Anything But That

Chapter 2

Lydia was sitting on the end of her bed, curling her hair as AJ paced the room.

"AJ." she said, "Why are you pacing?"

The black-haired girl frowned. "Isn't that what you're meant to do when you're frustrated?"

"If this is your way of saying you're frustrated, I get it. Just let it out." Lydia told her with a kind smile, but AJ just looked confused. "What do you mean? I'm not frustrated, I just wanted to see what if felt like." the freckle-faced girl explained breezily.

The blonde sighed. AJ was so ridiculous sometimes that it wasn't even funny, it was just annoying. Sometimes, she said something hilarious or kind or wise that she just redeemed herself, but Lydia was starting to get sick of waiting for those rare moments. However, as hard as she tried, she could never get rid of AJ, because she always found herself feeling guilty when she tried to cut the black-haired girl out.

After slipping into a tight black dress with a layer of mesh on top and swiping on a layer of red lipstick, Lydia deemed herself ready. Just as she was about to call Mac to come over, she heard the doorbell ring.

"Lyd, get the door!" Jake's voice resonated from his room.

"Get it yourself," she shot back, "It's your party!" But she was closer to the front door and she knew it, so she went to open the door.

Whipping it open, she saw three boys. The one standing at the front was blond, with shining green eyes. "Hi, I'm Reece. Who are you?" he quipped, revealing his thick Northern accent.

"Um. I'm Jake's sister. Lydia?" she said it like a question, confused that Jake hadn't told the boy about her.

"Oh, okay," Reece responded, unfazed by this development. He made a mental note to ask Jake about her later on before pointing out his two friends, who were stood awkwardly behind him. "This is George, he's the baby of Sixth Form," he said, pointing to the other blonde, this one with piercing blue eyes, then pointed to someone who looked a kind of familiar, a brunette boy with brown eyes, "And that's Blake, he's in Year 11."

Lydia smiled. He was in her year.

Before the blonde girl could carry on a conversation, she saw a larger group trooping up the driveway, so after telling the three boys to come inside, she ran back to her room, not eager to spend the party chatting to people she didn't know.

With a sigh, she pushed open her bedroom door, and was immediately astonished by the sight that met her.

Mac and AJ were sprawled on her bed in a tangle of limbs, trying to sit up, while panting and trying to look innocent. Mac's dark hair was in a tangled mess, his shirt disheveled, his cheeks flushed.

"The window was open again." he sputtered, chewing his lip guiltily. The green-eyed girl ignored his statement and proceeded to glare at her best friends. "Really?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "In my bed?"

AJ made a face, as if she was thinking hard. "We were... we were having a... a tickle fight!" she announced after a brief pause.

Mac furrowed his eyebrows and shot her a look that said, really? A tickle fight?, but he nodded his head. "Right, a tickle fight."
And Lydia might have believed it, if not for the fact that their lips were swollen and AJ had what looked suspiciously red marks on her collarbone. "Whatever, guys," she said with a sigh, "I just wish you would have told me."

***

After catching her best friends in the act of making out, she decided to go back to the party to shake off her feeling of discomfort.

And what did she find at the party? Why, more making out of course!

This did not surprise her. This party was packed with 17 and 18 year olds, with alcohol fueling their hormones. What did surprise her was the sight of her brother's hair tangled in the hands of another boy as they kissed in his bedroom with the door open. Now, Jake did tend to be fairly frivolous when it came to relationships, but last Lydia recalled, her brother was straight. Not that she minded, but she did felt a bit bad for all the girls he'd been leading on.

Before she could creep away and pretend she hadn't just watched them make out for about 3 whole minutes, the blonde girl heard her brother call out to her. "Lyd!" His voice was so full of terror that she couldn't help but turn around.

She felt Jake's grip on her wrist. "You can't tell anyone." he hissed.

She frowned, in a mixture of confusion and pain at his clutch. "Who would I tell?"

But his hand tightened, making her cry out. "You can't tell anyone. Promise me!" his voice broke slightly on the last word, and she could see the panic in her brother's eyes.

"I promise, okay? Just let me go!" she whimpered back, feeling a tear trickle down her cheek.

As she made her way out of the room, she heard the boy Jake was with say, "That was a bit harsh, babe."

Jake just sighed. "I don't trust her, Liam, she's got a big mouth."

With a sob, she sprinted to the bathroom, closing the door behind her, and let her tears spill over.

***
Authors note

Woah, an update two days in a row? Get ready for that never happening again.

So, yeah, I love Jake (although you guys probably won't yet) but he's being a super rude bum. Anyway, what do you think of the chapter? Make sure you comment your opinion, vote and share the story! :)

Also, if anybody was wondering, I've created the characters out of my imagination but if you need help picturing them, Lydia is kind of a young Amber Heard, Mac is Trevor Cash and Jake is Neels Visser. But not exactly, I just sort of use them as a reference point. 👍🏼

Hannah xx

Ps if anybody wants to make a cover, or just talk or give suggestions, feel free to dm me :)