December 15th, 2007

I stared down at the gift I held in my hands, letting out a breath once I finally got it wrapped. I never could wrap anything, even if it was as small as Dallas’s birthday present…

It was Dallas’s birthday, and he was now eighteen. I couldn’t help but frown at the thought, since he was growing older and older than me by the day. He was a legal adult now, and I was still pretty much just a little kid. That was all he saw in me anyway…

“Hey, Jordy!” the aforementioned boy called out as he burst through my door, causing me to throw his present under my pillow so he wouldn’t see it. Hadn’t he ever heard of knocking before? Apparently not! “Come on, we’re going to the store!”

I couldn’t help but make a face. “Why?”

Dallas grinned, winking at me. “You’ll see.”

I hated when he did that. It made me feel special, which I knew I wasn’t. He probably did that to Trinity ten times more than he did to me… Even though I knew him longer. But even though I had known him all my life and for most of his, he still chose a girl he had only known for a few years.

Trinity was blonde, leggy, chesty, curvy, and pretty much everything else a Barbie doll was. It wasn’t a big surprise that Dallas liked her… And it wasn’t a big surprise she liked Dallas. He was basically a Ken doll as well… I wasn’t about to admit out loud that they looked perfect together.

I followed Dallas out of my room, forgetting about his gift that continued to lie under my pillow. I’d give it to him later that day… It was going to be his birthday for the whole day.

I hopped into the back of the car, Austin in the driver’s seat and Dallas in the passenger’s. I didn’t get why they had me come along with them to the store when they could have easily gone alone, but I knew not to question them. It wasn’t like I didn’t trust them or anything…

As Austin started to drive, I couldn’t help but steal glances at Dallas as he spoke to my brother about something. He was eighteen. He was an adult now. The boy I had loved ever since before I could remember was an adult and I was just a kid.

I bit the inside of my lip when I realized what I had just thought. Loved? I knew that I liked him, but did I know how to love at only fourteen? As I continued to steal glances at my best friend, I believed that I did.

It was a scary thought, but an exciting one as well. To think that I really loved Dallas…

I couldn’t wait to tell the girls.

“It’s going to be the party of the century, man,” Dallas grinned at my brother as he continued to lean back in the passenger’s seat. I sat in the middle like I always did, listening to the two of them talk and occasionally include myself when I wanted to. “No parental supervision either.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at him. He always loved going to parties, but I only found them troublesome. Loud music, drunk teenagers, and who knew what else…

“When is this party?” I couldn’t help but ask, curious as the two boys continued to talk about it as we drove to the store.

Dallas looked back and grinned at me. “Tonight.”

I blinked at him. “Tonight?” I practically squawked, not believing what he was telling me. He was going to a crazy party on his birthday? Didn’t his parents want to be with him or something? “How are you going to a party tonight when it’s your birthday?”

Both Austin and Dallas started laughing. I couldn’t help but feel stupid, even though I didn’t even know why. “Relax, Jordy,” Dallas grinned, still turned back so he was looking right at me. “It’s my birthday party.”

“But… but…” I sputtered, still looking like a complete idiot. “What about your parents?”

“They understood that I wanted to spend the day with my friends,” he shrugged, turning back around so he was facing the front again. “They said they’d celebrate with me next week, with your family as well.”

I felt myself smile a little when I heard I was going to be included in whatever Dallas was going to do with his family. It made me feel like I was a part of his family…

“But where are you throwing the party?” I asked now, leaning back in my seat and crossing my leg over the other. “I know there’s no way your parents would let you throw a wild party, even if you are eighteen now.”

Austin glanced back at me sheepishly. “Well, Mom and Dad are away for the weekend…”

“You have got to be kidding me!”

Dallas grinned at my brother. “I knew she wasn’t going to take it well.”

“You can’t throw a party at our house!” I cried, not really knowing what to say anymore. “You’re going to trash the place! And then you’re going to get all of us in trouble! And I am not getting in trouble!”

“Of course the only thing Jordy cares about is getting in trouble,” Dallas smirked, and I felt my whole face turning red. I didn’t know if it was out of embarrassment or because I was angry, but I didn’t really care very much right then. They were not going to throw a party at my house!

“You won’t get in trouble,” Austin informed me quickly before I could explode and yell at them even more. “Actually, you’re going to be staying up in your room for the entire party…”

Boom! “What?” I exploded, my hands balling into my fists. He had to be kidding me! “You expect me to just sit in my room when you’re all partying downstairs? No way! It’s not like I can sleep or anything because of all the noise that’s going to go on downstairs!”

“And I knew she wasn’t going to take that well either,” Dallas sighed, placing both of his hands behind his head.

“Of course I wouldn’t!”

Austin shook his head, not even turning to look back at me. “Jordan, you’re fourteen-years-old. You’re too young to go to a party like this. There’s going to be alcohol, and I don’t want you around any drunk guys.”

I made a face. “It’s not like I’m going to drink,” I defended, but I knew there was no way I’d win against Austin. “You’re sixteen! I’m sure everyone there will be at least seventeen!”

Austin rolled his eyes. “I’m not planning on drinking,” he told me, and I heard Dallas snort. “And I know most of the people that are going to be there. You don’t even go to our school, Jordan.”

“Well, I’m drinking,” Dallas nodded, and I couldn’t help but scowl at him. “You shouldn’t trust me around Jordy when I’m drunk. Inappropriate things could happen.”

I knew Austin would have hit him if he wasn’t driving, but I had the liberty of doing it for him this time. I wasn’t in the mood to be teased, and I knew Dallas couldn’t see that.

“Anyway, did you invite everyone I told you to invite yesterday?” Dallas asked Austin after a few moments of silence. “It’ll be a pain in the ass if you didn’t.”

“I did, I did,” my brother assured with a wave of his hand, and I couldn’t help but feel more and more aggravated with every word they said. “Wade, Nina, Jade, Gary, Hunter, Kaitlin, Sara…”

As he continued with the names when we got to a stop light, I turned toward the window and looked out. I couldn’t believe they were actually going to throw a party at my house and I was going to have to stay locked upstairs. It wasn’t fair!

My eyes narrowed when I saw who was standing at the crosswalk, and his mouth curled into a smirk when he saw me. Jesse was with a few of his friends, but he had stopped when he had seen me in the car. He then glanced to the front and saw Dallas, and his smirk disappeared for a moment before he looked back over at me.

He waved as the light turned green and we drove by, and I couldn’t help but make a face. The only good thing about this stupid party was that I was going to be away from Jesse Jacobsen.

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Austin and Dallas sure had some nerve.

I wasn’t even invited to this stupid party that was being held at my house, but they still had me help them set up. Not only that, but I did most of the work! They were going too far now… I’d find a way to get my revenge. As soon as I found a way to get revenge on Jesse…

The first person to arrive was Trinity. I smiled and greeted her as nicely as I could, but I really wanted to slam the door in her face when I opened it and saw it was her. She hadn’t ever been mean to me, but going out with Dallas was enough for me to hate her.

“Hi, Jordan!” she smiled brightly at me, walking right passed me and into my home without me even saying she could enter. What guts… “I haven’t seen you in a while! I forget sometimes that you don’t go to the same school as Austin, Dallas, and me!”

You probably forget a lot of things, you stupid blonde, I couldn’t help but think bitterly, even though I couldn’t to smile at her as if there wasn’t anything wrong at all.

“Hah,” I forced out, not knowing what else I was supposed to say. Where they hell were Austin and Dallas? I’d like them to take this stupid blonde off my hands… “Yeah. I forget that I don’t go to the same school as you guys, too.”

Help me.

“Hey, Trin,” a new voice said now, and I didn’t know if I was supposed to be happy or sad. I was no longer alone with Trinity, but… “I’m glad you got here early.”

Dallas wrapped his girlfriend in his arms, kissing her deeply right in front of me. I bit my lip to stop myself from making a face, turning away from the two of them and making my way into the kitchen before either of them could stop to try to talk to me.

I felt my heart sinking, and I wanted nothing more than for Trinity to be out of my house. She was never going to be good enough for Dallas.

“Trinity’s here, huh?” Austin asked me as I sulked into the kitchen. When I didn’t answer him, he took it as a yes. “You shouldn’t be upset, Jordan.”

“You’ve told me that before,” I informed me morosely, sitting on a stool and placing my elbows on the kitchen island. “You can tell me that a thousand times more, but you know I’m not going to listen. I can’t help the way I feel about him, Austin.”

My brother sighed. “I know, Jordan. I know.”

“Hey, Hunter’s here!” I heard Dallas shout from the living room, and I couldn’t help but feel my heart sink even more. Guests were starting to arrive, which meant…

“You should go up to your room,” Austin told me, patting me on the shoulder now. I saw that coming… “You should bring snacks and water up there. I don’t think you can come back out until tomorrow morning.”

Dallas made his way into the kitchen now, so I knew that Trinity and Hunter were probably in the living room waiting for him. He grabbed a bowl and a bag of chips, pouring them into the giant bowl.

“I really hate all of you for this,” I snapped, grabbing two water bottles and another bag of chips angrily. Austin stared at me in surprise, obviously not expecting this to come from my mouth. I didn’t really expect it either, but I didn’t remove the hard look from my face.

“Wow, Jordy,” Dallas frowned, feigning that he was hurt and angering me even more. “Such harsh words for a little girl.”

That was what made me snap. Not the fact that I couldn’t go to his party, not the fact that his beautiful girlfriend was outside, but the fact that I was just a little girl. I was just a little girl to him, and I always would be.

“I’m not a little girl,” I spat, throwing the bag of chips back on the island along with the water bottles. Austin looked away from Dallas and me, knowing that this was going to happen sooner or later. Dallas looked at me in surprise much like Austin had earlier, and I knew he didn’t expect me to act this seriously. “I may be fourteen and younger than you, but that doesn’t make me a little girl. I’m not little! Stop treating me like I’m just a stupid kid for once in your life, you jerk!”

I didn’t let him say anything to me, because I had shot past him as quickly as possible. I wasn’t about to let an idiot like that see me cry over something that wasn’t even important.

I hated that I had to go through the living room to get up the stairs, which meant passing Trinity and Hunter, who I was sure had heard my outburst. I just had to get past them…

When I bashed into something hard, I bit my tongue to stop myself from swearing. Why did everything have to go bad for me? When I looked at what I had run into, my teary eyes widened when I saw that it was a chest. I was actually hoping that it would have been Trinity, but there was no way Dallas would have been going out with her if her chest looked like that.

I quickly ducked away from the chest that I knew belonged to Hunter, and I jumped up the steps two at a time. I heard Trinity call after me, but there was no way in hell I was about to stop for her.

I thought someone would come up to talk to me, but no one did. Dallas was probably too busy laughing it off and hanging out with Trinity, and I knew Austin knew that I just wanted to be alone.

I couldn’t believe that I had just shouted at Dallas like that, especially when there were guests in the house. Now that the party was starting to pick up, I knew that what I had said was in the back of Dallas’s mind now. He was probably so wasted that he didn’t even remember who I was…

Scrubbing at my eyes, I flipped through the channels on TV. Of course on the one night I had nothing to do, there was absolutely nothing on.

I was really starting to hate every song that came out in the year of 2007. The stupid music was driving me insane! I couldn’t even sleep because it was so loud that it’d shake my bed!

I was going to kill Austin and Dallas. I didn’t even care if it was his birthday! How inconsiderate could both of them be? How could they just stick me up here like I was an extra decoration that they didn’t use or something? They’d be lucky if I didn’t tell my parents!

When my door burst open for the third time that night, I didn’t jump like I had the first two times. I just snapped at the couple that bounded inside, obviously looking for a place to do something that I didn’t want to think about. I really hoped my parent’s room was locked…

When it burst open the fourth time, I practically growled at the next couple. Seriously! If they wanted to go off and do something, they should just go out to their cars or even the front lawn! I wouldn’t care then!

“Sorry,” the girl giggled drunkenly, and I could only stare at her flatly. “We didn’t know this room was already taken. Do you know anywhere else we could go?”

Yeah, the hotel down the street.

“No,” I answered through clenched teeth instead, shaking my head as the couple shut my door. This was ridiculous! I lived in such a big house, and this was the room that a bunch of couples wanted to be in. It had to have been because it was the closest to the stairs…

I would have gone on the computer, but the music was so loud that it would drown out whatever I’d try to listen to. I frowned at the thought of music, and I looked over at my pillow. Dallas’s present was still under there, but I knew that it wasn’t the best time to give it to him. He was probably drunk out of his mind…

When the door opened for the fifth time, I was ready to throw one of my old stuffed animals at whoever was at the door. But my eyes widened when I heard the familiar annoying giggle and the even more familiar chuckle.

When the two of them saw me, they finally stopped making out. I bit my lip to hold back tears, and I was going to yell at them to get out of my room until I was cut off.

“Trinity,” Dallas started, turning toward his girlfriend as he leaned against my door. He was slurring, and he could barely even stand up, so I knew that he was definitely wasted. And by the way Trinity was acting, I knew she was as well. “Go back downstairs, okay? I need to talk to Jordy for a little bit.”

She giggled and nodded, kissing her boyfriend sloppily before making her way back down the stairs. I was holding my breath, and I didn’t know if it was because I was trying not to yell at Dallas or I didn’t want to smell all the alcohol he had been drinking.

He shut the door behind him, only making the music a tiny bit quieter. He slowly made his way over to me, plopping down on my bed next to me. I finally let out the breath I had been holding so I wouldn’t pass out, and I couldn’t help but make a face when I smelled alcohol. Jeez, Dallas…

“Are you still angry at me?” he asked, leaning even closer to me. I leaned away from him, only causing me to run into my headboard. Great… “I didn’t mean to make you mad, Jordy. Honest.”

“Of course you didn’t,” I snapped, still trying my best to move away from him. “You never seem to mean to get me angry, and yet you still tease me like crazy. I don’t get why you always act like this, Dallas! You don’t even see that your teasing really bothers me!”

There was no point in saying this to him. He probably didn’t even understand what I was saying, and there was no way he was going to remember this in the morning.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized after a few moments of silence, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around my shoulders. “I’m really sorry, Jordy. Can’t you forgive me? Come on, I’m your best friend. You have to forgive me! I don’t think I can go on if you don’t forgive me!”

I tried my best to push him off, but he was just too heavy. “Get off me, Dallas.”

He did as he was told, removing his arms from around my shoulders. But now he moved his hands up, cupping both of my cheeks. My whole face burned, and I didn’t expect him to do this. He hadn’t ever done anything even remotely like it before…

“I love you, Jordy.”

I stared at him, my eyes going wide as his weight continued to almost crush me. There was no way he had just said what I thought he had said… Dallas didn’t feel that way about me! He was just drunk…

He leaned forward, but I quickly turned my head away so his lips hit my cheek. He didn’t know what he was saying. He probably thought I was Trinity or something…

“Kiss me.”

I shook my head, refusing to look back at him. I wasn’t going to kiss him and get my hopes up! I couldn’t listen to anything he said when he was drunk like this…

When I felt something warm and soft brush against my lips, my eyes widened even more. No! I tried to push Dallas off of me, but he wouldn’t move away. I had been waiting all my life for him to kiss me, but now that he was, it crushed me to think it meant absolutely nothing.

“Dallas, stop it!” I cried, turns burning my eyes as his lips traveled down my jaw and onto my neck. “Dallas, stop it now!”

But he didn’t. He continued to kiss up and down my neck, and I wasn’t going to admit that I loved the feeling. I couldn’t enjoy this! It meant the world to me, but absolutely nothing to him!

By now, tears were pouring down my face. “Dallas, please, stop it!”

At the sound of my plea, he removed his lips from my skin. His brown eyes bore into mine, and he stared at me for a second, as if to make sure I was really there.

“Jordy…” he breathed, still staring at me. He reached up, brushing away the tears that traveled down my left cheek. “Why are you crying?”

I bit my lip to stop myself from continuing, and I only shook my head and leaned forward, wrapping my arms around his neck and just holding him. There was no way I was ever going to do this when he was sober, so I had to take the opportunity while I had it.

“I love you,” I whispered though my tears, knowing that he wasn’t going to remember this in the morning. “That’s why I’m crying.”

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I almost started crying at the end of this chapter. :/ Man, I'm such a weird person. I just felt so bad for Jordan...

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