I know, I am horrible for the lack of updates, but I hope this chapter makes up for it? It's spring break so hopefully I get can some chapters in while I have the time for it! Enjoy and thanks for the patience! <3

Chapter 11

                “So what you’re trying to tell me is that you’ve never been to a party before?” Jace asked for the third time since we’ve gotten onto the topic.

                I narrowed my eyes over at him menacingly. “No, I haven’t.” I snapped. “What’s the big deal anyways? Why would I even want to go to a party filled with drunk, sex crazed teenagers?”

                Jace chuckled, his eyes gleaming with amusement as he stared back at me. “You sound like an old grandmother.” He teased, flicking my nose with his index finger as I shot him a murderous glare. “You should come to the party that Ryan’s having at his house tonight. It’ll be fun.”

                “Should I even attempt to trust your definition of ‘fun’?” I questioned.

                “Do you try to hurt my feelings intentionally?” Jace asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “Just come. I’m pretty sure Ryan’s already invited Julianne, too.”

                I recall Julianne mentioning something about a party earlier this week, but the memory seems a bit hazy to me. “I’ll go if Julianne goes.” I finally came to a reasonable agreement.

                “Oh, but you won’t go if I go?” Jace teased, pressing his palms against his chest to feign pain. “You know, you’re really starting to make my chest hurt, princess.”

                Using the back of my hand, I slapped him across the shoulder with as much force as I could.

*

                I ended up calling Julianne later that day and it turned out that she had every intention of attending Ryan’s party. I wasn’t surprised, though, since it seems as if Julianne has been slowly developing a profound liking for Ryan.

                “You’ve put in a lot of effort into your choice of clothing for just a party.” I joked as Julianne came by with her parent’s car later that night. “Are you trying to impress someone, Julianne?”

                Julianne became very flustered; her cheeks turning evidently red even in the darkness. “N-no.” she stammered, keeping her eyes on the road.

                “Really?” I asked, eyeing Julianne’s lilac purple dress that we bought together at the mall months ago. Julianne fell in love with the dress the second she saw it hanging on a rack and insisted on buying it even though it was priced a bit on the higher-end spectrum. At first, I thought she was ridiculous for even thinking about buying such a simple dress for that kind of money, but when she tried it on in the fitting room, I understood why she loved it so much. The soft purple contrasted against Julianne’s blonde hair beautifully and the chiffon fabric hemmed just a few inches above the knee, revealing just enough skin. “I’m sure Ryan’s going to drop dead once he sees you in your dress. You look really great.”

                “You think so?” she whispered, biting her lower lip as she struggled to find a parking spot, weaving her car around the other’s hoarding near the driveway connected to Ryan’s house. “I’ve never been to a party before. I’m kind of nervous.”

                I laughed as Julianne finally pulled her car into a vacant spot, killing the engine of the car. “We can be nervous together.” I joked, since it was also my first time attending a party.

                I had to admit that I wasn’t so sure of what to wear to a high school party like this one. I even contemplated on calling Jace to find out, but my embarrassment and shame got to the best of me and I decided against it. In the end, after nearly an hour of staring at my wardrobe, I stuck with a pair of my regular denim jeans and a loose sweater that kept sliding off my shoulder. I was originally going to wear my hair up in a loose bun, but the second Julianne saw me, she yanked that hair tie out, leaving my hair in a mass of loose waves. “We’re going to a party, can’t you at least pretend to look like you care?” Julianne scolded when she saw my attire.

                “What’s Miss Suicidal doing here?” a drunken girl whispered the second we walked through the doors to Ryan’s house.

                I shot her a glare, pushing past her shoulder as she stumbled on her own feet. Julianne’s learned to ignore the harsh names people call her over the years, but I still found myself wanting to protect her.

                “Do you want to dance?” a grimy male, who looked too old to be attending a high school party stood in front of Julianne’s way. I watched her eyes widen with fear as his hands snaked around her waist, pulling her in close. “You look mighty fine tonight.”

                Just as I was about to step in and tell the guy to piss the fuck off, Ryan came to the rescue and pushed the man off of Julianne. Ryan held Julianne protectively as the drunken man fell to the floor on his own command, his cup of beer spilling over his crotch in the process.

                “I’m sorry about him, are you guys okay?” Ryan asked, separating Julianne and I from the crowd. “I didn’t expect this many people to come, especially people I don’t know.”

                I caught Julianne holding back a smile as she nodded. “We’re fine.”

                “Well I’m really glad you guys made it tonight.” Ryan grinned, turning his head toward me. “Jace was looking for you just about half an hour ago. I’m not sure where he is now, but I saw him in the kitchen five minutes ago.”

                I nodded, giving Ryan a smile. “Thanks, I’ll go find him.” I turned back, but not before I got to sneak Julianne a wink, indicating that I was leaving on purpose to give her and Ryan some time alone. Her cheeks immediately turned red as I turned away chuckling.

                Ryan should’ve been more specific as to where his kitchen was because his house was big. It didn’t help that most of the lights were turned off and people who pushing and shoving. I finally found the kitchen a few minutes later, but not before being nearly trampled by sweaty dancers.           

                I found Jace leaning over the counter of the sink, staring out at the window with a red cup in his hands. “Why so lonely?” I interrupted his deep thought, causing him to jump from surprise when he saw me.

                Jace smirked. “So the princess decided to show up after all, huh?”

                “I only came to keep an eye on Julianne.” I lied. It was partially the truth- but I left out the part where I also came because I wanted to see Jace.

                “I call bullshit on that.” Jace said calmly after a moment of silence between us. Before I got to argue back with him, he passed me a cup. I eyed it suspiciously, raising an eyebrow at him. He must’ve read my mind because next thing he said, “It’s not alcohol, relax. It’s just apple juice.”

                I rolled my eyes. “I knew that.”

                “Sure you did.” Jace snorted, ruffling my hair with his hand.

                I pushed him away, shooting him a glare. “You’re so dumb.”

                “And that’s why I have you as a tutor.” Jace fired back.

*

                “Parties are boring.” I complained later that night as Jace and I found ourselves roaming around Ryan’s backyard, which thankfully, was deserted of people. “Why did you make me come?”

                “Ah, so you admit that you came only because of me?” Jace smirked.

                I narrowed my eyes at him, nudging his ribcage with my elbow. “Shut up.”

                “Be careful where you’re stepping because Ryan’s mother always leaves her gardening tools out on-.” Jace didn’t get to finish his sentence because the next thing I knew, I was falling over head first.

                As an immediate instinct, I grasped onto the sleeve of Jace’s jacket, pulling him down with me unknowingly. I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt my backside coming down first against the grassland, a weight pressing down on top of me just slightly. When I finally took the initiation to open my eyes, my breath got caught in my throat at the sight of Jace hovering over me, pinning me down. He was so close- so close to the point where I could see every detail on his face. His dark brown eyes seemed so much lighter up close and his lips were so naturally rosy. Jace was so perfect- it took me everything not to reach out and touch his face.

                “You need to get off of me.” I whispered, feeling his faint breathing on my upper lip.

                “You don’t sound like you want me to.” Jace muttered, his eyes capturing my gaze the entire time.

                Stupid, stupid gardening tools.

                “I-I,” I stuttered, realizing that Jace was lowering his face down on mine.

                Was he going to kiss me?

                Was I going to back away?

                … Did I want to back away?

                I felt my eyes close without my permission. My vision was black and I was waiting- waiting for Jace’s lips to meet mine. After a moment of anticipating, I realized that Jace was never going to kiss me. My eyes opened back up unwillingly, and I noticed that Jace kept his face back, staring back at me with eyes full of pain and regret. My heart constricted as I used both of my hands to push away Jace with as much force as possible. I rolled up from under him, feeling nothing but humiliation.

                As I scrambled to get back onto my feet, I felt Jace wrap his arms around my waist, gently tugging me up. When I finally stood back up, I pushed his arms away from my waist, turning away from him.

                “Everly, listen-.” Jace started off with a disgruntled tone.

                “No.” my voice shook as I felt anger overpower me. “Y-You were about to kiss me.”

                Jace gnawed on his lower lip, nodding slowly. “I know, I was going to but I couldn’t.”

                I avoided eye contact with him, shaking my head ferociously. I felt angry that he made me so vulnerable in front of him. I hated that he got my hopes up so easily just to shut them down. I hated that he had this ability over me.

                A million thoughts were running across my mind at that very moment, but only one thought stood out.

Why didn’t he kiss me?

                I felt my heart beating rapidly against my chest, and a lump forming in my throat. I knew at any moment now, a tear was going to slip from my eyes and Jace would get to see how weak I really was. Jace must’ve sensed that something was wrong from my long moment of silence. The only reason why I didn’t speak was because if I did, my voice would crack, and he would know right away that I was on the verge of tears. I didn’t want him to see me in my worst state.

                “It has nothing to do with you.” Jace whispered, placing a hand on my shoulder because my back was faced towards him. “It was my fault- I got caught up in the moment. I didn’t know what I was doing until I got too close.”

                My breathing was becoming rough pants by now.

 I stepped away from his touch, sprinting back inside Ryan’s house, getting lost in the crowd.

*

                “Everly, are you having fun?” Ryan asked as he spotted me far off in the corner by myself later that night.

                “I’m having the time of my life.” I mumbled dryly as I took a sip of the mysterious liquid in my cup.

                Ryan’s eyebrows furrowed together in a frown as he stepped close to me, finally realizing that my cheeks were stained with tears. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked quietly. “Do you need me to get Julianne? The last time I checked, she was dancing with some girls from school.”

                “At least one of us is having fun.” I sighed, shaking my head. “No, you don’t have to get her. I don’t want to ruin her mood. I haven’t seen her happy in a while.” I said as I spotted Julianne smiling ear to ear with some girls in our English class.

                Ryan nodded understandingly, leaning against the wall beside me. “So, what did Jace do?”

                “What do you mean?” I asked, wondering how he could possibly assume something like that.

                “Well it’s kind of obvious that you and Jace have a thing for each other so it’s only understandable if he’s the one who caused you so much misery.” Ryan said all in one breath.  I remained quiet, staring down at the golden liquid in my red party cup. “Well, if you’d excuse me, I’m going to find Jace for you.”

                I frowned, shaking my head roughly. I wasn’t ready to see Jace yet- especially since he practically rejected me. “No!”

                “Well I’m sure he’s around. You two need to resolve whatever conflict you guys-.”

                My eyes found its way across the room, where a couple was sitting on the couches together. The only reason why they captured my attention was one reason and one reason only. Jace was one of the figures on the couch. On top of him, placed right on his lap was another girl, beautiful and blonde. I watched with my lips parted in disbelief as the girl swiftly moved her legs so that she was straddling him. The girl buried her face into Jace’s neck as he laughed at something she said.

                So this was why Jace wouldn’t kiss me.

                There was another girl for him- and she was much prettier and probably a better kisser, as well.

                “Christiana.” Ryan whispered, finally noticing what I noticed.

                “Who is she?” I asked in a staggered tone.

                “Jace’s ex-girlfriend.”