Chapter Text
The party had reached its climax. The bass reverberated throughout the house, making the ceiling light fixtures shake with the melody of the rock song that was in queue. The sea of sweaty drunk teenagers filled the party scene, some standing around talking and others grinding against each other in dance. Rodrick Heffley stood in the kitchen, getting his second beer of the night. It wasn’t his party, The teen probably wasn’t supposed to be here. Rodrick and his band mates overheard that there was a huge house party happening hosted by a jock from a neighboring school district. The band loaded up in Rodrick’s white van and headed to the address and invited themselves in. It wasn’t the first time they did this and certainly not the last.
His buddy, Tyler stood next to him. The boy could hear him chugging the cheap beer as he lifted the cup away from his lips and let out a refreshing sigh of satisfaction.
“I can’t wait till high school ends man!” His mate yells in his ear over the music. Rodrick takes a drink out of his solo cup. “Imagine if Loaded Diaper takes off, we can be going to parties like this with hot girls every night!”
“Imagining is for losers! It’s gonna happen!” Rodrick leans in and shouts the response back. The day that he finally books it from this deadbeat town and never looks back will be the best day of his life. His band called the ‘Loaded Diaper’ was his golden ticket to fame and fortune after high school. Loaded Diaper’s bandmates were; Tyler who played the bass, Eric was their lead singer, Buddy played keyboard and wrote most of their songs, Rodrick was the band’s drummer. The four of them have been a band since middle school. The band Loaded Diaper has performed in numerous events including talent shows and birthday parties, so things were starting to take off as planned.
“Hey! Is that Mindy?” Tyler points over to a girl in a tank top and low rise jeans. Rodrick had no clue who Mindy is.
“I don’t know!”
“I’m gonna say hi.” The boy firmly slapped Rodrick’s back. The teen cringes as he stumbles forward from the force. Tyler doesn’t notice, his eyes only on the girl in front of him and stalks off into the scene.
Rodrick looked off into the overview of the crowd, he wasn’t sure on what to do next. He guessed he could attempt to find his other bandmates and see what they are getting into. The song soon transitions into a poppy Brittney Spears song, he rolls his eyes. Now it’s time to blow this place. He pushes his body off the kitchen island and walks into the crowd to gather up his mates. Rodrick looks over the heads of the people in the room, it was times like these his height has come handy. In the time he looked for any sights of familiarity, a lone singular figure stuck out to him from across the room. The boy’s mouth went slack and swore he turned breathless at the sight of the girl in front of him.
She was gorgeous.
Long straight blonde hair cascaded down past her shoulders, bright blue eyes shifting around the room as if she was looking for entertainment, nice natural lips that were formed into a pout, and fair skin with no blemishes whatsoever.
She was the type of girl you would write songs about.
The drummer took in the rest of her presence. The girl had broad shoulders, but the off the shoulders top that hugged her curves and cleavage helped show off her nice collarbones. His
eyes travel down to her skinny jeans that clung to her figure like skin, Rodrick couldn’t help but imagine what those skinny jeans would look like on the floor of his bedroom. He shook away the thought before popping a stiffy in front of everyone. Lastly, her pink heels made her look taller and more poised, almost like a model.
This girl checked all the boxes in what he liked.
Rodrick felt liquid seeping out of his hand. His grip had unknowingly tightened around his solo cup to the point it cracked, leaking cheap beer all over his front. “Shit!”
He quickly crosses the kitchen and throws the cup in the trash. It was fine. He was driving anyways, he shouldn’t have been drinking in the first place. The teen wipes his hand on the front of his jeans and looks back at the girl. She was still standing in the same spot.
‘Go up and talk to her.’ He thinks to himself. Rodrick never had any luck with girls, his crushes on girls would come and they would go. There had been a couple times where the boy had tried to talk to girls only to be shut down by them saying that they weren’t interested, he wasn’t their type, or the classic I already have a boyfriend excuse. This had led to Rodrick never having a girlfriend unless you count Maria in third grade who he had dated for a whole ten minutes then dumped him for Ryan Brook.
That bastard.
Still, it’s worth a shot. It’s not like he was ever gonna see most of these people again since he didn’t go to the same school as the rest of them. He takes a deep breath and worms his way into the same room as the girl, his eyes casted on her. Rodrick eventually came to a stop within a couple of feet away from her. She didn’t notice him at first, her body language gave off boredom and annoyance. With her arms crossed over her chest and purse slinged over her shoulder, it gave Rodrick the impression that she wasn’t here by choice as she eyed the front door.
“Hey!” The boy shouts over the blaring speakers.
She still didn’t look at him.
Rodrick yelled louder. “Hey, Blondie!”
Regina George’s eyes flint from the door to the punk that stood too close to her liking, she felt her eyebrows pinched in vexation at his mere presence. This was the last place Regina wanted to spend her Saturday night at some loser she used to make out with’s houseparty, but she didn’t come alone. Karen insisted that the two of them stop by for a minute to see if they were missing anything that might be going on, but that was twenty minutes ago. If Regina knew any better, Karen was probably getting a quickie upstairs from a football player. She had thought to just leave her here, it wouldn’t be the first time she has done that. Unfortunately, the blonde had let Karen borrow her nice pair of boots and she was sure as hell she wouldn’t let Karen take them home. The last thing the Plastic wants is some emo punk guy coming up to her reeking of booze and trying to talk her into sleeping with him.
She quickly took him in, very tall which she liked in a guy. Fluffy hair, dark brown eyes with eyeliner, which was par with the rest of the way that he looked. Punkish, Regina wouldn’t be surprised if the boy in front of her was in a band.
So cliche.
Still, his face wasn’t terrible to look at. In fact, without the punk aesthetic he would be her type. He resembled her recent ex boyfriend, Aaron in a way. A naughty prick went through her, the boy looked like he could be easily manipulated. Nothing but some light flirting to help pass the time until Karen gets her dumbass down here so they can both leave. Her trademark nice girl smile formed onto her lips in pretend fascination at the weirdo that looked down at her. Regina waited for the guy to initiate the conversation, but it looked like her faux dazzling personality had made him mute.
“Hey, Hotshot. Cat got your tongue?” She tilts her head to the side to make herself look interested in the pending conversation.
“No, uh.” Rodrick stumbles. “I just saw you from across the room and thought you looked pretty, so I just came over to say hi.”
“Oh.” Regina feigns surprise, batting her eyelashes at him. “Thank you. You look good too, black totally suits you!”
“Oh, thanks.” Rodrick felt heat spreading across his face. He raises his arms behind his neck and rubs it in nervousness. “What’s your name?”
“Only if you tell me yours first.” She teases.
“Rodrick. Rockrick Heffley.”
“Rodrick.” Regina echoed the name back in mock fascination. “So unique!”
Who the hell names their kid Rodrick?
“So, what’s yours?” The teen asks.
“Regina.” She flips some of her hair that had come over her shoulder. The girl was proud of her name, so proud to obtain it in fact that she had a pendant that hung from her neck bedazzled in the letter ‘R’ that sparkled when the light hits on it just right.
“So, Regina.” Rodrick tries out her name, it felt good coming off his chapped lips. “What brings you here to a lame party like this?”
“My friend wanted to come.” She gave a quick glance up the staircase, there were people sitting on top of them but none of them were Karen. “I’m just waiting on her. What about you?”
“Me and my bandmates heard about it.” He points his thumb behind him. “I am in a band. Did I tell you that? I’m a drummer.”
Rodrick thought now would be a good time to bring up that he was in a band. Girls like guys who are bands right? Specifically drummers?
“Wow!” Regina gasps. “Any songs I would know?”
“Probably not, we’re really not that known yet.” He clears his throat, Rodrick had to change the subject before it gets ruined. He noticed her lack of drink in hand. “Can I get you a beer or something?”
Regina finally sees Karen walking down the stairs, tripping every other step. She smiles and bats her eyes at the punk. “Could you get me a cosmo?”
“A cosmo?” He repeats. The boy had no idea what the hell a cosmo was, but that wasn’t gonna stop him.
She hums.
“Yeah! I’ll be right back with that!” The teen turns and fights his way back into the kitchen as Regina sees Karen walking up to her.
“Who was that?” She inquires, smiling dumbly at her.
Regina rolls her eyes. “I can’t believe you left me alone at a party to hook up with someone. I should've left your ass when I did, instead I stayed and had to talk to some loser.”
Hurt flashed across Karen’s eyes, Regina ignored it. The girl should be glad that she made her a Plastic in the first place. “Let’s go.”
They both strut out the front door and headed towards Regina’s car parked on the side of the street, the blonds both agreed on getting Taco Bell on the way back to Regina’s mansion.
Back in the kitchen, Rodrick was at a loss, he had no idea what the drink was and what it could possibly be made of. He was determined to get back to Regina and continue to make conversation, he took some random glass bottles of liquor off the counter and started to blindly pour the liquid into the red cup. The teen stumbles back into the living room to find the spot where Regina stood empty, his good mood falters.
“Hey man, this party blows! We’re ready if you are.” Tyler put his hand on Rodrick’s shoulder, the bass player instantly noticed the shift in the boy’s mood. “Aye, what’s wrong?”
“I was talking to this girl and she just left.”
Tyler laughs. “That sucks. Catch her name by chance?”
“Regina.” Rodrick’s voice held a sigh with the name.
Tyler grabs the cup from his hands and chugs the straight liquor and ends up doing a spit-take. Alcohol sprays everywhere, making people yell at him and leaving the area. “Regina? As in Regina George?”
“Yeah? I guess I didn’t catch her last name.”
“There is no way that a nice piece of ass like Regina George would waste her time talking to you, dude.” Tyler shakes his head at Rodrick, still in disbelief. “Regina is the most popular girl in North Shore and her family is loaded.”
“Uh, yes way. And she was enjoying talking to me too. She was really into me, I could tell.” Rodrick persisted, everyone in the band knew his history with girls. The conversation he had with Regina felt like it was going somewhere, now he was only left with her name.
“That girl being into you? When pigs fly maybe.”
“Wanna bet?” Rodrick glances at his mate. He knew Tyler was weak when it came to bets, he was a taker when it comes down to it. “I win Regina over, you owe me a new drum set.”
Tyler’s brow quirked. “And what do I get if I win?”
Rodrick tried to think of a less painful punishment for his end of the deal. “I’ll streak down the street naked.” He pauses. “In broad daylight.”
“Nah.” Tyler disagrees. “You're taking my cousin Sam to prom.”
“What? Gross, no!”
“Fine, get your own drum set then.” Tyler shrugs.
Rodrick was desperate for a new set, he’s had the same set for years. The teen is waiting for the day until his drums break, he’s been asking his parents for the past year for a new one. That always ended up with him in a lecture of responsibility and taking care of his belongings. He needed to win this bet if he still wanted to be a part of Loaded Diaper. “Fine, deal.”
Both teens shook hands on the deal. “Now, let’s gather the rest of the crew up and get out of here.”