Chloe's P.O.V
It was the day of the Halloween frat party and I felt super energized. Tonight would be the night that I confessed my feelings for Luke, and the thought of it brought butterflies to my stomach. Would he accept my feelings, or would I end up getting my heart broken? My heart kept me feeling confident, but my brain gave me second thoughts. Just listen to your heart, Chloe, I had to tell myself.
"Don't cha think that being a band nerd for Halloween is just a little too much?" Heather asked as she put her makeup on at my bathroom counter.
It was Hailee's great idea that we should all get dressed at our dorm and then head over to the frat party. That was why Heather was here being…well…Heather.
"Don't cha think that being a slutty nurse is too repetitive?" I mocked her and looked in the mirror. My crimson and white uniform clung tightly to my body, showing every little curve I had, which somewhat freaked me out. I remembered the day that I was fitted and thought it was a little too tight, but everyone else said that it looked good on me. So, I would just have to trust everyone else and not myself on that matter.
"Gosh, Claire, no need to be bitchy," Heather rolled her eyes and then heavily applied mascara to her long, dark lashes.
"You're the one–" I started but stopped myself. Heather wasn't worth it. She was just an incredibly stupid, annoying girl who wanted me to feel bad about myself and I wouldn't let her. No one could make me feel inferior without my consent, something I learned from Eleanor Roosevelt.
Marshall came out of Hailee's room with her costume on and makeup done. Her makeup was beautiful with thick, cat eyeliner and gold eyeshadow, bringing out her bright blue eyes.
"You look amazing, Marshall," I said.
"Claire's right, Chloe. You do look amazing," Heather agreed, continuing to do her makeup.
"Thanks, you guys," Marshall grinned and then looked over at Heather, her grin quickly fading. "Heather, your ass is literally about to come out of that dress."
Heather laughed, almost smudging her mascara. "Isn't that the whole point of this costume, Chloe?"
"Just wanted to let you know just in case you didn't want to show off your ass," Marshall shrugged and walked into the living room.
Sometimes I wondered if Marshall and Heather were even friends.
"Come on guys," Hailee said, emerging out of her room as the playboy bunny. "Let's not fight. Tonight's supposed to be super fun!"
I hoped tonight would be 'super fun.' It was bound to at least be amazing since I get to hang out with Luke the entire night, ending it with a brutally honest confession that I was unsure I could escape out of.
"Are you done yet, Heather?" Hailee asked as she lent rolled herself. "It's almost eight o'clock. We'll be late to the frat party at this rate."
"Y'all can just chill for another ten minutes," Heather snapped. "You can't rush perfection."
I rolled my eyes, walked in the living room, and plopped myself on the armchair. We were going to be here awhile, so I might as well have a comfortable seat to sit in.
Hailee began chatting away with Marshall while I stared at the blank tv hopelessly. Heather took way too long to do her makeup, and this was coming from a girl who spent thirty minutes doing makeup some mornings.
My phone buzzed in my bibbers' pocket and I pulled it out to see who sent me a text.
Luke: Hey Chloe, when do you think you will arrive? The frat party began just five minutes ago.
I smiled and began texting away.
Me: I'm stuck in my dorm room waiting for Heather to finish up her makeup and then we'll head over. It shouldn't be too long.
Luke: Ah okay. Make sure to text me when you arrive!
Me: Okay!
Luke: See ya then!
I put my phone back in my pocket only to see Marshall and Hailee staring at me.
"What?" I asked innocently.
"Who were you texting?" Marshall asked with a knowing smile.
"Luke," I answered. Sheesh she was nosy sometimes.
Hailee's eyes flickered to mine and her eyes widened.
"Luke again, huh," Marshall smiled deviously, folding her thin arms. "You two seem to text a lot. You must be really good friends."
"We are," I said nervously, but quickly shrugged it off. I shouldn't be nervous when talking about Luke. Luke and I were good friends. At this point it really didn't matter who knew. They were about to find out that I liked him after tonight anyway.
"Okay I'm done!" Heather said and walked from the bathroom.
I looked at Heather to see that her makeup wasn't complicated enough to have taken her that long, and it really annoyed me that I already wasted five minutes when I could have been hanging out with Luke already.
"And your makeup doesn't look any different than how it normally does," Marshall snickered to herself as she walked toward the dorm door.
I silently agreed as we all walked out of my dorm while Heather protested. We went downstairs, outside of the dorm, and piled into Marshall's car.
"Everyone ready?" Marshall asked while looking in her rearview mirror.
Hailee, Heather, and I nodded.
I shivered as Marshall drove us to the frat party. Alabama weather was certainly something else. One minute it was hot and humid and the next it was chilly. That's how temperamental an Alabama October–almost November– was.
Soon enough we pulled into a circle drive lined with frat houses. They were tall, brick buildings with large, white columns in the front with black shutters on their windows. It was almost like a colonial styled house. Halloween banners hung from the columns and jack-o-lanterns were on each of their front porches.
It was a wonder which frat house we were supposed to go to since there were so many, but luckily, Marshall knew which one we were supposed to go to. After she parked her car, we got out and made our way to the frat house.
My stomach began to twist nervously as we walked to the frat house, hearing guys goofing off and girls giggling. In each of the frat house's yards were groups of people hanging out on the grass. Some of the guys looked over in our direction and one of them whistled. It was hard to tell which one they were whistling at, but I knew for sure it wasn't toward me. I was a band nerd after all.
"Hey Heather," one of the guys said with a devilish grin on his face. He was dressed up as a vampire.
"Hey," Heather said and winked at him.
"Where are you ladies going to?" the vampire asked.
"To your frat party," Marshall smiled, folding her arms.
"I'm sorry to let you girls know but it's invite only," a guy dressed up as a police officer said with his hands on his hips. He was unusually large, and when I say large I meant extremely muscular and tall.
"Oh really?" Heather asked. "But Luke never mentioned that."
"Luke Armstrong invited you?" the police officer asked. "In that case you girls should already be on the list."
"We should be," Hailee rolled her eyes and inspected her fingernails.
The police officer guy walked toward us with a clipboard in hand and removed his glasses to reveal light blue eyes. "What are your names?" he asked, his eyes flicking from the clipboard back to Marshall.
It was annoying how obvious some guys were. It was like I could already see the drool dripping off his chin.
"I am Chloe Marshall, this is Heather Bates, that's Hailee Macintyre, and last but certainly not least is Chloe Claire," she said while twirling her finger in her black wig's hair.
The police officer guy nodded at each of our names until Marshall said mine. I internally began to freak out, wondering if my name wasn't on the list.
"You're Chloe Claire?" he asked, his pale eyes looking me up and down with confusion.
"Um…yes?" I responded while rubbing my arm. "Am I not on the list?" I heard the apparent worry in my voice.
"No, you're on the list, but I just expected you to look different," he said while cocking his head to the side like a puppy.
Ouch. "Well that kinda hurts."
"No, no, no, not like that. Sorry I didn't mean to be offensive or anything. Here, let me introduce myself. My name's Gunther," he said, putting the clipboard in his armpit and reached out with his large hands to shake mine.
I shook his hand firmly, still not knowing who in the world Gunther was or how he was significant in any way to me. "I'm sorry, but am I supposed to know you?" I asked as our hands fell.
"Not right now you aren't," he smiled. "But you will soon. Have fun in there, and you be nice to my friend. He really likes you."
H-he really likes me? Luke? Was he friends with Luke and just blatantly told me he liked me? What?! My heart began to pump harder in my chest, and I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. "O-okay?"
He patted me on the back and winked at me as Hailee, Marshall, and I walked past him.
"Wonder what that was about," Hailee whispered to me excitedly as we walked inside, leaving Heather alone outside with the vampire guy.
I shrugged. "How should I know?"
Inside of the frat house looked exactly how a colonial styled house would look on the inside. The floors were made from wood and immediately upon entrance there was a doublewide staircase leading upstairs. On the left was a door that lead into a nice kitchen that I assumed where all the alcohol was stored.
"I don't know about you two, but I'm going to get a drink," Marshall said and walked away from us.
"Wait for me, Chloe!" Hailee said, pushed past some people, and followed Marshall into the kitchen.
Once again, I was left alone to my own devices. I began to panic as I head the music booming in my ears, the obnoxious sound traveling throughout the frat house. People's voices rang in my ears, and the floor vibrated beneath my feet. All of the sudden I felt someone shove me right against the wall.
"Watch where you're going!" the guy said as she shoved past me, his dark eyes shooting daggers at me.
"You're the one who shoved me!" I yelled back.
The guy didn't bother to look in my direction and continued to go about his merry way.
What a prick, I thought to myself and shook my head. More panic settled in as I didn't move from the wall, and I began to take in deep breaths. Deep breaths, Chloe, I told myself as my breathing labored. You'll get through this. Just find Luke.
Luke.
I pulled out my phone, remembering that he wanted me to text him as soon as I got here.
Me: I'm here
It took about a minute for him to reply:
Luke: Cool! Where are you at?
Me: It doesn't really matter. Just tell me where you are so I can come meet you.
Luke: I'm in the living room sitting on the center couch near the fireplace with a couple friends. You'll recognize me pretty easily ;)
Me: Will I? XD
Luke: XD
I put my phone back in my bibbers' pocket and smiled. Where was the living room in this frat house? I looked around and until I noticed a pattern of the walk flow of the house. Many people seemed to be coming in and out from behind the staircase so maybe that was my best bet. I managed to get off the wall and walked in the midst of the crowd, carefully making my way over to the staircase. At that point, groups broke off and I had to quickly pretend that I was walking with the group of three girls behind the staircase.
As soon as I walked around the staircase there were white double doors that were opened that lead into the living room. The living room was quite spacious, with the ability to probably fit at least fifty people comfortably. The walls were painted red, and in the center of the room was a large, brick fireplace. Sitting in the center of the center leather couch was none other than Luke Armstrong, dressed up as an Alabama football player.
Of course, he was dressed as a football player, because that was cheesy as heck. But who was I to talk? I was a freaking band nerd! I couldn't help but laugh out loud, not even caring how stupid I looked.
I stood there for a moment, wondering how I was going to approach him. Should I just wait until he notices, or should I just saunter up to him?
I guessed it really didn't matter what I wanted because as soon as I took one step, one girl crawled into his lap and pressed her lips against his.
And that was when my heart sank.