The party.
815 Words
The teacher cleared her throat loudly.
“Eyes up here.”
A few students straightened. Others barely bothered.
Gemma forced herself to focus again, scribbling down whatever was on the board.
Then.....
the bell rang.
Chairs scraped back instantly.
“Yes,” someone muttered.
“Finally.”
“Lunch time.”
Bags were slung over shoulders. Desks were abandoned. Conversations picked up all at once as students poured out into the hallway.
Gemma stood, grabbing her things, blending into the noise as everyone headed toward lunch.
Gemma stepped into the hallway with the rest of the crowd, the noise hitting her immediately. Lockers slammed. People laughed. Someone shouted across the hall about homework they hadn’t done.
“Did you understand anything she said?” a girl beside her asked her friend.
“Nope.”
Gemma smiled faintly and adjusted her bag on her shoulder, moving with the flow toward the cafeteria.
“Gemma.”
She turned and saw Diego walking toward her, his bag slung over one shoulder.
“Oh, hey,” she said.
“Lunch?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
They fell into step beside each other.
They reached the cafeteria and grabbed food before finding an empty section of a table. Diego dropped into the seat across from her just as a few of the boys joined them, trays in hand.
“Yo,” one of them said, sitting down. “What’s good?”
“Nothing,” Diego replied. “Just starving.”
One of the guys leaned back in his chair. “You hear about the college party this weekend?”
Another looked up. “Which one?”
" Red crest"
Gemma’s fork paused mid-air.
Diego didn’t react.
“How do you even know about that?” someone asked.
The guy smirked. “I have my ways.”
Someone laughed. “By ‘ways,’ he means he hooked up with a college girl.”
They laughed louder.
Gemma turned slowly toward Diego. “That’s Collins’ school.”
“I know,” he said.
She waited, then asked carefully, “Can we go?”
Diego didn’t answer immediately. He took a sip of his drink.
“No,” he said finally.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s a college party,” he said. “You’re in high school.”
She crossed her arms. “Since when are you boring?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Since when are you reckless?”
She scoffed. “You act like you’re ancient.”
“That’s not the point.”
One of the guys cut in. “Come on, man. It’s just one night.”
Diego shook his head. “Drop it.”
Gemma leaned forward. “Why are you suddenly so strict?”
He met her eyes. “Because it’s not a good idea.”
She stared at him, clearly annoyed, but didn’t argue again. Not yet.
Diego’s answer still hung in the air.
“No.”
Gemma didn’t argue. She didn’t pout either. She just nodded once and looked back down at her food.
The table went a little quieter after that.
One of the boys cleared his throat. “So… that amusement park last week was crazy.”
Another laughed. “Yeah, especially that haunted ride.”
Gemma barely reacted.
“You screamed like someone was chasing you,” one of them added, grinning.
She pressed her lips together. “I wasn’t that bad.”
Diego glanced at her. Normally, she would’ve rolled her eyes, said something back, laughed it off. This time, she just poked at her food.
“You were clinging to Diego like....." the boy started.
“Okay,” Diego cut in quickly.
There was an awkward pause.
One of the boys chuckled. “You almost broke his arm.”
Gemma barely smiled. “Sorry about that.”
Diego glanced at her again. Normally, she would’ve fired back with something sarcastic. Instead, she stayed quiet.
“The roller coaster was fun,” Diego tried again. “You liked that one.”
“It was okay.”
Her answers were short. Flat. Like she wasn’t really there.
Diego leaned back, exhaling slowly. He looked at the boys, then back at Gemma. She still wasn’t eating.
After a few seconds, he said, “Fine.”
She looked up. “Fine?”
He rubbed his face. “We’ll go. Just… not for long.”
Her eyes lit up just a little. “Really?”
He raised a finger. “But listen. No drinking. No stupid stuff. And if I say we leave, we leave.”
One of the boys grinned. “Man, you sound like a dad.”
Diego shot him a look. “I’m serious.”
The boy lifted his hands. “Alright, alright.”
Gemma smiled properly this time. Not wide, but real.
“Thank you,” she said.
Diego nodded once, though he didn’t look completely happy about it.
- Writer
