A few weeks had passed since the whole "tree" incident, and my ankle had fully healed. Not gonna lie, it was pretty good to be back on my own two feet again. The cast and the crutches were starting to get fucking annoying as hell.
The boys in the group chat swore not to tell Jaren about the whole situation, and while Swagger was still salty about losing his ten dollars to John, things were going pretty normal. The past month that I've been back in my hometown has been really good for me, and I'm happier than I have been for a while.
Still, the thought of Jaren lingered in my head. As more days went by, the more I realized I had a crush on him. I didn't enjoy having a crush. It made socializing with him a lot more anxious than it needed to be. But then again, I couldn't exactly help it. And then there was the fact that he had invited me over for a little get-together for him and the boys.
Of course, my dumbass happily obliged without realizing that I was going to have to socialize with him in person. Hiding your feelings for someone is a lot easier to do behind a screen than it is in person. And then there was the fact that Raven wanted to stay over since it was about three hour drive to his town, and we didn't feel like driving six hours in one day going back and forth.
That meant we'd have to stay over the night before, attend the party, and then drive back afterwards. What's worse is I knew Raven was doing this on purpose. And I had the feeling that a few of the guys were behind this too.
---
Eventually the day rolled around and I grabbed my backpack with the stuff I needed and headed out into the driveway where Raven was waiting.
"Excited to see Jaren again?" she mused, I smiled a bit, attempting to prevent a blush from creeping up my skin.
"I mean, yeah. But I honestly just wanna spend some time with the guys. I could use the break from work." I replied.
"Oh, don't worry. We're gonna have a ton of fun." she smirked, a little too cocky for my taste. She was up to something. And I knew it.
The drive in the car consisted of rock bands blaring out from the speakers as the both of us sang along like the world wasn't watching, (though I can say I'm sorry to the people who had to watch us do it at traffic lights).
Paramore was current playing on shuffle, along with some Panic! At the Disco, My Chemical Romance, Twenty One Pilots, Fall Out Boy, and some Palaye Royale. You know, the works. Raven and I didn't exactly have the greatest time making friends, but who gave a damn? We knew our music taste was above everyone else's. Call it emo if you want, but it was good. Rock was my favourite genre, but I still enjoyed a bit of mainstream pop, hip hop, korean music, the works. But hey, if its a good song, its a good song.
Two hours later we had stopped a gas station to get a couple of snacks, drinks, and mostly take a break from sitting in the car for so goddamn long. About twenty minutes later we got back in the car and continued down the highway for another hour or so. After another hour of carpool karaoke, screaming at other shit drivers, we eventually arrived at Jaren's house.
"So, this is interesting. Fun." Raven said, browsing around the whole neighbourhood then turning to me.
"Raven." I pleaded, "No. This is just a fun little get together with his friends. We're only here for the shits and giggles."
"Oh come on, bitch. Fucking admit that you like him already?" she said, pleading at this point for me to admit it.
"I'm not ready. I'm not ready for another for another relationship that's gonna end badly." I frowned, Raven pulled away.
