Between the Days and Nights ✔

Chapter 2: OxyMoron

Silas

"Get off me!" the girl with long dark hair yells in my face as she pushes against my chest with her surprisingly strong hands. I've seen her at school before, but I've never really noticed her until now.

She's pretty cute, even now, with a dangerous mix of alcohols soaking her chest, neck, chin, and hair. I think a few drops reached her eyes because she looks like she's blinking back tears.

"Oh, sorry," I mumble stupidly as I roll over to release her from my weight. I lie there for a second, watching her get up and walk off. She's taller than when she was on the ground.

I stand up, finally, and rub my right elbow which must have hit the ground in the fall. God, I'm stupid. Of course she looks taller standing up than lying down, idiot.

"Hey! Silas! My man!" I hear multiple people calling out at me, but I doubt they mean to spark up conversation. It sounded more like "Hey, thanks for the chance to get me super wasted!"

The basketball team insisted that I throw my own party announcing my return, which was an open invite to the whole school, plus a few people from different schools in the district. I remember this being a thing Dylan would be into, and maybe at the time, I was pretty hyped up about it, but now everything I see just looks like a mess for me to clean up tomorrow morning. I couldn't say no, probably because they all knew my parents wouldn't be back yet this week. I also have an image to maintain, the one I've spent two years with Dylan to create among these guys.

As I walk down a hallway downstairs, I hear sounds from the broom closet, even under all this loud thumping music. Curious, I pull open to find Adam on top of Karen. They both continue their deed, even with the extra light pouring in from me opening the door. I blink at them awkwardly before closing the door while staring ahead. Adam and Karen is a weird combo, like a tall giraffe and a short donkey.

I head for the kitchen, where I hid all the good beer in the back of the fridge, which I've made off limits for the party. I grab a bottle and lean my back against the counter to watch all the people drinking their childhoods away. Teresa walks in with a mirror already in hand. She stops mid-stride when she sees me, checks herself in the mirror, and then closing it to approach me.

"Hey, handsome." She sends a seductive smirk my way. I fight the urge to cringe. Last week, she tried to hit on me, failed, and ended up in bed with Kent. Same thing happened last month, but she chose Tyler.

"Hey," I respond respectfully without meeting her psychotic stare.

"You wanna take a walk outside to look at the stars? Maybe we can hang out alone somewhere..." Her voice sounds hopeful, but I'm sure I've made it clear before. I don't want to be around her, or any of the other girls that keep coming my way, in fact.

Ever since I joined Dylan's gang of boys in high school, these random girls kept throwing themselves in my way. Contrary to popular belief, I don't sleep with a different girl every weekend. They come, they try, and they leave.

And I keep letting them, because as far as Dylan knew, I was banging chicks left and right. That's the idea. He got the illusion of the brother he wanted, and I got the freedom from all things STD related.

For the longest time, I watched as girl after girl would leave Dylan's room, half-dressed and ashamed. He never sees their faces the next morning, but I do, and while I do admit they are always smoking hot, there's a particular look of guilt that I don't like seeing. If that's what casual sex causes, no thanks, I'll wait for it organically.

"No, thanks, I'm fine." I turn away from her. I knew better than to take her up on the offer of "hanging out" especially out in the dark. Still, I peer out the window to see two figures sitting on my tree swing. After Teresa walks off with some guy from the soccer team, I bring my beer out to the back porch, trying to see who was back there.