𝔅𝔞𝔟𝔶, 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢 || 𝔨. 𝔥𝔞𝔪𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔱

.21.

The drive to the hotel was a thing in itself. There were six of us squeezed into a taxi which only had three free seats. Bob sat in the front with the driver and James, Cliff, Lars, Kirk and I in the back. Accordingly, two of us had to sit on one lap. I just sat on Cliff's shot because I was way too tired to start a conversation with James, Lars or Kirk. James sat on Lars' lap and that was the best picture I've ever seen.

Too bad I didn't take my camera with me. That would have been a good photo.

At the hotel, we more or less parted ways. James was already in the shower while I sat on my bed and thought. Stacy hasn't been around all day. That surprised me. I kind of figured she'd at least come to the end of the boys' show to surprise Kirk, but she didn't. She wasn't the kind of person who just disappears without a trace. At least that's what I thought until today.

"What are you thinking about?"

I turned towards the bathroom. A half-naked James, wrapped in a towel, stood there looking at me questioningly. His wet hair lay on his shoulder and looked brown because of the water.
That he stood in front of me was not strange to me. I mean, I knew what was hidden under the towel and it's the same the other way around. He knows exactly what is hidden under my clothes.
We just lost the sense of shame in that area. Still, I wouldn't like to see him naked, so the towel was fine with me.

"Don't you think it's weird that Stacy didn't show up today? Otherwise she's not like that.", I shared my thoughts with him.

If anyone could judge how Stacy ticks then James. They were in a relationship and had known each other a little longer than James and I. After all, it was Stacy who introduced me to James in high school. She was the reason why we became friends. I don't know how many times I've thanked her for that over the years. I was really glad that I met James.

"Olivia, I'll be honest with you. Do you really think she's serious about Kirk? You must have told her about the night. How you felt during and after. Don't you think she's doing all this to make you jealous? Kirk isn't even her type.", James said more seriously than I expected.

I honestly had no idea. Even though I've known Stacy for so long, she was just an enigma to me. A riddle that I couldn't solve. But why should she be jealous? She knew how my last relationship went. I went to therapy after this relationship. I had to process everything I experienced somehow and now I'm doing relatively well with it. But why? Why would she be jealous that I slept with a guy? She sleeps with guys all the time. And she never means it seriously.

"What should she be jealous of, James? That I slept with Kirk? We both know how many men she's had."

"That's the point! We're in the process of making a name in the metal scene and what's better than dating one of us? That's the jackpot Livi.", he explained to me.

Shit, he was right.
But then I had a question.

"When did she start playing with other people's-"

I was interrupted by a loud knock on our door. I looked questioningly at James who was looking at me just as confused as I was. Since the blonde was still only wearing a towel, I got up to open the door.

Just as I was about to open the door, the person knocked on the door a second time and gave me half a heart attack. I heard James laughing from behind. I guess he thought it was funny that I jumped so hard.

"Not funny.", I said to him but that didn't really seem to bother him.

I'd be surprised if it bothered him. I mean when we first met I gave him a nosebleed and what does he do? He laughs and bleeds halfway down the hall floor. Our sports teacher didn't find it that funny and I had to clean the floor at the end of the school day.

Somehow that was a little funny.

I opened the door and was about to start yelling at the person when I saw it was Cliff. However, he didn't look very happy. He looked confused? I dunno, it was like a mixture of surprise and hate.

"What's wrong?"

"You have to see for yourself.", he just said and pointed down the aisle.

I saw Lars standing at a door. I closed our door so that James could change his clothes in peace. Surpized that he was there, I followed Cliff to the said door. Even though I actually wanted to go to bed, I was a little curious about what he wanted to show me. But somehow I had a really bad feeling about it.

And I should be right...