this is the start | gilinsky

Chapter Seven

    "Haha, she really wouldn't sit on your lap?" Despite the loud music that was playing, I could distinctively hear Sammy's voice travel throughout Nate's house. 

    "No, bro." Nate's voice follows Sam's and I freeze. They sound close, but I don't see them. Without thinking I push myself off the wall I've been leaning against for the past half hour, and run to the bathroom down the hall. I whirl around and lock the door as soon as I'm safely inside. 

    "Oh give the girl a break, she doesn't even know you." I hear Mallory defend me. I smile at how sweet she is. 

    "Yeah, she just got here, and if you didn't notice she's not really into human interaction." Johnson's voice floods the hallway I was just standing in. I sigh at how accurate he is. 

    "I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick, then we can go look for her and Jack." Mallory says. My eyes widen when I register that the bathroom Mal is talking about is the one that I'm in. I briskly flick the lights off and unlock the door, pushing myself against the sink to hide. Taking a deep breath I hold it in and listen to the sound of her heels get closer and closer.

    As soon as she opens the door and turns on the light, I slam the door shut with my right hand and pray she doesn't scream. She doesn't, instead she jumps and whacks me in the shoulder. 

    "Ouch!" I growl and laugh at the same time. She has a sharp wrist bone. When she sees that it's only me her hands fly to her mouth and she fights back her giggles. 

    "What on earth are you doing in here, Marley?" 

    I let my shoulders drop and give her a sad smile. "Hiding." I admit. Her face droops. 

    "Oh, Mar..." 

    "Don't even be sad for me right now, I'm fine - what I want to know is how we're both going to get out of here without this looking really weird." I promptly change the subject.

    Mallory's face goes from upset to amused in less then .2 seconds. "We don't." I try to understand why she's smiling, but before I can even ask her what she means she pushes me out of the bathroom. "I have to pee, you go wait with the boys and then we're going to look for Gilinsky so we can get out of here." I open my mouth to argue with her but she slams the door in my face. This can't get any more awkward. 

    "Marley?" I hear Sammy. Shit. 

    I turn around as slowly as possible and glance at Sam, then at Nate, then at Jack. They're smirking like complete idiots I want to smack them all. "What?" I scoff. 

    "Come here, dummy." Jack says. 

    "I'm good here." I say back. 

    "You don't like going new places do you?" Nate asks. It takes me a few seconds to understand that he's talking about me not wanting to go outside the last time I was with him. My cheeks feel hot. Where's Mallory? How long does it take for a girl to pee? I don't take that long. Do I? 

    "Have you see Jack?" Sammy is talking louder than he should be and I know he's doing it just to annoy me. 

    "Yeah," I stand up taller, "He's right next to you." I point at Johnson and something flutters in my chest when they all laugh at my stupid joke. 

    Sammy looks delighted. Before we can continue the silly conversation, Mallory emerges from the bathroom. 

    "Let's get going, shall we? We've got a boy to find." The next thing I know I'm being dragged to the opposite end of the corridor. I pray that we find Gilinsky soon. I can't wait to head home.

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    I regret opening up this door. I regret suggesting that we check all of the rooms on the first floor before going up the stairs. I regret it so much. Not knowing how to react to the sight in front of me I close my eyes tight. Laughter erupts from behind me and I hear Gilinsky muttering curses to himself as he's getting dressed. The girl he had been on top of is telling the guys behind me to keep their traps shut. I'm guessing she's still hiding under the white sheets. 

    "I'm...sorry?" My voice is shaky. I'm so stupid. Johnson said he was with a girl, I should've known they'd be hooking up. 

    "Hey..." Gilinsky's voice gets louder but also softer. I feel his footsteps end right in front of me and his hand brushes against mine. I pull it away as fast as I can. His touch drives me crazy. It really shouldn't, considering I just walked in on him almost having sex with a girl that wasn't me. Not that I wanted it to be me. "It's cool - you didn't know."

    "We were just coming to get you so we could head to the lake." Nate speaks up. I furrow my eyebrows. The lake? What lake?

    "I thought we were going home." I say out loud. I wish I didn't. 

    "Mar, when I told you we were getting out of here I meant getting out of here...not heading home..." Mallory looks sad. She feels bad. She shouldn't. 

    "It's only 12:30, we still got a half hour before we have to bring you home." Sammy says. I nod, pretending like I knew that. 

    "Oh, that's cool." I murmur, trying to hide my disappointment. 

    "Can uh...can Leigh come?" When I turn around I see that Gilinsky is no longer in front of me, instead he is standing next to the bed he was just fooling around with Leigh on. She is now fully dressed and standing in front of a mirror fixing her makeup. My hands shoot up to my face. Should I have worn more makeup? Mallory told me that I only needed mascara for this type of party. I barely wear any makeup as it is. 

    "Of course, dude." Nate tells him. I wish he'd said no. Not because I don't want Jack around her (I don't even care about that), but because she puts off this kind of vibe that makes me sort of uncomfortable. I know it doesn't make any sense since I don't know her personally, so instead of thinking about that I try to remind myself that I'll be home in just a half hour. 

    Home sweet home.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter! chapter eight is coming soon. if you have any advice or suggestions for me don't be afraid to share them! thanks for reading, much love - gilinskyshigh