Young Writers Society

Natalia/Nattie

"Speaking of," Chrissy looked around. "Where are our dates?"

I shrugged. "I'm sure they'll be here soon. Uh, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

I sat down and bit down on my nail. "Do you think Jace only asked me to homecoming to get back at Lindsay?"

Chrissy sat next to me and gently moved my nail away from my mouth. "I just painted those." She joked softly. "I don't think so. I think he finally realized you were right here in front of him."

I nodded but I couldn't shake the doubt out of my mind.

There was a knock on the door and Chrissy bounced up to answer it. Jace and Justin walked in, both looking adorable in their tuxes. Justin took Chrissy's hand and kissed it.

I stayed sitting on the stairs and Jace held his hand out. He helped me up and searched my eyes. I wasn't doing a good job of hiding my worries.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He whispered so Chrissy and Justin didn't hear. "Do you still want to go tonight?"

"Yeah!" I forced a smile. "Nothing, I'm fine."

The concerned look on his face told me he didn't buy that, but he slowly nodded and took a lock of my hair. Chrissy and I had spent over an hour trying to straighten it.

"I like your curls better." He murmured and kissed my cheek. "But you still look beautiful."

I smiled and hugged him.

"Are we ready to go?" Chrissy beamed and herded everyone outside to her car.

We piled in and headed towards the school. They had transformed the entire gym to fit the theme, classic New York. The DJ stand was up front and huge speakers were set up around the room. Loads of students were already packed into the gym dancing to So Good by B.O.B.

"Pack your bags real good baby cause you'll be gone for a while!" Chrissy sang along as she lead us into the gym.

"I'm just gonna warn you right now," I mumbled in Jace's ear. "I don't dance."

He stuck out his bottom lip. "Not even for me?"

I playfully pushed his shoulder.

Chrissy

I pull Justin out onto the dance floor and we dance like crazy people. I can hear the mumbles about Justin and I being together. I did not care though. I can see my parents on the side of the gym. They always volunteer to look after everyone. You think I would be embarrassed, but I am not. My parents are pretty wonderful and I love spending time with them. My dad warned my that I would have to dance with him at least once and I said that it was fine.

Justin grabs my hands and spins me around. "You know I have liked you for a long time." He says.

I blush and smile. "You have?" I ask, kind of shocked.

"I was too afraid to ask you out because I was worried I would never have a chance with you." He says.

I smile and kiss him. "I have liked you for a long time too."

The microphone cuts on and our principal speaks into it. "Hello students. I am here to announce the homecoming king and queen." He says. The DJ presses a button and a drum roll sounds and I laugh. "Your homecoming queen is," He pauses and look at the card. "Justin Gordon." He screams.

Everyone claps and Justin walks onto the stage. I smile as a crown is placed on his head. He winks at me and I smile.

"Now, your homecoming queen is," He pauses again and he looks at the card. "For the third year in a row, Chrissy Edens."

I smile and walk up on the stage. They give me a crown and I laugh. Justin takes my hand and kisses my cheek. My parents are going crazy and I smile at them. Nattie and Jace cheer to and I roll my eyes at them.

Natalia/Nattie

They announce Chrissy homecoming queen and I lean over and whisper to Jace "I knew she'd get it."

We clap wildly and she blows us kisses.

"Come on," Jace took my hand and dragged me out of the gym.

"What are you doing?" I ask. "The homecoming king and queen's dance is next!"

He doesn't say anything as he pulls me down the science wing. We stop abruptly in front of some lockers.

"What are you doing?" I repeated. "We're gonna miss Chrissy's dance!"

He ignored me and just stared at me.

"Stop it." I murmur and blush.

He grinned and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Your curls are coming back." He mumbled.

I glanced down and the ends of my hair were beginning to coil again.

"Shit." I whisper. "There goes an hour of my life I'll never get back."

Jace leaned closer to me, backing me up against the lockers. "Nat, what's wrong?" He asked, searching my face for answers. "You've been holding back all night. Did I do something wrong?"

"No.." I start. "I just, I don't know. I keep thinking you only asked me to homecoming to get back at Lindsay." I look down at the floor, avoiding his eyes.

"Nat, I really liked Lindsay." He sighed, taking a step closer to me. "And yeah, it hurt when we broke up, but the whole time we dated she kept me away from you. I was going to break up with her anyways because I realized that I need you, Nat. And I need you to.. need me."

"You're crazy." I smiled and shook my head.

"Am I?" He asked huskily. "If I'm crazy that makes you crazy too, Monkey."

Our noses were almost touching. I couldn't keep eye contact.

"Tell me you need me too." Jace whispered.

I barely have time to say "I do," before his lips crashed into mine. Goosebumps crawled up my arms as I wrapped them around his neck and pulled his face closer to mine. Our lips moved in sync and I tangled my fingers in his hair. His arms snaked around to the small of my back and yanked me against him. His lips were hot and soft. Aggressive but gentle. I didn't want to stop. I've been kissed before but this one, in the middle of the abandoned science wing, was by far the best.

Chrissy


We walk down from the stage and he wraps he arms around my waist, pulling me close to him. I smile and put my arms around his neck. A song begins to play and we sway back and forth. "I am really happy that you came here with me." He tells me.

I smile and rest my forehead against his. "I am glad I came with you." I say.

He twirls me around and lifts me into the air. He truly does make me feel like a princess. I have never felt butterflies until now. This giddy feeling is pretty amazing. The way he leaves a permit blush on my face is just perfect.

He keeps whispering sweet things in my ear and I cannot help but giggle and smile the whole time.

--

The song ends and everyone claps. Nattie and Jace walk over to us and I can see he glow. My eyes go wide and I wink at her.

She blushes and pulls closer to Jace. Just when I think everything is going perfectly, the 'bad boys' of the school burst through the door. The guy I slapped across the face at the front of them all. "Oh, shit." I say.

"Is that the guy you slapped?" Nattie asks.

"Guilty." I laugh.

"What did he do to you?" Justin asks.

"Um, he wanted me to have sex with him." I say.

His face hardens and he glares at the guy. I kiss his cheek and he snaps out of it. "Yep, your cute." I say. I look back at them. "Let's just not drink the punch. They are going to spike it. I just want to have a good time." I say.

"We can do that." Justin says.

"Nattie you have to dance." I say I pull them all out on the dance floor and we just go all out. "Love you." I say to her.

Natalia/Nattie

We danced for a while, but Chrissy and I kept eyeing the guys who just walked in. Anthony and his posse hovered over everyone, standing around the perimeter of the gym. I bumped into one of the guys and he reeked of alcohol.

"Hey, girl." He slurred. "Wanna have a fun time?"

I rolled my eyes, disgusted and found my way back towards my group.

"They've been drinking." I said discretely. "I ran into one of them and he hit on me. I could smell the alcohol."

Jace squeezed my hand. "What did he say to you?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. I promise." I kiss his cheek.

"Do you think they'll do anything stupid?" Chrissy asked.

"Who knows," I said. "They seem pretty hammered."

We all exchanged worried glances.

"Should we do anything?" Justin tensed up.

"Only if they do something first." Jace nodded.

"Let's just ignore them for now." I said.

"I'm going to get something to drink." Chrissy waved to us and walked with Justin towards the door.

"Maybe we're just overreacting." I say in Jace's ear.

"I don't know. I just don't want anything to happen to you." He tilted my face up and kissed me. I'm never going to get enough of these kisses.

*****

Ten minutes later and Chrissy and Justin still aren't back.

"Jace," I pulled him aside. "Why haven't they came back yet? They were just getting drinks."

He shrugged. "Maybe they're just..you know." He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

I half smiled. "I don't know. I'm just worried. What if something happened to them?"

Chrissy

I say we are going to get a drink, but I just wanted to get out of all the drama. I pull him outside and smile. "What are you up too?" He asks

"Oh, nothing." I say. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. I am guessing this is why Jace and Nattie left and I can see why. He picks me up and I wrap my legs around him. He pins me against the locker and I giggle. One kiss turns into another and I do not dare break away.

Someone shoves into Justin and I fall on the on my butt. I see Anthony drunkenly trying to fight Justin, but Justin punches him square in the jaw. Justin pulls me off the ground and we walk back into the dance. He keeps an arms tight around my waist.

I find Nattie and Jace and she looks relieved to see me. "Are you okay?" Nattie asks.

"Anthony was just being a dumb ass." I say. "Justin took care of it though." I say.

--

The dance slowly ends and my dad and I dance. He is crazy and he is just getting into it. "I will meet you at home daddy." I say. He nods and lets me go back to my friends. I run and hug Justin and he picks me up and twirls me around.

"You and your father are crazy." Justin says, smiling.

"I get it from him." I say.

"She really does." Nattie adds in. "I am glad we came tonight."

I gasp. "Nattie, had fun at a dance?" I ask. "What is going on in this world? Did you drink the punch?" I ask.

"No, I made sure to stay clear." She laughed.

"Well, I must say that it was a lot of fun." I say. I straighten to crown on my head. "To the car." I yell.

Natalia/Nattie

Chrissy drives us back to her house and we go our separate ways.

"Bye, babe!" I call to Chrissy and blow her a kiss. "Bye, Justin!"

Jace followed me to my car and kissed me through the window.

"I'll text you tomorrow, okay?" Jace asked and I nodded, starting the car.

He turned to leave but I grabbed his arm through the open window. "Wait." I mumbled, pulling his face to mine and kissing him one last time. I broke away and blushed. "You are free to go now."

He grins and waves to me as I drive home. By the time I reach my house it's almost midnight. When I walk inside my dad was pacing on the phone and my mom was worriedly watching him.

"Hey." I said.

My dad dropped the phone and my mom rushed over to me, crushing me in a hug.

"Where have you been?" She cried, examining me. "What are you wearing? Natalia, we've thought you were taken!"

"Mom, I'm fine." I lightly pushed her off. "I was at homecoming. With Chrissy and Jace."

"Do you know how worried we were when we came home and you weren't here?" Dad raised his voice. "I was on the phone with the cops."

"Are you serious right now?" I laughed. "I'm sorry but I didn't know that I wasn't allowed to go out."

"You are, but we'd appreciate it if you told us what time when you'll be home." Dad yelled.

"I'd appreciate it if you stayed in this house with me for more than an hour." I seethed. "In case you haven't noticed I've been home alone every day since seventh grade. I wake up to an empty house and I go to sleep to an empty house." I stomp into my bedroom and slam the door behind me. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE," I scream and lock the door. "IT'S WHAT YOU'RE BEST AT."

Furious tears streamed down my face as I hopped into the shower. Soon enough I couldn't tell the difference between my tears and the water.

When I got out I turned my phone off, ignoring a text from Chrissy and got in bed. My puffy eyes swelled shut and I fell asleep.

Chrissy

I wake up the next morning and hop in the shower and singing really loudly. I hop out of the shower and dry my hair. I pull it up into a bun and do my make up. I run to my closet to get dressed. I put on a cute dress and a vest. Slipping my heels on I walk out of my room. "Mom." I scream.

"Yes, dear?" She screams back.

"Did you get your stuff in?" I ask as I walk into her bedroom.

"Yes, I did. Pick out what you like." She says. I love that my mom is a fashion designer. I get a lot of stuff. I look at everything and fall in love.

"Can I have it all?" I ask, looking at her innocently. "I want to give some of this to Nattie. I know she will really like some of this stuff." I say.

"Have at it girl." She laughs. "This fall line is going to be big."

I smile and take them all to my room. I get all the ones for Nattie and put them in a bag. I try calling her but she does not answer. I sigh and end the call before I can leave a message. I text her to call me when she can.

I open the door to go out to my car and I find Justin there. I laugh and hug him "Hi there."

"Hey, babe." He kisses my forehead and smiles. "What to go out for breakfast?" He asks me.

"Of course." I say.

He leads me to his car and we go out. "Text Jace and Nattie and we can have a double date." He says.

I do so and wait for a reply.

Natalia/Nattie

When I wake up, my eyes are throbbing and swollen from last night. I groggily roll out of bed and slowly unlock my door. I peer around the corners, half expecting to see my parents, but of course they weren't there. I sigh and turn my phone back on. I missed a couple of calls, all from Chrissy and a text to call her ASAP. I quickly dialed her and stumbled into the bathroom.

"Hellooooo!" Chrissy sang.

"Hi." I yawned.

"Woah, Did you just wake up?" She gasps. "This is weird, I'm always up after you."

"Rough night." I grumble. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Okay well, today the new line came in!" She squealed.

"Oh, so that's why you're up so early!" I teased.

"I saved some for you so be nice! Oh and by the way, Justin and I are going to breakfast so you and Jace should come with."

"When are you going?"

"I don't know. Probably in an hour. Meet us there?"

I agreed then hung up after blowing her a kiss.

To: Jace<3
Chrissy, Justin, and I are going to breakfast. You in?

I take my hair out of my bun and since it dried up, my curls were kinky and bouncy today. I shook them out, in hopes of taming them but they didn't cooperate. I grabbed a rubber band and in one swift movement I threw it up in a messy bun.

I slipped on a pair of sweatpants and a semi tight long sleeve shirt.

My phone rang and it was Jace.

From: Jace<3
Yeah! Be over in a sec.

I plopped on the couch and waited. It didn't take long before Jace came busting in.

"Hey, lazy." Jace smiled. "Ready to go?"

"Can't." I mumbled still sprawled out on the couch. "Unable to get up."

He chuckled and scooped me up. "Wow, Nat. Your eyes."

I dug my fists into them and tried to rub the redness away. "Yeah. Long night."

He kissed me softly before setting me down by the door. "Come on," He murmured between kisses. "I'm hungry."

Chrissy

We get to the breakfast place and get a booth. I slide in and Justin sits beside me. He wraps his arm around me and kisses me. He does not pull away and neither do it. "Whoa, breathe you two." Nattie laughs a few minutes later.

I blush and nuzzle my face in to Justin's chest, avoiding Nattie's gaze. Justin just holds me closer and laughs at me. I look at the menu and I find what I want. "I would like an omelet with cheese, tomatoes, spinach, sausage and bacon." I say. "Oh and an orange juice."

Everyone else order and I sit up and look at Nattie. I can see she has been crying, but I do not comment. She told me she would tell me later. "This is the nicest breakfast place around. My mom and dad met here." I say.

"I totally forgot they did." Nattie says.

"Yep." I say. "That is why we get free food. My dad helped them out. He filmed a movie in here."

The waiter brings us all our food and I dig in. "Yum." I say.

"This is really good." Justin says.

"Your birthday is going up." Nattie says.

"I know." I squeal. "I am so excited."

"What are you going to do this year?" She asks me.

"I have no idea." I say. "I think my parents are getting me a new car. The mini is about to die. It has broken down too many times."

"New car!" She exclaims. "Well what ever you do, it will be great." she says.

Natalia/Nattie

I dig into my chocolate chip banana pancakes as Chrissy squeals about her birthday.

"Damn, I want a new car." Jace laughed.

"No." I threatened him with my chocolate covered knife. "You're not allowed to get a new car. I love your truck."

He ignores me and licks my knife. "Oo, that's good." He opened his mouth and I shoved the rest of my pancake into his mouth.

Everyone laughed as we watched him try not to choke.

"Wow you're pretty good at that." Justin joked. "You used to shoving big things down your throat?"

Chrissy plugged her ears and I buckled over in laughter.

"Dang, Justin!" I cried, my stomach hurting from laughing.

"Hey, man. Not cool!" Jace said but I knew he wasn't as offended as he pretended to be.

*******

We finished eating and I hugged Chrissy and Justin goodbye. I hopped in Jace's car and he drove us home. We walked in and sat on the couch. I had accidentally left the TV on earlier. Oops.

"You know, if you are gay, I won't judge." I teased and put my legs in his lap.

He rolled his eyes. "Natalia, I promise you. I am straight. Straight as an arrow."

"Arrows bend when they're shot."

He pulled me on to his lap and kissed me harder than ever before and I kissed him back. Jace's lips moved to my jawline and softly sucked on my jaw. I let out a tiny moan and he pulled away and grinned.

"Still think I'm gay?" He whispered.

"Nah uh." I shook my head and he kissed me again, softer this time, like he was afraid he would hurt me.

When he broke away, I wanted another kiss but he just kissed my nose.

"I have to go now, baby." He said quietly as he stood up to leave. "I told my mom I'd be home an hour ago."

"Fine." I sigh. I lead him out the door and waved goodbye.

I yank out my phone and call Chrissy but it goes to voicemail. I'll call her later, she and Justin are probably busy.

I smirked at the thought of interrupting their love fest, and focused on the MTV show that's been on since this morning.

Chrissy

We go back to my house and Justin goes and changes into his swim suit. I change into my pink bikini and go out to find him. We run out and get into the hot tub. We sit there for a while and just relax.

"Why did you ask me out?" I ask him. "I mean you said that you liked me, but you never said anything before."

"Well, when we were freshman, I told myself that if I did not have the courage to make me mine then, junior year I would ask you to homecoming." He say.

"Awe, babe." I say. "That is too cute. Well, I am glad you did."

"I am too." He grabs my hand and kisses it. Then he pulls he onto him. I playfully swim away and motion him to come to me.

I wrap my legs around him and my arms snake around his neck. He pulls me closer and I smile. With one of his hands in the center of my back and the other on my leg, I do not want this moment to end. My phone rings but I ignore it.

Things start to get heated, but our make out session is interrupted when Justin slips and we go under the water. I laugh and pull him up. "So gracious." I laugh.

"I try." He says. We get out and he hands me a towel. He kisses me again and I smile. "Well, I will see you at school tomorrow. I hope we can do this again." He winks.

I smirk and nod. "Of course." I say. I walk him out and grab my phone to call Nattie. "Come over bitch." I yell into the phone.

Natalia/Nattie

"Come over bitch." Is the first thing I hear after I answer Chrissy's call.

"Okie dokie." I said. "I'll be over in five. Oh by the way when you didn't answer my phone call earlier were you being safe?"

"Nattie!" She cried. "I can't believe you just asked me that!"

"Zero chance of pregnancy, correct?"

"Correct." She laughed.

"Good. We don't need a mini Chrissy right now." I joked.

"Even though she would be FABULOUS." She sang.

"Oh, I'm sure. Speaking of fabulous, I want to show you my new camera!" I squealed.

I used to take pictures of everything, and my parents got me a variety of cameras in freshmen year. I hadn't gotten a Polaroid like I really wanted, but I saved enough to buy my own last week.

Chrissy oo'ed and ahh'ed then told me if I wasn't over in ten she'd beat me.

I hung up, grabbed my beautiful camera and bolted towards my small Chevy.

I got to Chrissy's house and I just walked in.

"Honey, I'm home!" I called.

Chrissy ran down the stairs, yanked my arm and pulled me upstairs. "THE NEW LINE IS UPSTAIRS! LET"S GOOO!"

"Oh right!" I followed her up to her room where tons of shirts, jeans, hats, shoes, skirts, and dresses were sprawled out all over her floor.

"Woah." I breathed, holding the camera up to take a picture. The small frame shot out the bottom and I tucked it in my beat up leather bag.

"I think it's time to have a FASHION SHOW!" She shrieked and I laughed.

"Can I be the paparazzi?" Pointing to the camera.

"We'll take turns!" She grabbed an arm full of clothes and rushed to her huge walk-in closet.

Chrissy

I get dresses and come out in a cute fall outfits and boots. I strut down the carpet and smile as Nattie takes my picture. I twirl around and walk back into the closet and put on a dress and a hat. I do this so many times that I get tired. "My turn." I yell and run over to Nattie.

"You better not drop this." She says.

"I will not." I say. Just to be safe, I put the strap around my neck.

She walks into the closet and I turn my radio on and she comes out and does the same as me. I take pictures of her and she poses for all of them. She changes into an outfit that is totally her. "Oh my gosh, you look hot." I say.

She laughs. "This is going home with me." She laughs.

I nod and snap another picture. "Yes it is." I say. "I need to look out. You are inching your way to the top of the food chain."

"Yep, I am going to be at the top by tomorrow." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, my gosh tomorrow is Monday." I let out a grunt.

"I still have not studied for that test." She tells me.

"I did a little. I know it I fail I would still get an A." I say.

"True, so will I. See this is why we are friends." She laughs.

"Exactly, we both fail and I get us A's." I say.

She laughs and takes her camera back and looks through the picture. "So sexy." She laughs.

Natalia/Nattie

I take all the pictures and some clothes and shove them into my bag. By the time we finished modeling all the pictures it was almost five.

"Alright, I got to get home so I can lock myself away before my parents come home." I sighed and headed downstairs.

"What happened last night?" Chrissy followed behind me.

"They yelled at me because they didn't know where I was, so I yelled back. It was pretty bad, but now we aren't on speaking terms. So, yeah."

"I'm sorry, Nattie." Chrissy hugged me. "Text me later, okay?"

I nodded and walked out to my car.

I got home and popped a mini pizza into the toaster. When it dinged, I slid it onto a plate and sulked to my room, locking the door behind me. Even though my room isn't as marvelous as Chrissy's it still has a TV and a bathroom which is plenty for me. I sat in bed eating my pizza and watching the Kardashians when my phone buzzed.

From: Mom
Hi honey. We're going to be home late tonight so feed yourself and don't wait up. We love you.

I rolled my eyes and didn't respond.

*******

The next morning my alarm went off and I felt like screaming. I hate Mondays. I got dressed, and Jace picked me up in his truck.

"Hey, Monkey." He kissed me when I hopped in.

"Too early to talk." I groan and lean on him.

When I opened my eyes we were at the school and I spotted Chrissy and Justin in the parking lot.

Jace took my hand and we walked over to greet them.