Cigarette Smoke

Chapter Nine

*The picture above is the outfit Alex changes into*

I woke up to a knock on Andy's bedroom door. "Who is it?" I groaned and rolled out of bed, but the door opened before I could get to it. "Sorry to wake you, but um, you left your phone downstairs last night and I figured that you would need it"

Andy stood in the door way, holding my phone in his right hand and rubbing the back of his neck with his left. "Oh, thank you." I gave him a smile and took it from him. "No problem, are you hungry?" He stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"A little..." I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "I'll go tell Ash to start making breakfast." He smiled and walked out, closing the door behind him. I made sure I locked it before I began to change. I rummaged through my case for a few minutes before finding the perfect outfit.

I put on my black and green plaid sundress with my black and white Doc Martins. I wandered into Andy's bathroom and attempted to brush out my hair. The brush continuously got caught on knots and tangles, so I gave up and put it in a messy ponytail. I hate my hair, I said to myself as I played with loose strands.

I went to close my guitar case when I noticed something shiny at the bottom of it. It was my old tattoo choker and heart pendant necklace. My mom had gotten me the heart pendant when I was born in hopes that I would grow into it eventually, the choker was Jax's, but I borrowed it and forgot to give it back. Both of them reminded me of home, so I put them on and headed downstairs. The smell of maple syrup filled the stairway.

"Look, sleeping beauty is awake!" Ashley called out from the kitchen, he was standing in front of the stove with a spatula in his hand. "Took you long enough." CC mocked from the sofa, I just shook my head in laughter and joined Jake and CC on the couch.

Jinxx and Andy weren't in the living room, nor the kitchen. "Where's the others?" I nudged Jake who sat to the right of me. "Andy's outside having a smoke and Jinxx is somewhere talking on the phone." I nodded and wandered over to Ash who was in the kitchen.

"Whatcha cookin?" I began to laugh at Ash, who was only wearing boxers an a cooking apron that read kiss the chef across the front of it. "Pancakes, and you better be hungry because I'm making a lot." I just rolled my eyes and laughed.

My hair began to fall into my eyes, causing me to loath it even more. "Uh... Hey CC, can I pretty please borrow your car later?" I looked at him, batting my long, dark eye lashes. "How old do you think you are?" He threw his head back in laughter. "Um... nineteen." Everyone paused and looked in my direction with wide eyes, the only sound was the sizzling of Ashley's pancakes.

"You're kidding right?" CC furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "How old did you guys think I was?" I flailed my arms around. "Sixteen at most!" Jake laughed, "You're so tiny!" CC added, causing my cheeks to turn bright red. "Who's tiny?" Andy walked through the front door, coughing at the end of his sentence.

"Alexandria. I had no clue she was nineteen." Ashley called from the kitchen. "Oh, I knew that." Andy shrugged as Jinxx appeared in the stairway. "Knew what?" He asked, jogging down the marble steps. "That Alex is nineteen." Jake answered casually. "What? No way!" Everyone broke into a debate over how old I really was. "Ok! Can we stop arguing about my age?" I yelled, silencing the guys.

"I'll ask this one last time. CC, can I please borrow your car?" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "For what? Andy interrupted. "I desperately need a haircut." The guys broke into laughter. "I haven't had a haircut in four years!" CC replied through laughs. "But yes, you can borrow my car." He calmed down along with the rest of the guys.

"Maybe someone should go with you, just in case something bad happens or you get lost or... something." Andy swayed back and forth awkwardly. "Okay, you can come. if you want." I flicked my head towards him and crossed my arms, giving him a grin.

"If I want? I don't want to, I just um... want to help you, uh... find your way around." He stuttered in search for the right words. He looked down at his black leather boots and black skinny jean combination in the process of word searching.

I smiled at his cuteness. I have to admit, Andy's bad boy, tattoos, piercings, all black and leather look got me at first, but all I see now is his caring, adorable personality that I knew was inside of him all along.