demons.

i couldn't stop hyperventilating.

CHAPTER EIGHT: I COULDN'T STOP HYPERVENTILATING.

i sat in the rental car in the driveway of one of alex's friend house, my hand in alex's and my eyes locked into his. "i met your parents yesterday and today i'm meeting your old friends. why am i meeting so many damn people?" i huffed as the pit in my stomach ate away at me. i wanted to meet the people alex loved, but i wasn't that great around new people. especially so many at one time.

"we don't have to stay. we can go back to the track." alex offered and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

i shook my head fast. alex was only in arizona for a few days every year, i didn't want him to waste his time hanging out at the track when he could be with his friends and family. "no, i wanna meet your friends. how many people did you say would be here?" i questioned.

"two other guys. i know it might be stressful for you, so we don't have to hang out." he explained to me. i shook my head again. i felt like if we didn't hang out with his friends, he would've been disappointed in me. he wanted to see his friends so bad and he wanted to see me too. i didn't want to make him decide to spend time with me or them. i would've wanted him to stay with his friends, but alex was stubborn and i knew he would've stayed with me, someone he's known a few months instead of his friends, people he's known most of his life.

i took a deep breath and plastered a fake smile across my face. "let's go have a good time then."

we both climbed out of the car and i went as slow as possible. i was afraid they wouldn't like me or that they would think i was weird. i didn't want their potential opinions of me to matter, but the possibility of them hating me gnawed on my brain. alex grabbed my hand and we walked around the house to the backyard where we found his friends standing by the pool talking. "have you guys missed me?" alex asked with a smile on his face.

"alex freakin bowman! we've missed you." one of his friends cheered as they gave him a hug and my hand separated from alex's. i bit on my bottom lip as i tried to remain calm. my heart beat rapidly and sweat poured on the palms of my hands.

when his friends separated from him, they turned to me. "i'm owen, this is derek. you must be marlo." he pulled me into his arms, giving me a quick squeeze.

i looked to alex, then back to owen and gave him a small smile. "it's nice to meet you guys."

derek didn't give me a hug, just a small high five which made my eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. who greets someone with a high five? i mentally shrugged and let out a deep breath. "you guys wanna swim?" derek asked with a smile on his face.

i turned to alex, leaving the decision to him. "yeah, we should swim." he said with a smile.

owen and derek each jumped in the pool, splashing alex and i. alex slipped off his shirt and i slipped off my clothes off to reveal myself in a bathing suit. i felt everyone's eyes on my body which made me uncomfortable. i draped my arms across my body as my cheeks heated up. i looked over to alex and met his eyes with mine. his teeth were pushed into his bottom lip as his eyes scanned my body.

"damn." alex trailed off as his eyes continued to roll over the surface of my body.

i gave alex a small smille and approached the side of the pool slowly. i walked down the steps into the pool sluggishly, not wanting to jump right in. i was afraid of water, well, i was more afraid of drowning than i was of the water itself. jumping in would've obviously made me go underwater, which i was terrified of, so walking in was a better option.

i looked up at alex and he jumped in the pool, causing a big wave of water to splash everybody which made my face and hair wet.

he swam over to me and splashed me with water, which made me squeal, so i splashed him back. the four of us decided to play volleyball in the water which frightened me because when you move around, your guard is down and i didn't want to potentially drown.