Angsty - Enemies to Lovers - Slow Burn
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Hitch Pepper might've had a stupid name, and a personality that drove me crazy, but that didn't stop her from being gorgeous. Everyone knew it, guys and girls alike.
And my buddy Phil Childre...
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DECEMBER 10th, 1976 would be a night that I would never forget for as long as I lived.
Hours before I'd find out how much weight that night would shovel onto me, everything seemed normal. It was a Friday night, and Friday nights usually meant that we were going to a party or a bar or a club.
That Friday it was a party at Keegan Marcel's house. Keegan was a trust fund kid who took some of the same classes as Phil, and lived in the rich suburbs where all the doctors and lawyers lived—the ones that had bricked fences and wrought-iron gates blocking poor folks like us from viewing the three-story houses in full.
Hitch was practically glued to the back passenger's side window of my beat-up Ford Falcon as we drove down the street to the party. She'd never seen such large houses like that in real life.
"This must be what movie stars live in," I remember her saying. "Man, I couldn't imagine living in one of those."
"Hell, I could," Phil said from his spot next to her. "I'd deck it out like it's my own, personal Graceland. I'd have a movie room, exercise room, pool room," I spotted him in the rearview mirror smiling at Hitch, "and I'd have a music room just for you. Shelves and shelves and shelves of records and anything you'd ever want. And a big ole kitchen with a record player and a TV in it."
Hitch smiled, then caught my eyes in the mirror. We both quickly looked away.
We'd been doing that a lot in the week since her birthday weekend. Hadn't even talked to each other since then, either.
If Phil noticed, he didn't show it. Though, I suspected that he did. He had been adamant about the three of us going to that party together that weekend, and broke away from the two of us when we got there to talk to the party's host, telling me to keep an eye on Hitch while he was away.
Hitch and I awkwardly stood in the foyer where he left us. It was crowded in there, more crowded than the usual parties we went to, and we didn't know anyone.
"Hey," I said to Hitch, my hand at her shoulder blades to guide her forward. "Let's get somewhere less crowded." We ended up in what I assumed was the living room. "You wanna sit down?" I asked her. There was a spot open on the couch.
She shook her head. "I'm good. I think I'm gonna go get drinks and find someone to bum a joint off of."
"Okay, I'll come with."
"No, I'm good."
I frowned. "Hitch, it's dangerous for you to be by yourself at a party like this. I'm not comfortable with that."
"Well that doesn't matter, because I'm comfortable with it, and I can do whatever I want," she snarled.
"Hitch—"
"No, Julian. Don't argue with me. Let me do what I want and don't bother me." She started to shove past me, but I stepped in her way, staring down at her.
