"You expect her to believe anything you say after taking her to a party where it was all just some joke to your friends?" Brenden crosses his arms over his chest as he glares at his brother.
Chase lets out a frustrates sigh before continuing to speak, "I'm saying that I like you a lot, Alivia. It may have been a joke to my friends but it wasn't to me."
I take my bottom lip between my teeth, staring at the floor as I process his words. Not only was I having a hard time believing what he said, but tonight reminded me of why I keep to myself. Anytime I tried to test the waters, I ended up crying like an idiot. I was tired of being the idiot.
"Alivia," Chase says before wetting his lips to speak, "Tonight was real. You had fun up until we went to that party and I swear, I won't do anything like that again."
"Okay," I say quietly, afraid to look up and make eye contact with either of my best friends. They probably thought I was stupid. What they didn't know was that this time was going to be different. I would hold back on my feelings and keep my wall up until Chase really proved himself to me.
I explained all of this to Brenden and Sophia once Chase had left the room, promising me he'd see me later before he made his exit.
"If he hurts you, I will kill him." Brenden says while smiling at me with a wicked grin.
"I think it's nice that you gave him another chance," Sophia smiles at me sweetly, the complete opposite of the look on Brenden face.
"I'm actually going out with Jake tomorrow, you and Chase should come." Sophia suggest and I nod, it'd be nice to have one of my best friends there. Maybe I'd be able to relax and enjoy myself.
Brenden, Sophia and I spend the rest of the evening on the living room floor. We watch a couple of movies before I start to get tired and ask Bren to drive me home. As soon as I get home, I head for my room and flop down on my mattress, immediately falling asleep.
*
I wake up to the sound of my alarm going off, I needed to get up and study for my state exam. As soon as I passed this test, I'd officially be a medical assistant and I could start working. I was thankful that my mom let me stay here after high school while I did my classes and tried to get the start of my career together.
It was crazy to think that after two years of hard work, I'd have an associates degree. If I passed my exam, of course.
I grab my binder and medical book and sit back down on my bed, scanning through every note I've taken and let it all soak into my memory.
Before I know it, it's been almost three hours and my eyes sting from reading so much. I take this time to shower, putting on jeans and a cute sweater after I dry off. I let my hair dry naturally which makes it wavy and crinkly. It actually sort of looks like I've crimped it. Sometimes my hair could look cute without me putting much effort into it.
My phone dings indicating I have a text message so I pull it from my back pocket and check it, pausing on applying my make up for a moment.
From: Sophia
Jake and I are going to grab lunch, you and Chase should come!
The following text she sends is the address of the restaurant they'll be at.
I take a deep breath and pull my phone out of my back pocket to call Chase, he surprises me by answering on the second ring.
"Hello?" His voice is quiet and raspy, as if he just woke up.
"I was uh, wondering if you wanted to go get lunch with Jake and Sophia?"
"Yes.. I mean sure." He says awkwardly and I laugh as he adds, "I'll be there to get you soon."
I slide my phone back into my pocket and continue with my make up. I don't put on a lot but it's enough to make me look like I put some effort into my appearance today.
I grab my favorite shoulder bag and shove my wallet and a few other necessities inside before making my way downstairs.
My stomach growls by the time that I get to the living room and I lean against the wall, letting a wave of nausea pass over me. Am I the only one that feels sick when I don't eat?
There's a knock on the front door and the growling in my stomach is replaced by nervous butterflies. When I open the door, Chase is standing in jeans and a white v-neck. His hands are shoved in his pockets and he looks.. nervous?
We get in to his car and I pull up the address Sophia gave me, giving directions to Chase.
"You were supposed to turn right there," I giggle as he passes the turn and he sighs, "you have to let me know in advance, this isn't a drift car."
I laugh even louder as he turns around, making sure he turns down the right street. Not too long after our detour, we arrive at the restaurant and Chase takes my hand as we walk inside.
"Via!" Sophia calls and I pull Chase with me as we join her and Jake at the table they're already at.
"Hi," I smile at her and Jake who has blonde hair that is gelled to stand up in the front like a fohawk. His smile reaches his blue eyes as he looks at Sophia and I'm pretty sure my heart melts. The feelings he had for her were evident in his actions.
"Hey man," Jake says to Chase as he sits down and they do some type of dude handshake. I take a minute to observe the menu while Jake and Chase talk about their group of friends. Apparently their friend named Keenan got in a fight with someone named Zayn over something they referred to as "X".
I ignore their confusing conversation while scanning over the menu. I decide on getting the Cajun pasta as my stomach continues to growl.
"Speaking of Zayn," Jake says lowly and flicks his head towards someone behind Chase and I.
I turn to look over my shoulder out of curiosity and I see the guy from the party. Memories of our encounter flood through my brain, his warm lips sucking on the skin of my neck and his hand fisting my shirt as he pulls me clo-
"Alivia!" Sophia whisper-yells and I turn to look at her. She gives me a weird look and thats when I realize that I was staring at him. At Zayn.
I look over at Chase who is eying me with a worried look on his face. "Are you alright?" He asks and I nod, unable to make eye contact with anyone as I look down at my hands.
I was confused as to why all I could think about was the way his lips felt. He was rude to me that night and left me feeling humiliated.
After a few minutes pass, I glance back over my shoulder and he's gone.
Zayn.
I repeat in my head now that I finally know his name.
