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-Chapter Thirty Nine-

          “Hey! Jake, my man!”

          “Yo, Jake!”

          “Dude, what’s up? And who is this pretty lady you brought along?”

          “Jake, where have you been?”

          “Whoa, watch out! The Party King has arrived!!”

         So many comments were being passed around as Jake and I walked through the front door. Jake replied with some kind of ‘hey’ or a simple head nod in their direction. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze as we walked through the crowd.

          Suddenly, a girl blocked the pathway that was being made as people scattered away. “Oh my gosh, Jake! I haven’t seen you for so long!” she squealed. “Who’s your friend?” The girl gave me a bright smile.

          “Hey, Alyssa.” He let go of my hand to give the small girl a hug. I didn’t think he was going to take my hand in his again, but he did, and I gave a small smile. “And this is my girlfriend, Alex.”

          She gave him a confused look with her eyes, but still smiled anyways. He gave her a look back. It’s like they were having a conversation with their eyes.

          This is probably about me being Jake’s girlfriend after Audrey…

          “I’ve heard so much about you!” she chirped, giving me a hug. I replied by giving her a one-armed hug, my other hand still in Jake’s. “It’s nice to finally meet you!”

          “You too. Alyssa, right?”

          “Yep! That’s me!” Alyssa had curly brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Freckles were spread across her cheeks and nose. “Hey, I’ll be on the dance floor if you need me,” she called as she danced through the crowd in her blue party dress.

          “She seems nice,” I said to Jake.

          “On occasions,” he replied loudly, trying to talk over the music. “Come on, wanna dance?”

          “Sure!” I yelled back. “Come on!”

          Jake pulled me through the crowd. I almost accidentally let go of his hand due to everybody else dancing around us. All of the furniture in the large living room was either pushed up against the wall for people to sit down, or in another room.

          A fast song was playing, and Jake and I danced along to the beat for a while. I didn’t know what song it was, but right now I didn’t care. I was having fun.

          Suddenly, the music stopped, and Blake walked up to this platform like thing where there was a huge stereo with a DJ behind it. “Thanks, man. Can I say a few words?”

          The DJ nodded at him. “Go ahead. This is your party, isn’t it?”

          Blake smiled, taking a mic. “Hey, party peopleeee!!” He held the word out. “How are you enjoying yourselves tonight?”

          The crowd screamed in reply, and even one guy―probably already drunk―yelled, “Blake, I love you!”

          “We have a special guest tonight; does anybody know who that fine young man might be?” Blake said. “Here’s a hint: He finally decided to come out of hiding to join the party!”

          Everyone caught on and chanted “Party King, Party King!” I laughed and joined in.

          “Get ready, because the one and only Jake Carter is here tonight!” Blake yelled. “Come on up, man!”

          Jake gave my hand a squeeze, before letting go and walking up to where Blake was standing behind the DJ station. “Hey!” Jake said, taking the mic from Blake. “Are you guys ready to party?” The crowd cheered with enthusiasm. “Then let’s party!”

          I thought Jake’s next step was to surf the crowd or something crazy like that, but then he added, “And you might have noticed that I came here with someone.” He looked at me, holding my gaze for a little while. “Come here, Alex, and let me introduce you to everyone!”

          With my cheeks slightly tinted pink, I hesitantly walked up onto the platform next to Jake, realizing everyone’s eyes were on me. “Hey, everyone!” I said nervously. The crowd listened, as if they were waiting for me to speak some more. So, I did. “My name’s Alex.” Lame.

          “Dude, your girlfriend is so hot!” some guy in the front row yelled over the murmurs.

          “Keep your hands off, Phillip!” Jake replied back. Every person laughed. “Everyone, be nice to Alex. And don’t be like some guys.” He gave a playful glare to Phillip. “Alright, guys. Let’s have some fun!”

         How could Jake do this? He was so light-hearted and carefree. He said that he was on the same level as me―being nervous, and unsure and all that jazz―but then, he goes up onto stage and he seems like a whole different person. Sometimes, I wish I was able to hide my feeling as well as he could. He took my hand, gave me a soft smile, and we walked together down to the dance area. The music resumed.

          Somehow, I felt like we had just been given a reward for the ‘number one couple.’

          “Alex,” Jake said with his mouth close to my ear so I could hear him over the music.  His hot breath crept down my neck. “Wanna go into the kitchen? There’ll be less people in there.”

          I nodded. “Sure.” Because I didn’t know the way, I just followed him, making sure our hands were still interlocked.

          We entered the kitchen. Jake was right, this room was a lot quieter than the last, seeing as there was only one other person in here, and he was on his way out as we came in.

          Jake let my hand go and went to the fridge. When he opened it, I saw that it was filled with beers and a variety of sodas. I scrunched my nose up in distaste at the beer. I hate anything with alcohol in it. I don’t know how people drink it, really. The only time I have ever had it was when I was fifteen, and Danielle dared me to. I haven’t had it since, and honestly, I don’t think I ever want to again.

          “Want something to drink?” Jake asked as he scanned over the items in the fridge.

          “Anything without alcohol will be fine!”

          “There's only one more bottle of water, and some sodas,” he replied. "Which would you rather have?"

          “I’ll have a water bottle,” I told him, and pushed myself up onto the island’s counter top. Jake handed me a cold bottle of water and sat next to me with a can of soda in his hand.

          “You know what?” he asked.

           I unscrewed the cap on my drink and took a swig of it. “What?”

          “I just cannot get over the fact that you’re my girlfriend. And now I even get to show you off to my friends.”

          “Why can’t you? And yes, everyone gets to finally see how beautiful I am.” I gave him a smile, and he shoved my shoulder playfully, lightly laughing.

          “Because, I don’t know, you’re you?” He made that sound more like a question than a statement. “By the way, people don’t just randomly yell compliments from the crowd without a reason.” He smiled down at me.

          I forgot how much I loved to see him smile. I remember when I first saw him smile on Skype. That seems like ages ago now.

          “Do you remember the first time we actually saw each other?” I questioned, swinging my feet back and forth.

          He laughed. “Yes! How could I forget? Remember when we played truth or dare, and you had to scream in your parents’ room?”

           “Oh my gosh, yeah!” We shared a good laugh, clutching our stomachs. “Remember when you were dared to stick your head into the toilet?”

          “Yes! Lily still complains about me getting toilet water into her hair.”

          Chuckling, I replied. “I can’t blame her. That’s pretty gross.”

“I remember when I first saw you, and Lily smacked me for almost saying that you were hot.”

          A blush went up my neck, and tinted my cheeks. “And I remember falling for your million dollar smile. And thinking you looked like some kind of god.”

          “Oh, is that so? Some kind of god, you say?”

          “Yeah, yeah,” I laughed, “don’t get too cocky about it, now.”

          He let out a burst of laugher. “I won’t.”

          “Oh, well look who it is!” a female’s voice sounded from the entrance of the kitchen. She smiled at us. “Am I interrupting something?”

          “Oh, no. Nothing at all!” I chirped before Jake could squeeze in an answer.

          “Well, that’s good.” The tall, blonde headed girl walked effortlessly over to the fridge and grabbed a beer. How could she walk like a model in those five inch heels?  She looked at Jake with an innocent smile on her face. “I haven’t seen you in ages, Jake! How long has it been, three months or so?”

          “Something like that,” Jake said plainly.

          Giving him a flat look, she changed the subject. “Well, it looks like you haven’t introduced me to your pretty, new girlfriend yet.”

          Jake slid off the counter top, then helped me down. “Brittney, this is Alex. Alex, Brittney.”

          “It’s so nice to finally meet you.” We shook hands, and boy, did she have a tight grip. “I can already tell we’re going to be great friends.”

          I smiled at her. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

          “Well, if you all don’t mind, I’m going to go out and party!”

          “Bye!” I watched as she disappeared into the crowd. “She seems pretty nice. Are you two close?”

          “No, not really. She’s just a girl that goes to my school.”

          How do I know the name Brittney? And why do I think that she did something bad to Jake? Brittney, how do I know you?  I could tell that that was going to bother me for the rest of the night. What did she do that was so bad? I know I know, but I just remember.

          “Oh, okay.” I trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

          Just then, Danielle walked into the kitchen. “Hey, guys! Why are you all coped up in here? I’ve been looking for you! Get out there and party with the rest of us.”

          I smiled at her, and grabbed Jake’s hand. “Come on Jake. Want to go dance some more?”

          “As long as you’re with me, I wouldn’t mind.” I smiled at his words. We walked out back into the living room, following after Danielle, into the craziness.

          Jake and I began dancing. He put a smile on his face, but I knew that he was feeling emotional inside. I could see it in his eyes. I don’t know exactly what he was feeling. Maybe he was thinking of Audrey… Ugh, I know I should feel bad about the situation with her, but a little part of me just seems to hate her. It’s just that he seems to think of her so much―I can’t help but to get a little jealous.

          A slow song began to play. I was almost amazed at how fast something fast and loud could change to something so soft and mellow. I looked at Jake, and saw that he looked even sadder than just a few moments ago. I wrapped my arms around his neck, telling him that I wanted to dance to this; I really just wanted an excuse to talk to him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and we began swaying to the music.

          “What’s up?” I said to him in a soft tone. “You look sad.”

          “What do you mean?”

          “Jake. What’s going on?”

          Jake closed his eyes, inhaled a deep breath, and then opened them again. “I can’t do this. I need to go rest.” He backed away, releasing his grip on me. “I’ll be upstairs in Blake’s room if you need me.”

          “What’s wrong?”

          “I have a headache. I’ll see you later.” With that, he gave me a quick peck on the lips, and briskly walked out of my line of view, somewhere around a corner. I furrowed my eyebrows. What was that all about?

          Realizing I was standing like a dumb mannequin in the middle of the dance floor with people looking at me, I went off into the kitchen. A few other people that I didn’t know were in here―three girls, and two guys.

          I sat down at one of the bar stools, away from the five others. Why am I even here? It’s not like I’m really having fun anymore. My so called amazing boyfriend just ditched me, and I don’t even know where any of the people that I arrived with are; this house is so big that I don’t even know where I could start to look for them. The only other people here that I kind of know are Brent, Blake, Alyssa, and Brittney. But I hardly knew any of them!

          I propped my elbow up on the marble counter and rested my chin on my hand, pulling out my iPhone. A picture of Jake and I was set as my background. I smiled as I looked at us. I went to my photo gallery and began smiling like an idiot as I scanned through the pictures. I never really noticed how many pictures I take.

          “Aw that’s sweet,” a deep voice said right next to my ear just as I landed on a picture of me and Jake kissing. I jumped in fright with a high pitched shriek. Then, turning around, I saw that it was Brent who decided to scare the living daylights out of me. He was standing there, laughing at me. I glared at him with a frown on my face.

          “Oh, come on.” He sobered up, standing up straight. “You know you love me… Wait, then again, how could you not?”

          I laughed. “Shut up, Brent.”

          “What, I don’t even get a hug or anything? Just hate?” He pouted, pushing his lower lip out. “I thought we were besties.”

          “Besties, huh?” I stood up off from my seat on the bar stool and held my arms out and gave him a hug.

          “So, where’s your date at?” He questioned, reeling back.

          Ugh. The more I think about Jake ditching me, the more I get angry about it. What happened to the whole ‘we’re in this together’ thing?

          “He kind of just, I don’t know, banished.”

          Brent shook his head disapprovingly. “That boy needs to learn how to treat a lady.”

          Tell me about it. “I really don’t know what’s been up with him lately.”

          “He’s probably still sulking over Audrey. I mean, how could he just forget about her? That was ‘their song’ that just played a few minutes ago.”

          I tried to remember what song it was. “Wait, was it that slow song that started to play after that dubstep-sounding one?”

          “I think so, why?”

          Isn’t that when Jake said, “I can’t do this?” I thought back on the recent events. That’s when Jake decided that he had a “headache”―right when that slow song came on.

          I began to get angry. Not so much at Jake, but my anger was pointed more at Audrey. I know, yeah, she’s unconscious, and in a coma, and I should probably have pity on her, but I’m starting to think that Jake is still hers.

          Maybe I really am just a replacement girlfriend, or his distraction. What’s going to happen when Audrey wakes up? The thought of losing Jake brought tears to my eyes. It’s already starting to look like I actually am losing him―like Audrey’s winning the competition.

          “Hey, what’s wrong?” Brent asked softly.

          “Nothing,” I told him, and choked back the tears before they had a chance to spill. I coughed awkwardly. “I was just thinking.”

          He smiled. “Well, since there’s no sign of your boyfriend, wanna dance?”

          The corners of my lips tugged up into a sad, small smile as I rolled my eyes. “Sure. I could use some real fun tonight.”

          “See? I always get the girls around here.” I laughed out loud at his response and linked are arms together.

          “Let’s go.”

Hey, you all! I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO PUT UP! I was so busy, it was crazy. I kept going out of town on the weekends, and then my laptop broke, and ugh, yeah. Lol, but now it’s up. And first person to comment gets a dedication as usual!

By the way, thank you for your feedback on the previous chapter! I will literally try to update as soon as possible. Keep up your good work on voting and commenting and I’ll try to keep up mine! :)