screen. ➳ Joey Armstrong

➳ five.

"Oh, hello there! I'm Alysha, nice to finally meet you." She smiled and hugged Jakob, who looked a bit taken aback, but then hugged her back.

"Nice to meet you too." Jakob muttered, a hint of confusion in his smile.

She turned to me with the same demeanor, "and the birthday girl, happy birthday!" she smiled and hugged me, I was too confused to react so I just stood there not knowing what to do for about five seconds.

"T-thanks. Uh, nice to meet you!" I stammered, giving her the best smile I could muster. My eyes flickered from her perfectly freckled cheeks to the necklace she wore. It was a very thin silver chord with a small sparkly dandelion charm, it was so cute. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

That was the necklace Joey had gotten her, it had to be. And I was stupid enough to think that there was a chance that he'd give it to me...

My phone began to buzz and I swear I had never been that thankful for a phone in my entire life. 

"I-I gotta take this. I, uh, I'll see you around!" I babbled before practically running away from the awkward scene, wishing that it hadn't happened. I walked past various groups of people, my mind racing until I found the mini bar again, pouring the clear liquid from the first liquor-like bottle I saw into a red solo cup. I took it to my lips and gulped down the contents of the cup, ignoring the burning sensation in my throat.

"Hey." An unknown voice muttered. I choked a little bit on the drink and played it off coughing, turning around to find a boy with brown hair and black t-shirt standing there.

"Hi." I smiled, receiving a sudden boost of confidence. "I don't think we've met yet."

His face turned into a frown, "what? you don't remember me?"

What? I haven't seen this guy in my entire life. But what if I did? Oh god, what if I don't remember? I'm such a bad person. Should I tell him that I do? But what if I have to say his name? Dammit, this is why I never go to out.

"Hey, I'm kidding. I'm Aiden, I came with Max and Michelle but they're out there somewhere being gross and couple-ish so they forgot to introduce us." He shrugged and held out his hand.

"I'm Arden." I giggled and shook his outstretched hand. "You got me for a moment there I swear."

"Yeah, you should've seen your face." He smiled and began to walk, so I followed him, somewhat intrigued by him.

"So I hear it's your birthday," he casually mentioned, not even turning to look at me.

"Yes, it certainly is." I smirked, half confused and half attracted by this boy's ways.

"Well, happy birthday and stuff." He shrugged, squeezing his was through the sliding door that led to the backyard.

"Thanks, I guess." I raised an eyebrow, the smirk not leaving my lips.

He sat on the grass and I did so too, almost forgetting everything that was going on inside.

We talked for what felt like 30 minutes about anything and everything, me, him, his friend with the pink hair who likes The X Files, how both of our initials were AJ, college plans, how we both agreed that strawberries tasted better than raspberries, music... time just seemed endless.

"Did you know there are at least one hundred billion galaxies out there?" He blurted out, dark hazel eyes glued to the night sky. "I think that's sick."

"Yeah, I actually did. I'm pretty keen on astronomy, I think it's sick too." I smiled and turned to him.

"For real?" he turned and looked at me dead in the eye. "Name five of their albums."

I giggled for what felt like the hundredth time this night and laid back on the prickly grass, as Aiden mimicked my actions. I pulled out my phone to snap a picture because I just felt like it, and he peeked at the screen.

"Man, is it really 1 a.m? My mom's gonna kill me." He groaned, standing up. I can't believe we spent two hours out here, time does fly by.

"Basketball practice?" I guessed as he grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

"Yep, 8 a.m. sharp, every day." He yawned. "It was lovely talking to you but I have to go." He stretched his arms and walked to the house, but stopped when he realized I wasn't following him. "You're not coming?"

"Nah, I wanna stay here a little bit longer."

He nodded. "I'll see you around, Arden June." He smiled, heading to the door.

"Of course, Aiden Joshua." I smiled groggily and waved at him as he went back inside, leaving me with my own thoughts and a pug barking at absolutely nothing.

I made my way to the old swing set and sat down in one of them, laughing as the silly dog trailed behind me.

"Hey there Mojo." I cooed as I knelt down and scratched its fur.

A strange feeling of longing hit me after Aiden left, it's almost like if I had just reunited with an old friend. But this guy was a total stranger until about three hours ago, yet it felt like we had known each other for so long. It was just weird, to me. And I didn't even ask for his number, but then again, I wasn't drunk enough to.

"Even at your own birthday party you're avoiding humans and hanging with their pets, what's up with that?"

I half smiled at the comment as Joey stepped out of the house, closing the doors behind him and sitting on the other swing.

"I don't know man, my social skills aren't the best when there's no alcohol involved." I shrugged.

"Same." He laughed and drank whatever was on his cup.

I glanced at the inside of the house and noticed that not even half of the people who came were there anymore, only Jakob, Harper, Cade, Cole, Max and Seb were in sight.

We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, the night breeze blowing some of my hair on to my face.

"So... what did you think of Alysha?" He was almost afraid to ask, I could tell.

What did I think? Well, that she's an absolute goddess and that if I had a slight chance of you noticing me before then I sure as hell don't now! That's what.

"She's, uh, well she's really pretty." I answered truthfully. "I didn't talk to her that much but she seems nice."

"Yeah, she really is. Once you get to know her you're gonna love her, I assure you." He smiled and looked up to the starry sky, probably thinking of all the things he loved about this girl.

While I just sat there looking at him, thinking of all the things I loved about him.