Unexpected Encounters

Chapter 43

I smiled to myself as I walked back towards our booth. I wasn't sure if that interaction with Whitney would end up being a good thing or a bad thing for me, but it was at least making me feel good right now.

It did make me miss her even more, but it was nice to briefly catch up either way.

"Alright, here we go," I said as I put the drinks down on the table.

I slid back into the booth and saw Kaia and Gabbie both eyeing me expectantly.

"What?" I asked.

"Don't act like we didn't see who you were just talking to," Kaia said with a sly grin.

"Oh, I didn't realize that you saw that," I said.

"Are you saying you weren't going to tell us?" Gabbie asked.

"I literally just sat down!" I said defensively.

"Well..." Gabbie said, "go on then."

"We only talked for a few minutes," I shrugged, "I don't know what you want me to say."

"So the smile on your face when you were walking back over here was for nothing then?" Kaia asked.

"Jesus," I laughed, "you two don't miss anything, do you?"

"Hey I know how to read body language," Kaia said, "and I saw the way you two were looking at each other."

"I mean it was - yeah it was nice," I admitted, "but I'm not expecting much, we barely said anything."

"Maybe things will be different now that we're graduating," Gabbie said.

"I don't know," I sighed, "I appreciate the optimism, but I'm not getting my hopes up, I can't do that."

"Probably a good idea," Kaia said, "but I know what I saw."

"Whatever," I mumbled.

Part of me obviously hoped that she was right, but I knew that I absolutely could not expect that. I didn't want to go down that road and be heartbroken all over again.

We stayed for a while longer, and I felt myself constantly glancing around to try and see Whitney again. It never happened, but I guess I had to be thankful for the interaction that we did have.

I took one last glance around the bar before we left, but there was still no sign of her.

We didn't end up getting home too late, and we all went to bed so we could wake up and get ready for graduation in the morning.

                                        ***

"Finally time for our annual end of the year party," Kaia said as we got home.

We had just finished all of our big graduation and family activities, and we were free for the night.

"And my makeshift birthday party," I said.

"Whatever your birthday isn't for another few weeks," Kaia said as she rolled her eyes at me.

"Hey, we always celebrate it with the end of the year," I responded.

"She is right," Gabbie chimed in.

"Yeah, yeah," Kaia said as she waved her hand dismissively at me, "anyway we need to get ready, people should be here in a while."

We always hosted an end of the year party, and this year we were going big since it was our last one. Gabbie and Kaia had taken care of most of the planning this time around, and they had assured me that they had everything under control.

We all went back to our rooms and changed, and then came back out to wait for people to arrive. I heard a knock at the door a few minutes later, and Gabbie and Kaia both looked up from the kitchen.

"Will you get that?" Kaia asked me.

"Yeah, we're making drinks," Gabbie said.

"Yeah sure," I said as I walked towards the door.

I pulled it open and felt my stomach drop when I saw that I was face to face with Whitney.

"Hey Bailey," she said as she smiled at me.

"Whitney? Yeah, hi," I said awkwardly, "sorry, come in."

I stepped aside and noticed a gift in her hand, and I heard Gabbie and Kaia come up behind us.

"Oh shoot," Gabbie said, "you know what? I think we double booked ourselves on accident, we have another party to go to."

"You're right Gabs," Kaia said, "we better go, you've got this covered, right Bailey?"

I glared at both of them as I realized that this whole thing had been a setup.

"You're both being pretty obvious, you know that right?" I asked them.

"Sure, whatever you say," Gabbie said as she put her hands on Kaia's shoulder and led her out the door.

"Bye!" Kaia shouted as they shut it behind them.

I rubbed my hand over my eyes before looking up at Whitney.

"So based on your reaction, I'm going to guess that Gabbie and Kaia lied when they told me that you knew I was coming," she said.

"That would be correct," I responded.

"I thought you guys were having a party," she said.

"You and me both," I sighed, "I had no idea..."

I glanced behind me at the coffee table and realized that Gabbie and Kaia had left two glasses of wine sitting there. They were going to pay for this.

"Well I can - I mean I don't have to stay," Whitney said, "I didn't know - "

"No," I quickly said, "you can stay, if you want to I mean."

"Um," she hesitated, "yeah, that's fine, wouldn't want that second glass of wine to go to waste."

"Right," I said with a grin.

I walked over and sat down on the couch and she followed me. I picked up one of the glasses and handed it to her before grabbing the other for myself.

We both began to sip on our drinks as an awkward silence hung between us. I wasn't exactly sure what Gabbie and Kaia were expecting to happen if they left us here, but it was very uncomfortable so far.

"So uh," I finally said, "what's with the present?"

"Oh, right," Whitney said as she picked up the box that she'd set on the table, "it's a birthday present, I know yours is coming up."

She held it out to me and I slowly reached out and took it, still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she'd gotten me something.

"Really?" I asked.

"No I'm joking," she said.

I looked up at her and she couldn't keep from laughing.

"Yes really," she said, "open it."

I smiled at her as I started to unwrap the box that she'd handed me.

"Cocktail kits," I said as I read the labels on the different packages in front of me, "very nice, thanks."

"Well you know," Whitney said, "we do kind of tend to meet at bars and bond over cocktails."

I was a little confused by the gift at first, but when she explained it that way, I felt a grin spread across my face. She was too damn cute.

"We do, don't we?" I said as I nodded, "I really like these, thank you."

"Yeah of course," Whitney said.

There was still a lot of built up tension between us, but it seemed like it was starting to fade at least a little bit.

"Alright come on," I said as I stood up with the box in my hand, "we better go try these out."

——————————————-