Chapter Text
Paulina sipped on punch, her lips poised and her posture needle straight. Her pink gown and opera gloves were stood out against the blacks, whites and blues of the other heiresses and debutantes, along with the occasional buttercup yellows and blushes. Normally, Paulina loved to stand out, be the center of attention and the life of the party. But the longer she was here, the more she knew this: For one of the most talked about events of the year, the party was rather dull.
Could she even call this a party?
Honestly, it was really just a bunch of people networking, talking about stuff like yachts, investments, and different parts of the city that seemed too 'dangerous'. Please, if they wanted dangerous they could go to Elmwood. The worst threats here were ghost, and well, that really wasn't much of a problem. No matter what the rest of the school thought, and no matter how much Valerie seemed to hate him, the ghost kid was definitely doing his best. And he looked damn fine doing it too. But it was kind of sad, the fact that the only thing fun about any of this was the thoughts she had about him - whatever he wanted to be called - coming in here and busting her out of here.
At first it didn't make sense. She was popular, and definitely beautiful. Hell, from the glares earlier she knew she was the prettiest girl here. And if the rest of her friends were here, they'd easily outshine the rest of these losers. But it made sense the more she tried to engage with them, talk about how amazing her cars were or access passes her daddy got her for almost every concert at Amity National Center, the less they wanted to be around her, or had some lame excuse to try and get away. Her face burned with the realization of the truth, or whatever version of the truth she wanted to believe.
Paulina could play nice, but even she had her limits.
So she stayed pretty away for now, scanning for on anyone who'd been clearly not good enough to be around her. The most she got was a creep who'd hit on her earlier making his way on some other girl. She scoffed. He'd tried his luck earlier, and she'd shut it down pretty quickly, but it looked like the girl he was bothering now wasn't having the same kind of luck. Wait. She knew that girl. All the spooky makeup was gone and her clothes actually showed off some of her body now. But the annoyed look in her face, the look that said she's too individual for this shit, and that she wanted to throw this guy in a swamp, made things click for her.
Paulina sipped on her drink, somewhat fascinated in the scene.
She wouldn't have guessed that the goth chick of all girls could actually look pretty good. And considering that this was the first time she'd seen her all night, she figured she'd been forced here and like her, was just as ready to leave. And the creep certainly wasn't making things easier for her. Paulina was surprised; she actually felt herself feeling for her, and hoped he'd get the point already. She wondered when she was going to punch him, or throw her drink at him out of some defiance and get herself kicked out. When she did, she found herself even a little impressed. Even if Sam wasn't playing nice, she seemed to have everything under control, and Paulina didn't have to do anything but watch.
That was, until he grabbed her.
Paulina felt her face boil, shoving her drink onto the nearest surface as she stormed over. She was a freaky goth asshole but she was still a girl. And clearly, this guy had no goddamn manners, especially towards girls. "She'd probably be having a much better time if you backed off, creep." She interrupted, eyes tearing into him as she lightly shoved Sam off to the side. She didn't care how drunk he was, or acting. She'd threaten to castrate Dash if he pulled shit like this while was drunk, and he'd sober up pretty damn quickly. This asshole wasn't nearly as bulky as him. "Didn't you like, shower before you came here or is your hair always that nasty?" She asked, watching the idiot first freeze, then laugh like he told the greatest joke in history.
"Alright alright. have fun with your little girlfriend or whatever. Both ugly anyway." He said, turning and muttering more about how they were cockblocking him and how he should've gone to one with younger girls.
"Bye Asshole," She waved cheerfully before dragging Sam over to the punch. "Fucking creep." She muttered before looking at Sam. There wasn't the normal stare of disdain or eye rolls of annoyance. On the contrary, she looked confused. Grateful, and speechless for the first time since she'd known her but still pretty confused too.
"Thanks, Paulina." Sam finally said, her words slower like she was still trying to process everything.
"Whatever." She tried to brush off with her arms crossed. Seconds of silence passed between them. It seemed that Sam wasn't back to her normal self yet. While she was fine not talking to her, she didn't want her to get any wrong ideas. "You don't have to look so surprised you know." Paulina added.
"It's not that," Sam chuckled. "It's just weird. I'm actually glad you were here for that." She admitted before looking out at the people who straight up ignored them, or that jackass, who was now making an ass out of himself in front of some other girl and her dad. "I'm more surprised that you're not there with them. But they all suck really. Like, awful." She said, understanding that with the loud sip of the drink she recovered, Paulina was agreeing with her. "So maybe you're not the worst person in the room." She smirked.
"About time you were yourself, freak." Paulina said, her tone slightly softer as she pretended to focus on the crowd. The quartet drowned out any conversation, pieces blending together like elevator music as she initially expected Sam to leave. She wondered if Sam was wondering the same thing as they stayed in their same spots, unspoken agreements of how much they hated this passing through sips and fake coughs. Other than the glares from each other's phones, they didn't try to grab each other's attention either. But still, she couldn't help but look over at her in curiosity, and there'd be times she'd find Sam glancing back, sometimes looking like she had something to say.
This truce played out rather smoothly, the minutes blending until they were almost an hour in each other's silences. "Do you wanna get out of here?"
"What?"
"Look, as much as I hate it, there's a mall that's pretty close by. And I want to get out of this dress. I know a way out of here without getting caught and ... you don't look like you're having a great time either."
"Okay..."
"Look it's not like we're going to be hanging out. We're just two people who came from the same crappy party and want to put on some normal clothes. And maybe need alibis for each other." Sam suggested. "Besides, it's not like anyone will know us there."
"Well I didn't expect you here and here you are."
"Same. But that's what lying's for."
Paulina hated to admit it to herself, but there really was nothing here to stop them. Besides, it was only just a couple hours in a different city, and they were going to lie and say they never saw each other anyway. And right now, anything was better than being stuck in this for another minute. Paulina confirmed her decision with a determined look on her face.
"You win. Get us out of here."