Do Over

Chapter 5- The Second-Lifer Party

I was going to my first actual high school party.

Huh.

I was pretty calm about it.

Just kidding.

I was freaking out.

How was I supposed to handle my first party? I didn't know anything about being social, or how to interact with other human beings.

My palms started sweating, but I couldn't say or show anything, since I was in Avery's car.

"Are you excited for your first party here?" Avery asked, trying to start a conversation.

I nodded. "Totally," I said. Totally not, I thought. I drummed my fingers on the side of my chair.

"You okay?" she asked.

 No. "Yeah."

"You seem a bit nervous," she observed. 

Why would I be nervous? I mean, for everyone else it's a party, but for me it's a life or death situation. Why in the world would I be nervous? I thought, but once again didn't say anything out loud.

I realized that pretty much everything that I did here was a lie. Even when I told the truth (or at least half truth), it was a lie, because this isn't me. This isn't my face, my personality, or my life at all. The more that happened in this life, the more I wanted to go back to my old life.

"Alright, we're here!" Avery said, snapping me back to reality. 

I looked at the house. It wasn't as big as my house (because that one was ridiculously huge), but it was definitely big. I tentatively stepped out of the car along with Avery. 

"You coming?" Avery asked, since I was still standing there, staring at it.

"Oh, um, yeah, I'll, um, yeah, coming." Smooth, Tiffany, real smooth.

I shut my subconscious up and started walking towards the house, then I realized that (in my head) I had called myself Tiffany instead of Jen without thinking about it. 

I dismissed it and walked it.

The first thing I saw was a girl with a cup in her hands, stumbling around the room. I almost got scared before I realized that no one else was drunk, and she was obviously faking.

"Hey, Aves!" I heard across the room. I turned to Avery to see that she was waving at a group of about 6 people, who were all frantically waving back from a couch in the corner of the room.

"Come on, Tiff,  I'll introduce you to my friends!" she exclaimed, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards them. 

I scanned the group. I only recognized one of them, but I couldn't put my finger on it. "Okay, Tiffany, meet Delaney, Izzy, Jen, Harry, Jordan, and Chris."

"Don't worry, Aves, I'm pretty sure she already knows me," Chris smirked.

"Oh yeah, you were the one that gave me that concussion," I told him, because if he gives me sass, I sass him right back. 

"That's an overreaction, the worst I did was leave that huge red mark on your head."

My hand automatically flew to my head before I realized he was kidding.  Chris threw his head back, laughing.

"I may have a mark on my head, but I can see a broken nose in your future."

"I can't tell if they're friendly  joking, or if we're about to watch a fight go down,"  Jordan told Delaney, purposely loud enough for us to hear.