I wake up the next morning with the worst headache I've ever felt in my life. I can feel my heart beat in my ears and my stomach feels empty as I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed.
"Alivia?" My mother softly knocks on my door and I stand up but she is already pushing the door open.
"You look lovely," she giggles and I begin to laugh. I can only imagine how horrid I must look right now. I didn't take off any of my make up or put my hair up before bed, which I usually do to avoid irritated skin and knotted hair.
"I made breakfast and Brenden is here," she says after a moment of awkward silence and I walk towards her.
"Thanks mom," I smile as I follow her out of my room and into the kitchen where Brenden is shoving multiple pieces of bacon into his mouth.
"Bren," I laugh when I see him and he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Hey," he mumbles with his mouth full.
I grab a piece of bacon for myself and lean against the counter opposite of where he's standing.
Brenden glances in my moms direction as she leaves the room, "You missed your boy toy putting on quite the show last night," he giggles and I raise an eyebrow.
Boy toy? How original.
"What did my boy toy do, exactly?" I say sarcastically and begin munching on the bacon in my hand.
"He beat the shit out of another dude, it was actually kind of hot," Brenden says emotionlessly and my jaw drops.
"What happened?"
"I dunno," Brenden shrugs and takes the bacon from my hand before continuing, "but it was brutal. There were two or three other guys pulling him off of that poor dude."
I nod along with the words that come out of his mouth, trying to picture the guy from last night being so violent. I didn't even know his name.
I guess it's a good thing nothing happened between us last night.
"Go shower, we are going to pick up Sophia and go get coffee."
I nod in agreement as I turn on my heel and make my way to my bathroom, showering and putting on leggings and an oversized shirt. I didn't have the energy to put any effort into the way I look today. I pull my hair into a messy bun and go back into the kitchen to see Brenden on the phone.
"Who was that?" I ask curiously once he hangs up the phone and slides it into the back pocket of his skinny jeans.
"Chase," he sighs before continuing, "He wanted to know what I was doing today."
"Oh," is all I say as we walk out the door and get into Brenden's Lexus.
The drive to Sophia's is short, thankfully she only lives a few streets over from me.
"Hey!" Her sweet voice chirps as she slides in the backseat of the car. "Via, you look awful." Her laugh makes me laugh as she leans forward to observe my attire.
"Doesn't she?" Brenden teases and I swat his arm playfully.
We go to a nearby coffee shop and decide on going inside so we can sit down and talk while enjoying our coffee. Also because Brenden insists on hearing about the details of my abrupt exit at his party last night.
I order my white chocolate mocha and as soon as I turn around, I bump into someone.
"Sorry," I mumble without looking up at them.
When I turn to walk away from this person, they lightly grab my elbow and pull me back to face them. When I look up, it's Chase.
"Hey," he chuckles at my awkward behavior and I offer him a small smile.
"Sorry if I was weird last night, I was wasted." He laughs while scratching at the back of his neck.
"I could tell," I laugh and can't help but notice his smile reaching his eyes. He is so attractive but his personality says otherwise. Or at least from what I've heard and occasionally experienced whenever he felt like hitting on me.
"Well, I was wondering if I could take you out," he says with a smile and my eyes flicker between his pretty eyes and his pink lips.
"Chase, I-" I begin but he immediately cuts me off.
"Alivia, listen, I want to show you that I'm a decent guy."
I inhale a deep breath and bite on my lip while he gives me a cheesy smile. I finally giggle and give in, "Okay."
It couldn't be that bad, right? We could go on a date and I could decide from there if I want to continue seeing him.
"Great," he smiles one last time before telling me that he'll call me later.
Once he is several feet away, I let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding in. The barista hands me my mocha and I hold it in both of my hands, appreciating the warmth as I walk to the table Brenden and Sophia are at.
"What was that?" Brenden scoffs as he eyes his brother who is now standing outside as if he's waiting for someone.
"He asked me out," I say quietly before sipping some of my white chocolate mocha.
"What?!" Brenden nearly spits out his coffee and Sophia laughs, holding her stomach.
"I think it's a good idea," Sophia says and Brenden looks at the two of us like we're crazy. "Maybe Alivia will tie him down," she giggles and I raise an eyebrow.
"It's nothing serious, he asked me to give him a chance to prove that he's different and I said okay."
Brenden eyes me wearily and I reach over to touch his hand, "I'll also give you all of the details."
He smirks at me and I know that I got him with that one.
