𝐍𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 | 𝚉𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚗

5

Chapter 5

Both me and Zach pull away at the sound of the door swinging open, only finding a random stranger with droopy eyes stumbling in and then stopping in his tracks when he spots us.

"Oh, sorry," He slurs, them shuffles backwards leaving me and Zach alone in the room again.

We look at each other, my eyes wide and feeling as if I'd been smacked multiple times finally taking in what was about to happen. Our eyes immediately looking down at the floor again.

Zach looks over at me, my gaze remains towards the ground. His hand raised and extended towards me signaling to help me up, but I got up myself before anything else happened, taking long strides to the door.

"Ash, wait-"

"I gotta go, Jordan and Sofia are probably looking for me."

I slam the door behind me, brushing past people and nearly running into my brother when I make it down the stairs.

"Ashley? What are you doing here?" He asked, hands gently gripping my arms to keep me steady before I stumbled over anyone, "Have you seen Zach?"

I nod, pointing upstairs then slipping away from Corbyn's grip and toward the kitchen. The rest of the night, I stuck with Jordan who didn't question my following him around. Sofia had disappeared from sight. I was scanning the room for her when I spotted Zach huddled up in some corner looking rather dazed and as if in deep thought.

We made eye contact at least once but I quickly looked another direction, hoping he didn't spot me eyeballing him. It was hard to restrain myself from looking at him again so I tried my hardest to keep my eyes glued to my cup all night, holding on to Jordan's hand, fingers locked together as he moved all around the party, greeting one person after the other.

At one point, there was even a heated argument between Daniel and an ex, Veronica. To sum it up, it didn't end well at all. Eventually after a couple hours when Sofia rejoined us, Jordan began to grow weary and was smiling lazily. I knew it was a sign we had to go before Jordan decided to go for another drink.

The second we got to the car, Daniel began to have a fit over the argument between him and Veronica.

"You were no help at all! I shouldn't even be driving you home after that!" Daniel shouted irritated with Jordan and his slightly drunken state as he began to drive us home.

"For the record, I pulled her away before it could get any worse," I retorted, suddenly joining in the argument that was about to start. I knew Daniel was still angry with Jordan about his lack of defense for his step-brother, and I didn't want to seem like the bystander. Especially since I only made it to the end of the argument.

Jordan scoffed dramatically, "Wow, you're letting me take the blame? After all I've done for you, ouch Ashley. I recall getting into trouble for you in the 9th grade when our science teacher-"

"Oh my god, do you have to bring that up every time? I just didn't wanna be left at some stranger's house if I didn't feign innocence," I remark flatly.

"Can you two just shut up?" Daniel spat, rubbing his temples, "My head is pounding."

I then see Sofia look up from her phone in the reflection of the mirror, "Wait guys, where's Anna?" she asks.

Fuck.

Daniel immediately swerved the car around, leaving us all a little bit sick in our stomachs. As we're rushing back over to Jennifer's house, Sofia is sending a text to Anna saying that we're on our way back to get her.