Chapter 55

That Way by Tate McRae

Friends don't look at friends that way.




That night Alisa basically kidnapped Avery from the hospital much to my protest and took her back to Hawthorne House. She told me Avery would be fine but if she stayed in the hospital any longer she wouldn't get her inheritance. 

To make sure Avery was safe, Max called her Mom who is a doctor to come and aid Avery whilst she's at the house.

I sit with her in the chair beside her bed. Just watching her sleep. I've not left this seat in 96 hours, ever since the second she got back. Well I've left a couple times to shower and get dressed. But I've ate here and slept here. It's 7pm now, four days ago we brought her back.

 She looks so peaceful, if it weren't for the grazes on her cheeks and all the medical equipment surrounding her she would look as if she was just sleeping.

I hear the door behind me open and someone walk in. I feel two hands on my shoulders, "It's not healthy to stay in here all day." Jameson's voice speaks quietly. 

"What else would I do?" I ask him. He sighs, gently starting to massage my shoulders. "You could join us all in a game of bowling. We're about to start. We all decided it wouldn't be fun without you." He expressed.

"I can't bowl." I lie to get him to go away. I'm actually a pretty good bowler but he doesn't need to know that.

"You're back is knotted from sitting there for so long." He changes the topic. 

"Since when did you become a chiropractor?" I quip. "I'm not but I can tell it probably hurts a lot." He replies calmly. 

"I'm fine." I assure him. I do feel a sort of painful strain in some points in my back. It doesn't particularly bother me thinking about what Avery must feel.

He pressed firmly down on a part of my back which makes me wince as it aches.

"Just let me help you?" He requests. I don't respond. He removes my sweatshirt leaving me slightly cold in only my thin strapped vest. 

His warm hands begin massaging my shoulders firmly, his hands go down to my mid back. He presses hard and doesn't waist any time.

I let myself close my eyes and enjoy how relieving it feels. I focus all my attention to the grip of his fingers.

When he's finished I can still feel his touch even when he's not got his hands on my shoulders.  

"Better?" He asks, coming around to sit on the arm of the chair. "Yeah." I reply honestly. 

"Told you. You know what else would help?" He hints as I pull on my sweatshirt.

"Bowling?" I guess. "How did you guess?" He acts surprised then grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet.

I don't get the chance to protest as he drags me up and along the windy corridors of the House.

When we reach the bowling alley I see one of the lanes lit up, the others are completely dormant. 

Xander plays with a bracelet on Max's wrist as she tells him a story, humming along every now and then to prove he's listening. Grayson is on the phone. 

When Grayson sees me he hangs up the phone and goes back to the booth they're all sitting at. Jameson and I approach them and sit down with them. 

"Pear Bear!" Max sighs in relief, pulling me into a hug. "We can finally start." 

"Rules are simple. Every pin you miss is a piece of clothing you need to remove." Xander explains. "So this is Strip Bowling?" I raise an eyebrow. 

"Paris, I can't bowl. I'm faxed." Max whispers nervously. 

Now onto the last round, Jameson and I are the only two still mostly clothed. 

Luckily for Grayson, the suit he's wearing gives him many layers to fall back on however he cannot bowl so he is down to just a shirt and his trousers. 

Max is currently removing her denim shorts leaving her in only her bra and underwear. Xander is down to his underwear being a shockingly terrible bowler. 

I'm missing both of my shoes and one of my socks. Jameson is missing both his shoes, both socks and his hooded sweatshirt. 

Everyone has stopped playing just to watch us to see who will lose first, both of us being incredibly competitive. If he misses one pin this round he's got to remove his jeans or t-shirt. 

He steps forward with his ball. "Careful." I warn with a smirk. "Miss one pin and i win." I tell him. 

"I'm the better poker player. Guess I'll have to add bowling to the list of things I'm better than you at." I tell him. 

He smirks and doesn't let me put him off. He aims and rolls the ball forcefully. It knocks down every single pin. "Good luck then Paris." He smirks as he walks back.

I aim my ball and send it straight down the middle. It hits the middle pins but misses the two side ones. I bite my cheek.

"Looks like we're just about even." He grins. I remove my second sock and my sweatshirt. Leaving me in only my cropped vest and denim shorts, him still in jeans and a black t-shirt that hugs tightly to him in all the right places. 

He walks forward again and rolls his ball. It hits every ball except one. He accepts his fate and pulls his shirt off. I watch in slow motion as his muscles tense on his arms. 

He throws his shirt down and i swallow. "Getting a little excited there Paris?" He smirks knowingly. 

I snap out of it and grab my ball. It rolls perfectly down the middle hitting almost every ball. One wobbles around and we all watch carefully. It stays standing. 

I turn back around and pull my vest over my head. I notice Grayson's eyes immediately trying to look away. 

Xander wolf whistles jokingly. I look back to Jameson who can't take his eyes away, "What? Getting a little excited Jameson?" I quote him with the same smirk he wore. 

We all snap our heads towards the doors when we hear an obvious cough. "I hate to interrupt, but it Avery is up." Nash speaks from the doorway.

Everyone starts jumping around to put their clothes back on. I freeze. She'll kick me right back out again and hate me.

Everyone starts to run away to her room as I slowly tie my shoelaces. Jameson waits for me. 

"Paris?" He speaks, my head whips up to him. "What?" I ask. 

"I asked if you were okay." He repeats. "Fine." I answer briefly. 

"She's gonna be happy to see you. Don't be so worried about it. She's been the most worried about you out of all of us." He tells me, sitting beside me on the couch.

"I just don't want her to get distressed if she sees me." I tell him. "The last thing she'll be is distressed. You're her sister." He puts a hand on my shoulder. 

My mind trails away from Avery, focusing on his breathing. The way his lips part slightly as his eyes jump between my eyes. His eyes. Green like trees in the summer, like shiny emeralds. 

His lips, his soft plump lips. I can't help but lean into them, trying to connect for a kiss. 

He moves back away from me before we can kiss. I jump to my feet, "Sorry." I say, trying to be as quick as i can putting my hoodie on again. 

He stands now too, "It's okay." He smiles awkwardly, "No I'm sorry, i shouldn't have just assumed you wanted to." I speak quickly. 

"Hey it's okay. I just think we should stick to the whole 'platonic friendship' thing. It's what you wanted and you aren't really in a good place right now, you're scared about your sister. I wouldn't want to take advantage of that. But if later when everything's normal we can talk and maybe figure it out if you still want to." He explains soothingly.

"Right." I smile, still rushing to tie that shoelace again, still embarrassed and wearing a bright red glow.

He doesn't want to kiss me because of what I did. Beating that stranger up, doing drugs, the video. He's repulsed by me and what I've became.

I push the thoughts to the back of my mind and walk out, making my way to Avery's bedroom. 

Jameson follows behind me as we go in. 

Her eyes freeze when they see me. She's sitting up supported by a pillow. All focus goes to me.

"Hey." I say forcing a smile to my face, walking in. "Hi." She smiles genuinely. My forced smile fades to a relieved and honest one. 

She doesn't completely hate me.


(a/n. I think a lot of you will be happy with this chapter because of the strip poker, sorry Avery wasn't there but to make up for her absence I added Xander. Also, in the original book this was a lot earlier and was during the time Paris had her Emo era so let's pretend they never did it and this is the first time they play. I've officially started writing Part 3 and I'm so excited for you to see Paris' character development..)

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