The Cohens

01} You win some, you lose some.

Chapter 1

“Do you want something to eat, Ave?” Logan called from his kitchen downstairs.

“No, thank you,” I yelled from the top of his staircase. “Just a soda.”

I’d just not long ago arrived at my boyfriend, Logan’s house. His house was quite big, so we always found ourselves shouting from room to room to communicate. He lived with his parents; he and they were quite a tight-knit family. I knew them all my life and to them, I was basically part of the family. It was nice to have that closeness with people who don’t even share your blood, but at times, it was too much living up to their perfect expectations all the time.

“So, babe,” Logan begun, finally joining me at his bed after putting the two sodas on the side. I looked at him to let him know he had my full attention, and he continued. “About this weekend…”

This weekend, Logan and I were supposed to be taking the next step in our relationship. We had been dating for four years now, and everything had been the same since then. I figured that we were getting older, and the thing missing in our relationship was the fact we hadn’t done the deed yet. But of course, Logan would come up with an excuse to avoid it.

“Can we hold it off for just another week?” he asked me, a hopeful expression on his face.

“We’ve been waiting long enough…” I told him, leaning over and kissing him at the corners of his lips, and then travelling down to his neck. He ran his fingers through my hair as I kissed him some more, and revealed my hot mouth to the surface of his chest. I worked my hands down to the buckle of his belt, but before I could do as much as unbuckle it, Logan caught my wrist with his hand, rolling me gently onto his side.

I sat up and looked back down at him. “I thought it’s what you wanted.”

“Ave, I do,” he told me, propping himself up to give himself a clearer view of my face. Biting his lip, he continued. “Trust me, I do. Just not like this. You’re special, and your first time should be special. And, well, the swimming team are all going away to London for the week. I really wanna go.”

I told him that it was fine, and that we’d just wait a little while longer. Relief wiped over his face as I told him, and it made me wonder whether there was any part in him that even wanted to stay. For a while, I’d noticed the changes in the relationship. It wasn’t fun or exciting anymore, and I didn’t get butterflies when I was around him. Everything was all so matter-of-fact. I was just the town’s perfect boy’s girlfriend. I couldn’t deny that I loved him, though. He was my best friend, and he was always there for me when I needed him most, and I’d hate nothing more than to lose him. 

He leaned in and planted a soft kiss on my cheek. “I knew you’d understand.”

“Yeah.” I feigned a smile. “I’m gonna head off home.”

I couldn’t deny the fact that I was disappointed, but I couldn’t let Logan to know that. Getting up from his bed, I picked up my bag and whipped it around my shoulder. Logan stood up and wrapped his arms around my waist and sighed.

“You only just got here, babe,” he told me, looking down at me with his big, hazel eyes. “If this is about London, if you really want me to stay, I won’t go.”

I thought about telling him to stay, but I couldn’t find it in my heart to. Of course he’d stay, but he’d unconsciously make me feel guilty.

“Don’t be silly,” I told him. I closed the small space between us and kissed him gently on the lips. “I promised Annabeth I’d hang out with her tonight.”

Lying to Logan always made me feel guilty, since he was always so righteous and honest. I didn’t do it often, but if I stayed, he’d notice I was upset with him going away, and would feel obligated to stay. I didn’t want to be that kind of girlfriend.

He walked me downstairs, and hugged me for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Ave,” he apologised softly. “I love you.”

“You too,” I responded, curving my lips into a small smile. “I’ll call you later.”

**

Annabeth looked a lot like me in some ways, but completely different in other ways. We had the same blue eyes, and the same blonde hair, but I was much shorter than her, and with a full face of make-up, she’d be able to pass as my older sister, despite the fact she was only fourteen, and I was seventeen. I couldn’t lie and say that I wasn’t jealous of her at times. She was model material, and if that wasn’t a talent enough, she was extremely good at other stuff like dancing and art. Mum and Dad always said that I shouldn’t be jealous of her because I was the one she looked up to. I guess they said that to help me see her talents as a good thing, rather than envy them, but deep down, I knew they were right. Growing up, Annabeth always wanted to do what I was doing, and wanted to go wherever I was going, and it used to get on my nerves because she had her own talents, she didn’t need mine to top them off. Once I grew older, I started to envy my sister less and less, and just became generally proud to have such Annabeth 

“So, there’s this guy I like,” Annabeth told me, sat in front of me on my bed as I fishtail-braided her hair.  “He’s a lot like Logan.”

Annabeth and boys was a whole other story. Since she’d turned fourteen, boys was all she ever spoke about. It worried my father a lot, because Anna was a very pretty girl, and he was his youngest, so to him, she was still a little girl. I didn’t think it was too early to start thinking about boys, since Logan and I had started dating when we were just thirteen, and we’d been pretty sensible, but Dad did have point. She was more developed than I had been, and Logan and I were already good friends at the time. Plus, I had never really gotten any attention from boys because everybody knew that I was off limits. I was Logan’s girl, and everybody adored him.

“Tell me about him.”

I ended the braid with a pink hair tie, and she turned to face me.

“Well, he’s a lot like Logan, actually. He’s kind, smart and honest. He swims, he’s a sophomore and he drives. Avery, he asked me out on a date!” she gushed, smiling at me. “His name’s Sean. I think you’ll like him.”

“I know him. He’s Logan’s friend,” I told her, handing back her hair brush. “Go for it.”

As if she’d expected me to disapprove, her eyes widened. “Seriously?”

I nodded. “I have a few ground rules though. On this date, you’ll go somewhere public. If he asks if you want to park, say no. Put me on speed dial, so if anything happens, you can call me.”

That seemed to be enough for Annabeth, as she willingly accepted my rules. The truth was, I didn’t want her dating someone a year older than her. He was a sophomore, and she was just a freshman. He’d be more experienced, and expect more of her than he probably should. I just didn’t want to tell her she couldn’t, for her to think I wasn’t on her side, and start rebelling against me and our parents. I wasn’t so worried though. Logan wasn’t friends with any assholes other than his cousin, Wade, who was just another story entirely.

Wade couldn’t have been more different from Logan. Wade was bad news, and had been ever since his parents died. Well, he was always the naughty cousin, but after the death of his parents, he was always getting in trouble with the law, and was just angry all the time. If it wasn’t for Logan’s father, Wade would have been in prison with the amount of run-ins with the law he’d had.

That was one of the reasons we stopped hanging with Wade as kids. He’d always get in to trouble, and my father always told me to keep clear of Wade because he was bad news. And, well, we went from being best friends to strangers who don’t even acknowledge each other. 

But I guess that’s just life.

You win some, you lose some.

an // i apologise for the length of this chapter, but tbh lengthy chapters aren't my strong suit, and i find them harder to write at the beginning, so maybe a few more chapters in, they'll get longer. i've had this chapter since i posted the prologue, but i didn't want to post it because it's not long, but there's nothing more to say for this chapter so í'm posting it now, and hopefully there will be longer ones.