Chapter 25 Bonus: Olivia and Mason Meet Ch 1
OLIVIA
I stared at myself in the mirror, turning to both sides and inspecting my outfit with eagle eyes. It was perfectly fine, but I wanted to go to this party about as bad as I wanted to stub my toe every morning.
"C'mon Olivia! We're going to be late!"
I rolled my eyes with a sigh, grabbing my phone and bag. "Calm down Tiff, no one shows up on time to these things. We'll be less weird if we showed up at least an hour after it's supposed to start."
I came out of my room and turned to the right, almost smacking directly into one of my two roommates, Tiffany, as I rounded the corner.
"Whoa sorry! But that can't be right. A whole hour late?" Tiffany's perpetually pouty and glossed lips turned down at the corners, her brows crinkling with insecurity. "My mother would flip if I ever made her one minute late to any party, much less one hour."
My heart went out to the girl, remembering she'd had a much different experience with the world than most. Tiffany had grown up rich- and I don't mean the big house in your neighborhood rich. I mean 'her family owns three different houses and a yacht and has one of those last names that sounds rich and went to boarding school' kind of rich. Her parents were extremely strict and she'd never dares to step a toe out of line- at least, until she'd met me.
We were in our sophmore year of college, but had met as freshmen. It had been a requirement for all freshman tos tay on campus, and Tiffany had told me that was the reason she'd picked our school so that she could finally have a "normal" life experience. As much as her parents had tried to bribe the school officials, they'd stuck to their rules. I was thankful for that because that had led to me ending up with TIffany as a roommate and new best friend. I'd taught her a lot about normal life and she'd already spoiled me so much with the obnoxiously large allowance her paretns gave her. I'd never asked her for anything but she always seemed to know just when I needed a little extra cash. Once we'd finished our sophmore year, I'd stayed the summer with her and her family, and then when coming back to school her parents had paid for an off-campus high security apartment with three rooms so she'd be "safer".
I was on the opposite end of the spectrum- I was an orphan that had stayed in the foster system, never getting adopted but working my ass off in order to survive. At 17 I was able to emancipate myself despite the process being complicated and rigorous, and even with all that I'd been able to gradutate at the top of my class and get several scholarship offers to college- this was the one that had offered a full scholarship including supplied and was farthest away from where I'd grown up. I'd been grateful that lodging was included because that saved me from needing to work as much, and now that I was here in Colorado, I'd learned to love it here.
"Have I ever led you wrong, Tiff?" Her eyebrows raised at my question, and memories of us getting into hijinks last year flashed through my mind. I grinned. "Okay, you know what I mean! Trust me when I say that we have plenty of time still."
"Alright, alright. Let's go check on Sam."
We turned the other way, calling Sam's name as we went down the hall.
"You know I love you guys, right?" Sam's husky voice rang out from the other side of her door as we reached it. It was cracked so we pushed it open, peeking around the corner and taking in the sight of the friend that rounded out our trio. While Tiffany and I were definitely extroverts, Sam was... not. She was more into books and music on her headphones in her room than parties and going out on the weekends. She was a brilliant, funny woman with lots of love in her heart and she clicked with us the moment we met her and invited her to live with us.
"Yes, we know. But," Tiff said while the three of us stood together in front of the mirrored closet doors in Sam's room, "how could we possibly do a Powerpuff Girls costume without our Buttercup?!"
Sam's mouth lightly pursed but she didn't say anything. I smiled, trying not to giggle as I read her thoughts on her face. I just knew she was thinking that we could've picked a two-person costume, but she also knew it was good for her to get out sometimes. Plus...
"We look fucking hot, ladies." Grins spread on all of our faces at my words.
"Hell yeah," Tiff said and giggled.
I took in the sight of us, admiring our looks and finally feeling less apprehensive about the night. I was on the left, my long blonde hair up in high pigtails with the ends curled. My short, fitted blue Bubbles dress hugged every curve I'd been blessed with- which was not a little. Tiffany was in the middle, her naturally red hair pinned up with a big pink bow, her pink Blossom dress matching mine although her body was much closer to a ballerina's, svelte and all legs. And on our right was Sam, her perpetually tanned skin looking amazing against the green of her own tight-fit Buttercup dress, her dark braids trailing down her back adorned with green accessories.
"Alright, lets go get some food before we head out." I agreed with Sam's words, heading towards the front door.
"Last one to the door pays!" I called out.
"Hey!" Tiffany's joking protest rang out, and Sam and I laughed loudly at the joke, all three of us knowing that Tiffany was always the last one ready even if she was the one pushing us to leave.
A few minutes later, Sam and I were waiting by the door for Tiffany who only took another minute or two to join us. Her and Sam immediately started debating about where to get food, and I closed and locked the door behind the three of us, trying to shake off the feeling that something about this night was going to change me, or my future, forever. I shook myself as I caught up to the other girls, joining their discussion.
"I don't care what we eat, but lets pick somehwere we can sit so that we kill enought time before showing up."
"Brilliant. In that case... Applebee's?" Sam suggested.
"That'll work," Tiff and I said in sync.
"That will never not be creepy," Sam said with a smile.
"Whatever, let's go get some mozzarella sticks!" Tiff yelled, hurrying her steps to her car. I laughed out loud, knowing that was exactly what she'd been thinking. I was grateful for this party for one reason- that I got to spend more time with my friends. Nothing could possibly go wrong with that!