Chapter twenty-three ~ Closet Crying

~*~

"Well someone is planning on seducing someone tonight," Lana winked when she entered my room.

"Shut up," I finished my look with the last touch of mascara. Standing up, I pulled my dress a bit down and faced the mirror.

"Since when do you dress up like that?"

"Since I wanted to," I deadpanned. After adding some perfume, I headed over to the earrings Geoffrey bought me and put them in one by one.

"I don't know those," she remarked, taking a step forward to examine them.

"I got them as a present," I said, checking the mirror for the 300th time this evening.

"From who?"

"A friend," damn it, I already knew she wasn't going to give this up.

"Does that friend have a name?"

"Nope," I popped the p and twirled round. Maybe this dress was a little short after all? I mean, in terms of society; this was a dress for nuns, but in my eyes, it was a little more daring than my usual clothing.

"I bet that he does have a name," she spoke again.

"Oh really?" I answered, as uninterested as possible.

"And there's more," she continued, much to my dismay, "I'll give you ten bucks if his name doesn't start with a 'G' and ends on 'Offrey."

"Do you have an Off-button?" I sighed.

"Nope, that one has been broken for a while," she laughed, "so it's true?"

I ignored her question, but my silence answered her question for me.

"Dude, how long are you going to keep this up?"

"As long as you are going to keep this up," I answered, "Let's go."

"Argh," she let out a frustrated grumble as she followed me down the stairs.

Even my mom looks surprised when she saw me, "Wow sweetie, your aunt would be so proud of you, you're finally becoming a lady!" she let out, tears brimming her eyes.

"Thanks mom," I tried to pass her.

"By the way, I'm a lot more easy-going about bringing guys home," she winked.

Lena and I cracked up at the memory.

The morning after the whole birthday thing, Lana and I strolled down the stairs to find Jerald yelling at Geoffrey.

He, apparently, had found the note I left him.

"This is so inappropriate!" he yelled, his head as red as a tomato, "You work all night and when you come home, you find out that you're son is bringing some bimbo over to your house to spend the night together!"

Geoffrey could see the fun in all it, especially because - in contrary to what Jerald assumed - no such form of sexual events had taken place at our house that night, while Geoffrey had always gotten away with his previous night adventures with Latoya.

"Well?" He screamed, "Don't you have anything to say about all this?" he was constantly flaring the note in the air, Geoffrey just stood there, smirking, being sexy. But then Jerald caught me and Lana, "Even when there are two girls sleeping a couple of doors from you, you should be ashamed!"

"Take that stupid smirk of your face son," he directed, "we are part of the Rice-family. We have decency and we don't participate in these kind of things!"

Well that was just some disingenuous thing to say, and a pure lie, and it was visibly noticeable that Geoffrey thought exactly the same.

'Hey daddy, remember when mommy and I walked in on you fucking some cheap whore?'

I could practically hear him say that.

Although she didn't intend to, my mom came to the rescue, "Jerald, leave those kids alone," she said right before Geoffrey would've opened his big mouth. "As long as no one gets pregnant, there is no reason to get so worked up about all this."

Okay that was it, I couldn't take it any longer. Pushing Lana along back up the stairs, we burst into laughter and a couple of seconds later, Geoffrey appeared in my room as well.

"Your mom is nuts," he said. Lana and I couldn't help but agree.

"I didn't expect a simple note to cause so much drama," I laughed.

Geoffrey took the note out of his pocket. "That's not even the worst thing. Although you wrote it, I took all the blame and on top of that I didn't even get laid last night."

"Ah poor thing," I beamed and he mimicked me annoyed.

"Hey guys, someone ripped my heart out yesterday so the last thing I want to do right now is stare at a bunch of love sick puppies."

Two pillows were thrown at her face at the same time, "Are you kidding me?" She growled, causing us to crack up once again.

"Hey," Cody greeted the present us as we got into the car, "Wow you guys look great."

"You too, is that girl coming, the one you like?" Lana asked straight away.

"Normally, yes," he said, he looked pretty nervous, which gave him this cute touch.

"It'll all be just fine," I encouraged him.

The party itself had been going on for a while when we arrived. That would explain the already drunken teenagers, passed out on the porch. New couples had also already formed, as they were pressed up against each other shamelessly, out on display. We made our way through the front garden that was already covert by a thin sea of red cups.

The blasting music made the ground vibrate and it wouldn't surprise me one bit that the police would turn up in an hour to clean all this mess up, it was getting out of control already. It wasn't even an especially huge or important party, just some random senior (with a large house) that wanted to throw a party.

I had to admit that he sure knew how to do that.

Before entering, I pulled my dress down once more and checked my make up in the small mirror I brought along, just in case.

"Hey you're looking great," Lana said as she put the thing away for me, "I'm sure he'll notice you." She whispered and instantly got hit by my purse.

Once inside, Lana found her way straight to the drinking table, "Do you think Wes is going to be here?" She handed me a cup.

"I'm afraid so," I answered in all honesty, "Geoffrey is coming so I suppose Wes will be tagging along."

She growled and threw her first cup to the ground, "Be careful," I said when I caught her grab another cup.

"What did you do when you found out Geoffrey was going to sleep with Latoya?" She raised an eyebrow at me, I gulped. "That's what I thought." She muttered.

"Fancy coming along to find Cody?"

"I'm going to dance," she said confidently and disappeared in the sweating mass of people.

I sighed, she clearly wasn't over Wes. You couldn't blame her for that, I mean he used her for months, only for the sex.

My journey to find Cody turned out to be harder than I thought, since a lot of people had decided to show up.

"Hey!" I called when I finally reached him, "Found the girl yet?"

"No, not yet," he replied, "that's what I wanted to talk to you about actually."

I didn't even hear the last part of that sentence, it had gotten erased out of my memory as It got filled with the image of Geoffrey.

Geoffrey and a girl.

A pretty girl.

He was bowing a little over her, and widely smiled at something she said, which - no doubt in my mind - was really really funny.

She was probably funny.

And pretty.

And perfect.

And everything I would never be.

A sharp pain entered my chest, creating a whole in the place my heart used to be. I dropped my cup instantly. The amount of booze that was still in there splashed up all against my legs and I could literally hear it splashing.

The music had disappeared, only the sound of splashing booze, his laughter that wasn't because of me and something breaking.

I just stood there, like this lifeless mess, staring at them. It was as if they were some kind of magnet my attention got sucked too. My vision even centered them as everything around them just became a huge blur.

At that moment, when I was staring at the portrait with the most unattractive look on my face, that's when Geoffrey looked at me.

When I stood there like this idiotic weak rag, he looked at me.

"Uh, I've got to go," I turned around and ran.

Numb and senseless, I tried to make my way through all the people, all the stupid people that had decided to show up.

I reached the place I didn't want to reach at all, the back of the room, the only spot where there wasn't a drinking table or exit nearby.

I lost all sense of direction and a nauseous feeling mad its way up my throat, even though I had only drank one cup.

Damn where do I go?

I turned around trying to find Lana on the dance floor, but bumped into the one thing I didn't want to bump in right now.

"Why the hell are you running away?" he yelled angrily.

"Leave me alone," I shouted, trying to get my arms out of his grip.

Next to us, he opened a door, which led to a dark room/closet and pushed me in it.

"Let me go!" I screamed, tears threatening to spill.

"Will you calm the fuck down," he sounded irritated an put his hand over my mouth to prevent me from shouting again.

Now I completely lost it, tears spilled and all the work I had put into my make-up had gone to waste.

"What's wrong?" He asked, more silent yet still angry.

"Nothing," I slapped his hand away.

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Please let me out of here, you know how afraid I am of the dark," I cried. Two seconds later, the light of his phone lightened up a part of the room, just enough to see his face.

My hart sunk into my stomach, just like the heavy brick that blocked my trachea. A single tear rolled down my cheek.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked. His hand reached out to wipe away the tear.

"Don't fucking touch me!" I yelled like a retarded hysterical bitch.

"Then tell me what the fuck is wrong with you!"

"Nothing's wrong!" I lied, "everything is perfect, just leave me the hell alone!"

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what made you so upset!" he screamed, the veins in his neck clearly visible.

"I'm not upset!" The bright light blinded me, "and take that freaking flashlight out of my face!"

"Damn what the hell is wrong with you?" he asked in an, again, not so friendly way.

"Nothing is wrong!" I screamed one last time, before reaching for the doorknob.

He gripped me by my wrist and pushed me back, harshly, making me collide with a piece of furniture that was in my way. I let out a small gasp before quickly reposing myself.

"Tell me what's wrong!" He directed, letting go of me, but blocking my way with his body.

"Well okay!" I spat, "You want to know what's wrong?"

"Yes of course!" The word angry could literally be read in his eyes.

"You really want to know?" I hissed, feeling the fire burn in mine.

"Just fucking tell me!" he grunted.

"I'm jealous, that's what's wrong," I screamed, surprising myself. "I'm fucking jealous!"

"Jealous?" still yelling, but in a more asking way, "Why the hell are you jealous?"

"Because I like you, you idiot!" I surprised myself. Months of denial didn't help a damn thing, at the end this was still the truth, no matter how hard I tried to run from it, "I like you," I cried, "And I for a moment I thought you might actually like me too, but of course I was wrong!" I spat, suddenly angry-me overpowered sad-me again, "I know that now! I know that I'm not special! I'm not pretty enough! I don't own a body like Latoya, or hair like the girl you were with. I'm not-"

The blinding light came closer in a flash and before I even realized what was going on, I felt two soft lips on mine.

His hands gripped onto my cheeks, his phone taped against my left cheek as he pressed his body fully against mine, pushing me towards the piece of furniture that stood in my way a while ago.

His hand left my face for a short period of time before it grabbed my cheek again, without the phone this time.

It took me a while before I could even move, afraid that I'd wake up with the wrong movement. He on the other hand just kept his lips on mine, not seeming bothered that I wasn't even kissing him back properly.

But when I looked at him, through the little shine of moonlight that fell into the room, I looked at how his eyelids were shut tight and how his lips were pressed fully against mine.

And then I closed my eyes, wrapped my arms around his neck and replied on the kiss. He caressed my cheek while the other hand travelled down my body and stopped at my waist. I played with his hair, pulling it lightly when his tong asked for entrance and got it pretty damn fast. I tried to fight him for a while, but his tong definitely won the dominance.

I felt his heart hammering against my chest as it, in combination with my own, played a symphony that not a single piano virtuoso would ever be able to realize.

And then I abruptly pulled away, but let my forehead rest against his, "What's wrong?" he asked through all the panting.

"I don't want to end up like Lana," I admitted.

"Don't worry, I won't let Wes in a ten mile radius around you," he chuckled.

Ah, that delightful sound.

"So..." I said, still having some trouble with all the breathing.

"So," he placed a small kiss on my forehead and I could feel his smile through it.

"I like you," I whispered. My finger traced over his upper lip, the one I had just gotten the privilege to kiss. "I like you a lot." But it remained silent.

That's not such a good sign, is it?

"And I know, that you don't participate in the whole relationship/girlfriend kind of stuff, and that the kiss probably meant nothing to you, but now you know at least-"

His lips found mine again, "You and your damn stereotypes," he laughed after a brief kiss.

"You're driving me nuts you know that," I told him, he just laughed but I was being serious actually, "You aren't saying anything."

"You know I prefer actions over words right?"

I nodded, enjoying the tingling feeling his hands caused on my waist, "but some people think words are pretty useful and much more clear in certain occasions." Please tell me he gets what I'm pointing at.

"Well, I like you, I like you a lot actually," he whispered in my ear before placing a trail of kisses underneath it. I threw my head bag, enjoying every one of his touches, unconsciously pressing my lower body even harder against his.

He let out this incredible irresistible groan, "Who's driving who nuts right now?" he whispered.

I laughed, and only now realized that I was in an almost completely dark room. I grinned when I realized that I wasn't even the slightest scared, for once, I felt comfortable in this room, it wouldn't have mattered how dark it was, weirdly, I felt save in hands that had been through so many fights and with lips that had brought out so much hate.

"You really didn't know?" He asked, when he pulled his head back to look at me.

I shook my head, "Secretly I had some hope, but I honestly thought it was just hopeless."

"Do you really think that I'd buy earrings for everyone? That I talk to everyone about my mom? That everyone could easily convince me to start playing football again? That I'd start a fight for everyone, with a guy I normally wouldn't be able to beat for saving my live, yet I hit him to pulp?"

"I'm still not happy about that," I said. The image of him on top of tattoo guy still gave me chills, but I pushed the memory back as fast as I could.

"I don't care, the bastard deserved it. Putting his hands on my girl, he should be ashamed to death."

"What did you just call me?" My cheeks burned up.

"Uh," he stuttered, a creepy smile edged it way onto my face, and then he brought his lips back to my ear, making my knees go weak once again, "My girl."

"Kiss me again," I whispered as he pulled back. I didn't need to tell him that twice, cause his lips found mine as fast as the lightening could strike, even though the room was pitch black. It was as if our lips were destined for each other.

This kiss brought along a lot less passion and hate, but twice as much the soft and caring feeling of love.

"Lana is going to freak out when she hears about this," I laughed when he pulled away, "She's been teasing me with this for months."

"She- uh might already know something about it."

"What?" I gasped, "Is there a camera in here?"

"No no," he shook his head, releasing a small chuckle, "But we have two classes together and after your 6500th birthday she took a seat next to me and interrogated me an hour straight, the chick is crazy."

"Tell me about it," I smiled. Hell, I can't stop smiling.

"She is the reason I came here tonight actually, I didn't even know this party was happening tonight, but she said you'd come and Cody as well, so I thought it wouldn't do any harm if I just came and kept an eye open."

He sounded pretty jealous of Cody, and I know I'd sound horribly jealous as well asking the following question but I asked it anyway, "who was the girl you were with?"

"That," he said in utter disguise, "was the girl that once rejected me because I was too fat and guess what?" I didn't really know what to say, "She tried to flirt with me."

"No way!" I said, that doesn't make me less jealous at all.

"Yeah so I played along at first but then I scolded into her face and then I saw you standing there, with Cody may I add - and I quickly told her my name before running after you. You should've seen her face."

I laughed, that bitch deserved a punch in her pretty face.

"You know," he said as both of our laughter died, "I had pictured this moment in all possible ways, but this certainly wasn't any of them."

"Indeed," I smiled like an idiot. Oh my god he fantasized about our first kiss!

"I should've kissed you during that storm," he concluded, "than-"

"The police is on their way!" A loud voice interrupted his speaking.

"Fuck, come one," he kissed me one last time, grabbed my hand and pulled me along while I drooled over his muscular arm.

"Lana," I suddenly realized, "we have to find Lana!" I silently cursed, that kid would be totally wasted, I could just feel it!

It took us a while, but eventually we managed to locate her and Cody and carry her to the car.

"You're sober enough to drive right?" Geoffrey asked Cody in a not so friendly way.

"I, in contrary to you, do have some sense of responsibility," Cody snarled.

"Let it go," I pushed Geoffrey against his chest, his head burning up red in anger. "I'll see you home okay?" he send one last glare to the person standing behind me and collided our lips for the last time.

I know he only did that to mark his territory in front of Cody, but I enjoyed it for the full 100%.

"See you soon," he kept on standing there until he saw us drive off before looking for his friends to get home.

"Oh my goooood," Lana yelled, she had major difficulties with sitting up straight. "I think I'm going to throw up."

Cody pulled over and soon enough she was puking her guts out. "Gross," I hissed, yet there still was a smile plastered around her face.

"Her parents can't see her like this," I told Cody, trying to steal the phone out of her pocket as she was laughing her butt of, talking to wheel of the car.

"Hey!" She laughed, "Don't be so naughty Loren."

"Just give me your phone," I put my hand in her back pocket, this time successfully fishing her phone out of it.

I quickly texted her parents, telling them that she would be sleeping at my place. I knew they wouldn't be happy to hear that, but if they saw her as drunk as she is, she'd be grounded for the following 55625 years.

"You good?" Cody asked her, giving her a questioning thumbs up.

"Yeah," her eyes fluttered close, "thanks for bringing me home." And then she muttered something about going to get a bath before she fell asleep.

Cody and I carefully lifted her into the back seat, letting her rest her head on my lap as I stroke through her hair. Poor Lana.

Right after Cody started the engine again, a police car raced by and we both released a breath in relieve, glad they didn't see my drunk friend throwing up like there'd be no tomorrow.

Geoffrey was already home when we arrived and carried Lana up the stairs. I gave her my bed and gave her a peck on the forehead, "Loren," she silently spoke, "I-I..."

"Do you have to throw up again?" I asked, cautiously standing up from the bed.

She slightly shook her head, nearly unnoticeable.

"Than what's wrong?"

"I need to tell you something," she whispered as a tear escaped her eye, I nodded waiting for her to continue, "I loved him." A loud sob accompanied those words.

I took a deep breath, it killed me to see her like this, and got into the bed with her. Hugging her and giving her all the comfort she needed until she fell asleep.

Returning downstairs, I found Geoffrey casually hanging in the couch, sipping from a glass of water. "Can I have some?"

He handed me the glass, pulling me closer to his chest and onto his lap, "Is she asleep?"

I nodded, "Your friend's an ass."

"I know," he agreed, kissing me on the forehead. "Is that why she gotten herself this drunk?" I shove the glass back in his hands.

I nodded again, "she just wanted to forget the pain he caused her I guess." That made me think about my own experience with that situation, "Do you remember that night when I came home drunk as fuck and you took care of me?"

"I could never forget that night," he whispered, I didn't know what he meant by that. Probably because he got to witness me throw up.

"That might have been why I had gotten so drunk, you, uh, you kind of hurt me," I swallowed, letting my hand travel over his chest.

"I know," he tightened his grip around me, "you told me that, that night." I looked up at him.

"What did I tell you?"

"Uh," he stuttered, focusing all his attention on the way he circled his finger on the edge of the glass as if it was the single most interesting thing on earth, "You told me I broke your heart."

His eyes turned into a vulnerable state, and so did mine, "I'll never forget the look on your face," he whispered.

I planted a small kiss on his lips, "you can forget about that," I encouraged him, "Replace the memory with how my face looks when you just kissed me."

His lip curled up, "Maybe I will," and leaned in to kiss me.

~*~

It happened! Oh my god! Finally! :D

So only one more chapter to go... Hope you enjoyed it!