Shuck Face (A Dylan O'Brien Story)

Chapter 6

Rosa leaned forward, finally offering her part in the conversation. "Do either of ya'll have boyfriends?"

Just for my own secret pleasure, I snuck a peek at Thomas and Dylan's faces before answering. They looked genuinely eager for an answer. If they were trying to be subtle, they failed miserably. I chuckled.

"Nope, no boyfriends here."

Hartley nodded in agreement with me.

Jacob leaned back in his chair. "Two pretty girls like you live in LA and don't have boyfriends? I didn't even think that happened anymore."

Hartley waved her hand as if dismissing Jacob's compliment. I could tell she didn't feel very comfortable answering. Seeing as how we both were in abusive relationships during high school, dating has been the last thing on our agenda.

"We haven't had serious boyfriends since high school. Between travelling and film school, haven't really had the time."

It is possible Kaya could tell by my answer that I was trying to avoid this topic because she quickly changed the subject.

"This is your senior year right? Didn't you say your internship was all you two needed before graduation?"

Hartley nodded, happy to answer this question. "We finished all our other classes. If Wes and Braxton sign off that we completed the required hours, then we get to graduate May 10th!"

Thomas knocked his shoulder into Hart's. "That's fantastic! Are we all invited to your graduation ceremony?"

She laughed. "If you all want to fly to LA to watch 150 people walk across a stage."

Dylan tightened his grip around my shoulder. "You two are already part of our family. If it was one of us, we would be there. So I'm definitely going."

Everyone else verbally agreed that they wanted to come to our graduation. Hartley caught my eye and we smiled at each other. We were clearly both thinking the same thing. We were going to get along just fine with this crowd and we couldn't be happier about it.

After a few more hours of nonstop conversation, I looked down at my watch. 11pm. Had we really been here for four hours? It felt like minutes! Dylan and Thomas were intently talking about a video game they wanted to play. When I stretched my legs out, Dylan tried to pull me closer to him. I don't think I could get any closer, honestly, without sitting in his damn lap. Not that I would mind...

    "Alright ladies and gents, I need to call it a night."

    "It's only 11! Don't tell me we've got an old lady in the group." Will threw a grape at me.

    I laughed and threw it back. "I've gotta meet Wes at 5 and I'm cranky if I don't sleep much."

    Hartley had been leaning against Thomas' chest, but she sat up and stretched her arms out in front of her.

    "Knowing this girl for 10 years, I can strongly attest to that. You guys really don't want to see Cranky Charlie."

    Dexter sprawled out in his spot on the floor. "Then by all means, PLEASE go to bed."

    Dylan's grip only tightened when I tried to move. I had to pry his arm away and wiggle out of my spot. When I stood up, I looked over at Hart who was still sitting on the floor.

    "You coming or you staying?"

    She extended her hands, waiting for me to pull her off the ground. Thomas groaned when she stood up.

    "You're leaving too?"

    Hartley nodded. "I need to finish going through some things for Braxton before tomorrow.

    I waved at everyone in the room. "I'll see you all bright and early tomorrow."

    I received some grunts and lazy waves. Dylan stood up and started walking to the door.

    "I'll walk you out."

    Thomas appeared behind us with Hartley.

    "So will I."

"Did you call a car yet?" Hart was stuffing her laptop back into her bag.

    Holding up a finger, I pulled out my phone and pressed a button. "Hey, can you bring the car back please? Oh you are? You're a godsend, thanks!"

    I slid my phone into my back pocket as Dylan pushed the button to bring the elevator. "He was next door drinking coffee when I called, he'll be outside by the time we get down there."

    Sure enough, when we stepped outside, our car was sitting there. The driver hopped out and opened the back door for us. I could get used to this. Dylan stopped me right at the curb. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Thomas and Hartley still back by the door talking.

    "So, this is a normal every day thing." Dylan was looking down at his feet.

    "What is?"

    He grabbed my hand and finally looked up at me. "Us hanging out in someone's room. So you and Hartley have to come back... every night."

    I let out a little laugh. "That'll be okay with everyone?"

    He looked back at the hotel and shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it will be, but really I don't care either way. I want to spend more time with you. And I mean really spend time with you. Being on set, it'll be hard to actually have a conversation with you. It gets crazy on set. But everyone really seems to like you two. We're pretty open, if anyone had a problem, you probably would know by now."

    "Well it's only the first day, so we will see about that. But I would definitely love to be involved in this nightly hang out session. So yeah, I'm sure we will be back."

    A grin spread across his face and he pulled me into a hug. "Good. I'll see you in the morning."

    I slid into the backseat and Hartley was right behind me. We waved at the guys as the driver pulled away.