THIRTY-SIX

I laugh loudly at the sight in front of me, cheering them on in the eerily night while they sing 'We Are Young' in the parking lot. Martin holds up his hand which is clutching a bottle of beer tightly and sways it.

Nina, Martin, Cole and Christina all link hands and dance like that but fail miserably when Cole collides with the floor and Rachel helps him up while the rest of us die from hysteria.

Alex beside me shakes his head with a chuckle. He checks his pockets for his car keys and grunts when Martin lets out a drunken whoop.

I am, in all honesty, shocked that Alex didn't drink tonight. Everyone at Ridgevale High knows that Alex never hesitates to get drunk at parties- one of the many reasons why girls think they'll get their way with him- so I expected him to at least have a bottle of beer here. But he had nothing. And for some reason that makes my heart swell. Now that I think of it, I haven't seen him talking or flirting with any girls during our stay here, either.

By the time I've realized that I'm staring, Alex is already looking at me with an amused smile and I blush crimson. "I know you like my laugh but no need to stare, Sophie." He teases me and if it's possible, I blush further at what I had said earlier.

I don't know where the confidence in there had come from but for some reason I just felt so free... so happy. I felt like I could tell Alex anything. At that moment when he was holding me in the middle of the dance floor, it felt like it was just me and him; nobody else. It just made me realize how much Alex means to me. How much my life has changed because of him; in a positive way. And I didn't want this week to end.

I scoff at his comment and roll my eyes, "Don't flatter yourself."
He chuckles and my lips twitch up into a smile.

By the time we get them all into the car, it's already early into the hours of the morning and tiredness rushes over me. I climb in the passenger seat after closing the door after the others.

Alex puts the key in as Martin starts singing horribly. One thing is for sure; Martin may be good looking but he definitely doesn't have a good voice.

Alex winces, "Damnit bro, can you chill? My ears are bleeding."
Martin leans in between mine and Alex's chair, the strong smell of beer wafting up into my nose and I cough lightly.

"Stop being such a baby." Martin whines. Alex rolls his eyes. He looks at all them in the review mirror and shakes his head before starting up the car.

"Turn the music up louder, Alex!" Nina demands. He sighs and puts the radio on higher with 'The Nights' playing and they all sing along.

I'm also extremely shocked that Rachel is drunk. She's never being much of a drinker.

Suddenly a thought pops into my mind and I voice it to Alex, "What if one of them throw-up?" I ask with a grimace. He looks at me briefly.

"Nah. The Rebels can handle alcohol. I think you've seen it..." He trails off and whether I was imagining it or not, I sensed shame in his voice. I nod my head and laugh lightly.

"Alex?" I ask.
"Mmh Hmm?" He responds, switching on his flickers.
"Why didn't you have a bit of fun tonight?"
He frowns at me.

"You don't have to be drunk to have fun." He answers curtly.
"Then why do you drink?" I blurt. The minute the words leave my mouth I regret it. "Shit. I'm sorry, Alex. That's none of my busi-"

"My dad." He cuts me off. I frown at him. "What?"
"I do it because of my dad."
That's when I remember that he's reckless to spite his step-dad, the reason he's at Sunny Smiles for community work. He only partially does all the crap he does for his own enjoyment.

I nod and leave the subject at that, grateful that he was honest with me. We're back at the hotel in another five minutes and Alex and I help the others stumble out of the car and into the hotel.

Alex goes in first while I wait to lock up the car. When Dylan stumbles out last, my eyes widen a fraction. I totally forgot about him. It's like I subconsciously forget about him. He seems to be one of those who are quiet when drunk.

When he climbs out, I lock the door after him and he lets out a gruff "thank you"

He seems to wait for me but I walk pass him before he grabs my wrist pulling me back. I stumble into him and raise an eyebrow in annoyance. The last thing I want to do to end this night is by talking to this douchebag of a guy. The last time we were so close, he insulted me and then tried to kiss me.

"What?" I snap. He reeks of alcohol and for a moment I almost gag. "You think you smart huh?" He slurs.

I roll my eyes, "Look Dylan, I don't care what you're gonna say. You're drunk, go up to your room and go to sleep."
"You think I don't know what games you're playing with Alex?"
I scoff, "I'm not doing anything with Alex. I actually care about him unlike you."

He laughs humorlessly and I frown at this guy. He's an absolute dick to Alex yet here he is acting like he cares about him. It makes my blood boil. Alex deserves better.

"You're a fraud Sophie. I know what you were like when you were an Elite. Nobody changes so quickly, so drastically."
"You know nothing about me!" I exclaim.
"Oh really?" He says. I frown as he leans closer, "I know that you've tried Khat before."

My eyes widen at his confession and my stomach drops. My blood suddenly feels like lead in my veins and all the mistakes and regrets I've tried to forget resurface in my mind. I was a naive freshman, desperate to find acceptance and something to distract me from the lack of a father.

I didn't know what the tablets were. Logan just said it'll help me relax and I thought, what's wrong with relaxing? But I didn't realize that Khat was considered a drug; I had never heard of it. They were all doing it so I assumed it wasn't anything major. Maybe a simple herbal remedy.

I was wrong though. Very, very wrong.

But besides the fact that I don't want to remember what I did, the Elite were the only people who knew. We made sure nobody knew what we did. So how on earth does Dylan know about this?

Suspicion creeps up my spine, mixing with my shame and anger.
"How do you know that?" I ask, my voice accusing and my eyes narrowing. His eyes widen slightly and just as he opens his mouth to speak, Alex comes out into the parking lot making Dylan release his hold on me.

Alex comes up to us and stands next to me protectively, "Is everything alright here?" He asks.
Dylan's gaze moves to Alex and he nods, "Yep." And with that he stumbles away, heading into the hotel, leaving me and Alex in the crisp night air while we watch him.

When Alex turns to me he frowns, his eyes carrying concern.
"Sophie, are you okay?"
I snap my eyes away from the door and look at Alex, my mouth dry, my face pale and hands clenched.

"Uh, y-yeah." I croak out. The fact that Dylan knows about that incident makes worry bubble inside of me. What else does he know? How much does he know?

There are certain things I've done which I'm not proud of- the reason I don't talk about them- so the fact that Dylan, a guy who I doubt would hesitate to destroy me, knows such information makes my stomach churn violently.

Not only am I worried but also angry- who the hell does he think he is asking me such questions as if he knows me?

But the big question is: how does he know?

"You look pale." Alex says with worry, his eyes scanning my face. I give him a tired smile.
"I'm fine." He frowns at me but nods so I start walking to the hotel with him trailing close behind.

When we finally reach our rooms, I turn to him and give him a grateful smile, "Thank you for tonight. I had fun." I look up at him and he smiles, putting his hands in his pockets. His brown hair is sticking up in all different directions making him even more attractive and the light that catches his sharp jawline makes him look like a model.

"I'm glad." We stare at each other for a second too long and I scratch my arm. "I'm going to get to bed."
He nods at me and I walk to my door but just before I can push the it open, he calls me.

"Yeah?" I ask looking at him.
"You know you can tell me anything right?" I frown.
"Even if it involves a friend." He finishes off, a knowing look in his eyes.
I nod my head, "I know."

"Goodnight Rosewood." I say with a soft smile.

"Goodnight Cooper." he responds with a smirk.

With that, I open the door to my room and pull on some pajamas before heading straight to my bed, falling on it in pure exhaustion and giving myself to sleep.

****

I hear my name being called softly in the distance as I stir in my sleep, muttering incoherent words. I feel my arm being shaked slightly and I turn onto my side.

"Sophie..." I hear someone whisper. "It's Alex."
"Five more minutes, Alex." I mumble. When the realization dawns upon me, my eyes spring open to find Alex beside my bed, bending at my level.

I move onto my back and sit up slightly, balancing myself on my elbows. "What-" I begin but he cuts me off telling me to be quiet.
"- are you doing here?" I finish off in a whisper. He checks the time on his watch as I look out the window to see that the sun hasn't even risen yet, there's just a soft glow to the sky.

"What time is it?" I whisper.
"C'mon." He says. "Get dressed."
I frown, "Where we going?"
He smiles, "To watch the sunrise."
I blink at him and smile before laying back down and running a hand over my face. I then pull the blankets down and sit up, stretching my arms out above me as I yawn. When I look back at Alex, his eyes are settled on a part of my stomach that is exposed from my shirt rising up.

When I drop my arms back to my side, I adjust the shirt and his eyes snap to mine, a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks. That's when I notice that it's only the crack of dawn yet he still looks so good.

He wears a grey hoodie and a pair of dark wash shorts and has bed hair that just makes him look hotter.

I cough awkwardly and he scratches his neck. "I'll meet you in the hallway. Don't take long and be quiet." He says before walking out.

I rush to the bathroom and wash my face quickly after brushing teeth. I don't bother to shower since it'll probably wake Rachel up. Then I throw on a pair of white denim shorts, a black tank top and a white sweater over that since it'll still be chilly due to the early hours of the morning. After running a brush through my hair and slipping on my flip flops, I quietly leave my hotel room.

After closing the door, I turn to face Alex who is looking at something on his phone. When he notices my presence, he puts it back in his pocket and gives me a small smile.

"You ready?" He asks, getting off the wall. I nod and we start walking to the elevator. Although we're the only two in the elevator, we stand so close that our arms brush one another which causes my arm to tingle.

Either Alex doesn't notice or he doesn't care but neither of us make an effort to move. When the doors open he suddenly grabs my hand and pulls me passed the lobby saying a quick "Good Morning" to the receptionist. I struggle to keep up with his long strides.

When we're outside he slows down and I raise an eyebrow at him, confused. "What's that about?"
He shakes his head, his hair falling in front of his eyes.

"If Rodrigo saw me, we would never make it on time." I laugh and he smiles at me as we continue walking to the beach.
The sky is a light blue, the soft golden glow from the sun starting to become more vivid. You can hear the waves crashing and a few cars drive by.

When we finally reach the beach, a few people can be seen. I take my flip flops off as we walk on the beach and I relish in the feeling.
The velvet sand is soft between my toes and Alex takes a seat on the ground when we're closer to the water. I take a seat beside him, enjoying the comfortable silence between us.

Staring at the soft crash of the waves on the beach and the sun that now reflects on the water. We sit in silence and admire the beauty before us.

"It's breathtaking." I whisper.
Alex nods, "Yeah, yeah it is."
We sit like that for a little while longer before Alex suddenly turns to me and asks: "Can you slow dance?" I eye him curiously. "Yes?"

"Good." He says as he stands up, dusting off his shorts and extending a hand to me. I latch onto his soft hand and he pulls me up effortlessly.

When I stand up, I raise an eyebrow at him as he runs a hand through his hair and pulls out his phone. He looks up at me and smirks, "We didn't get to dance last night." He responds. I gawk at him. "So I'm making it up to you." He finishes.

I laugh, "We don't even have music." He holds up his phone in a 'duh' manner and I laugh again before he presses play on a song. He then pulls off his hoodie so that he can put his phone on it on the sand.

He stands up straight again and rests his one hand on my waist while the other is in my hand.
I rest mine on his shoulder and when the music starts playing, I laugh loudly.

"Seriously? 'Can I Have This Dance' from High School Musical?"
He grins sheepishly, "Every girl likes this song." I nod and we start moving. My feet move in sync with his so that we're dancing in circles , back and forth. I watch his face as we dance around, soaking in his every feature. I smile at him.

When the chorus comes he lifts me up in the air for a second before he twirls me around and we continue dancing. He makes me lean down and pulls me back up as we continue moving.

I jump up and he lifts me again as I giggle. When I hit the ground, I nearly fall and he catches me with a chuckle before we dance again.
The whole time, my eyes never leave his face and after he twirls me around one last time as the song comes to an end, we come to a stop. We don't let go and for a second his eyes go to my lips and my breath catches in my throat as he leans in closer.

I become flustered at the proximity between us and can feel my heart beating to the point where I feel like it might just pop out. Our lips are inches apart when I hear Alex's name being called faintly in the distance.

I suddenly feel the urge to tell him how I feel right here and now, but I can't- I'd rather have him as just a friend then lose him all together. And rejection? It would be incredibly awkward.

As his eyes soak in every one of my features; going over my rosy lips, pointy nose and brown eyes, I feel unnerved by his gaze. It's like his staring right through to my soul and I can't do anything about it.

In a split second, our little word bursts as Martin yells out Alex's name again. Alex and I snap our heads to Martin and I frown at his disheveled appearance. He clearly didn't take his hangover well. Alex turns to Martin who walks towards us but does not make an effort to remove his hands from around my waist.

Alex frowns at him, "What's up, bro?"
Martin looks exhausted as his brown hair sticks up in all different directions and he has dark blue circles under his eyes.
"I can't find my fucking phone so I wanted to know if you maybe had it but you weren't in your room." Martin says in a curt tone.

"Sorry, bro, but I don't have it. Did you even ask Cole about it?"
Martin scratches the nape of his neck awkwardly, "Yes?"
Alex chuckles, "I would say it's the hangover that made you like this but that would be a lie. You're always like this."

Martin punches his arm and Alex lets out a loud laugh. Martins gaze then floats from Alex to me and then to my hands around Alex's neck and his around my waist.
He smirks, his eyes burning with curiosity.

"What's going on here?"
Alex frowns and looks at me before he loosens his grip on my waist making disappointment flood through me and I kick myself for it. My hands slip away from around his neck and fall limply by my sides.

Alex picks his hoodie up off the sand and dusts the sand off. "Nothing. Just needed some air."
Martin nods in a disbelieving manner, "Sure."

I blush crimson at the naughty glint in his eyes and pick up my flip flops. "C'mon." Alex says, nudging his head in the direction of the hotel. As we walk, Martin nudges my shoulder and I look at him questioningly. He smirks slyly at me and waggles his eyebrows suggestively. A blush immediately creeps up on my cheeks and I punch his shoulder making him wince.

"This is abuse." He grumbles causing Alex to look over his shoulder at us.
"Its not abuse if you deserved it." I respond casually.
"You have a flawed way of looking at things." He retorts.

I roll my eyes, "Suck it up."
He pouts at me, rubbing his shoulder still.
"How's the hangover?" Alex asks smugly. Martin groans "I feel like shit."
"Well nobody told you to drink like there was no tomorrow." I say back. "YOLO; You only live once." He says with a giddy grin.

"YOLO backwards is 'only losers obey YOLO.' " I retort smugly. Martin gawks at me and Alex's shoulders move up and down with silent chuckles.
"You guys could have at least tried to stop me." He mutters, running a hand through his hair.
"Have you seen how you are when you wanna drink?" Alex smirks. "You won't stop till you're drowning in vodka."

Martin laughs, "What can I say? I like being wasted." He slings an arm over my shoulder and I laugh. "But loathe the hangover." I add.
He flicks my nose, "Exactly."
I laugh at his extremely flawed logic.

"Why were you guys up so early?" Martin asks Alex and I suddenly.
I shrug, trying to act it cool.
Alex shrugs too and Martin raises an eyebrow at both of us, a mischievous smirk etched onto his face while curiosity burns in his eyes.

"Some beach sex?" He teases and I immediately punch his stomach making him double over in pain.
"Okay? Okay. Definitely not beach sex." I roll my eyes at him though my cheeks burn furiously. Alex grins at his friend who is wheezing and I smirk.

"You're so violent." Martin says when he finally stands up. I shrug, "I'm just physically inclined."
He smirks, "Mmh, physically inclined. Sounds kinky, mind if- Ow! Shit! Fuck, Sophie! That fucking hurts! Stop!"

I release his skin that was between my fingertips and I grin smugly. "If I were you I would shut up." Alex comments.

"Yeah, yeah." He responds walking ahead of us as I giggle at the red mark on his arm where I had pinched him.

When we finally reach our rooms, Alex doesn't even spare me a glance before he follows Martin into their room. I frown. Did he forget that we had nearly kissed a few minutes ago? Or was that just a hallucination?

I shake my head and make my way into my room where I can hear a long line of complaints spilling from Rachel's room.

I walk to her room and see her staring at her reflection which looks more like a zombie staring back at her.

I knock on the door and she jumps as she turns around.
"You look amazing!" I gush sarcastically. She rolls her eyes and turns back to the mirror. "Hardy har har. My mom is going to kill me if I come home looking like a corpse." She grumbles, putting a spoon under her eye covering the blue bags.

I laugh, and walk to her bedside table, "You really think that using a spoon that was in the freezer is gonna help you get rid of those bags?" She freezes, the spoon still under her eye, "Well I read it helps." I shake my head. I pull the spoon out of her grip and she moans at me.

"I'll be right back." I say to her and she sighs but doesn't argue further. When I return to her, I hand her a bottle of cream. "Here, use this. It's meant to help with bags so it actually works."
She frowns at the bottle, "Why do you have this? You don't suffer from bags."

I give her a sad smile, "Hangovers used to be a usual for me." It's true. Being in the Elite meant parties, parties meant alcohol and alcohol meant hangovers. If I went home looking the way I did half the time I had those hangovers, my mom would've being livid.

She nods in understanding and looks at herself in the mirror before her face pales considerably and I frown. "Rachel-" Before I can finish, she bolts out for the bathroom. I hear a horrible retching sound and I run to the bathroom after her. Pulling her hair back for her as I rub comforting circles on her back, she continues to vomit into the toilet while sitting on her knees.

Although the sound makes me start to feel a little queasy, I continue to sit with her until the last bit is out of her system. When she sits up, she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and gives me a grateful smile. Her blue eyes are stark against her pale skin and golden hair and even though she looks shit right now, I can understand why Cole is so fond of her. She's definitely beautiful in a very unique way.

She runs a hand through her greasy hair. "So... are you gonna tell me about what went down between you and Alex?"
I chuckle at her curiosity despite the situation and shake my head.
"Clean yourself up first and then I'll spill. Deal?"
She nods enthusiastically

"Deal."

****

The sun bakes my face and I wipe a hand across my forehead, wiping away the sweat. I pull the hairband off of my wrist and throw my hair into a messy bun just as Rachel groans from the backseat. "Remind me to never get drunk again." I laugh at her and she scowls at me. If there's one thing I've discovered it's that a hungover Rachel is a grumpy Rachel.

When we pull up outside her house, she pulls her bag out of the car and bids me a goodbye before
walking lazily to the porch of her very modern, two-story home.

As soon as we arrived at Alex's house after a very silent ride, everyone climbed in their cars and went home, trying to recover from their hangovers. However, Alex had to drop me and Rachel at home which lead to this very moment.

A silence falls between Alex and I and I enjoy the breeze that comes in through our open windows. I breath in the fresh air and sigh contently as 'Don't You Worry Child' by Swedish House Mafia starts to play on the radio. Alex leans over and turns it up slightly louder before leaning back in his chair casually. It's then that I notice how effortlessly he drives; with one hand on the steering wheel and the other leant against his car door, it's as if he's enjoying a Sunday cruise.

He sings softly to himself and bops his head to the beat, his head flopping onto his forehead and my fingers itch to push it back. My gaze goes over every one of his features once again. My eyes eventually settle on the scarring cut he has on his face from the day he told me he beat someone up at a club. I should still ask Martin about that. Hopefully he'd tell me.

When I zone back in, Alex is staring back at me with an amused look on his face. I immediately turn my head to see outside the window and I feel my cheeks burn furiously.

I start to softly hum the song in the radio as does Alex and as the seconds pass we get louder and louder before we're both belting out the song at the top of our lungs while laughing in between.
When the bass drops and we reach a red light, Alex pretends to play the drums while shaking his head vigorously. I laugh loudly and as the song comes to end, we both look at each other breathlessly until we burst into hysterics.

Alex's eyes crinkle at the edges as he cluthes his stomach and I find myself grinning wider. When we finally sober up, we lapse back into a comfortable silence and I relish in it. Before Alex, I never knew how comfortable silence could be. Sometimes that's all you need; to sit with someone. Not necessarily say anything but just be in their company.

When we finally pull up outside of my house, Alex stops the car but neither of us make an attempt to get out. I tear my gaze away from my house and look at Alex who is already looking at me.

"Thank you for such an amazing week, Alex. I had a lot of fun." I break the silence. He smiles at me and laughs. "I had a lot of fun too. I'm glad you could make it."
I grin at him before opening the door and climbing out, Alex close behind. When he opens the boot to the car, he pulls my bag out and hands it to me.

"Thanks." I mumble. He closes the boot of the car and we both start walking towards my porch.
"You have a lot of parking space." Alex comments while eyeing our property. I nod but a thought suddenly hits me.

"That reminds me, when exactly am I getting my car back?" I ask sheepishly. Alex chuckles, "Oh, yeah. It's being done for a while now but since we were away, I didn't get a chance to go collect it. But I'll bring it through tomorrow." He says as we reach my front door.

A tad of disappointment hits me now that I realise I will have to drive myself to and from school everyday instead of going with Alex. 

"Thank yo-" Just as I'm about to thank him once more for fixing up my car, the front door is pulled open revealing my mom in a pair of jeans and a cute white button up shirt.

"Sophie, baby!" She gushes pulling me into a tight hug making me drop my suitcase. Her smell surrounds me and I sigh contently. Her hair that is in a bun has a few stray pieces sticking out which tickles my nose. When she pulls back, she studies my face and grins. Goodness, have I missed her.

"I've missed you so much." She says. I laugh, "Wow mom, it's only being a week." I tease. She rolls her eyes at my remark before looking at Alex and smiling happily at him.

"Hello Alex, how are you?" She asks. He grins politely at my mom. "Well thanks and yourself Emily?"

"Good thanks, honey." She looks between Alex and I, "You going to join us for dinner?" My mom asks Alex and he shakes his head.
"Sorry, no can do Miss Cooper." He declines politely. "I think my mom would like me home too."
My mom laughs, "Alright then. Well, thank you for looking after Sophie and bringing her home safely."

"No problem. Thank you for letting her come, I enjoyed spending time with her." Alex looks at me briefly and I blush at his comment before smiling.
"Enjoy your evening, Emily." He says before turning to me and looking at me with a strange emotion in his eyes.

"I'll message you but thanks for coming Soph, I had a blast."
He takes a step forward, his eyes looking between both of mine before pausing and moving back. "Bye."

He turns around and walks back down the porch to his car with his hands in his pockets.

"Bye," I say softly, watching his car reverse. As me and my mom make our way inside I can't help but feel that maybe it's a little more riskier spending time with Alex while I have feelings for him than I thought, because with every second he looks at me, I fall a little harder.

And one can only hope that'll he'll catch me when I reach the bottom.

Don't be a silent reader!

We're nearly at 2K! :)))))))

Quick Q: What was your favorite part of this whole chapter?

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top