Burn

The reflection of Rae’s emerald eyes stared back at her, flicking over the length of her appearance. She felt out of her skin, being so dressed up in a revealing shirt and skirt. Though only a small amount of milky white flesh was shown between her top and skirt, it felt strange, to have the wind hitting her bare skin there.

Dark chocolate waves spilled over her left shoulder, her long hair pushed to one side, hiding her shoulder. She hadn’t realized how long her hair had grown until she swept it to the side, able to see it’s silky length in the glass in front of her.

The walls began to vibrate suddenly, the mirror rattling against it as her best friend turned up the music in the room next to her. Rae’s left eye twitched in annoyance but tried not to let it piss her off; in truth, it never bothered her until that moment, and it wasn’t even because it was loud.

Trystan had her music blaring daily, so it wasn’t a new thing for the walls to be shaking with her awesome sound system. She was the kind of person that lived through music, so it never bothered Rae. The true problem was that Trystan was dragging Rae to a part in celebration of Rae’s birthday, and Rae absolutely did not want to go.

All her life, Rae had grown up as a girl who preferred the company of small groups as opposed to houses bursting at the seams with people. It wasn’t that she didn’t like drinking or going out, it was that she had bad luck when it came to people knocking her over, guys hitting on her, and people spilling their drinks on her.

No amount of excuses would allay Trystan, though, so Rae found herself sliding into a black pair of heels, hoping that they wouldn’t hurt her feet too badly. If she was going to be out all night, she wanted to at least be comfortable so that she could make the best out of it.

Footsteps in the hall made Rae look up, flicking her brown hair up and she straightened to her short, but full height. Trystan stood in front of her, long blonde hair down in waves cascading around her like clouds. Trystan was one of the beautiful blondes with long legs and an astounding ability to look good in whatever she wore- and she knew it.

“You look well fit,” Trystan commented, making a face of approval as she took in Rae’s appearance. Though Rae liked to believe she looked like an average girl, with her petite frame and startling green eyes contrasting with her hair, she just couldn’t be classified as normal; she was radiant. “You should come to the big parties more often, the boys won’t be able to leave us alone.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Rae muttered, grabbing her purse from the bed and standing with her hands on her hips. Rae had had her fair share of idiot boyfriends in the past, and she wasn’t looking for anymore tossers to be in a relationship with. “Are you ready? I’d rather hurry along with my misery.”

“Oh sod off,” Trystan scolded, walking forward and catching Rae’s small handing, tugging her along. Normally Rae would dig her heels in the ground and balk at being pulled along, but she just gave up, letting Trystan pulled her to the first floor of their home. “You act like you don’t do well at big parties. Everyone loves you.”

“I can’t say I feel the same.”

“Well you need to pretend that you love them.” The cool air hit Rae in the face, blowing her locks back. It was dark outside, the moon bathing everything in silver light. “Other wise everyone’s going to think you really are a rich bitch who wants nothing to do with us normal income people.”

Rae tried not to wince at her words, knowing that Trystan meant absolutely nothing by the phrase. Rae’s best mate had a habit of being brutally honest, often not realizing that what she said was actually quite insulting.

It was true, that Rae had plenty of money. Her father was one of the most famous surgeons in all of England, and Richard Bastian did not have any problem funding his only daughter money, as long as she was behaved and she visited him daily. Rae was all Dr. Bastian had left in his life, after the passing of his wife Lydia.

The two friend slide into a sleek black BMW, even though Rae would have preferred to take Trystan’s much more sensible mini cooper. Of course, this suggestion was bat down, for they were going to a party of high standards and needed to be flashy. This only made Rae roll her eyes, knowing it probably wasn’t that serious.

The blonde talked eagerly about the party that they were attending that night, though she made an obvious attempt to hide whose party it was. Rae knew all of Trystan’s friends, and she knew most of the people their age in London, which is why she was put off when it was clear her best friend did not want to divulge as to whose party they were attending.

After minutes of driving in the moonlight, the sleek car pulled into a nice spot outside of a large home. Cars were lined down the street and people their age were walking up and down the sidewalks, coming to and from the two-story home. It seemed they had gotten lucky with the parking spot, as Rae cut the engine.

“You still hiding whose party this is from me?” Rae questioned, slipping her short but defined legs out of the car, standing in the night air. The pair was already receiving looks, interest sparking at the car. “Or are you ready to tell me?”

Trystan’s eyes widened slightly; she had thought she was getting away with hiding it. “What do you mean?”

“Oh come off it.” Rae walked around the car and joined the tall girl on the sidewalk, both of them starting towards the stairs that led to the home. “I know you’ve been trying to hide whoever is throwing this. I don’t know what you’re up too, Trys, but you better not get us in trouble.”

“You need a little trouble.” Rae’s eyes flickered. “We won’t get in trouble, calm down.”

Inside of the home, music was bumping steadily and the sound of many voices all at once was mixed in with the steady melody. People were moving around one another, cups of all kinds in hands and the smell of party in the air. The house was filled to the brim with people their age, making Rae twitch with irritation. She didn’t feel like dealing with this many people tonight.

Immediately Rae recognized friends and familiar faces, plastering a smile on her face as she began thanking people that wished her a Happy Birthday and placing kisses on her cheeks. Going through the rounds was going to be tiring, so as quickly as she could, she found herself a drink, sipping it as the birthday wishes kept on coming.

Trystan stayed by Rae’s side loyally, making sure that the people they didn’t even know told Rae happy birthday. It made Rae smile, that her friend was actually trying to make her have a good time. Sighing, she decided to stop fighting fun so desperately, trying to relax.

“Rae,” a voice called, making her turn. She hadn’t even realized that Trystan wasn’t at her side until she was some feet away, waving her over madly with her hand. She was stood with a very attractive boy with dark hair and very bright blue eyes. “This is Louis, and this is his home.”

Rae stuck out her hand out of habit, which clearly amused the boy in front of her, though he shook it anyways. Stubble was clear on his fine jaw, she saw, making her wonder how old he was. He couldn’t be too much older than her 19 years of age. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” she called over the music, flashing a smile at his taller height. He was dressed finely in a button up shirt and skinny jeans, and something about him besides his nice house breathed money. “Nice home you’ve got here.”

“His father is CEO for BP!” Trystan gushed as if it were the greatest news in the world. It made sense to Rae why they had to take her BMW now; there was an obvious game of ‘whose got what’ going on throughout the place. “Can you believe that?”

“Hardly.” The comment was sarcastic, but if Louis noticed, she couldn’t tell. “And for what occasion is the son of a CEO throwing a party?” she questioned, trying to be politer when a set of green eyes narrowed on her, threatening to cut the sarcasm.

Louis’s shoulders fell up and down in a single movement. “Didn’t want to have a boring Friday. Plus, Styles practically threatened me into it.”

Trystan bit her lip slightly, going silent as my eyes flicked over to her, a light bulb going off in my head. “Harry Styles?” I asked, trying to keep my tone in different. “The lad who got kicked out of University for attacking a professor?”

“That’s the one,” Louis answered, his attention somewhere else. He moved past me, saying, “Sorry to interrupt, but it seems I have something to attend to.”

Rae waited patiently for Louis to disappear for her to whirl on Trystan, who seemed to be preparing for her anger. “Bloody hell Trystan! You know very well we shouldn’t be here! These aren’t the kind of blokes we hang around! Why didn’t you tell me!”

“Because I knew you’d over react!”

“Over react? You do realize that Styles and all of his friends have a bad name for a reason, yes? Nothing good comes from hanging around people who party like they do, especially when they get violent.”

Trys shrugged it off, brushing her best friends worries away. “There are over fifty people here, Rae. The chances of the bad boys starting a fight in front of all these people and causing mayhem isn’t that great.”

Rae watched in frustration as her best friend strut past her, finding interest in dancing with a very fit boy that she didn’t know. Rae felt very stressed then, downing the rest of her drink and tossing the cup, not caring that she was littering in a strangers house. Only trouble could come out of hanging with troublemakers, and Rae new that.

“Bloody hell,” she muttered to herself, going to get another drink.