Chapter Twenty-Four

“And then, the Wolf appeared behind him and boom!” we all jumped, “bit the man’s head off!” Jordan finished and I grimaced.

“I thought you said the monster was a vampire,” Nadia frowned and we all came to the realization she was right.

Jordan laughed nervously, “Well… it was a… vampirish wolf?”

“You suck, man.” Shane shook his head, chuckling. Well, Jordan was good at making jokes but he sucked at story-telling. We were sitting on chunks of wood, circling a bonfire in the woods.

“You didn’t even scare Jason,” Helen chimed in, pointing my best friend who was sitting next to me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jason sounded offended.

Helen shrugged, “You’re a chicken and we all know it.”

“Uhhh,” Shane teased, “Helen: one, Jason: zero!”

Jason looked dumbfounded. It seemed like he couldn’t believe Helen was messing with him. I really liked the way she was acting. She’d been ignoring Jason for a couple days, just giving him nasty remarks and such. In my opinion, he deserved it. Helen had been after him for so long, taking everything from him, even his indecision. It was time for her to man up and make him realize what he was losing.

Jason glared at Helen openly but there was something more in his eyes. Was that anger or lust? Or angry lust? I had no idea.

Lau, Jordan and Shane sat across us. Nadia at one side and Nash at the other to complete the circle. Cold wind blew upon us and I shivered. I was starting to think going out here wasn’t the best idea.

Chatting with my friends and hearing Jordan’s ridiculous scary stories had kept my mind off things but as soon as he finished his story and everyone started talking around and laughing, my thoughts were back on him.

Evan.

I was angry at him, heck, I was furious. I’d managed not to let it show to my friends but my anger was there within me, palpitating. The thought of him and Jane alone in the cabin left a bitter taste in my mouth. I clenched my fists at my sides. Why? How could he do this to me? My birthday was merely one hour away since it was already past ten. I realized I was not only angry, I was sad. He hadn’t forgiven me about the Shane incident. I’d thought we were over that but I was wrong. Why did he come back to me if he hadn’t forgiven me? That wasn’t fair for neither of us. I understood him, I truly did. I understood his jealousy and his anger. However, my mistakes didn’t justify his hurting words.

Was this how everything was going to be with him? Every time he was angry, he would lash out and hurt me? Evan’s cold side was something I wouldn’t get used to. There was so much I could take. I loved him more than anything but that didn’t mean I would stand and take it every time he wanted to hurt me. I wasn’t strong enough to cope with that.

Well, maybe I'll kiss Jane out pity. That's trending nowadays, isn't it?

My heart ached as I remembered his words. How could he say that? Would he do it? Would he kiss her to get even? I let out a long breath, trying not to picture the scene inside my head. There was also that text from the unknown person. Was Evan lying about Jane? Did they have something going on?

“Hello? Are you in there?” Nadia shook a plastic glass in front of me.

“Yeah,” I pretended a smile and I realized everyone was staring at me.

“Where were you? That was one, long space out,” Jason commented next to me.

“I was just thinking about how cool this place is,” I lied for the sake of them. They had planned this for me, for me to enjoy and not sniffle around for Evan.   

“I know,” Jason agreed.

“Have a shot,” Nadia encouraged, holding the plastic glass for me.

I grasped it carefully, “What is this?”

“Rum,” Shane replied.

I sniffed on the glass and winced, “That’s one strong smell,”

“It’ll keep you warm,” Nadia said to convince me. I remembered the last time I had tasted alcohol in that bar with Mike and Linda. It tasted awful. I remembered Evan’s scolding about me drinking.

Out of vengeance, I took one long gulp of rum. The warm liquid burn down my throat and I instantly coughed, causing everyone to laugh.

I passed the glass to Jason, “I’m so not having more of that,”

Shane coughed in his hand, “Light weighted,” I looked at him to find him grinning defiantly at me.

I cocked an eyebrow, “What did you just call me?”

Shane rubbed his chin, placing his elbows on his knees, “Light weighted.”

“Uhhh,” Jordan whispered, “Shane: One, Jules: Zero.” I gave Shane a killer look.

He smirked at me, showing his perfect straight teeth. That smirk that had probably earned him girls without saying a word, “Can you see that hate in her eyes?” he asked Jordan, “That’s pure passion right there.”

I huffed, “You’re blind. Maybe you’re drunk already. After all, getting drunk is not hard for you as we’ve previously witnessed, right guys?” they all nodded their heads, I coughed into my hand, “Light weight.”

Jordan gave his thumb up, “Nice shot! It’s a tie, ladies and gentleman.”

Shane narrowed his eyes at me, “Don’t start something you cannot finish, Jones.” He dragged out my last name.

I shrugged, “I’m not afraid of you, Mason.” I did the same with his last name and smirked. We stared into each other’s eyes and everyone remained in silence.

“Alright,” Lau clapped her hands, “That’s enough!” I was about to protest when Lau gestured me Helen. Oh crap! Helen was there, and she knew what had happened between Shane and me. I so didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.

In need of something to change the subject, I said, “Where is that rum?”

6 and half shots of rum later.

“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, little raccoon. Happy birthday to you!” we all sang our lungs out in the middle of the night. There was a small raccoon in the middle of us. Yes, we just sang happy birthday to a raccoon.

Yes, we were probably drunk.

It was past one and after singing me happy birthday ten times, we decided to include the raccoon in the celebration. Whose idea was that? Yep, it was mine. Was I the light weigh in the group? No, I wasn’t. Who beat me to it?

Nash Sullivan.

He was currently sleeping on a bunch of leaves, hugging a chunk of wood. My nerdy friend didn’t really tolerate alcohol and even though he refused to drink at the beginning, we managed to convince him. Trust me, we could be very convincing when we were tipsy.

“Yohoo! Long live to the raccoon!” Jason shouted, raising the bottle of rum in the air. The plastic glass was long lost and we were drinking directly from the bottle. It was our third bottle or four… I didn’t remember. My head kept spinning, my hands were sweaty and for some reason, my mouth was dry. I looked around and laughed as I watched the scene in front of me.

Jordan was drawing something for Lau on the ground. Lau was sitting next to him, crossed-legs trying to stay awake. Nash was snuggling to the chunk of wood. Nadia was talking to herself. Shane was checking out his abs, messily counting them with his index finger. Jason was poking Nash with a stick and holding the bottle to his chest and Helen was staring lovingly at him.  

“Jules! Come here!” Shane called me and touched a spot next to him on the chunk of wood. Carefully, I walked to him and joined him.

“What is it?” I slurred the last word out. Shane’s hazel eyes gleamed with longing. He licked his lips.

“Can you help me count?”

I frowned, “Count what?”

He bent backwards, pulling his t-shirt up, “My abs,”

In other circumstances, I’d probably bed blushing red and running away but due to the alcohol in my system, I just snickered, “You’re in college and you haven’t learnt how to count, huh?”

He shrugged, “I’m not as hell. Smart, not so much.”

“Sure, sure, let’s see,” I let my hand touch his stomach, it was hard and hot. I could feel every single muscle beneath. Shane stopped breathing and I bit my lower lip, “It’s…” I swallowed.

“Yeah?” Shane stared down at me with hooded eyes. His jeans were low on hips eyes and I could see the V on his lower abdomen. I was suddenly curious to see more of him.

What is it with alcohol and making people perverts?

However, I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes twice. I wouldn’t hurt Evan again even when he had hurt me.

I retreated my hand, it felt cold, “You’re the owner of a six pack,” I informed, relaxing.

“Are you sure?” he held my hand, his voice had dropped an once, “You should count again,” he was too close.

I released my hand from his, “I am sure, sir.”

Shane smirked at me, “Prude,”

“Jerkpid,”

“Call me a masochist but I love when you call me that,” he gave me a genuine smile and I returned it.

“That’s because my nicknames are awesome,” I said arrogantly.

Shane gazed at me, “Nah, you’re awesome.”

“Shane,” I reprehended.

“Right. Right. No funny comments about my feelings for you,” he made a gesture to seal his lips. I gave him a grateful smile.

Evan…

He was still with Jane. A part of me expected him to show up and wished me a happy birthday but that never happened. And after the fifth shot of rum, I stopped hoping for anything and enjoyed my time with my friends.

Jane… Jane…

The thought of her made my stomach twist with uneasiness. There was something about her. 

Shane stared at the bonfire, “Shane?”

“Huh?” he looked at me.

“Can I ask you something?”

“I don’t know where the raccoon went. I was wondering the same thing,” he replied quickly.

I snickered, “No, it’s not about that.” He made me a gesture to continue, “You slept with Jane, right?” he nodded, “What do you know about her?”

Shane scratched his head, “She’s one horny bitch.” I gulped at his blunt way of saying things, “Even though it was her first time, she wanted to do it all day. She kept calling me and looking for me everywhere to have sex. It was crazy as fuck.”

I scowled at him, “But isn’t that what guys want? To have sex all day?”

“Nah, women think that’s all we care about but that’s not true.” I smiled at his way of admitting he actually had feelings, “the girl was hot but to be honest, I think she’s not right in the head. Something’s wrong with her.”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought she was after me because she liked the way we did it and I understood that, but then,” he paused, “I found out she banged another guy from the team and she was after him the same way she was after me when we did it. It’s like her way of acting or something.”

“She wanted to do it all day with him, too?”

“Yep,”

“She was like a… sex addict?”

Shane nodded, “Exactly. Crazy addicted to sex and believe me, guys like sex but we don’t like crazy.”

Great. My boyfriend has been alone for the past five hours with a possible sex addict.

“I need a shot,” I stood up, and looked for Jason since he was the last one to have the bottle. However, my dear best friend was nowhere to be found and neither was Helen. Oh no…! I really hoped she didn’t surrender to him. She was doing such great job putting in his place.

I spotted the bottle next to Nash and guess what? Jordan was cuddling up at the other side of the chunk of wood. They looked so funny, hugging the same piece of wood. I had to take a picture.

I picked up the bottle and took a long gulp of rum. It didn’t bother me anymore or made me cough. My system was getting used to the alcohol.

“Shuuules!” Lau called out to me and I narrowed my eyes, scanning the place to find her right behind me. I jumped a little, “We need to pee.”

“What? I don-” I realized I did needed to pee, “Yep, let’s go.”

Lau intertwined our arms as we zigzagged our way through the woods to find a spot to pee.

“Wait,” she came to a halt, and turned me around to face her, “We… need to talk, don’t we?” she seemed unsure. I stared at her and for some reason, tears sprung to my eyes.

A'pparently, alcohol made me emotional.

“I…” my voice broke a little. She was my best friend, the girl I knew since I was in kinder garden, the girl who braided my hair when we were in school, the girl who picked me up from the floor when I fell down. She helped me in Math and was probably the reason I was going to graduate. She boosted my self-esteem when I couldn’t even look myself in the mirror. She sew Pedro (my panda bear) when I accidently pulled at it and tore it.

She had always been there no matter what and I felt terrible for everything I said to her the last time we talked.

She didn’t deserve that. Our life-time friendship deserved so much more.

“I’m sorry.” I had never been more sorry before in my life, “I’m really sorry, Lau.” Lau’s eyes filled with tears.

“It’s okay. I shouldn’t…” her voice broke, “I swear to God, I only want what’s best for you.”

“I know.”

“I was just trying to help you, Jules. I would never take anyone’s side against yours. You’re like my sister and you know that,” her voice croaked and a tear rolled down my cheek.

“I never meant to say those words to hurt you,” I whispered.

“I know. You’re just stubborn as f-ck. You got that from your mother.” She gave me a sad smile.

“Thank you for being the sister I’ve always wanted to have,” I said honestly, “And you were right about everything. I was just being stupid.”

“Hug?” she extended her hands towards me and I was soon hugging her so tightly she couldn’t probably breathe.

“I love you so much, Lau.”

“I love you, too, silly rabbit,” I smiled at her nickname. She used to call me that when we were kids.

We pulled away, “No more fighting?” we intertwined our pinkies.

“No more fighting.”

After fixing things, we kept our way to find our spot. We found a clearing and we did our business in the woods. It felt awesome to pee after holding in it for a while. TMI, huh?

We were zipping our jeans when we heard it. There was a strange noise coming from our right. Lau and I glued to each other.

“What was that?” I asked in a low voice.

“I have no idea.” Lau replied. For some reason, Jordan’s story about the vampirish wolf came to mind.

“It is the vamp-wolf,” I whispered scared.

Lau frowned, “The what?”

“Jordan’s story, remember?”

Lau seemed to scratch her mind for the memory but the alcohol didn’t help her, “He told like ten crappy stories. I stopped listening at the third or something.”

I rolled my eyes, “Forget it.” I pulled at her arm to walk away.

“No, tell me!” she demanded, “If we’re about to be eaten by something. I need to know what it is.”

I pulled at her ear like a kid, “Just forget it.” We started to move when we heard what it sounded like someone whining or in pain.

“Jules, we need to investigate. What if someone is hurt?”

I sighed defeated, “Fine. If we die, it’s on you.”

“We’re not dying.” She took the two steps towards the direction of the noise. Reluctantly, I followed her. As we moved forward, the noise grew louder.

“I can’t believe you believed in Jordan’s stories,” Lau said, “Not even Jason got scared. You’re such a chicken,”

I huffed, “No, I’m not.”

“Denial, so classy. How can you believe in that vamp-wolf thing, it’s like-Oh God!” she stopped and I crashed into her back.

“Ow! My nose!” I whimpered, holding my nose.

“Jules,” Lau called out and I looked over her shoulder. I dropped my hand in shock.

Jason had Helen against a tree, pounding desperately into her. I could only stared wide-eyed as the blood rushed to my cheeks. Helen had her legs wrapped around his hips, her eyes closed and her moans growing louder. Jason’s pants pooled at his ankles.      

This is definitely the most awkward moment of my life.

Basically running away from the live p0rno, we were back at the bonfire. We placed our hands on our knees catching out breaths.

“That was…” I started.

“Awkward.”

“Hot.” We said at the same time.

“Hot?” I asked her.

She nodded, “Yep, it was like watching live p0rno.”

I chuckled, “You need help.”

We sat on the ground, leaning our backs against a chunk of wood. Lau fell asleep quickly after that. Shane was another fallen soldier, he was sleeping on the ground, using wood as pillow.

I was alone.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. It surprised me to see it on, its battery was low as hell. I smiled at the picture I took from Nash and Jordan hugging the same piece of wood but as I moved it to the next picture, there was a picture of the group in the cafeteria. Evan was hugging me from behind, smiling at the camera. I looked genuinely happy.

Sadness wormed its way in and made my heart ache. I wanted him to spend my birthday with me. I thought we would have such great time together. Instead, I was here on my own and he was alone in the cabin with a possible sex addict.   

I grasped the bottle and drank what was left of the alcohol, it wasn’t much but it was enough to make my head spin around some more.

Fighting tears, I texted Evan. I needed him to know how bad he made me feel.

You broke my heart tonight.

I sent it and stared at my phone, waiting for a miracle but it never came. His reply never came. I let the tears fall because I couldn’t hold them back anymore. He was probably having fun with Jane. More tears kept coming as I pictured them naked, rubbing against each other. Jane was an experienced girl maybe that was what Evan wanted.

He chose her over me tonight.

It pained me to think about it.

Through my blurred sight, I saw a shadow in front of me. I rubbed my eyes to see better and I stopped breathing.

Evan was there, wearing a black coat. His hair was messy as if he’d been tossing around the bed the entire night.

I got on my feet while we stared into each other’s eyes. His dark gaze was intense and heart-warming but as I walked closer, silent tears kept rolling down my already wet cheeks. A pained expression crossed his features.

Facing him, I tilted my head back to look at his face. He seemed cautious, waiting for me to say something but I said nothing and lowered my head. I took a step to the side and moved forward, until we were shoulder to shoulder facing the opposites directions. The cold wind blew upon us but it didn’t bother me. I was more concerned about my aching heart.

Evan was there, right there next to me. He finally decided to show up but it didn’t make me happy, not in the slightlest. I licked my lips, tasting my salty tears. I had waited for him the entire night. I had mentally begged for him to appear out of nowhere, to show up. It was my birthday and I had thought he would care about making me happy not his stupid pride. I had glanced at the woods path often, waiting for a sign of him but it never came.

He never came.

And now he was here. I should've been happy, excited, relieved but I wasn't. I grasped some courage not to let my voice break when I said the next words:

“It is too late.” I whispered sadly, “You’re too late.”

And with that I walked away from him.

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A/N: Kaboom! Long chapter to make up for the wait :D Can I get a hug? Yeah? No? Boo! Happy belated Valentine’s day! I hope you had a great time with your boyfriends/girlfriend and if you’re single, I hope you enjoyed it with your friends and if you don’t have friends, well, at least you got a super long chapter :) Not enough? Come on!

Anyways, have you ever thought about My wattpad love becoming a movie? That’d be awesome, right? Well, I created a petition on this site called Iflist.com and you can show support to the story there. It’s super easy and it takes you less than five minutes :) We’ve already had 2000 signatures but we need as much as possible to take the story to the top and get a producer’s attention. Here’s the link: list.com/stories/mywattpadlove

Support it because of the possibility of watching Shane’s abs, Evan’s cute arrogant face and Jules’ clueless expression on the screen.

Phew! Longest author note –insert British accent- evaaar!

Los amo a todos! (love you all)

Ariana.