Catch Me

Chapter 3

I pull a cream sweater over my white tanktop and wiggle into a pair of black jeans. Jeremy texted me a while ago to tell me he'd be at my place to pick me up. I stuff my phone and some money into my backpocket since Jeremy said we'd be going out to eat.

I climb into the passenger seat of Jeremy's car. He's wearing a white, short sleeved shirt and I notice that both his arms are covered with ink. I'm surprised that he has tattoos, he doesn't seem like the type of guy who gets them. But then again I've barely known him for a week.

Silence stretches between us as we drive. "What happened to your finger?" He asks, gesturing to my bandaged finger when we stop at a red light. I laugh "nothing really," I reply. "Tell me!" He exclaims as the light turns green. "I burnt my finger when I was trying to straighten my hair," I shrug. He laughs "one would think someone as pretty as you would know how to use beauty products." I feel myself blushing and I quickly look out the window to hide it.

"We're going to eat at Nandos with my friends then go to my place, okay?" He says. After another few minutes of silence he says "you're really quiet today, are you nervous?" I chew on my bottom lip as he talks then let out a nervous laugh "no, I just don't have a lot of practice in social situations." He lets out a small laugh and parks his car.

I feel Jeremy snake his arm around my shoulder as we walk into Nandos and I stiffen. He looks down at me and smiles "don't worry, it's just me." I look at him and give him a small smile. He gives me a squeeze, turns away and starts to wave someone to us, probably his friends. I'm not sure if he's flirting with me, I hope he isn't. All I want is a friend, seeing as in highschool between studying, soccer and the fact that I was adopted, I didn't really have any.

I never had a heap of time to hang out with other people and even if I did most people knew that I was adopted and would treat me differently. Whether it be sympathy or just closing me off because I wasn't the same, I hated it. The fact that for university I could go to a different place, a place where I could be a blank canvas was my motivation. I was desperate to show myself that I could be something, that my past really wasn't a massive deal.

I snap out of my thoughts when I hear my name. "This is Avalon," Jeremy says to a group of 4 people, 2 girls, 2 boys. A tall guy with dark hair sticking out of a beanie, clear blue eyes and long eyelashes snorts. I chose to ignore him and smile at the other 3 people.

A grey eyed girl with blonde hair and a few purple streaks gives me a smile "I'm Ally," she says, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear to reveal multiple piercings. I give her a small smile, unsure what to say. The girl next to her with brown, medium length hair, dark eye makeup that actually doesn't make her look emo and a few tattoos on the inside of her arm as well as a few peaking out of her shirt collar says "I'm Rachel." I nod at her, and smile.

The guy standing next to Rachel, with blonde hair and blue eyes as well as tattoos that all the others have beams at me "I'm Finn," he says. The tall boy that snorted at me when I came in gives me a look and smirks, obviously deciding against telling me his name. Finn notices this and rolls his eyes "that's Jono," he says "he has weak people skills." I feel a laugh come up my throat and I stare at the ground to try and hide it, as if it would really help. As I do I can feel his glare on my head.

After a lot of arguing I give in to Jeremy and let him pay for my meal. I order a burger with plain sauce, which makes Jono snort, and a lemonade, making sure to grab a sraw. It's a weird habit I've had since I was really little, I only drink things with straws.

I change between chewing on my bottom lip and chewing on my fingernails as I wait for the others to finish using the bathroom. Jono is the only besides me who didn't need to bathroom so he's sitting opposite me at different ends of the table. "Stop doing that," he says. I give him look and continue, just to annoy him. "Seriously it's...-" he says, pausing to think of a word "just don't do it."

"I think that gives me more of a reason to continue than to stop," I say with a smirk. The corners of his mouth turn up a little bit, but he covers it quickly by looking down. Jeremy comes back a few minutes later and sits too close for my liking, so I try to inch away, only to be stopped by his arm firmly wrapping around me.

"You're coming over with us to Jeremy's place, right?"  Ally asks, after we finish eating. "I'm pretty sure," I say with a nod. I hear Jono snigger, which makes my cheeks flush. He's probably sniggered and snorted a me 500 different ways so far.

I sit in Jeremy's car, twiddling my thumbs to the rhythmn of the song on the radio. Finn sits in the back and the other 3 are trailing behind us in Jono's car. During the drive I suprisingly manage to make conversation without stumbling, even though whenever I speak my cheeks flush and my heart beats in my fingertips.

We drive into a basement parking lot of an apartment block. Jeremy leads us onto the third floor then to a door that says 321A. He pulls a key out of his back pocket and unlocks the door. Jeremy and Finn take their shoes off so I follow.

There's a laundry that leads to a bathroom on my left and a bedroom on my right as I walk into the apartment. I walk further into the apartment and see another bedroom to my left, a kitchen to the right of it and a large living room to the right. "How do you afford this?" I ask, the apartment is probably double my dorm room and furnished amazingly.

Jeremy shrugs "I share this with Jono and let's just say he's not poor," he says with a chuckle, walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge. "Do you want a drink?" He asks me and Finn. I shake my head while Finn asks for a beer. Jeremy pulls out 2 beers and I follow him as he walks into the living room. I sit on the couch, folding me legs underneath me and pulling a cushion onto my lap.

Soon after, Jono, Ally and Rachel come into the living room, each with a beer in their hand. Ally takes a seat next to Jeremy, who's sitting next to me and Rachael sits on Finn's lap on the other couch while Jono takes the floor, crossing his long legs over each other. After a few moments of silence Ally speaks up "so, do you guys want to do something or what?"

Jeremy shrugs, "we can play truth or dare, or 20 questions?" He suggests. "Truth or dare?" Rachael asks. The rest of us shrug in agreement. "Wait, is this that immature college party version?" I ask with a laugh. "Probably, but they're not immature anyway," he says with a laugh, which I return.

"Let's start then," Ally says "truth or dare, Jeremy?" He thinks for a second "dare," he says with a devious grin. "I dare you to kiss the prettiest person in this room," she says with a sparkle in her eye. "Well I can't kiss myself can I?" He says with a smirk. Ally rolls her eyes with a laugh "fine, then the second."

Suddenly, I feel a pair of warm lips on mine. I stiffen at first then slowly relax, I've never properly kissed a guy, excluding pre-k kisses in the playground. It starts of tender then becomes sloppy. His tongue nudges against my lips, asking for access but I push him away gently, blushing slightly. Ally raises her eyebrows at us and Jeremy moves on to truth or dare Ally.