My family throws a party every single New Year's Eve, one that nearly everyone attends. We all invited people. James and Lizzie had friends coming, Harper and Skye invited people from their schools, some of their parents were also coming. Our house would be packed, which I normally hated, but maybe tonight it'd be for the best. The more people in our house, the easier it'd be avoiding Wyatt. Who was sadly still invited.

"Don't worry about him," Harper reassures me. We both sit in her room, getting ready. Well, more like I laid on her bed, scrolling through my phone, while she got ready. She's wearing a sparkly, one-shouldered pink dress. Her hair slicked back into a low bun, showing off her perfectly done makeup. Her lips are painted a bold pink colour, "There are so many of us we'll make sure he doesn't try talking to you."

"I appreciate it," I tell her, sitting up. Harper had tried curling my hair, but they didn't hold. My hair fell into limp waves that I'm sure were a little messy from laying down. I didn't want to get ready, but Harper forced me. Show Wyatt what he's missing, she told me as she applied my makeup. She'd gone pretty simple, making it look like I wasn't sleep deprived as I am.

My stomach is in knots. The last thing I want is to see him and pretend that I'm okay. I want to sit and watch movies with my siblings. "You know," I stand up, adjusting my top. Harper picked out wide-legged blue dress pants, pairing them with a white cropped t-shirt, "We could always just stay in my room. We could watch rom coms?"

"That's tempting," She hums, turning around to look at me. Despite how dressed up she is, she's wearing a pair of worn-out white sneakers, "but you look too good for that. Wyatt is going to feel like an even bigger idiot after he sees you."

"Or, he won't even look at me," I add, shrugging my shoulders hopefully. I can hear people downstairs He was probably down there right now, with London on his arm. Mom and dad tried telling me they could uninvite him, but I couldn't do that to Nikki. I'm going to let my issues with her son ruin my relationship with her.

"I hope he does," Harper links her arms through mine. This way, I have to leave the room, "I spent way too much time on your brows for him not to look."

I roll my eyes, sighing as she begins walking out of her room, dragging me along with her. Our house is crowded. It seems that almost everyone is here. In the living room, karaoke is set up on the TV, various people scattered around the room, passing the mic back and forth. Everyone else was in the dining room and kitchen, talking and catching up, having to raise their voices as they spoke to be heard over the music.

"I already wanna go back upstairs," I told Harper, raising my voice slightly so she could hear.

"Come on," She nudges my side, "I think Liz and James are in the kitchen somewhere. I'm going to go find Charlie really quick."

Harper runs into the crowded living room, leaving me alone in the foyer. This is easily the busiest New Years' Eve party we've ever had, and I couldn't help but wonder how much of it was due to the fact that two A-list celebrities were in our house somewhere. I worm my way through the crowd, entering the kitchen. James and Lizzie aren't in here, but someone else is.

Wyatt's wearing a white button, the top button undone, tucked into a pair of navy-blue pants. He's looking around the room, leaning against the counter while London babbles on about something beside him. Of course, she looks perfect. Her blonde hair held curls much better than mine ever could, her dress is black, hugging her curves. She's everything I'm not.

His eyes connect with mine before I can leave the room. If I didn't know better, I'd think he looks sad, like something was wrong. He steps forward slightly, and luckily, someone taps on my shoulder before he can move any closer, "Marles," Harper's voice tares me away from Wyatt. I look back at her. She and Charlie both stand behind me, hand in hand. Her boyfriend smiles at me sympathetically, "Liz and James are actually in the living room. Come on, let's go do karaoke."

I allow her to drag me away. Where James and Lizzie are both scrolling through the karaoke song options. Lizzie's wearing a black jumpsuit, her dark hair curled. The twins are staying withJames' parents tonight, allowing them to have a baby-free night for the first time in a long time.

"Oh good, you're here." Lizzie greets me, "James and I can't decide whether to sing don't stop believing or don't go breaking my heart."

"Why not both?" I shrug, happy to find an empty seat on the couch. Harper and Charlie both sit too.

"You're a genius," James points at me with his mic. Neither of them have drunk yet, and they're already acting a little loopy. Is this what happens when you have kids? James and Lizzie cue up their song, beginning to sing. It's comical. They're both off-key, off-tune and impossible to hear behind their laughter.

I never get up to sing, but I do cheer, as Harper sings with Charlie or when James and Harper sing a dramatic rendition of summer nights from grease. When Wyatt enters, I don't feel self-conscious or nervous. I feel bad for him.

He and London stand off to the side, farther away from the crowd. She looks bored out of her mind, her impossibly long acrylic nails typing at her iPhone. While Wyatt watches with almost wistful eyes. I can't feel bad for him. When he chose her instead of me the other night, he chose her over all of this. Even when his management isn't around, Wyatt is a puppet on a string.

"Come on, Marles," Lizzie pouts after a little while of me just watching, "just one song?"

Karaoke is not my thing. I hate people's attention being on me. As I look around the room, though, it was clear everyone's attention was on dancing and not on the actual people singing, "Fine," I stand up, rolling my eyes, "you get one song. Make it count."

One song turned into quite a few. We went from Abba to spice girls and spice girls to Disney. We were all doing karaoke, no one really caring about the Mics anymore. Charlie twirls Harper around while James, Lizzie and I stay seated, dancing in our seats.

It's nearly 11:45 when I look down at my iPhone for the first time. Time has been flying by, and it was all because I haven't bothered looking over at Wyatt and London. It wasn't easy. I could feel him watching, resisting the urge to look back myself. I was having fun, proving to him that I didn't need him to do so.

"I'm gonna go get a drink," I yell over the music to Lizzie and James. Harper was currently singing a whole new world from Aladdin. Some of her friends had joined her and Charlie in front of the TV. Covering the lyrics from the rest of our vision. "Do you want anything?"

"Water would be great," Lizzie nods, raising her voice too. It takes a bit to get into the kitchen. All the people from the kitchen and dining room had crowded by the living room. Young and old everyone sang and danced. The entire house is bursting at the seams with joy.

The island in the kitchen is covered in a variety of sodas, sparkling waters and juices. It was slightly picked over now, but there was still quite a bit of option. I choose sparkling raspberry water, cracking open the can. Before I can go back to everyone else, London walks in. Unlike the rest of the night, Wyatt is not at her side, "Margot? Right?" She asks, her head held high.

"Uh, no," I shake my head, "it's Marley."

"Right," She nods, though it seems like she doesn't care, "do you know where the booze is? I don't get how anyone is getting through this party sober."

   "There's some champagne for midnight," I shrug, slowly backing out of the room, "but a lot of people here are underage, so..."

"I guess Wyatt, and I just don't fit in with people like this," She continues, picking up a bottle of water. People like this? I wonder if she realizes that her precious Wyatt would've been all about this party days ago. If she weren't here, he'd probably participate. "We threw a great Gatsby party at our place a while back. Leo even lent Wyatt his original costume."

Hearing that Leonardo DiCaprio leant Wyatt his costume from the great Gatsby movie was somehow the least shocking part of her sentence to me, "Our place?" I question. I should just walk away. I shouldn't care. But I do. I'm curious.

"Yeah, we live together." She nods. Her tone was so nasally and forced, like nails on a chalkboard. Good thing she's just a model, "well, we used to live together. Wyatt moved back in with his parents when his dad got sick." She rolls her eyes as if Tom getting sick and dying was some major inconvenience. "So, technically, it's my place, but I have a feeling when we get home, he'll be moving back in." I press my lips together tightly, not allowing myself to ask any more questions. "Well, I should get back to Wyatt. It's almost midnight."

She winks at me, smirking. She knows what she's doing, she came in here to make sure I know that Wyatt is hers. It was crazy how someone like her could be intimidated by someone like me. I guess even the most beautiful girls get insecure sometimes.

I watch as she walks out of the kitchen and over to Wyatt. He looks miserable as she places a kiss on his cheek. I know he doesn't love London, it' obvious. That's not what hurt me. He loves his fame. Far more than he's ever care for me, he's shown me twice now that if given a choice, he'll choose his fame over me every time.

I finally make my way back to Lizzie, handing her the bottle of water. James has his arms wrapped around her waist, hugging my sister tightly, "Hey, I saw London walk out with you. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, totally," I lie, forcing a smile on my face. I'd done so well all night, but she got to me. London St. James got under my skin, and I couldn't shake it, "I've got a bit of a headache. I'm gonna grab some ibuprofen from my room."

"Don't take too long," James reminds me, "it's almost midnight."

"Yeah," I breathe, nodding my head. I exit the living room, heading up the stairs. The closer I get to the room, the more the noise fades. I can finally hear my own thoughts.

I sit on my bed once I'm in my room, the door shut behind me. I can't see him kiss her at midnight, even if he wants to or not. They say who you spend midnight with signifies how the rest of your year will go. Lizzie had James and Harper Charlie. It seems I'm destined to spend another new year alone.