Tears of July | √

3. Heart On Fire

Chapter 3

The alcohol was messing with my thoughts or something.

I froze, my feet suddenly glued to the floor as Lyle inched his face closer to mine. Time seemed to slow down, like really slowed. My hands clutched his strong shoulders harder, but he didn't seem to notice. Suddenly, my thoughts flickered back to what Amber asked. I never thought the idea of Lyle liking me or vice versa, would happen. Since we never tried it, and definitely never planned it to- ever.

Until now, I guess. Or maybe I was just imagining things.

And as much as I told myself to step away from him, the scariest thing was that a part of me actually wanted to kiss him.

Weird, I know.

"Lyle!" the familiar chirpy voice suddenly boomed in my ears. Lyle's eyes snapped open as I quickly pulled away from him with all the force I could muster. I almost stumbled and ended up on the floor if strong hands hadn't held me by the waist. I let out a yelp and turned, finding Nathan flashing me a playful smile as I backed away from him, looking at him with surprised eyes.

"Can we dance?" Amber practically shouted despite the slow, mellow music. I looked at the both of them as the others stared at us, their expressions filled with annoyance. Lyle looked at me with an expression I didn't recognize as Amber practically dragged him a few feet away from us then started talking to him. I averted my eyes away from them, suddenly feeling light-headed and... jealous?

What was happening to me?

"So," Nathan started as he shifted his feet, looking at me with amused eyes. I smiled at him then crossed my arms across my chest, letting out a huff of breath. I knew I should have probably been thankful that they interrupted the 'scene' Lyle made, but a part of me was dismayed it didn't turn out the way I expected it to be. Who knew that guy would have stolen my first kiss?

Ah, crotch. There was really something wrong with me now. I arched my glasses upward then tilted my head to look at Nathan who was saying something the whole time.

I shook my head, swallowing hard. "Wait, wait- I didn't catch a word that you were saying."

He looked at me for a few seconds then sighed. I thought he was mad at me or something. I slowly felt myself sink in embarrassment, my cheeks flushing. Finally, he flashed me a cute grin then held his hand out to me.

"May I have this dance?"

Minutes later, I was slow dancing with Nathan, my hands awkward on his shoulders. We turned then I found Lyle's eyes on us, his expression mixed with wary and... anger?

"So, I bet you and Lyle had fun." Nathan said to me. I looked at him then gave him a nervous smile.

"Well..." I mumbled, looking at Amber and Lyle again who were dancing even more awkwardly than we were. "Yeah, I guess."

I wondered if Lyle and I danced awkwardly, or maybe it was sweet and-

Shut up, Cassandra.

"You want to get a drink or something?" Nathan finally asked after a few seconds of silence. I almost let out a cry of relief as he said that, partly because I was about to sink in the awkwardness of our situation, and the fact that I really was getting thirsty.

Nathan led me to the bar then went to buy our drinks. I sat on the red stool and looked around for Amber and Lyle. I finally spotted them a few seconds later, Amber's face buried on Lyle's neck. I noticed Lyle's face was more relaxed now, and his hands gripped Amber's Victoria's Secret model body hard. People from school started staring at them, and right then I knew that there were going to be rumors about them dating the minute we would step back into school.

Suddenly, Lyle's eyes jumped into my direction and we held the stare for a few moments before I turned and grabbed the glass that had clear liquid in front of me. I figured it was probably water, since it was cold and clear.

Then I realized it wasn't.

Before I knew that what was inside the glass was something definitely alcoholic, I already gulped the whole tall glass down.

"Woah. Lyle is going to kill me if he knew I let you drink that, you know." Nathan blurted as he sat down beside me. He held a bottle of water on his hand as he stared at me like I was an alien.

"Dammit." I muttered as I sunk on the stool, seeing Lyle approach us. A few people blocked his way, so I grabbed Nathan's hand and disappeared in the crowd, Nathan in tow.

☂☂☂

"- I seriously don't know what happened to her!"

"What the fuck do you mean?!"

"After that glass of gin she had, she just grabbed me and then danced. It was pretty hot dancing too- Ow!"

"Tell me what happened or I swear to-"

"Okay, okay. So we danced after that then she got tired and went back to our table. Then..."

An impatient noise.

"Okay, okay! Then she ordered... another shot then she threw up, so I had to go with her to the bathroom, then... well, you know what happened next."

I blinked my eyes, but felt like a dozen bricks were dropped on my head. My throat, sweet cheesy cheetos, I couldn't even explain the sensation going on in my throat. It was horrible. I was thirsty and tired and weak- I didn't even know where I was. I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes, and I couldn't move, because if I did, well, I figured I would just throw up.

But I sure did recognize the voices. It was Nathan's and Lyle's, to be precise.

"Get out of the way." Lyle's voice was deep and angry. Then I felt myself being gently laid on the seat of a car. As the door closed and the engine hummed to life, I immediately recognized the smell.

I was in Lyle's car.

I tried to open my eyes, but felt a wave of nausea and sleep consume me again.