Summer

Chapter 49

I try my hardest to contain my disgusted reaction after taking a sip of the tequila soda that Jeremy concocted for me, but I can't help it; I hate alcohol.

Jeremy chuckles when he sees my face squirm. "That bad, huh?" he laughs.

"Not at all," I say, but his sweet smirk tells me that I'm not a great liar.

"The trick is not to mix it. Here," he says as he pours a shot's worth of tequila into an empty cup. He takes another cup and pours some seltzer into it. He takes a sip of the seltzer, then a sip of the tequila, and then another sip of the seltzer. "It gets you fucked up faster, but you don't really taste the tequila that way. Try it," he says as he hands me both cups.

I take them from his hands and follow his actions, but it doesn't work, and I find myself making the same face that I did the first-time around.

"Still disgusting?" he chuckles.

"Still disgusting," I repeat as I hand him back the cups.

"I'll figure something out," he flirts. I can tell that Jeremy's into me, and while he's super nice and attractive, I only have eyes for Noah. I just smile back because I feel like saying something will give him the wrong impression, if I haven't done so already.

All I want to do is find Noah, which is why I tell Jeremy that I'll be right back. I walk into the living room, where I see Cassie and Kyle standing in a corner.

"There you are!" she stops me as I almost pass her. "Ready to leave soon?"

"I guess," I shrug my shoulders and say. I look at my phone to find that it's only 11:30 pm. No missed calls or texts from Liam, but I do have a text from Jacob. It's a selfie of him, Liam, and Uncle Robert at some sort of karaoke bar. I show the picture to Cassie, who bursts out laughing.

"I'm going to run to the bathroom before we head out. Do you guys know where it is?"

"If you go through the kitchen, there's a door towards the back on the left-hand side. That should be it," Kyle says.

"Okay, thanks. Be right back."

I walk through the kitchen, but turn my head the other way when I pass Jeremy, hoping that he doesn't see me.

When I get to the bathroom, the door is locked, but some girl informs me that there's another one upstairs. I decide to wait a few more minutes, but when no one comes out, I take that as my cue to head up to the second floor.

The first door on the left leads to a bedroom, and the first door on the right leads to an office. Second door on the left it is.

I have to push a little harder to finally get the door open, but when I do, I immediately regret it, because, right before my eyes, is Noah. Laying on the bed. With the brunette straddling him.

I freeze for about 5 seconds before heading for the door. When I make it to the stairs, I run down so fast that I almost trip over my foot when I hit the bottom step.

I find Cassie, and when she sees me panting, she knows something's wrong.

"What happened?" she asks frantically.

"Let's just go," I grab her hand and say, attempting to pull her in my direction.

"Cass," a voice calls out from a few feet away.

Justin.

"Not now, Justin," Cassie says as he gets closer. Just by the way he's walking, I can tell that he's drunk.

His eyes move from Cassie to me. "Hey Fee," Justin says once he notices me. I don't look at him because I'm too focused on calling an Uber. "I said, 'Hey Fee'," he shouts annoyingly.

"Hi Justin," I give in and say.

He comes between us and throws his arms around our shoulders. When he turns to me and opens his mouth to say something, I can immediately smell the tequila on his tongue. "What do you say we grab a drink?"

"What do I say?" Cassie mocks, tapping her index finger to her chin. "Hm? I say that you've had enough to drink for the three of us."

"It's a party, Cassandra. Chill out, would ya?" Justin says. I haven't heard someone call Cassie 'Cassandra' since I was 5. She's going to flip. She hates her full name.

"If you don't get out of my face this second, I'll do it for you," Cassie presses her fingers against Justin's chest and sends him backwards.

"Jeez, relax," Justin rubs at the spot.

As if the night couldn't get any worse, Noah walks through the kitchen door with the brunette by his side, and I can't help but stay right where I am.

"Hey guys," he comes to a stop in front of us and has the nerve to say.

"C'mon, Fee," Cassie rolls her eyes and reaches for my hand, instantly detecting my discomfort.

I'm about to follow Cassie when I see the brunette bimbo tickle Noah's arm with her fake fingernails, working her way up to his neck and then cupping the back of his head. He embarrassingly shakes his head to move her hand away.

That's it. I've had enough.

I move past them and head towards the kitchen, making my way to the island where I reach for the Jose Cuervo. I don't have to turn around to know that Cassie's followed me.

"Sophia, don't do this," she reaches for the bottle, trying to stop me. But I turn my shoulder to the side so that it's out of her scope.

I look around for an empty cup and finally find one by the sink. Aha!

Change of plans — I am getting drunk. Noah has clouded my judgement, and I'm so mad that all I want to do is get back at him. I don't care about Liam and his stupid rules. Right now, it's all about payback.

And I'm about to get mine.