dancing in the stars (ballerina x singer wlw romance)

chapter fourteen

WILLOW

I don't know why I'm here.
I should not be here.
I shouldn't have put on my favorite wide-leg jeans, my white sneakers and my favorite black hoodie with a little spider-man mask above my heart. I shouldn't have put on make up, I shouldn't have let Maya do my hair. And I definitely should not have rung the doorbell.

Technically, I didn't. Maya stands next to me with her arm linked with mine and a soft smile on her face. Why isn't she freaking out? I feel my entire body shaking as we stare at the white door.
I'm here, standing in front of the Bennett family's beach house, because of the girl beside me. She had read my conversation with Summer– she took my phone away from my hands when she read Summer's text, inviting me here, and before I could even take my phone away from her– she wrote something and hit send. I am here and it's her fault and she is not freaking out. She's about to meet the people she's been reading about on the internet and fantasizing about knowing and she not even shaking. She's just... there.
I could hear the laughter and loud voices from the inside that immediately stopped when Maya rang the doorbell. My heart skipped too much beats at once– it's not like I haven't hung out with Summer 24 hours ago. It was fun. We had fun– god, we even shared a moment when she almost had a panic attack from the storm. She invited me here. That made us friends, right?

You don't belong in her world, a voice in my head says and I blow out a long breath. I know I don't– that's why I shouldn't be here.

The world doesn't stop just because I want it to because three minutes later a redhead opens the door– a very drunk, very tipsy, very pretty redhead. Aurora Bennett stares at me like we've been best friends forever, showing me her perfect white teeth when she smiles and her eyes flickering with something... amusement? I don't know. She hated me three days ago, Jesus Christ. Her blue eyes land on my best friend next to me and she grins even wider.
"Hello! Hi!" she practically screams at our faces and a smile curves on my lips. Huh. Aurora Bennett is fun when she doesn't hate me. "Willow, hi. Come in, come in." she opens the door and leans against the wall for support, letting us get inside.

A tall man– athletic body, strong muscles, a pretty face with a head full of dark curls and gold eyes appears in front of us, towering over the three of us. I notice Aurora's face lighting up when she looks up at him and I immediately recognize him. Lucas Johnson. The captain of the Vancouver Devils at UBC. Holy shit, he is handsome. Girls from campus were not fucking exaggerating.
"I'm sorry for her," he says, his voice low and raspy but his eyes soften when he looks at the pretty redhead. "She's been drinking way too much. You must be Willow."

My eyes widen when I notice I haven't said anything yet and Summer is nowhere to be seen. I clear my throat. "I– Uh, yes. I'm Willow and this is Maya. Nice to meet you."

He smiles, showing off two dimples on his cheeks. "I'm Lucas. This is Aurora. I'm aware you're Summer's... friend, right?" he tilts his head and I can simply nod, feeling Maya freeze next to me. "You probably know who we are and... before we go in, I just want to ask, both of you, not to share the location of this house. It's the only place we can escape and be free for a few hours. Is that okay with you? Can we trust you?"

Something warms in my chest. Promise me I can trust you. That was the last message I got from Summer and it scared the shit out of me. Not sharing the location of her house because she is famous. Like her whole family and friends are fucking famous. I didn't understand but I said yes. I told her she could trust me because something in my mind said so. I wanted her to trust me and not with just the location of her secret house.
Well, house? This isn't a beach house. This is a whole beach mansion. After we promise Lucas not to say anything, he leads us through the hallway and I stared in awe at the whole house. It was big– so fucking big, like the ones you see in movies. It was filled with pictures, family pictures and friends. I didn't stop to see them but I could recognize Summer and Aurora in most of them.
The marble floor was white with strands of gold, contrasting beautifully with the entire decor. The walls were actually floor-to-ceiling windows with beige curtains, the lighting was nice and bright and the whole house screamed home. It was so full of love– you could practically feel it.
Lucas gave us a small tour, telling us where the kitchen and bathroom were and now he's leading us to the living room, I guess, where I could hear everyone laughing and talking. My heart started pounding in my chest, so fucking hard that I have to tell myself not to have a panic attack right now.