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THREE ▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
IT WAS FINALLY FALL, and with such a good football team, our school was qualified for state—which meant a huge celebration at somebody's house. jeno was definitely going, and as his natural plus-one, so was i.
the party was how they usually were—sweaty bodies, lots of smoking and alcohol, and extreme p.d.a.
jeno and i had arrived about an hour or so after the party had actually started, eating out at a local diner to fill up on actual food before we—more so he—filled up on booze and potato chips in some kitchen.
as usual, he was greeted when we immediately walked in. a bunch of corny handshakes were given and 'hey's were thrown my way before we finally headed farther into the house. we walked to the kitchen and he got himself a beer and me a water.
"oh, mark had asked me to play beer pong with them earlier... you don't mind right?" he asked after he took a sip of his disgusting beverage. i shook my head no and gave him a quick kiss to send him off. he smiled at me—and of course i swooned—before heading off in the direction i assumed the games were being played.
for the first few minutes after he left, i stayed in the kitchen, scrolling on my phone and eating chips, but eventually i joined him outside. it was surely a sight: a bunch of high schoolers, the majority underage, cheering on changbin, another underaged high schooler, to drink a cup full of some concoction of different alcohols.
i could only snort at what i saw.
jeno caught sight of me and immediately made his way over. "you doing okay? are you ready to go?" he asked, and i swear all the bad thoughts of him leaving me flew out of my ear. i had mentally scolded myself for even thinking badly. i mean, how could he be asking me questions about my well-being and not actually mean it? who would cheat, or have frequent thoughts of cheating and still treat their significant other so preciously?
lee jeno. that's who—but of course i didn't know that at the time.
i smiled at him and told him i was doing just fine. i wasn't overwhelmed and the way he worried about me had me on cloud nine. i was doing more than okay at that moment.
"jayde!" came the all to familiar voice of roslin, breaking me out of my conversation with jeno—who snapped his head too quickly in the direction it came from might i add.
i inwardly gritted my teeth at him, irritated now, then turned to focus on roslin. the sight of her made my heart drop. her nose was red as if she had been crying and her hair was kind of a mess. i was genuinely concerned.
she ran into my arms sniffling as i instinctively hugged her. "what happened?" i asked her, looking around us to see if i could catch sight of a problem. jeno did the same.
"i don't think i'm ready for parties yet..." she spoke, seemingly overcome with emotion.
i rubbed her back, trying to soothe her—now yes, i did have a... disliking for her, but i would never want something to happen to her, she was still a child that needed protection.
"did something unsafe happen?" i whispered in her ear, making eye contact with jeno for a split second.
"no, just... anxiety." she replied to me, and i let out a sigh of relief.
jeno and i decided it would be a good idea to give her a ride home so we left the party right away. she sat in the backseat quietly looking out the window.
"roslin, if you don't mind me asking, was it really just anxiety? if it's something serious, i can go home and grab my gun. jeno can fight too, we'll handle it if something happened." i seriously spoke, and she laughed. hearing it made me really happy because it gave me hope that it was really just anxiety.
with another giggle, she replied to me. "yeah, it was just anxiety. i thought i could go to a upperclassmen party, but it was just too much for me. i'd never been to one before today, and i honestly don't even know why i came tonight..." she trialed off, obviously embarrassed.
jeno finally spoke up. "oh, it's no biggie. i'm just glad you found us before anything got worse." he looked at her through there rearview mirror, and i couldn't help the little bit of jealousy that rose in my chest.
"oh, um, thank you." she stammered, seemingly shy.
it was probably because of the intense eye-contact he was giving her through the damn mirror.
my arms were crossed now. "you gonna focus on the road?" i comment with a snarky undertone. he only side-eyed me but focused back on driving, finally making a turn into roslin's apartment complex.
"it's the building all the way in the back." she told him. he drove farther back, finally stopping in front of a well-lit apartment building. we both turned to look at her, and she seemed to be shy again. "it's... a little creepy at night to walk through the building, so, would it be okay if one of you guys walk me in?"
oh really roslin? this well lit walkway and, from the way the window is showing, hallway is creepy? i wanted to raise my eyebrow at her, because i was rightfully skeptical, but instead turned to jeno, shocked, as he quickly agreed to walk her in.
i sat in the car, absolutely irritated. not only did he agree to walk her so called "scared" tail in, he was also taking too long—at least in my opinion. there was no reason a quick walk, and elevator trip to the third floor would take more than four minutes.
i was on edge.
as i bounced my leg anxiously in the car, i let out a breath of relief when i saw him walking out. he seemed a little, bouncier too. negative thoughts immediately swarmed my head and, without thinking, i spoke up as he opened his car door.
"nice of you to finally come back to your girlfriend, because it seems like you keep forgetting you have one."
