Boys & Bikes

Chapter 7

"I- I can't believe you" I stutter, completely shocked that Esmé would pull something like this.

"Lily, I'm sorry" she breathes.

"Save it." I snarl. I spin around and leave Esmé and Willem in the room, Abby on my tail. Tears threaten to spill from my eyes as I shove my way through a drunken mess of people, trying to avoid being seen. I grab my coat and manage to just avoid getting puked on my some tall guy. I run outside and lean against the wall with my head in my hands. Abby sits next to me and pats my back.

"Sorry, I'm being dramatic" I sniffle, wiping my eyes.

"No you're not" she says. "Willem's a dick, he doesn't deserve anyone good.  Don't be so nice to him"

"I thought... maybe he would see me differently and he would change for the better"

"Unfortunately, that doesn't happen with certain people"

Andrea comes outside.

"Where's Esmé?" Andrea demands.

"Somewhere with Willem" Abby scoffs. "Let's just go. We can sleep at mine"

Andrea rolls her eyes, "Why does this seem to happen with her at every single party?"

"What happens?" I question. Andrea and Abby exchange wide-eyed glances before Abby nods and Andrea turns back to me.

"She just- She does things to try and impress the cool kids" Andrea snorts. "It gets annoying, you know, she doesn't stand up for her real friends and she ends up ditching us for a new douchebag each time"

I try to sit stably on the back of Andrea's bike as she works her way through the streets to Abby's house which is further away than Esmé's. Andrea slowly turns the lock to the door and quietly hushes us as not to wake her parents. We shuffle up the stairs in silence and onto the second floor.

Andrea pushes her bedroom door closed, leaning against it to make sure nobody else is up before releasing a sigh of relief and flopping down onto her bed.

"Wow, what a string of unfortunate events" she sighs. Abby nods in agreement and I shake my head, jaw clenching.

Andrea's phone begins to vibrate on her nightstand. She glances down at the illuminated name on the screen before ignoring the call.

"Who was it?" Abby wonders.

"Take a guess," Andrea scoffs.

Esmé's face pops up in my mind as I imagine her frantically calling Andrea, trying to apologize to us.

"It's gonna take a lot to forgive her," Andrea sighs hopelessly. "I mean, it's like an endless cycle. She always screws up!"

"Once," Abby speaks in a low tone, leaning forward. "she kissed the guy I liked, too. And then she acted like she forgot, but then later that night she told him I liked him!! She also decided to add in a couple embarrassing stories in there just to make those guys laugh"

Andrea crosses her arms and groans in frustration, "we're gonna need to have a lil chat with her"

I exhale as a sort of laugh, but more of an annoyed laugh. The door slowly creaks open and a tiny head full of messy brown hair pokes in. Huge, adorable brown eyes meet mine, followed by a giant smile with a missing tooth.

"Braden!!" Andrea loudly whispers, reaching her arms out for the little boy. He runs straight into her arms and she pulls his tiny body onto her lap. Andrea whispers in his ear for him to introduce himself.

"Hi, I'm Abby's brother" he shyly utters, looking down at his swinging feet.

"Hi there, I'm Lily" I smile trying my best not to look or sound creepy while doing so. Braden runs out of the room and closes the door.