-Star of my Sea-
Liana’s POV
After an awkward dinner of ribs, I told Liam I was having an early night, went upstairs, took a shower and changed into the sluttiest clothes I owned: a crop top and denim hotpants. I backcombed my hair and did my face up, feeling a little sad that i was using Stella’s friend to annoy her, but most of me didn’t care.
I banged hard on Stella’s door. “C’mon loser!”
She pulled open the door. She was looking demure in a pair of high-top denim shorts, a tie up top and flipflops.
“You look so cute,” I tease. She scowls.
“We can climb out onto the veranda out the back and jump down,” she says in monotone. “It’s the only way he won’t hearus.”
I nod.
“It’s gonna be uhm, hard in that though.” She eyes my wedges with disdain.
“I’ll take them off. I’ll go get some flats to climb down in.” I sashay off and step into a pair of converse.
“Uhm, I’ll get out first,” Stella says, opening her window as far as possible. She sits on the ledge, edges forward, and kneels on the slanted veranda. The evening air is cool and she looks so nervous on the ledge. She shuffles forward so slowly it’s painful to watch. When she reaches the edge of the veranda roof, her legs dangle and she gauges the distance to jump. She closes her eyes, murmuring ‘one, two, and three…’ and then she makes a surprisingly lithe jump, landing on her hands and knees.
“Ow!” she mouthed.
I step straight out onto the roof, my converse supporting me. I walk carefully to the edge, and jump. I land the same way as her, and brush myself down.
She rolls her eyes.
“Where’s Steven’s house, anyway?” I ask, changing my shoes.
“Down on the cliff,” she replies.
“Oh, cool. Can we jump in there, too?” I ask, just to annoy her.
She frowns and leads the way.
“I got a bad feeling about this…” she says.
“Oh my God, you’re so sad.”
“Shut up Liana, I mean it.” She scowls.
“God…take a joke, can’t you,” I say.
After we take a winding path up to a huge, marble house with gates out front, I notice that Stella’s brought some marshmallows, chips and a two-litre bottle of Coke, that she stored in a bush down by the house.
She punches in the code and saunters up the gravel path, to where Steven is standing at the open door.
“Hey Stella, hey hottie,” he grins slyly at me. I take a deep breath and giggle.
He leads us out through the huge, immaculate house, out to the back yard where he’s set up the bonfire on the cliff’s edge. It’s not lit yet, but he’s done his best to make it welcoming, with cushioned patio seats, and a table of snacks, and a litre of vodka. Even looking at it makes me shudder.
“Kara and Amelia are in the kitchen,” he says. “Roger and a few other buddies are coming then. Let’s just wait for the party to begin!”
He walks to a stereo and pumps out some Dev. Party time, here we come!