HEAVY RAIN|joji

07

I didn't know what love felt like. I was nineteen years old and I had never been kissed by a boy. Maybe it's because of my shyness, or maybe boys just don't see anything attractive about me. I have never loved anyone, I never even loved my parents. So I didn't know what this tingly feeling inside my chest was. It was close to a stomach drop, but not really. I knew it had something to do with George. Anger was my first emotion, but only because I was confused. He was so calm about me being creepy around him because of this feeling. I'd always stare at him for a prolonged amount of time. Then I'd avoid him. I have been avoiding him for almost three days now, but only because I know that when we talk I'm going to say something awkward and ruin our entire relationship.

As I slid down the stair railings with my white socks I noticed a few bags in the hallways.

"Hm? What's this?" I asked to no one in particular. I walked slowly towards the bags and luckily, there were tags. Then I remembered that Ian was moving in. The plans to live with George were scrapped as he would have to pay his rent for one more month, much to my dismay. Chloe didn't have a place to stay since her apartment was owned by her abusive ex so she decided to live with George. I wouldn't have been bothered by it if I didn't know that he had the biggest crush on her. I had wondered why she didn't just move in with us and stayed with Joji instead. This jealousy inside me bubbled up and I knew if this little 'thing' for George didn't stop now, it wouldn't be healthy, not for the long run. It couldn't be that I liked him, maybe it's just infatuation or that I think he's attractive. It couldn't be a crush, it just couldn't.

-

When I imagined living with Ian and Max, I imagined them being loud and messy, but to my surprise and delight, they were actually very quiet.

Throwing a bath bomb in the tub full of water, I took the full opportunity to use my free time to relax and enjoy our new house, since we are throwing a party tomorrow night as a housewarming party. It was only 2 in the afternoon and after I finished relaxing the three of us were going to go on a food haul for the party. The warm water and smell of lavender soothed me as I sunk in the tub further. My nose was underwater and only my eyes remained afloat. I wondered how I was still holding my breath after almost 30 seconds, I guess I got carried away. During my bath, I couldn't help but think about everything that was happening. I closed my eyes one last time before getting back up after realizing that it's actually been 30 minutes.

I draped on my towel on and with the water dripping of off my body, I got out of the tub and drained the water. The water trailed on my path and it wet my carpet, making me sigh. Wet carpets are not good. I dressed in a regular shirt with yoga pants and wasted so many minutes trying to tie a messy bun up.

"Serena, you ready to go?" Max asked, his forehead peeking out the doorway. Ian walked in too, stuffing his face with pop tarts. "Yeah almost!" I replied, finishing up my makeup. Nothing too heavy, just filling in my eyebrows and adding a little bit of blush and lipstick. Everyone always told me that I never needed any makeup. But I felt like I was ugly, I wasn't any good at makeup anyways.

We piled into the car with Ian whining because he got stuck with the back seat. We jammed out to a few songs and when we got to the supermarket. Ian raced in to get to the alcohol section, coming back with a set of beer and vodka. I laughed as Max threw sour gummy worms and coca cola flavored candy into the cart. I picked out my favorite selection of candy, and some gummy bears because I wanted to make lean. It took me about ten minutes to pick liquor and candy out. Then I looked around to find Max or Ian but neither of them were to be found. Too busy focused on finding those two, I bumped into a broad body.

"Ouch!"

Ready to yell at the person, I looked up with an angry face and was surprised by the man who collided into me. It was George! His eyes widened and immediately got on his feet to pick me up. "Serena? I'm so sorry! What are you doing here?"

I was too shocked to answer. "Oh, I'm with Ian and Max. S-shopping for the party?" I stammered out. He nodded. I noticed the beer bottle and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. The pang of jealousy hit me as I saw those flowers. "George? What's wrong?"a voice piped up from another section. My eyes widened even more as I processed who it was.

Chloe.