LOGAN

Everything is jamming in my ears.

The beer, now warm, swishes around in my solo cup. I have never had a red solo cup before and I am having my coming of age movie moment right now, feeling like I am standing in the middle of a Netflix movie. Except I am probably the bad guy here because I am standing next to Dean who looks like your textbook athlete, doing beer pongs and hollering at the top of his voice, with a blonde wrapped around him.

I guess he's having fun. That makes one of us.

I have been at this party for two hours now, and the loud music and warm beer is starting to get to me. I have called Alexis thrice now, the last time she hung up saying I ruin all her "getting into bad bitch mode energy" with all my constant questions about Ellie.

"Are you going to have anything stronger than that?" Aaron leans against the patio door.

I look down in my cup, still considerably full, "Nah I am good."

"Are you waiting for Ellie?"

I whip my head towards him to see him smirking at me, "Why would I wait for her?"

"I don't know, maybe because you're asking that hothead again and again if she's bringing Ellie?"

Was I that loud? Did everyone in the room hear me? Dear God, this is embarrassing.

"Was I that obvious?"

"Nah, I was eavesdropping," Aaron flashes me his million-dollar smile that works wonders on people, "Anyway looks like you've got a little crush for yourself."

I almost throw the whole cup at his face, "I most definitely do not."

"Yeah yeah you got a little crush on someone," He continues in a sing-song voice, making kissy faces at me.

Aaron tackles me in a neck chokehold and goes on in his kiddy tone, "Logan's got a crush, Logan's got a crush."

"Logan's got a crush?"

We both stand up straight at the saccharine voice near us.

"Hey Amanda," I croak out. She's the absolute last person who needs to know that I have a crush. Or not. I do not have a crush.

"So who's the girl? Something tells me it's me," She bites her bottom lip, twirling her strawberry blonde hair around her fingers.

No, it's not.

She's beautiful okay? She isn't unattractive, she's most guys' wet dream. Just not for me. The thing is I wouldn't have any problem with getting it on except for the fact that she's clingy as hell. She's always finding some way to touch me and it makes me super uncomfortable. Like now.

She traces her fingers along my upper arm and goosebumps rise on my flesh from her proximity. Not the good kind of goosebumps. But she takes it the other way. I can practically see the smirk radiating off of her in waves, thinking she's scored me.

"Aw, it is me!"

Aaron coughs behind me and I pry away her hands from me. These things are like claws, why is she holding me so tightly.

"No Amanda, I don't have a crush on you. I don't have a crush on anyone."

Her smile falters a bit but she keeps up, "Aw that's unfortunate. Wouldn't it be a scene to watch you make heart eyes at someone?"

I am pretty sure by someone she means herself. I can practically see the wheels rolling in her head as she's imagining herself in MARINA's this is how to be a heartbreaker music video. Bet she practiced the black heart on her cheeks too.

She sways a bit on her feet and holds on to me again; her grip acid on my shoulders, "How about we go get a drink?"

Amanda's eyes are twinkling and I wonder if it's from imagining my bones as a sexual sacrifice, "How drunk are you, Amanda?"

"Not enough."

"Okay so," I grab her arms away from me, "There's this guy way behind you and I think he's looking at you all sexed up and interested."

She whips her head around and loses the grip on me, relief coursing through me, "Who?"

"There," I point to a crowded spot on the dance floor and shove her arms against her. Jesus this woman is very touchy, "Look over there. Now listen, the guys are calling me so I gotta go."

Backing away as fast as I can, I sprint in the opposite direction. A bunch of 'Hey man', 'Hey Logan' hit me when I shove through a throng of football players on the opposite side of the room. I go ten steps through the crowd before I spot Hunter talking to a bouncy Alexis and a heated Ellie talking to...

Parker.

Parker?

Is that Parker?

I rub my eyes with the heels of my palms to make sure I am seeing what I am seeing.

What's she doing with that clown and why is she pointing at him with all her rage, what really happened? And why isn't Lex doing anything to stop it?

I rush over to them, "Hey."

Real smooth Logan, you came sprinting when you saw a girl you haven't talked to more than three times. My game is off the charts at this moment.

Ellie looks at me, flushed, her cursive flow of rage on an abrupt halt, "Hey Logan."

"Hey Parker," I nod my head at him in greeting but all he does is look me up and down and gives a shudder before turning to Ellie, "Listen I'm gonna go hang out with the guys, hopefully, you actually listen to yourself by then."

"Oh shut up, it was a really fun thing to do but you wouldn't know!" Ellie's cheeks are on fire, her hands fisted by her side and I notice the plethora of rings adorning her fingers, in colors mostly pink and purple. That's a lot of rings.

Parker walks away with an eye roll that makes me want to gouge out his eyeballs, and sucker punch that fucker into another dimension.

"What's that loser talking about?" I ask Ellie.

She turns around and I take a step back. God, she's so beautiful. Her face is shimmering under the golden pulsing light and her lips are popped with a shiny pink lip gloss. It looks so plump and so bright I want to run my fingers through it, and then taste it.

She's wearing another one of her tennis skirts, bright pink this time with a white top that shows off her shoulders and shimmering collarbones. Every second I look at her, it's harder to keep standing still.

Jesus Logan get a grip.

"Nothing, never mind."

"Hey, it's not nothing, do I have to pluck out some of his bones?" I give her a small smile and pray my pathetic attempt at a joke doesn't bite me in the ass.

"Okay, so you know how there's this karaoke thing in a room back there right?" She looks pissed, "It's not even a public thing you can literally close the door as you scream your lungs out and it's not like anyone can even hear a thing over these speakers blasting, I asked him to go with me but apparently it's too 'girly' and 'weird' to sing a Taylor Swift song." Ellie air quotes around feminine, her ears blowing off steam as she looks at me questioningly, wondering what I think.

"Remember when I called him loser about a minute ago?" I remind her.

"Yeah."

"I knew I was absolutely right."

Ellie's laughter bubbles through my bones. 

                             ★-★

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