Stacy's party was like nothing I've ever experienced before. I'm not quite sure how to accurately describe it but I'll give it my best shot.

After leaving Joe, I'd quickly eaten and gotten changed into clothes that were somewhere between looking nice and being comfortable. Usually you can only have one or the other.

Because I'd been drinking earlier, I called a taxi and it drove me down the Parkway and onto Anderson Drive, the main road that cuts through the heart of the city. About twenty minutes later, I was in Garthdee, one of the most southern areas of Aberdeen, and the location of Stacy's flat.

Unsure on what I was really expecting, I rang the doorbell and she ushered me in quickly after the briefest of hugs. She smelled like lavender.

"I didn't think you'd come!" She smiled.

She seemed pleased with the wine I'd chosen but offered me a beer while it chilled in the fridge, which I was more than grateful for. Before anything else could happen though, the doorbell went again and she rushed off to greet the newest guest, leaving me to explore this strange environment.

It was honestly like being in two different worlds at once.

There was people in every corner and crevice of the bright, two bedroom flat. Standing room only. Some of them I recognised from school, while others I felt like I'd seen them before but couldn't put any names to the multitude of faces. I did see Sam who I'd tried to talk to earlier but he was still too cool for that apparently.

It did make me think of something though. When you leave school you only remember certain types of people. The bullies, the hot people and the total lunatics. Anyone else is completely forgotten. No wonder no one remembered me.

When I say a few people, I'd think like five but apparently Stacy's meaning was at least four times that.

I waited in the kitchen by the large windows, hoping Stacy would return to my side but she was nowhere to be seen. Eventually I had to go and mingle before I ended up looking like a creepy party crasher. I didn't think anyone would know who I was but if they did they were most likely already wondering why I was there.

On my travels through the narrow hallway towards the living room, I realised that this wasn't like any party I'd ever been to before, for many reasons.

Firstly, there was actually people dancing. Any party I've been to, the closest to dancing I've seen is slight jerky arm movements or everyone joining together for a rendition of the YMCA. Whereas here, there was a group of girls dancing around the booming speakers like a tornado. I had no idea what song was playing but their moves certainly matched it.

That was the other thing, where was the cheesy music!?

While Stacy's playlist seemed to be blasting the newest dance tunes, I'm more used to me and my friends playing things like ABBA, Michael Jackson and the Bee Gee's. You know, stuff that everyone can sing along to and get involved with. I definitely wasn't going to ask them to play my requests but I was seriously tempted to.

And speaking of cheese, where was the snacks!? People say that when you are drinking, eating is cheating but I say those people are maniacs. Party food is a must.

There were loads of other differences too, from the way people were dressed to the fact that I was the only one drinking a tinned beer. Everyone else was drinking something from a glass. I felt like such a commoner.

Just when I was starting to feel like I shouldn't be there, Stacy arrived in the living room, lost in conversation with another girl I didn't know. She looked gorgeous, just like she'd done when I'd went out with her before. This time she was wearing a short red dress that hugged her in all the right places and just like that, I remembered why I was here.

When I was a kid I would've given my left arm to be at this sort of party so I needed to make the most of this opportunity I'd been presented. I was going to try and steal a moment with her and finally ask her out. I'd been waiting ten years but better late than never right?

Realising that for now at least, she wasn't going to abandon her friend for me, I tried to start up conversation with a few people who looked just as lost as me.

I met people like former neighbours, former work and university friends and of course the people from school. If I'm being totally honest, I wasn't really enjoying any of their company but it was all worth it so I could keep watching Stacy's infectious personality, jumping from person to person.

I felt like I was standing on the planet Mercury. Unable to breathe, a bit too hot or cold, depending on where you were standing, but the hottest object in the galaxy was more than three times closer and looked brighter than it would from Earth.

Damn, I wished Evie was there. She would have been proud of that one.

I finished my beer and moved onto the wine, offering Stacy a glass which she excitedly took.

"I know you from somewhere," one of Stacy's friends told me as I was pouring.

"This is Michael Ashford! Remember from school? We work together now!" Stacy gleefully explained before I had the chance to. It was a little ironic because Stacy herself hadn't recognised me from school either, but I quickly let that slide.

Stacy's friend introduced herself as Elsa Davis. I remembered her name from school but she looked nothing like I remembered. Her hair was so blonde it was almost silver and her eyes were dark as the night sky. She was super skinny too but I could have sworn she was a lot bigger than that at school. I guess I wasn't the only one that had changed.

"This stuff is really good!" Stacy hummed after another taste of the wine.

"Thanks. This is the stuff I normally buy when I'm getting wine," I lied. I didn't have the heart to tell her how cheap it was, or that I was finding it completely disgusting.

I continued talking to the two girls, reminiscing what little shared memories we had of school. It seemed as though the music and the chatter around the room was getting louder and louder, yet being an early summer night, it was still light outside. It was like we were frozen in time and I have to say I was enjoying myself.

For a while anyway.

The more I drank, the drunker I got. Obviously. I became able to talk at length with more and more people somehow. I think they were a little weirded out with me to begin with but then my charming personality managed to draw them in too. Eventually, they started to tell me how much they remembered me and certain parties and nights out we'd met on.

They were just as full of shit as I was!

It was like being at a party when I was eighteen, not twenty-nine! Everyone was trying to be involved in everything, dancing along to the newest hits rather than stuff they actually probably liked. I was surrounded by pretenders and I felt like the realest guy in the room. It was a really strange thing to get a confidence boost from but I was sure going to take it!

I was even confident enough to go back onto the beer.

As with everything though, what goes up must come down and my sky high self belief was brought crashing right back down when I came back from the bathroom.

"I really like your tiles by the way!" I laughed as I walked back into the living room.

No one replied.

Stacy wasn't sitting there anymore.

I looked around but couldn't see her. Maybe she'd gone to get more wine from the kitchen? I strolled through there and saw that in fact she was pouring another drink, whilst talking to a room full of other guys.

Fuck!

When I'm in a relationship I am not a possessive guy. But right at this moment I was freaking out, and we weren't even dating! The thing is, these guys were good looking. I'm man enough to accept that. My face isn't like a cheese grater or anything, but these dudes could've been, and maybe even were, star athletes. They were fucking massive in the muscles kinda way. They had perfect hair and perfect beards and she was laughing at every word they seemed to say. Bastards.

The one thing I did have over them was that their trousers reached just above their ankles and they didn't appear to be wearing socks. Horrific fashion choice.

Call me Versace.

I watched like a curious neighbour as she continued to talk to them. I had never seen these dudes before but that actually made this worse. Were they exes? Childhood friends? Hell, they might even have been banging now.

To be fair to them, none of the guys were making moves on her and neither was she. But when there's a beautiful, single woman around, it doesn't take long for someone to try their hand.

My chances were diminishing but I wasn't going to dive into the middle of this group and try straight away. That would end up like Mufasa and the wildebeest stampede. I needed a new tactic but I just couldn't think of one. Eventually, I turned to my new friend.

*

"Hey Elsa, who are those guys through in the kitchen?" I asked my former classmate.

"Dave, Chris, Stephen and Eric."

"And who are they?" I asked, ignoring her blunt, uninterested reply.

"I don't know, just guys she knows."

"Are they going out or anything?" I felt bad about asking so many questions but I needed to know.

"I don't think so. She hasn't said anything. She's just out of a serious relationship. If she's getting involved with anyone then it's just going to be for a bit of fun just now."

Fucking hell Elsa, thanks for that.

"She's not like that is she?" I asked aloud, fearing what the answer would be.

"Isn't everyone like that? It's not like she's putting it about for everyone. If someone likes you and you like them, why wouldn't you have a bit of fun with it? It's not a crime."

I really hate when logic stumps me like that.

The party's massive crowd slowly started to dwindle as people either went home or off into town to find a bar or a club. This made it easier to make small talk with my fellow drunken houseguests. We were basically all strangers but now it was like we were just one big happy family. Even Stacy came to join us, announcing that the guys had left. That didn't take long. I had no idea if anything had happened with them but figured that it was probably best for me that I never found out.

Finally, she slumped down next to me on the sofa. I loved that it was now easy to get a seat and of all the places, she chose the one next to me.

"You feeling ok?" I asked. She had the look on her face that Evie gets when she's about to fall asleep.

"I feel great!" She proclaimed. "I'm just a little bit smashed."

"I know the feeling," I laughed. The truth was I'd actually reached the point where you don't really get any more drunk no matter how hard you try. It's still not like I was sober though.

"I'm so glad you came," Stacy whispered, dropping her head so it was leaning on my shoulder. I felt my body stiffen but I quickly forced myself to relax again.

It seemed that Stacy's drunken tiredness was rubbing off on everyone as one by one the rest of the guests started to leave. Unfortunately, she was still coherent enough to get off of me and hug everyone before they left. But every time she thanked people for coming and said goodbye, she sat down next to me again, resting her head every time too.

There was no way I was leaving until she kicked me out. Not in a creepy way, I was just glad to be where I was. This was basically my teenage fantasy come to life.

Eventually, it was just me and Stacy left. Someone had turned off the music and the low volume of the TV was the only sound.

"Thank you for being here," She muttered again just as I started to think she'd passed out.

"Are you kidding? It was great!" I smiled back even though she couldn't see my face. Stacy didn't respond to that so I asked if I should go.

"What? No!" it was like I'd said the magic word because suddenly she was standing up and dragging me up with her. It was honestly like a resurrection. "Let's do shots!"

"I don't think that's a very good idea!" I warned.

"It's always a good idea!" She argued back, pulling me into the kitchen and pouring us each a shot. The small glasses must have already been out because she made them in record time. She'd overfilled them both, leaving a small spillage on the table but she didn't seem to notice. I'm a nice guy but I wasn't going to clean for her.

I felt a bit awkward now. Really, this was what I'd prayed for. Being alone with Stacy was exactly what I wanted but considering how asking her out went last time, I didn't want to do it when she was as drunk as this. Would she get upset if I just left? I never do shots and I didn't want to keep going with her here. Also, as crazy as this might sound considering how I've always felt, if she offered to sleep with me tonight, I didn't really want to now. The last thing I wanted was for her to wake up in the morning and hate what had happened. If I thought this was awkward, could you imagine what that would be like?

Thankfully, she didn't pour any more of the mysterious blue liquid.

"Should I go now?" I asked again, not really sure what else to say.

"Not yet," she said thoughtfully.

"Why?" I almost laughed, still feeling the awkwardness of it all. It was kinda like being at school all over again.

"I think I want to show you something," she said.

"What is it?"

"I think you'll like it," She replied without really answering my question.

"What is I-" I started again before she grabbed my wrist and pulled me along as she walked down the hall.

My curiosity was piqued anyway but when we entered the bedroom, it went into complete and total meltdown.

________________________________________________________________________________

Told you the party was a longer chapter! And its not over yet!

So if I'm being totally honest, I think this chapter is great. It was so much fun to write and I cant wait to put the next one out for you guys. It could be a cracker too!

I cant believe I haven't asked this yet but I'm really curious as to what people think of Stacy? Do she and Mike have chemistry? Do you think that they'd be good together? Let me know!

Also, THAT cliffhanger!!!!!

As usual, I appreciate all feedback and comments and votes and all the Wattpaddy goodness!