Dream On

Chapter Fifteen

"Oh good, you're finally here!" Jessica exclaimed with fake happiness. Her face was covered in makeup, per usual, and her outfit was literally the most stripper dress I had ever seen.

Austin discreetly averted his eyes.

I sighed and walked up to another step until I was face to face with her. "Yeah, can we come in?" I asked, trying to stay calm even though I couldn't smell anything except for Victoria's Secret perfume.

She groaned. "Austin comes in first, hobos come in for the party tonight," she sneered, her face twisting in a cruel smirk. "And of course, my dear history partner is invited if she wants to come. But you know, we don't want to have her hooking up with my boyfriend again, would we now?"

"Boyfriend?" I asked slowly. "You mean..."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Kyle's my boyfriend." She examined her nails, clearly bored with the conversation already. "Does it really matter to you?"

I coughed awkwardly. "I'm just wondering why you're flirting with Austin if you already have a boyfriend."

"Why, you don't own him, do you?" she sneered, kissing her lips. "Mind your own business and let the handsome guy come in while you beg for pennies."

Rolling my eyes, I stepped inside, pushing her aside. "So where are we working then?"

Jessica snorted and stomped off. I followed her with a smirk of victory on my face. Austin chuckled and grabbed my hand as we walked after her.

My hand tingled in surprise and I instantly snatched it away. "Don't touch me," I snapped, my tone a little rougher than I had intended to be.

Austin lowered his head in guilt. "Ah, sorry," he muttered, his face bright red.

"Hurry up!" Jessica's shrill voice shrieked from upstairs. "We don't have all day!"

~~~

Two hours later, we were finally done. Or more specifically, Austin and I had finished working on the whole project. Jessica had spent the whole time painting her nails different colors, doing random shit with her hair, and other stuff that I didn't really care for. "You checked to make sure that it's perfect, right?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at Austin. I groaned and rolled my eyes, leaning back in my chair.

"No, but I'm sure you can do that yourself," I retorted, huffing in annoyance.

Jessica rolled her eyes and stalked downstairs, leaving Austin and I alone.

In the same room.

On her pink, fluffy bed.

Awkward city.

"Uh, so..." I coughed awkwardly. "Do you think we could find some Nutella in the kitchen?"

Austin stared at me like I had grown two heads. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked, giving me a weirded-out glance.

I blushed and walked out of the room, trying to avoid the awkwardness. Wrong thing to say, I guess.

"Hey, wait up!" he called after me as I walked down the stairs. I turned and saw him running to me. "I-I didn't mean to be weird with you," he confessed once he caught up to me, hardly out of breath. "I mean... I know that you have a boyfriend and whatever--" he said.

I cut him off, glaring at him. "Lucas and I are not dating," I stated with finality, snorting in annoyance. "That's a misconception, and it's never gonna happen."

Austin's eyes brightened. "W-wait. Really?" he asked, suddenly interested. 

I felt my skin crawl under his intense gaze. "Um, yes?" I replied, my answer coming out as a question.

He relaxed. "Okay, cool." After a moment of silence, he added, "How about you come with me to Jessica's party tonight?"

I could feel the color draining out of my face. "I don't really like parties," I began cautiously. "They're not really my thing."

Austin gave me a pair of sad puppy eyes. "Please?" he begged, pouting his lip. "I'll stay with you the whole time."

Relenting, I grumbled. He knew that I had a weakness for cute eyes. "Ugh, fine," I groaned, slapping him on the arm gently. "I'll come, but on one condition. You can't stay with me the whole time, because when I'm drunk, then I'm really stupid." Shuddering at my last memory, I bit my lip.

He shrugged and nodded. "Fine by me," he replied, smiling happily.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't get too comfortable with me doing this kind of stuff all the time," I muttered under my breath. "I don't like going to parties." I walked downstairs to call Isaac, just to let him know that I wasn't going to be coming home until tomorrow morning, if even.

"Hey, sis," Isaac's sleepy voice came from the other end. "What's up?"

I chewed on my lip as I slid against the cold wall to sit down on the tiled floor of the kitchen. "Um, just wanted to let you know that I won't be at home tonight," I replied carefully.

"What? Why?" Isaac asked, concerned. "Is it that Austin boy? What did he do to you? Do I need to beat someone up?" he added, getting angrier.

I shook my head vigorously, even though I knew that he couldn't see me. "No! Nothing like that," I added more calmly. "I'm just going to be staying over at Jessica's a little longer. I might be coming back tomorrow morning," I said evasively, trying not to be too specific.

I could practically hear the suspicion in Isaac's voice as he replied. "Uh huh, a sleepover?" he asked skeptically.

"Um, sort of?" I squeaked out, my reply coming out as a question. Relenting, I let out a sigh. "It's a party," I confessed.

"WHAT?" Isaac blared, and I cringed and pulled the phone away from my ear. "No, you're not going to go to that party, got it? I will personally come pick you up from Jessica's house if I need to, you aren't going to another party. Don't you remember what happened last time?" he ranted in concern.

I sighed. "Yes, I remember," I replied tightly. "You don't need to remind me."

He huffed. "You are not going to another party. Drunk Natalia is stupid, and you aren't going to do any more stupid things. Who's even going to this party?"

I froze and replied carefully. Danger, Will Robinson, danger.

"Um, me, Jessica, Austin, and that's all I know," I coughed, leaving out the part of Kyle being Jessica's boyfriend. "So it's perfectly safe," I added for emphasis.

"What are you not telling me?" he asked suspiciously.

I slapped myself on the head. I'm such a dumbass, I thought to myself. Of course, he would know when I'm lying, he practically raised me.

"Kyle's going to be there too," I replied, bracing myself for the outbreak of scolding that I was about to get.

~~~

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Hope you guys are liking the story so far! I should be able to update more frequently now that the schools are shutting down due to the coronavirus. Let's pray that it gets resolved soon!

XOXO Petalleaf