The Speech

Chapter 21

Dylan's POV

     It was a fluke. I've learned that doing coke twice within the span of a couple hours is too much for my nose to handle, and I have no intention of repeating the incident. Especially since I bled directly into Jackie's mouth. Which has to be one of my top ten most embarrassing moments by the way. There is no way to spin "having a nose bleed while making out with a girl" into a good thing. I'm just lucky that the girl was Jackie and she was more worried about me than grossed out by my blood in her mouth.

I haven't done coke since then, and it's been a little over a week, so I think it's safe to say it doesn't have a hold on me. I have the rest safely tucked away in the buzz light-year dispenser in my room. For emergencies.
"Dylan!" Jackie's voice catches my attention, making me come to a stop in the busy hallway of school. I can't help but chuckle at the sight of her running towards me.

"Something important?" I ask. 
"Your sister is forcing me to go to Lockwell's party tonight." She says huffing, trying to catch her breath.
"You unfortunate soul." I retort and glares at me.
"Come with." She says and I try to muffle a laugh.
"Absolutely not." I respond once I realize she's not joking.
"Oh come on, please don't make me third wheel with her and Jayden all night." She pleads.
"Make Theo go." I tell her.
"I can't."
"Why not?" I ask.
"For reasons I can't disclose. He just can't go." She replies. I roll my eyes in annoyance.
"Well why do you think you can make me go but not him?" I question, crossing my arms.
"Because, as I recall, I've been helping you a lot through your breakup. And as your friend, I feel like I'm owed this one outing." She steps close to me. She's clearly feeling confident today.

A smirk creeps onto my face as I watch her and I give a sigh as I cave in.
"Fine, I'll go." I tell her, then lean in close to her ear.
"Better make it worth my wild." I watch her blush from my words, but she quickly collects herself and rolls her eyes.
"You're the reason we shouldn't talk at school." She says, crossing her arms under her chest.

"And yet you wanna try and hangout with my sister tonight." I retort before walking away.

Theo's POV

     We haven't talked hardly at all. I think Avery's scared to talk to me if I'm being honest. It's not like I left on a good note after all. She's waiting for me to make the next move, to text her, or call, or just walk up and say hi so she knows we're okay. I just can't seem to get myself to do it. I let her pull me back in that night, only to get screwed over again. Why does she choose me to come to her rescue, but tosses me to the side when Jayden's ready for her again? Why should I let her? If the other day showed me anything, it's that she's gonna keep clinging to me when anything happens in her relationship. I can't keep being there, she needs to see the relationship for what it is. And so long as I'm there, she won't. I'll keep getting reeled back in and what good will that do for either of us?

I have been going back and forth all day on whether I should show up at Lockwell's party tonight. He's one of the richest guys at school, and his house is right on the beach. His parties are legendary and this one will be no different, except for the fact that I won't be with my friends. Jackie will undoubtedly be with Avery and Jayden, and since I'm not talking to Avery, I can't exactly join Jackie. I'd hangout with Haley and her group, but I'm probably not welcome around them after that double date fiasco. So I either go and risk standing in a corner by myself all night, or I stay home and risk missing the party of the year. Its a dumb thing to worry about missing out on, but you're only in high school once. And I'm trying to make sure that what's left of my high school experience doesn't completely revolve around Avery.  

Avery's POV

I hate pretzels. Ever since I was a kid when my mom packed a bag of them in my lunch in the 1st grade I threw them right back up on my crush. The taste of them makes me gag to this very day. This is something that anyone remotely close to me would know. This is something that my boyfriend of two years should know like the back of his hand. And yet, here I am, sitting in the passenger seat of his car with a bag of pretzels in my lap that he got me from the gas station. I asked him for a snack, something salty. My usual would typically be potato chips, or peanut butter crackers. I stare at the pretzels, they're taunting me. Your entire relationship is in this little aluminum bag of pretzels.

Jayden quietly drives to Lockwell's, tossing a handful of M&Ms into his mouth every few minutes. I want to ask him why he grabbed these. Was it a mistake? Did he mean to grab something else? Did he misread the label and think it to be something different? How could he forget that I don't like pretzels...
"Jackie coming tonight?" He asks, breaking the silence. I tear my eyes away from the bag. Stupid, annoying, pointless little bag.
"Yeah, she said she had a ride already." The statement sounds even weirder coming from my mouth than it did Jackie's. Why didn't she want to ride with us again?
"Are we having an after party tonight?" He questions.
"I don't think so. Theo's still not talking to me, and even if he was, after the whole Haley fiasco I'm not sure we'd have anyone to invite." I tell him and he sighs.
"Why isn't Theo talking to you?"
"I don't know."
"Want me to talk to him?"
"No."
Silence fills the car again after that and soon enough we are pulling up to the house. Cars litter the road, but no one's in the front. I can hear the music blasting from the back and prepare myself for the party.

Jayden opens my door for me and I stand up, pretzels falling to the floorboard, but he doesn't notice. Stupid pretzels.

       We get into the house and see it's relatively empty besides a few lingering people in the kitchen and one lone Jackie sitting on the couch.
"Thank God y'all are here!" She says, leaping off the couch.
"Sorry we had to stop for gas." And pretzels.
"Why are you sitting inside? All the funs out there!" Jayden says, patting her shoulder and dragging me out the backdoor. Jackie spots a margarita machine and snags one for each of us. She raised her glass in the air.
"What are we drinking to?" She asks.
"To a good time!" Jayden says, all smiles.
"To not having to fight for a bathroom in this giant house!" Jackie adds, and we tap our glasses together.
And to pretzels.

Jackie's POV

      The sand is soft and warm on my skin. I could lie here for hours. It might have even been hours since I sat down here. I'm not really sure, I've lost track of the time after my fifth tequila shot.
"Jackie?" A low husky voice calls my name and I like the way it sounds so much that I don't respond, just so I can hear it again.
"Jackie." He says again and I open my eyes.
"Heyyyy stranger!" I say to Dylan. He extends his hand to me and I graciously grab it.
"How much have you had?" He asks me and I shrug.
"How much have you had?" I playfully ask. He gives a small chuckle and places a hand on my lower back.
"Come on, let's get you some water." I point to the ocean.
"There's water right there."
"Water to drink Jackie." He says, in a serious voice, and guides me up the beach. People are everywhere and the music is loud, for a second I think I lost him but then he grabs a hold of my hand.

      We make it into the kitchen and I prop myself up on the counter while he grabs a bottle of water.
"Drink." He demands, handing it to me. He lingers close to me, his hand brushing my thigh every so often, but he doesn't look at me. Instead he watches his surroundings, probably worried Avery will spot us together. I wonder how long ago I lost them?  I don't notice when someone comes over and starts talking to Dylan. In fact I only register him talking to someone when I hear him say;
"She's my little sister's best friend and she's drunk. I can't leave her til she sobers up." Nothing in that statement is inherently wrong. In fact most people would hear it and think he's being a good guy for looking out for me. But what I hear is, she's only my sister's best friend. She's nothing to me. And, I want to leave her, but she's just too drunk to leave alone. And it crushes me more than I'm willing to admit.

      His friend walks away and he turns to me, meeting my eyes for the first time since we stepped in the kitchen. You shouldn't be upset. You're secret friends with benefits, you know that. He's done nothing wrong. I finish my water and hand him the trash.
"I'm gonna go find Avery." I tell him, hopping off the counter with wavering footwork. He quickly grabs onto my arm to steady me, but I pull it away.
"I'm fine. I don't need you to babysit me." I start stomping off but he follows me anyway.
"I'm not babysitting you, but okay." He retorts.
"Then why are you following me?" I ask him, coming to a stop in the crowded house.
"What- what do you mean? Did you not invite- no, BEG me to come to this thing to hang out with you at this party?" He asks, voice raising because of the music and people.
"Yes I did ask you to come, but that's before I knew hanging out with me became a chore." I drunkenly say. My body sways a bit and he takes notice of it.
"Jackie, you're drunk. Let's just go find Avery and I'll leave you the fuck alone for the night if that's what you want. Okay?" His eyes soften at the question and I just nod as a response. His hand finds its way to the small of my back once more, steering me through the sea of teenagers.