Leviathan

Chapter 9-- The Sleepover

Chapter 9:

Emerald

I can't believe Aaron would do something like that! I mean, it was one thing to be a jerk, but he took his jerkiness to a whole new level.

I raised a fist and viciously scrubbed away angry tears. Why was I crying? That douchebag didn’t deserve to be cried over. I stumbled down the stairs and into the throng of people still in the hallways and rooms.

“Emerald? Are you okay?” A familiar voice came out of nowhere and a warm arm was flung over my shoulder. Hunter materialized out of nowhere and stared at my face, reading it. Eventually, he figured out what had happened. Rage filled his eyes, then it simmered down and concern replaced it instead. Gently wiping at my tears, he led me into the kitchen, where there were less people and it was quieter. Handing me a couple of kitchen towels, he lifted me onto the kitchen counter and heaved himself up after me. We didn’t speak, and somehow the silence was comforting. Slowly, the tears dried up and I closed my eyes, resting my head against Hunter’s comforting warmth.

“What did he do?” Hunter growled lowly. “I could kill him—,”

I cut him off. “Hunt, killing him isn’t going to fix anything.” An idea dawned on me. “We need to find a way to get back at him,”

His eyes lit up in excitement. “I’m in.”

******

When I next glanced at my watch, it was already past 11:30.

“Holy crap, I’ve got to go. See you tomorrow ,Hunter.” I called over my shoulder as I leapt off the counter and elbowed my way to the front door. There, I found Elexia, Valeria and Laura standing by the door with their arms folded over their chests, a pissed look on their faces. I smiled sheepishly. "At least I didn't ditch on you guys?"

Elexia softened and walked over to me, linking her arms with mine. "Whatever girl, we looked everywhere for you. Where have you been?"

"Well-- " I looked away, my cheerful expression melting into a stoic mask.

"Wait a minute—Something’s happened, hasn’t it?" Valeria said cockily.

"Yes." I said coldly.

"Tell us leter," Laura chimed in. "We can see most of it it written all over your face anyway."

"Oh My Gosh!" Elexia gasped. "We are gonna need a friendtervention! I'm going to go find the others who are joining for the sleepover." She disappeared into the crowd and came back moments later with Yasmine, Serena and Nichole in tow.

"Hey guys," Nichole chirped cheerfully.

"Yeah, hi," Yasmine grumbled.

"Yoho peepuls," Serena cheered. "What's up?"

"Why in hell are you all grumbly, Yasmine?" I asked, trying to divert the topic. No such luck. Val, Lau and Lex were all staring at me like I just ate a nest of wasps. At least I had an excuse to be grouchy.

"No, Lex just dragged me out of a conversation with Jacob. I mean, come on, Lex!" She turned on Elexia. "Just because you're in an anti-guy sorority with Laura doesn't mean that we can't have fun!"

"Alright, alright. "I laughed. "Save the blow-up for later guys, its time for some girl-time."

**********

"You what?"

I had just told all the girls about the 'incident' that happened upstairs at Aaron's and they were currently in a mess.

"Oh my gosh, Em! He’s such a douche!" Nichole squealed.

Elexia cut in, "That’s exactly what I said." Uh huh, yeah right.

"So what?" I shrugged. "It was just a kiss,"

"No shit, Sherlock," Valeria said sarcastically. “It’s what happened after that’s important.”

"Emerald, you cant let him get away with doing that to you," Laura, always the sensible one, pointed out.

"Ohhhh, you should have chosen Hunter, Em," Yasmine whined. "I don't even know anyone of the opposite sex yet, courtesy to Lexie over here," She death-stared Elexia. “And you’ve anready smapped up two of them/

"Oh mi god, I know I'm lucky now, okay?" I said. "Does it look like I’m enjoying it?" When they didn’t respond, I shifted the topic to Elexia.

“So, Lex, whats up with you and your creepy stalker dude?”

"Oh yeah, I wanna know too, " Nichole agreed.

"Okay, so I walked up to him and said hi and introduced myself. He's Brett Anderson, in case you guys didn't know." Elexia informed us.

My jaw fell open. "Brett Anderson, as in, son of multi-millionaire Tate Anderson'!"

"Yup, pretty much," Elexia confirmed.

"So?" I pressed on. "What did he say?"

"Emerald!"

"Oh, damn, that's my mom! Everyone, get under the covers and pretend to be asleep!" I whispered harshly. In a second, everyone was fake-snoring as my mom peeked in and looked around.

"Well whatdya know... They're asleep already."

She backed out of the room, closed the door and padded away.

I sat up and whisper-yelled, "Lexie! What did he say!"

"Well, he said he liked the look of me and wanted to get to know me better. So I said I'd meet up with him one lunch break or something."

Valeria cut in, "Make sure you tell us EVERY STINKING THING THAT YOU GUYS SAID."

"Ditto," I agreed. It was already 3am at night. "Okay guys, I'm hammered. Night!"

"Night, Em," They chorused.

I leaned back and fell into a deep sleep, events from tonight replaying in my mind.