Chapter 17: It's Too Late to Apologize, It's Too Late

I threw a party. It was the fourth of July.

It was a week after my date with Justin, and things were going well. Claudia was excited that I had finally gotten another guy to add to the bunch (that only consisted of Nick at the time). Rachel was excited because we had gone to camp together, and she knew Justin (we had all wanted to hook up with him). And everyone else was just enjoying their summers to the fullest.

So I decided to throw a Fourth of July party. I emailed invitations with the info. I told everyone to bring drinks. It was going to be like your typical party, only it was going to be the greatest bash ever!

I even sent the email to Luke, making sure he would notice that I also sent it to about forty others. There were, surprisingly, a lot of people in Beverly Hills that summer. A lot of people were interning in Los Angeles, had summer jobs, or were hanging out before they went to camp, etc. Who knew? But I invited everyone.

It was going to be great! I didn't tell people to RSVP, just to spread the word about the party! I also included the fact that it would partially be a pool party, because I had a great pool for people to use!

It was going to be great! And on top of it all ... they were going to be setting off the fireworks over the water right near my house, so we could all look in the direction of the ocean, and have the perfect view ... there were no buildings or anything to block our sight of the ocean or beach.

It was the Fourth of July. I already knew what I was wearing. A blue halter top with a low back, that looked amazing on me. It hugged in all the right places, and made my waist look tiny. I wore a mini skirt that was one of those Ella Moss types. This one, I had had special made. Red and white strips. Talk about fun! For my bathing suit ... a blue string bikini that looked amazing. And then I wore some blue flip flops to match. I had practically stopped wearing all my stilettos, having found that flip flops were incredibly more comfortable, and so much easier to wear ... especially if the night included a short trip to the beach, as many did.

So yeah, enough about clothes. The gang was coming over about an hour early to help set up.

And it was two hours until they would be coming.

Brooke and I had just returned from the grocery store, having bought everything possibly necessary for a Fourth of July bash. Chips, pretzels (yes, pretzels), sodas, and even a few drinks. My parents still knew that Rachel and I didn't drink, but that we needed it for everyone else who would be there. So they agreed to let us supply a little bit.

We bought streamers, little flags, fun table cloths for the tables around the pool where we would be putting the food or whatever. It was going to look so great!

I showered, dried my hair, dressed and did my makeup. They were coming in fifteen minutes. I had made a few mixes, and they would all be bringing some as well. My cell phone was on the charger, completely charged. Everything was going perfectly as planned.

And they arrived right on time.

The next hour flew by. We started the music early, and went through the CDs, planning the order and what not. We set up the decorations, put out the food and everything, and got ready.

It was all going great. Luke hadn't come with the guys, but Kyle took care to let me know that he was coming.

"Thanks for that info," I said, joking.

He laughed, "Any time."

And the party got started.

An hour later, everyone was there. And I mean everyone. People had brought friends from everywhere, the majority of which I knew (thank god). Nick had come, brought Mike and friends, and everyone was hitting it off nicely.

Still no sign of Luke.

To put him out my head, Nick and I hooked up again. Wow we were great, only hooking up. It was good, not to have to be stuck with him all night long, but at the same time having that one guy I could always go back to.