The Bad Girl's Good Side

Chapter 17: Why did I come?

Chapter 17: Why did I come?

"Are you ready to go meet some new people?" Jordan grins at me as I munch on my buttermilk pancakes ignoring the fact that I might look like a hungry raccoon.

We decided to have breakfast at Starbucks -- which is just a few streets across my apartment complex -- since we all haven't eaten. The boys offered to pay for my meal as remuneration for breaking my trust, in hope of making me at least forget about the ordeal.

As if!

I stare at the grinning Jordan and then shift my eyes to Chase then back to Jordan again. "New people?" I take a sip of my hot chocolate.

"Yeah," his head bobs up and down fervently with excitement. "But don't worry, Tristan and Sam will be there. So it's not entirely new people." He casually explains as if not knowing my predicament which involves the thick tension between Tristan and I.

"Dude," Chase elbows Jordan in the ribs, knowing quite well how I wish not to see Tristan. "Mentioning Tristan won't really convince Hailey to come with us."

"She's going to see him anyway," Jordan glares at his best friend and rubs the sore spots on his ribs. "Might as well get used to his presence now."

I roll my eyes at that statement.

"Well you could've at least not told her about him." Chase scolds his other idiot half. "She would have just agreed to come with us and meet Tristan there."

I thought he was speaking in my favor. . .

"You do know I'm here, right?" I roll my eyes at Chase's stupid ideas. "And you're right, I don't want to see him. So I'm not hanging out with you guys."

I don't want to be in a situation where I'd be forced to speak to him or even have to look at him. I know it's pretty, but I don't think I'll be able to restrain myself from doing something stupid especially since there is still an evident attraction between us. And seeing Sam with him, knowing that she is basically in love with him, will gradually break me within -- it'll remind me of what I decided to end.

It'll open deepen my guilt.

I take full responsibility, well eighty percent of it, for how Tristan and I's relationship had come to an end. All I can say is that there was, there still, a deeper reasoning to my hasty decision back then, but I totally regret making it, especially after I was proven wrong.

He proved me to be wrong.

"C'mon, bro," Jordan pleads. "It'll be fun. And what better way to explore the area if not with a group of friends who already know the area?"

"Jordan's right," Chase butts in. "Besides it'll be a quicker way get over your infatuation with Tristan."

"It's not infatuation," I glare at Chase at his careless way of using his words. "But you're right," I shrug with a sigh. "Maybe it'll give me closure. But if this blows up, I'm gonna end both of you."

"Fine by me."

"It's definitely gonna blow up."

Jordan and Chase reply simultaneously, with Chase's response earning a glare from Jordan.

"Seriously, dude?" Jordan stares at Chase incredulously. "Can we just keep the positivity? We don't need your negative vibe."

"Okay," Chase lifts up his hands in surrender. "Now, can we just get going? The guys are already waiting for us at the beach."

~

After a fifteen minute ride to the beach, Chase finally parks his car into the crowded parking lot, and we quickly exit the car to digest the new atmosphere. The air is moist and warm, making it a perfect day to get a tan.