Nikki finished up her final touches. I barely recognize myself honestly. I took one last look in the mirror. She decided I should wear my hair down in loose curls. I have to agree it does look pretty. She added some eyeliner, a Smokey eye look and red lipstick. I looked at Nikki, "we should go before I lose my confidence here". We head towards the living room and when I enter everyone stops and stares. Ashlynn turns around and looks me up and down again for the second time this evening. You can see the jealousy pouring off her as everyone is talking about how good I look. She sticks her nose up and makes a grunt " we need to leave now if we don't want to have to stand in line", she states and grabs her purse. Everyone follows suit. Before I know it, I have a pair of arms wrapped around me and I feel his breath near my ear when he whispers" you look absolutely sexy, but don't think for one minute you'll be leaving my side tonight". He gently kisses my neck, making me shiver in excitement. " I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else" I say seductively. "Come on love birds, keep it moving" yelled Nikki. "Okay,okay we are coming" Nikki grabs me from Harlem and we lock arms together. "Ready to have the best night of your life" Nikki says excitedly. "Hell yeah, let's dance the night away" I say as I match her enthusiasm. We all have water bottles filled with liquor that we chug back in the cab on our way to the club. I am starting to feel a little tipsy and decide I have had enough for tonight. Nikki shakes her head and grabs my bottle and throws back the remaining liquid. Typical Nikki, wouldn't be her if she was not the life of the party. We get to the club and it's starting to fill up pretty quickly. It's the hottest new place in town, so, of course, everyone would want to be here checking it out. Once we are inside, we make our way through the crowd to the dance floor. Ashlynn, Nikki, a few of our girlfriends and I dance the night away. Harlem was never more than a few feet away from me at any given moment. Romie by Beenie Man starts blaring through the speakers and I am instantly excited. This is my favorite jam. I grab Harlem to come dance with me. His hands are tight to my waste as I grind up against him. I know I am teasing him and he knows it too. "You are going to be the death of me if you don't stop it Jesse", he whispered, yells in my ear. I smiled at his response. Harlem has been so patient, not pressuring me into anything. We've talked a lot about being together but he understands that it's important to me to wait until I feel it's the right time. I just don't want to be like Nikki or Ashlynn who just give away their innocence so easily. I want it to mean something. Not just a one-night thing. The night is almost over and my feet are killing me in these heels. I told the girls and Harlem I was going to go outside and call my stepmom to pick me up soon. It's almost one in the morning and she will want to get to bed soon. I come back in and our whole group is leaning up against the wall of the club. Looks like everyone has had enough for tonight. Kristy texted me that she was outside and Harlem and I walked towards the car. I asked Kristy if Harlem could spend the night. Kristy very quickly stated "absolutely not, your father would have my head. I pout at her. "He can sleep on the couch, I promise we will stay separate". She shakes her head no."sorry kiddo, no can do". Just then, Ashlynn walked over to us. "It's okay, Harlem can stay at my place tonight, Jesse". I don't like the idea, but I don't seem to have a choice. I was not expecting Kristy to say no. Harlem can tell I am not exactly thrilled with this idea. "It's okay Jesse, I'll go to Ashlynn's and you can come over in the morning and we can spend the day together before my dad comes to pick me up". I looked into his eyes and gave him a quick kiss. I gave him a hug and leaned into his ear" think of me in your dreams tonight k". He smiled, "With you in that red dress it would be hard not
Too, Night gorgeous" he gave me one last quick kiss. As I am getting into the car, I see Ashlynn link arms with Harlem as she pulls him to their waiting cab. I roughly closed the car door and looked at my stepmother," I don't see what the problem would have been if Harlem came with us, it's not like we would have done anything". Kristy looks on as she drives and says "Jesse, you know the rules, you're fifteen years old, you are not going to have boys sleeping over and that's the end of discussion". "Fine, whatever. I can't wait till I get older and have my own place and can do what I want and have no rules". Kristy just looks on and we drive the rest of the way home in silence. I make my way to my room and undress myself, wash my face and brush my teeth. I got into my PJ's and lay down in bed. I grabbed my phone to text Harlem good night.