Despicable Desires

Episode 38

Adeline

With the glass completely empty, I decided to leave the girls in the living room and go to the kitchen. The evening was really enjoyable as we had the chance to talk to many students, and the fact that we were already a close-knit group of friends helped us mingle with others. The guys quickly integrated with an older group and spent the night outside playing drinking games, while the girls and I were in the best part of the house: the dance floor. I felt calm and relaxed, far from the stress I might have felt if Jayden had been there. Even though a small part of me wanted to run into him, the more rational part of me was glad he hadn't made the trip. With a confident, if slightly unsteady step, I entered the crowded kitchen. Okay, again, the kitchen was the place to be at parties, so I wasn't going to be surprised at these university festivities. I made myself a gin-based cocktail and prepared to rejoin the girls when I was automatically stopped in my tracks.

Cameron had lied.

Jayden was there.

With his eyes on me, he seemed both surprised and disturbed to find me there.

After all, we were both in the same boat.

I was speechless, unable to look away from his gaze. As the lump in my throat grew, I found it increasingly difficult to breathe. I don't know how long we stood there staring at each other like two immobile and confused idiots in the middle of a kitchen full to the brim, but I was brought back to reality by a cheerful voice coming from near Jayden.

- Hi, we've met before, haven't we?

I managed to break free of Jayden's grip and focused all my attention on his neighbor, my breath short and the knot still constricting my throat.

If she didn't recognize me right away, it wasn't my fault. It was impossible to forget her dreamy appearance and her all too tactile side with Jayden. Lydia.

"Yes, at a party you had at the beginning of the vacation," I answer in a slightly whistling voice. "I have to get out of here!"

"Of course. You're Adeline, right? His little brother's friend," she adds, nudging Jayden, who is still in an oppressive silence.

"Cameron, yes."

"Jayden's talked about you a lot," she continues, causing her neighbor to clear his throat. "You're a neighbor from San Francisco."

A neighbor? My eyebrows furrow, and I struggle not to look at Mr. Taciturn, who still stands motionless and silent before me. But I can't help the pain that spreads in my chest at the word he used to describe me. He's been living with my father, his stepfather, for three years and he really sees me as a... stranger?

"If that's what you want to call it, yes."

I lose any retort in the absurdity of the situation, and no acid remarks come to mind. Except one: Jayden White is the worst jerk on the planet.

"I think it's so cool that you three are in the same city for college. I mean, especially knowing that you're neighbors over eight hundred miles away. You must be super happy to see each other!"

You have no idea how right you are. My eyes drift to Lydia's fingers wrapped around Jayden's arm. Jealousy twists my stomach, but I try to suppress it, pretending I don't want to separate them and put them ten meters apart. I remain silent, ready to leave them and run away. But before I can speak and say hello, Lydia disappears to join a group of girls chatting further away. In a split second, I find myself facing the one person I didn't expect to see tonight. The anxiety I read in his eyes echoes the unrest within me, and as I prepare to run, his hand stops me. The contact of his fingers on my arm causes a swarm of butterflies in the pit of my stomach, and I reflexively pull away violently. He releases me, embarrassed.