chopped that number in half.

To her left, she spotted Emma. The blonde stood at the tree line, a match in hand, while she carefully tried to light the last of the lanterns.

Elise approached her, tapping her friend on the shoulder, and succeeded in startling the poor girl. Emma turned, her hair whipping behind her.

“Lis, you scared me!” Emma held her free hand on her chest, on top of her heart.

Elise gave a small laugh. “Sorry, Em! You haven’t seen Ivy, have you?”

The blonde’s eyes grew wide at the mention of their friend. Emma’s head quickly whipped back and forth, searching through the party.

“I thought you were watching her.”

Elise bit her lip. The party had only started an hour ago. Surely Ivy couldn’t be too drunk yet.
Both of the girls looked through the crowds of people for Ivy’s brown hair and her bright, floral dress. Elise hoped that the pretty brunette would stand out in the crowd, but it was unlikely.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elise spotted Ivy’s bright red trademark heels in a pile on the ground. She looked through the faces surrounding the shoes. There was a petite blonde girl that could almost pass for Ivy, but the hair wasn’t right, and the tall frat boys didn’t resemble the girl at all.

Elise had her hand wrapped around Emma’s and was dragging her towards the shoes, when she heard Ivy’s voice. Ivy’s loud, almost nasally laugh was easily recognizable, and when she heard the snort that followed it, Elise knew it was her friend.

Elise and Emma followed the noise to the opposite side of the fire. Through the bright orange flame, she could just barely make out the pattern of Ivy’s dress.

With her hand still wrapped around Emma’s, she attempted to push through the large crowd of people. Elise was very small, as was Emma, so the girls had a little bit of difficulty getting people to step out of their way.

Cups were being thrown around. Alcohol was falling to the floor. The smell of beer was filling the air. The closer the girls got to Ivy, the more wild the party got. It was clear that most of the frat boys were concentrated in the area around the fire.

Elise and Emma were just steps away from Ivy when they saw the bright red cup in her hand. The brunette held the drink in the air and clicked it against Louis’s matching one. The two brought the cups to their lips, and had chugged the entirety of their drinks before Elise and Emma could stop them.

Emma reached her hand out to Ivy, knocking the cup away from her. Even the small touch Emma had used caused Ivy to stumble, and it was obvious that she was already way past being drunk.

“What was that for?” Ivy shouted, throwing her hands on her hips.

Elise placed her hand on Ivy’s arm in an attempt to steady her. “You’ve had enough, Ivy. It’s time to go.”

Ivy shook her head quickly. “No, I want to stay with Louis.”

The brunette pushed Elise away from her, and wrapped her arms around Louis, leaning against him.

Emma leaned over, whispering in Ivy’s ear. “You hate Louis, remember?”

She overemphasized the last word, widening her eyes as she said it.

Ivy giggled. “No, no, no. You’ve got it wrong, Em. Louis and I are buds.”

Louis nodded, wrapping his arm around Ivy’s shoulder.

“She’s right,” he said, as he brought his cup to his lips and drank. “We’re practically best friends.”
Emma and Elise eyed Louis, looking him up and down. He was obviously drunk, but he appeared to be holding his liquor much better than Ivy.

Elise smiled at her friend, attempting to coax her away from Louis. “We can go lay in your bed and watch Scooby Doo, doesn’t that sound nice?”

Ivy appeared to be thinking over Elise’s proposition. She moved her hand to her hair, tousling the soft curls in her fingers.

“Only if Louis comes.” She looked up at Louis, giving him her puppy dog eyes.

Emma shook her head. “Louis can’t come. You know the rule, Ivy. No Omega boys are allowed in your bed when you’re drunk.”

Ivy rolled her eyes. “What a stupid rule. Whoever made that rule clearly doesn’t know Louis. He’s an angel.”

Elise laughed at her friend, who was slurring her words and stumbling.

“You made that rule, Ivy.”

Ivy paused, looking up in the air as she thought. “Well, that was stupid of me.”

Elise grabbed Ivy’s hand, attempting to tug her away from Louis. The brunette slung her arm over Elise’s shoulder, using her friend for balance, while Emma moved to Ivy’s other side. The girls stumbled as they struggled to pull Ivy through the crowds of people.

With her attention on carrying Ivy, Elise missed the couple in front of her, who were in a very passionate lip lock. She bumped straight into them, causing both her and Ivy to fall to the ground, muddying up their knees. The boy turned to Elise, his green eyes staring at her beneath his curly hair.

“I’m so sorry,” the boy said.

Elise shook her head. “It’s alright. It was my fault.”

She wiped off her knees, as Emma attempted to get Ivy to her feet.

“Let me help you.” The boy reached his hand out to Elise, and she latched onto it. Once he had lifted her up, he began brushing his hand against her arm, wiping the dirt from it.

“I’m sorry about that,” he said, rubbing his finger against a scrape on her arm. “I’m Harry, by the way.”

Elise moved her eyes from Harry, to the small blonde girl on his arm.

“Sarah,” Elise said, before turning away from him and back to Ivy. She wrapped her arm back around her friend, who now standing. With Emma’s help, she was able to get Ivy steadied, and the girls began walking back to the house.

At last year’s Jamboree, Elise had been thankful that the party was in the scenic woods, but this year, it was just a pain. The dirt hills and flowery paths made it even more difficult to get Ivy to her bed. When Ivy fell face first into the dirt, Elise was certain that if the girl remembered, she would be convincing Rhianne to change the location of next year’s Jamboree.

By the time the girls had reached the Zeta house, Ivy had fallen three times, and caused Emma to fall twice.

Each of the girls were muddy and bruised, and Emma’s cardigan was ruined. Ivy would probably have a swollen ankle to heal, along with her wicked hangover. The drunk girl had even left her trademark heels were at the party. Elise was unsure whether or not Ivy would ever see those shoes again.

Getting Ivy to the door was a walk in the park compared to the whips and turns leading away from the bonfire. Even though she stumbled up the steps of the wrap-around porch, the brunette was doing much better navigating this portion of the walk.

When the girls reached the front of the house, they heard the sound of Lola giggling, even through the thick wood of the door. Elise let go of Ivy’s arm, passing her off to Emma, as she dug in her pockets for her key.

Ivy reached over and turned the knob. The door flew open beneath her fingers.

“It’s open, silly,” Ivy said, doing a sort of stumble-skip through the threshold.

Ivy had only taken a few steps into the house when she froze. She turned back to Elise and Emma, a large smile on her face.

“What’s that for?” Elise asked, pushing her friend out of the way.

With Ivy no longer blocking her view, Elise could now see a soaking wet Lola climbing up the Zeta house steps. The redhead had water dripping from her hair and clothes, and even more visible was the Omega boy she had in tow. Lola’s hand was wrapped around Niall Horan’s wrist, as she pulled him up the stairs with her.

Elise and Emma locked eyes almost immediately, their faces going blank in shock.

Ivy laughed, stumbling as she did so. “I thought you said there were no Omega boys allowed when I’m drunk.”

Ivy threw her finger in the air, waving it back and forth. “Tsk tsk, Lola.”

Elise rolled her eyes at her friend, forcing back a small laugh. Lola would have some explaining to do.

“Off to bed now,” Emma said, wrapping her arm around Ivy’s waist, while Elise took her arm. After only a few minutes of maneuvering, the blondes were successfully able to get Ivy up the large staircase the Zeta house was known for. They walked down the second floor hallway, passing each of their decorated doors, before stopping at the one that had ‘Ivy’ written in bright letters.

The drunk girl pulled away from the girls and half stumbled, half hopped, over to her bed. When she plopped down on top of it, she looked over at her friends, with a bright grin on her face.

“Is it Scooby time?” Ivy asked, tucking herself into her covers.

The two girls nodded, cuddling up next to their extremely drunk friend.