𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞, matt champion

014. jealous

JEALOUS

jaden finally arrived at the party with alex, ian and ryan. the four of them got out of the car together and walked inside the house. it was about 11 pm, so there were already a few tipsy people hanging around, having conversations about everything and nothing.

jaden had told herself getting drunk was a bad idea, seeing the last time she got drunk didn't really go that well. however, she knew once she took one sip of alcohol, there was no turning back. and with her lack of self-control, she knew getting drunk was bound to happen at some point.

"hey guys!" a voice from behind the small group sounded. they all turned around at the sight of nick walking towards them, followed by merlyn and ciarán, who already had a drink in their hands.

"hey!" alex immediately said, looking at nick, and stepped forward to him. jaden playfully punched her and raised her eyebrows up and down. she smiled back and slightly rolled her eyes at her best friend and looked back at nick.

"you wanna get a drink?" nick extents his hand with a beckoning motion and heads to the large table with all the alcoholic beverages on there, followed by alex, who grew a smile on her face. he took her hand and the rest of the group looked at them standing together.

"five bucks says they're waking up next to each other tomorrow." jaden looks at her friends and grins.

she loved making bets with her friends, mostly because she always won, but also because it kept her busy with literally anything but her own problems.

the group made bets very often. they even kept score of who won the most on a big whiteboard in ian's bedroom. jaden and ciarán were tied for first place, so they were without a doubt the most competitive two of the group when it came to bets.

"no, jaden, not this again!" ian whined like he always did, seeing that he always lost. there was no point for him to even participate anymore, since he'd repeatedly lost his money to the 'stupid' bets.

ciarán had already turned to jaden and reached out his hand. "okay, bet." he smirked and shook her hand while the rest of the friend group just looked at them.

"five bucks says that they're waking up next to each other tomorrow." ryan whispered into merlyn's ear and discreetly pointed at jaden and ciarán. "deal." the two shook hands and chuckled softly.

——————————————

it had been a little over two hours since jaden and her friends arrived at the party and there were definitely a lot more people than before. most of those in the group were already shit-faced, but the majority of them were having fun.

alex was still hanging around with nick, doing god knows what. merlyn was dancing with romil, jabari and some other people. ryan was making out with some random guy from his science class. ian was giving girls advice about love and heartbreak. russell was laying on the sofa with dom. and finally, jaden and ciarán were still figuring out how to spend their time at the party.

both of them drank approximately seven cups of some very questionable mixed beverages, along with a fair amount of vodka shots.

"i'm gonna get us some more." ciarán slurred and walked towards the table with the drinks on it, but was met by a girl, whom he'd now started talking to. jaden playfully rolled her eyes at him before walking off, hoping to find at least one of her friends outside.

she escorted herself through the narrow hallway, filled with people smelling like liquor and cigarettes. finally, she reached the front door and stepped outside. looking to see if she could find anyone familiar, she only seemed to find drunk people throwing up, smoking cigarettes or fully making out.