con·ceit·ed

adjective

excessively proud of oneself; vain.

I forcefully pulled my hair back into a ponytail, stretching and pulling until all the hair was finally back and secured in a rubber band. I hated this more than anything. Wearing a dressy outfit, disgusting. Straightening and doing my hair, disgusting. Even leaving the house tonight, disgusting. I hated it. My hair was up so tight, that it hurt, but I didn't take it down. It would get hot at the party and I didn't want to take any chances of forgetting any hair ties. 

Mark threw open my door and ignored the fact that I was only wearing a shirt. "Mark!' I yelled, "Leave!" He sat on the bed wordlessly, "Yoonah, we grew up together, and I've seen more than that so chill," he protested. I glared at him but let him stay. He wasn't necessarily wrong. We had grown up together, taken baths, and all the stuff childhood best friends do, so it wasn't that embarrassing. The only thing that made me embarrassed was the fact that I was getting dressed up, which I never do. 

Mark had it easy. All he had to do was throw on some jeans and a nice shirt or something. Men had it easy in the ways of standards of the world. "Take your hair down, you look bald," Mark chuckled, tugging at the ponytail in my hair. I slapped his hand, "I'm not going to impress anyone, I don't care if I look bald," I snapped, but he still continued to try to pull it out until he finally got it half-way down, leaving my hair ruined. I spun around and punched him in the shoulder. He stumbled back, laughing, "I forgot how hard you can punch," he laughed. 

"That took me a long time to do!" I yelled. I could feel that my face was red. He raised his hands as if to surrender, "I'm sorry! Just do a looser ponytail because the other kind looked really bad!" I glared at him and pulled the rubber band out, retying it simply without pulling all the hair back. He stuck out a thumbs up. I huffed and turned back around to my closet. Just sweaters and jeans. 

Mark suddenly appeared beside me and analyzed my clothes, "You're boring," he muttered. I glanced at him from the side, "Shut up," I groaned. He pointed to a tank top and some skinny jeans, "Put those on," he commanded. And so I did. I hated the way it looked. I wasn't sure whether I should be pulling the up to hide the cleavage, or pull it down to hide the bit of my stomach that was showing. Wearing this shirt made me realize I needed to eat healthier and workout from the tiny bit of flab I saw. 

"I can see your underwear line through those jeans. Do you have thongs?" Mark shamelessly questioned. My eyes widened and I grabbed a pillow to throw at Mark, "Get out!" I yelled. He quickly ran out the door. That boy had no shame to ask a girl anything, and that is why it was so embarrassing to live in the same apartment as him. 

I slipped on a light jacket and walked out of my bedroom door, where Mark was waiting by the front door with my shoes. I snatched them away from him and slipped them on, unsuspecting as he looked down again. "I can still see your-" I slapped his arm, "If you ever say thongs again, I will murder you!" I yell. He laughs, "Damn, okay." 

We walked out the front door, bidding goodbye to the neighbors talking in front of their door as we left. I'm sure most of the neighbors thought we were dating or married because of our petty arguments, and because they had asked us before about our boyfriend, or girlfriend, and why they weren't home. We had grown used to people thinking we're a couple. 

After getting on the bus, Mark leaned close to my ear, "If I get too drunk, take me home. I don't want to do something embarrassing and ruin my rep," he states. I gave him a disgusted look, "What reputation do you have?" I mocked. He made a face and look at me, "That's harsh, Yoonah," he muttered. I shrugged and looked back ahead, waiting for the bus to make that fatal stop near Lucas' house. 

I was almost positive that this party would be the reason I die. Either from plain fear or plain embarrassment. 

The bus jerked to a stop, and Mark pulled me up out of the seat, dragging me out the bus. We walked up the street for a while, the sound of music progressively becoming louder and louder until we finally reached the house with people on the front lawn and in the windows. 

I squeezed my hands into fists and followed Mark up the sidewalk, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. When we entered the house, he grabbed my hand so we wouldn't lose each other. The strong smell of alcohol and body sweat filled my senses. I practically invaded Mark's space by staying directly behind him, my forehead almost touching his back. Once we were closer to a more open space, he turned around towards me, "Go make friends!" he yelled because the music was so loud. I shook my head, "Mark, I don't want to be alone!" I yelled back. 

He squinted at me. He didn't hear what I said but shrugged and awkwardly started dancing directly over to where other people were dancing. I suppressed a laugh, and covered my mouth watching him dance. I had never before seen a dance quite like that. It was, well, interesting. 

I felt a tap on my shoulder, "I can take your jacket for you," a voice yelled. I spun around and faced the person that I had never quite seen before. I took a step back, and he sweetly smiled, "I'm Jungwoo, Lucas' housemate! I can put your jacket upstairs where no one is so that you can get it when you leave!" he yelled. His voice was quite soft but loud. He looked kind as well. I reluctantly took off my jacket and felt quite comfortable when Jungwoo never took his eyes off of my face. I gently smiled back, and watched as he walked up the stairs. 

Slowly, more and more people started coming in. The ones that were on the lawn had disappeared and come into the house as well. There wasn't even a foot of space that I could walk without bumping into anyone. Mark has disappeared, and slowly the bodies started to compress towards me, who stood as close to the wall next to the stairs as I could. People shoved, people yelled, screamed, laughed, sang, and cheered. 

I hated this. Everything about it. I pushed my lips together and closed my eyes, holding my breath for 5 seconds, before letting it out, then holding it again. It was my relaxation technique. It didn't work. The noise and smell were too much. It overpowered everything. I slowly made my way towards the stairs. Jungwoo's words echoing in my head, "upstairs where no one is" and upstairs is where I would go. I climbed up the steps and took a deep breath when everything finally smelt normal. 

Peace and quiet. It was just what I needed. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible so I went from room to room, until I could find my jacket but it seemed like my jacket wasn't in any rooms. I even accidentally walked in on two people making out and my mind simply couldn't unsee that. 

I checked the third room and saw the large pile of jackets on the bed. Sighing with relief, I walked in and started going through the clothes. There were so many that it would take me at least 10 minutes to find the correct one, if not longer. A couple of minutes past and I still had no luck. I glanced at my watch. 12:31 p.m. It was getting very late and I was slowly becoming exhausted. It didn't help that Mark and I had left a little bit late to get to the party. 

In a slight defeat, I sat down on the floor, and leaned against the wall closing my eyes slightly. Just as I did so, the door next to me swung open, startling me to open my eyes. I looked up at the person, and they looked down at me. Lucas. I rolled my eyes and looked away, then stood up, "Excuse me, I was just looking for my jacket and got tired," I blandly said. He nodded his head towards the closet, "Jungwoo puts the girl's jackets in there," he told me, whilst walking to the closet and going through the clothes. He grabbed exactly what was my jacket off the hanger and walked over to me. 

"Can I ask you something?" Lucas asked, not giving me my jacket. I looked down and awkwardly nodded. He bent down a little, "Do you really not find me attractive at all?" he asked. I diverted my eyes as he leaned close to my face, "Not even when I do this?" I forced myself not to turn red, but instead rolled my eyes and looked him directly in the face, even leaning in a little as well, "No. I feel nothing." I sneer. He stands up straight, "I bet you I can make you," he says. 

I scoff and cross my arms, "No, you can't. Now give me my jacket," I said as I reached for my jacket. He pulled it back, sending me to slightly lose balance, and stumble forward. To catch myself from falling, I grabbed onto his waist, my face pressed against his stomach. I wasn't going to lie, I could feel his abs through his shirt. Neither of us moves. If I moved, I would fall farther, and Lucas had the choice to help me up but didn't. 

"Pretend to date me for a week," he says. Shocked, I let go of his waist and fell down almost right between his legs. I quickly stood up, "W-what?" I stuttered. Lucas smiled, "If you don't fall for me, then I'll leave you alone forever and stop boasting about myself, but if you do, well, just admit to the world that you were defeated by my good looks." he smirked with pride. I bit the inside of my cheek and considered. What was the point of saying yes? There was none. "Fine," I confidently say, "a week. You have to keep your promise." 

He grinned as he leaned close to my face, handing me my jacket, "I'll see you in class tomorrow, girlfriend," he mocked, before strutting out of the room confidently. 

 What have I gotten myself into? A deep load of , that's what.