Chapter 7 7

Liv had a car which her parents had gifted to her when she was sixteen and since then she had been using it. It has being over five years now and the car had visible signs of being old. But it was still a nice little black car. "When are we going to reach?" I asked. It had been over half an hour and we were still driving through the New York roads to reach to her friend, Wilma's place. "Are you so excited that you can't wait to reach there?" "You wish." She rolled her eyes. "We're almost there." Liv replied, excitement evident in her tone. What a party animal. She pulled up in front of a large mansion with high walls surrounding it and a black intricately designed gate which had two men in black on either side of it. Liv unbuckled her seatbelt and glanced at me. I still had my seat belt on. "Why aren't you getting out?" She asked while smoothing out the corners of her dress which perfectly fit her. Her dress on me was a bit big but still it looked good. "Who are they?" I asked, pointing at the muscular men at the gates. "Uh...They are the guards." She said, flicking her eyes back to me which were previously on the guards. "At a party?" I asked incredulously. Who would keep guards at a party? I didn't even know what kind of a party this was. I suddenly felt self conscious. What if I was overdressed? Or worse, underdressed? "Yeah. Now come on, you'll be fine." I hope so. I got out of the car and walked towards the huge gate with Liv. The gate was wide open and cars were driving inside. We were stopped by the guards as soon as we reached the gate. One of the guards asked for our names which we told him. Then he talked to someone on his earpiece after which we were finally allowed inside. "Why do they need so much security?" I wondered. "Wilma's parents are rich and have a highly successful business. I don't know, they are millionaires or something like that and so they have many business rivals so they kind of, need security." "They are millionaires?" I asked in amazement. "Yep." "Liv, are you sure we are at the right place. I mean, they are so rich and all and I just work at a café. I'll be so out of place," I hesitated. It would be so awkward for me. Not only the people were all strangers to me, but they were millionaires too! I shouldn't have come at all when I knew how inferior I felt even among my classmates. Stupid me had to listen to Liv. "Jules! That has got nothing to do with the party. Wilma is the sweetest and the kindest human being I've ever known. She doesn't care about the status and her parents are cool as well, as long as it doesn't harm them. So don't try to kill anyone, okay?" She gave me a serious face. I was kind of expecting her to burst into laughter after saying that but she put on a serious expression. "Why? I was planning your extravagant funeral tonight!" I said sarcastically. "I know. That's why I'm telling you to not kill anyone." She said and finally her expression turned to that of amused. There was a huge mansion in front of us. In front of the mansion was a big garden blooming with beautiful flowers and there was also a swing. There were white pillars on either side of the entrance of the mansion and at the entrance there was again a guard. Did they really need that much of security? Were they threatened by something? We walked up the stairs to the entrance and the guard didn't stop us. As we entered the palace-like mansion, my jaw dropped to the floor as I took in the sight before me. The hall was huge and beautiful. The interior of the hall was spectacular with white colored walls and the other wall had a nice purple design that covered the whole wall which was also the only element giving color in the room, except the people. There was also a big chandelier hanging from the ceiling which glittered with the brilliant lighting. Only after my inspection of the grand hall did I notice the people in it. And man, did I feel so out of place. They were not staring at us, thankfully. I felt as if I was really attending the millionaire parties. Which actually I was. There were so many people in the hall. All elegantly dressed. All men were dressed in black tuxedos and the women were all in beautiful dresses that would probably cost more than my entire life's earnings. "Come on," Liv gestured, grabbing my hand and leading me through the crowd. We made our way towards the counter which was at the corner. They were serving drinks. Liv looked at me with a pleading expression and I raised an eyebrow. "No way. You promised me you won't drink tonight." I didn't know anyone here and I needed a sober person to drive me back home as I didn't know where we were as Liv had brought me to Wilma's birthday party and I was visiting it for the first time. "Promises are made to be broken," she replied. "And if you broke this promise I'll feed your bones to my dog!" I threatened. "You don't have a dog." She deadpanned. "I'll buy one." "Oh come on, Julie. Loosen up a bit. When was the last time I had a drink?" "A week ago?" "See? A week ago! Seven days ago! One sixty-eight hours ago! Ten thousand and eighty minutes ago! And six hundred and four thousand, eight hundred seconds ago. That's a long time." "You sound drunk already so you don't need to drink." "I'm not drunk and why shouldn't I drink? I have the right to do anything I want." "Hey Olivia, you made it," I heard a kind and sweet voice from behind Olivia. We turned to the source of voice. "Hey Willy! Happy birthday!" Liv said as she hugged her. I assumed she was Wilma. "Thank you," Wilma replied as she retracted from her hug with Olivia. Her huge black eyes landed on me. "She's my friend I told you about. Julie, Wilma. Wilma, Julie." Olivia introduced us to each other, casually gesturing towards us. "Nice to meet you. Happy birthday Wil-" I wasn't able to finish the sentence because before I knew, Wilma had thrown herself at me and was hugging me tightly. I hugged her back lightly. "Thank you. Come on." She grabbed Liv's hand and dragged her away from me and I was slowly losing her in the huge crowd. God, help me. I looked around frantically for any sign of her. There were too many people around me who were drinking, talking and laughing. Nobody bothered to look at me as they walked past me. Okay I shouldn't panic. It was just a birthday party and Olivia surely wouldn't leave without me. I'd find her eventually. I just hoped she wouldn't go anywhere near alcohol. I looked for her among the crowds of people as I followed trail through which they disappeared. I asked a few people whether they had seen Wilma and most of them responded that they didn't see the birthday girl yet and some of them said that she probably was in her room. I thanked them. Her room? How on earth was I going to find her room in this humongous place? I decided to just stay put. It was her birthday so she would come to cut the cake or whatever. I retreated back to the counter where they were serving drinks and sat on one of the chairs. I felt so lonely. She had better come back to me soon. I sat there for God knows how long. I watched as people talked, danced and ate around me. I so knew this party was a bad idea for me. I should never listen to Olivia. I promised myself to never attend a party ever again.