Finding Amity

Chapter 19

The alcohol burned in my belly and my eyes blurred to the point I couldn't even appreciate how beautiful the house was. It was a refurbished 1920's Colonial Manor with pure white walls and ornate crown moulding in every room. If Isaac didn't live here, it would be my own personal paradise. I cursed my mind for bringing him up again.

When I see him or think of him, my hands start to shake and my knees go weak and my insides tie themselves in knots. It was infuriating. I hated to admit it, but the thought of him making out with some random girl at a party not shortly after he and I almost kissed, made me want to scream.

I found a battered silver keg in the kitchen and grabbed a cup to fill. I grabbed the tap and held it over the cup. I tried to squeeze the trigger, but it seemed stuck. I tried again, straining my hand muscles, with no luck.

"Want some help?" An all so familiar voice asked from the door way.

Isaac sauntered in and grabbed the tap from my hand. He unclipped something on the trigger and filled up my cup. Instead of thanking him, I just glared.

"What?" He asked, pretending to be oblivious. I could see from the way the side of his mouth tugged into a smile that he knew why I was mad, but wanted me to say it.

"Why don't you fix your girlfriend a drink too?" I asked, pointing to the girl in the pink dress who was now dancing with another guy. "She looks thirsty."

"I asked her, she didn't want one."

"Oh," I muttered. "Well, wouldn't want to waste anymore of your time. There are just so many girls waiting to be blessed with your presence." I spat sarcastically, turning to walk out the room.

"Amity," He called out. I turned over my shoulder to look at him. "Jealousy isn't a good look on you." He smirked before leaving out the side door.

Anger boiled in my blood as I felt my face go red. How dare he accuse me of being jealous. He was right, but he didn't know that!

And this also meant he knows that I have feelings for him. Feelings I resented profusely, but they were still feelings. He knew making out with that girl and saying those things would hurt me, and he still did it. I felt my heart shudder at that sentiment. I turned around, colliding into Cooper, who had snuck up on me while I was watching Isaac.

"Ames, you okay? You look upset." His eyes darting from me to the door Isaac walked through.

"I'm fine, it's the alcohol, it's only just hitting me." I lied. I tried to fake a smile, but I knew it wasn't working.

"Did that dick say something to you?" He asked. He held me by the shoulders and forced me to look at him. "Amity? What happened?"

"Its nothing, really!" I tried to explain. "He's an asshole, just forget about it. We can go drink some more, have fun, it's a party." I sighed, still entirely unconvincing.

"Thats it." Cooper grumbled under his breath. He stepped around me and hurried out the door after Isaac. I groaned and followed him.

"Hey!" Cooper called out to Isaac. The side of the house was secluded and Isaac was just leaning against the wall alone. "What did you say to Amity?"

"Cooper, it doesn't matter-"

"Yes, it does!" He argued, stepping closer to Isaac, getting in his face. "What did you say to her?"

"Why do you care, man?" Isaac argued back, a light smile playing on his lips. He found this amusing. "Are you fucking her?" I gasped at his foul mouth.

Cooper was startled for a second, then regained his composure. "Thats- That is none of your business." With this, Isaac's eyebrow perked up on his forehead. "Look, whatever you said hurt her feelings. Stay away from her."

"Cooper!" I growled. "He didn't hurt my feelings, I don't give a shit. Can we just go?!"

They both ignored me. Isaac straightened his shoulders, puffing up his chest at Cooper.

"Why should I stay away from her? She doesn't seem to want to stay away from me." He smirked. My face flushed red.

"Amity is not like the girls you're probably used to." Cooper explained, his voice softening. "She is different and smart and too good for you. She has it hard enough, she doesn't need an asshole like you making her life any worse."

Isaac turned to me, his eyes searching my face for an explanation. I hurried forward, grabbed Cooper by the arm and dragged him back into the house then out of the front door.

"I can't believe-"

"I can't believe him, either. Such a dick." Cooper continued.

"No, I can't believe you!" I shouted. A girl vomiting on the side of the road looked up to see what was happening and I lowered my voice. "I don't want to be that freak orphan girl!" I hushed. "My friends don't know about the accident and I want to leave it that way."

"Ames, I'm sorry. I didn't know." His apology was sincere, but too little, too late. I shrugged it off, pulling out my phone to call Hadiya.

"Hey!" She shouted from the other end.

"Hey, um, sorry but Cooper and I have to leave. Do you want to go with us or..."

"Oh, we met a girl named Serenity, she's sober and offered us a lift if we need it. We'll go back later."

"Okay, sounds good. See you Monday, I guess." I ended the call, taking a peek on Cooper's phone at the estimated arrival time for our Uber. 3 minutes away.

We took a seat on a bus stop opposite the house and sighed, leaning together for warmth.

"Hey, Ames," Cooper started hesitantly. I looked up at him. "What did Isaac mean when he said that you don't want to stay away from him?"

Flashes of us walking home together, our almost kiss, the sharp line of his jaw. I tried to slow my quick beating heart and compose myself.

"He was trying to get under your skin." I lied. "I do everything I can to avoid him."

Our Uber dropped us home by 12:15, and I was absolutely knackered. Cooper and I quickly changed into our pyjamas and climbed in our beds. A few minutes later, Cooper's loud snoring sounded through the dorm room.

Despite my body wishing me to drift off to sleep, my mind kept racing. Something about the way Isaac looked at me when Cooper said I've "had it hard enough" muddled my thoughts. Genuine worry had crossed his face. Not to mention how it was very clear he was jealous of the possibility of Cooper and I being together.

In that moment, I couldn't remember what Pippa had said about him. My mind was clouded with how soft his hair looked and the smell of his aftershave that lingered as he walked away.