Beneath the Surface|COMPLETED

nineteen|sleeping beauty

**gif of xavier**

Tuesday, January 1st, 2019

12:01 AM

Isaac is the first to pull away. The kiss wasn't long, but it was sweet. Neither of us say anything at first, we just let the reality of the kiss sink in.

"So," I begin. "Ha--"

"I gotta go."

I blink. "You what?"

"I gotta go." Isaac repeats.

"Now? Go where?" I ask, but it falls on deaf ears as Isaac is already walking away from me.

Standing there confused, I look around the room searching for a familiar face to go to. Everyone around me is taller than I am, so it's proving difficult to find someone.

"Looking for me?" Tyler appears in front of me.

"Tyler," I roll my eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I have a habit of being wherever you are - of finding you. It's a gift, really."

"What it is, is stalker-ish."

He ignores my comment. "I saw that you got a New Year's kiss. It's a shame really, I was hoping you would've saved that kiss for me."

I try to find an escape route and see Isaac coming back into the living room from the kitchen.

"This was a very informative chat, Tyler, but I really have someone to get to." I move to go around him, but he just blocks my path.

"Back to New Year's kiss?" He follows my gaze to Isaac.

"Don't call him that. He has a name."

"One that I'm not interested in finding out. I know you might want to do a whole "new year, new me" thing, but that's not how this works, Am."

I hadn't seen Tyler since the beginning of the month. Of course I had been working as many shifts as I could at Books & Beyond, but that money wasn't enough. Things were going a little slow for papa at work ever since the weather got colder. If there was ever a time where I actually needed extra money, it was now.

"Okay," I sigh.

"Okay?"

"As in, okay let's get out of here."

Tyler looks surprised. "Never thought it would be this easy, Am. But you've always been full of surprises.

I see Isaac getting closer to where we are, eyes scanning the room. It'd be rude of me to leave without saying goodbye, even if he was the one who left me abruptly just moments ago.

"Just let me say goodbye to Isaac real quick." I tell Tyler but he gives me a look that makes me stay with him.

"That's not a good idea, sweetheart."

"And why is that?"

"Because, that'll just cause unnecessary harm. You have a thing for him, right? How would he feel if you left the party with someone else after kissing him?"

I hated him, but he was right. I looked for Isaac once more and saw that he was talking to some of the guys from the soccer team. He wouldn't notice if I left at all, much less with Tyler.

I follow Tyler through the crowd and I'm almost out the door when I hear someone call my name. I freeze. It's Brett's voice.

I turn to look at him which I regretted doing instantly. His eyes are filled with confusion as they flicker over to me, then to Isaac who's laughing in the living room, to Tyler behind me, and back to me. I open my mouth to say something, anything, but nothing comes. I don't have time to dwell on it because Tyler grabs my wrist impatiently, tugging me forcefully out into the New Year's Day air.