All The Bad Things

Luisa Perry

It was a bad idea. It was a very bad idea.

Why did I have to be brave for something so stupid? I should not have come to Vera Harlow’s party. I shouldn’t have snuck out of my house to be here.

All my life I have been a good girl. I am an obedient daughter. I am a helpful friend. I am a kind stranger. I am a responsible girl with good grades. My parents have high expectations for me. In my whole life, I have never done anything to disappoint my parents, although I have been disappointing myself all my life, who cares, right? As long as I am keeping the people around me happy, I am a good person.

Even when I am eighteen years old, I am unable to make my own decisions. Not only because I am not allowed to, but because I don’t have a backbone. I never had a voice, so I forgot to speak. My father claimed that Luisa will be a doctor like me, so Luisa will be a doctor like her father. My mother claimed that Luisa looks good with long hair, so Luisa will not get a haircut. My parents think that the student at Luisa’s school can be a bad influence on her, so Luisa doesn’t have friends. The only friend I have that is approved by my parents is not truly my friend, she is just there to compete with me. I have been living under my parent’s shadow for as long as I could remember, and I am sick and tired of it.

So, I decided to do something stupid. Just three weeks before summer break, Vera Harlow announced that she will be having a party at her house, I decided to go to it and when my parents refused to let me go, I did the very first bad thing of my life, I snuck out after my parents went to bed.

I was so badly craving to defy the rules, that I didn’t even consider the consequences. Now here I was – at Vera Harlow’s loud and drug-infused party with almost entire senior year gathered under one roof. When I first stepped inside her house, I didn’t think there would be so many people. I didn’t think they would be taking drugs out in open. I didn’t think I would find half-naked men and women making out. This is not something I expected from a crowd of teenagers.

I learned a few things in the last hour.

One, Vera Harlow comes from a well-off family.

Two, a very friendly and polite Vera is a party animal.

Three, Blake West, the school’s hot boy, is either gay or bisexual.

Four, her classmates take drugs.

Five, Vera Harlow is Aiden Harlow’s younger sister.

And six, I somehow ended up in Aiden’s room.

“What are you doing in my room? People are not allowed to be in my room.” A very bored Aiden spoke while he had his laptop on his lap. While I was leaning against the door of his room that I just closed. I walked in thinking it was an empty room because it was so quiet and dark in her and all the other rooms of the house were occupied by the horny teenagers.

I couldn’t move. Wide-eyed, I stared at the most beautiful boy I have ever seen. My heart skipped a beat. I was in Aiden Harlow’s room. Aiden Harlow was a senior in our school, who passed school last year. He was the valedictorian of his batch.

Aiden Harlow was the heartthrob of our school. He has the typical bad boy look, but he wasn’t anything he looked like. He was the teacher’s favorite, probably because he was a bright student. Sure, he always had a scowl on his face – or at the time he would look very bored. I never saw him misbehave with anyone. I never saw him bullying anyone. He was known as a kind-hearted but scary at times bad boy.

Another thing that was very attractive about him was that he never whore around and was always reserved – although every girl at our school was dying to be with him. From what I remember, I never saw him with any girl in the school. There was a rumor that he already had a girlfriend outside of school and he was very committed to that girl. I am not going to lie, that rumor hurt me a little.

But who was I kidding, I never had a chance with Aiden Harlow – I didn’t have a chance with the sluttiest or nerdiest guy of the school – Aiden Harlow was a far fetch so I just used to admire him from far. Like the rest of the school, I am sure he doesn’t know I even exist.

“Please, leave.” I blinked when I heard him again.

Aiden was sitting on his bed with his long legs stretched out and had his laptop resting on his lap. He was wearing dark grey sweatpants and a white oversized hoodie. His short brown hair was messy – like he just got out of bed or perhaps he has a habit of running his fingers through his hair. His hazel eyes narrowed down at me as my body refused to move. I am not sure if I was starstruck or just surprised, whatever it was – my body refuses to recover.

Aiden’s dull expressions turned sour when I didn’t move nor did I speak. He clicked his tongue, “How many times do I have to tell Vera to keep her friends out of my way?” Aiden mumbled agitatedly as he put the laptop on the bed and swing his leg down on the floor. That’s when I noticed, he was bare feet – isn't it a little too cold for that? I didn’t have much time to think about it as a very aggravated Aiden strode towards where I stood and halted a few feet away. He was tall, but not ridiculously tall. I liked that. “What is your problem?” He spatted.

My eyes widened when I saw his jaws clenched while his glare was sat on me. What is wrong with me? Why am I not moving? Why am I not saying anything? Come on, Lusia – speak. Speak! “I am not Vera’s friend,” were words that escaped my mouth.

Aiden narrowed his eyes at my response. The corner of his lips pulls upwards in confusion, “Then why are you here?” He question. His voice has gotten deeper, or was I just having a stroke? I couldn’t tell.

I gulped. I soon lost the ability to form coherent words, “Uh – drugs, they – are – they are doing drugs down there,” She pointed out.

Aiden stared at me. Aiden Harlow was staring at me. And then he blinked – wow, I was micro observing. He was silent for a few seconds before he spoke, “I meant, why are you here at Vera’s infamous parties if you didn’t want to get wasted?” He rephrases his question.

“Uh, she – invited me to come,” I replied meekly.

Aiden raised his perfectly arched eyebrow, “I thought she wasn’t your friend,” he commented.

I nodded, “She isn't. She was just being polite, I guess.” I said with a shrug.

He exhaled, “Well, that’s Vera for you.” He and walked back to his bed. He sat on it and stretched his legs out on the floor while he leaned back and rested his body on his palm behind him.

I nodded, “Yeah,” I gulped as I fidget with my fingers. I was nervous. Normally, I would be nervous around anyone new, but this was nerve-wracking to be around Aiden Harlow.

He titled his head and squinted his eyes, “What are you doing in my room?” He asked after a small pause.

I looked at him and sighed. My feet finally decided to move as I inched away from the door. It was like my body was slowly waking up, or perhaps getting comfortable around him. The very first thing I noticed was how cold his room was. The air conditioner was blasting – it made me shiver slightly. I have never been a huge fan of the cold. I grazed my tongue between my lips, “I told you. I was trying to get away from everything downstairs.” I spoke unclearly.

Then happened that I didn’t think would happen. Aiden chuckled. It was such a rich and deep sound that escaped his mouth – it almost curled my toes. I didn’t think I was so much into him until now, that I was around him – alone. “You are not Vera’s friend. You don’t like to take drugs then I presume, you don’t drink either?” He questioned to which I shook my head. I don’t drink. I never drank alcohol in my life. He nodded his head as he twisted his lips, “Alright, you don’t drink either – then why did you come to this party?” He asked. “Did your friends force you to come here with them?” He added.

Why did I come here? I shook my head, “I don’t have friends,” I told him.

Aiden raised his eyebrow at me again. His gaze zoomed in – it was funny for his gaze was making my knees weak. I had no shame in accepting it to myself that Aiden Harlow was too hot for his own good. Of course, I would never say it to his face. The last thing I was is to give him an ego boost. “You don’t have friends?” He asked again.

I don’t know why I was being so honest with him. I shook my head, “I don’t have friends.” I repeated my words.

“So, you are here to make friends?” He asked. He seemed amused, but there wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face. The way the corner of his eyes were wrinkling, I could tell – he was having fun messing with me. I wordlessly shook my head to answer his question.

“What is your name?” He asked next.

“Luisa,” I answered softly.

He hummed, “Luisa,” He called my name and I almost walked to him, but before my body starts to act on its own, I curled my toes and stopped myself. “You don’t have friends. You don’t like to take drugs or drink alcohol then why are you here exactly?” He asked before he squinted his eyes, “What are you trying to prove?” He added.

I gulped as I nervously glanced at my feet – although they were covered in ankle boots, they were still freezing underneath them. I looked back at him – his mouth slightly agape as he waited for me to answer. “I snuck out to be here,” I told him the truth.

“Why?” He asked next.

“I want to defy the rules,” I told honestly. I might regret opening my mouth in front of him, but right now it felt good to talk to him. “I want to defy the boundaries,” I added in a whisper.

Aiden was silent for a minute. He slowly got up from his bed and walked nearer to me. With each step, he took towards me the louder my heart thump in my chest. It felt like my heart was in my mouth by the time he stood hardly a foot away from me. His eyes bored into mine – like he was trying to search for something in them. My mouth was dry. My palms were clammy. All of the sudden, the blasting air conditioner didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Aiden slowly lowered his gaze – his eyes traced my clothes. It was a poor choice to wear a black t-shirt with a pair of faded jeans and black boots. I didn’t know what to wear. There was no way I was going to wear a dress to my very first party, I didn’t want to make a fool of myself. Most of the girls downstairs were dressed in slutty clothes, I don’t even own clothes that small.

“You call sneaking out defying the rules?” He asked – his eyes were back on staring into mine.

I twisted my lips, “Yes, it was to defy the rules set for me.” I answered truthfully. “It was more like tug to my boundaries,” I added. Aiden closed mouthly chuckled, “Good girls don’t sneak out after all,” I shrugged – looking straight into his eyes.

Aiden stood still for a few seconds. It looked like he was thinking about something. He hummed before he smashed his thin lips together, “And who set those rules for you? Your parents?” He asked. I only nodded as my cheeks flushed. “How old are you?” He asked next.

“I turned eighteen two weeks ago,” I answered.

He nodded, “And how do you plan to defy the rules?” He asked.

“I want to do everything I want to do that is considered bad – or the thing I was forced to believe were bad. I want to do all the bad things.” I replied – my voice softened.

“And that includes?”

“It’s a long list,” I answered.

“Interesting,” He mumbled. “Well, if you want to be bad – do it the right way,” He winked.

I couldn’t understand what he was trying to say, “What is the right way?” I asked him.

“You will learn,” He shrugged while a small smirk played on his lips.