Chloe Hossler: The New Girl (Book One)

Chapter Twenty-Two: What Did I Do?

I got to Payton's door and knocked. "Payton? What's wrong?" I asked, reaching for the doorknob. I tried it, but it was locked. "Payton, let me in."

"No," was all I heard from the other side of the door. 

"Payton," I whined, sliding down his door and tucking my knees up to my chest. 

If you don't know what I'm talking about, look at the cover gif^

"Payton, what did I do?" I asked, a single tear rolling down my right cheek. I sniffled and wiped my nose with the back of my right hand. 

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, so I tried to cover up my face and pull myself together. I turned my face away from the staircase, making sure that whoever saw me didn't see my red face. 

"Hey," I heard a male voice say from the stairs. I sniffled again and stood up quickly, wiping my face and looking at my feet. 

"Yeah?" I asked, slowly looking up to see Tony. "Oh, great!" I groaned, turning around and facepalming. 

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Tony asked sarcastically. I turned back around to face him, putting my hand on my forehead. 

"I like you, okay? I've liked you since I first saw you on Instagram. That's been how long? About four years?" I added, running my hand through my hair. Another tear ran down my cheek and I was too scared to look up at Tony. I saw Tony's hand move towards my face, and I closed my eyes and turned my face slightly away from him. He didn't seem to care, though, because I felt his hand on my cheek. I opened my eyes to find him smiling. He wiped the tear off my cheek and dropped his hand. I blushed and looked down again.

"I-"

"It doesn't matter," he interrupted. "I like you, too. And, uh, I know I just met you, but I would really like it if we could maybe hang out sometime. Like today, maybe? Split off from the rest of the group and find our own adventure?" By now, he had reached out his hand and was obviously waiting for me to take it. I thought it out, and it seemed that nothing bad could come out of it. So, I smiled and took his hand. He started walking towards the stairs again, but I pulled on his hand, getting his attention. 

"One more thing," I said, walking to my room and digging through one of my suitcases. I finally found what I was looking for: my diary with my favorite blue pen clipped on the side of it. I flipped through to an empty page and wrote down a not for Payton really quick that said:

Payton

I love you and support you through everything; you should 

know that by now. Whatever is bothering you, tell me about

it and I'll help you through it. I'm gonna go ahead and head 

to the mall now with a few people, and you can meet us there

when you're ready. Just know that no matter what is going on

with you right now, you can always talk to me. All your secrets 

are safe. I love you.

Chloe

I slid it under the door of his room and walked back into my room. "Hey, Tony, I'm gonna change, so you can go back downstairs and tell everybody to get ready or just wait here," I said, motioning to my floor. "I don't really have a bed yet, so I guess you could just sit on the floor. Ya know what, just go tell them to get ready," I added, shaking my head at my awkwardness. He chuckled and slowly let go of my hand, turning around to leave. He left and I searched through my bag for something to wear. I wanted to try to include something from every gift pack, but that was a little easier said than done.