#THE HASHTAG

08 | Burnin' Up

You go around like you know

Who I am 

But you don't

✝ Chapter Eight | Burnin' Up. ✝

           My phone blared an annoying ringtone at such an early hour, waking me out of my blissful sleep.

            I let out a muffled groan and rolled over, slamming my hand on the end table and feeling around for my cell phone. It took me quite a while before I actually answered the phone, bringing it to my ear. “Mm...hello?”

            “Where the hell are you?” I heard my mom’s voice screaming from the other end and I had to pull the phone away from my ear to prevent my eardrums from de-functioning.

            “Mom! Mom, I am on my way home. I was just taking a slight detour at-” I glanced over at the spot next to me to see Jack sleeping soundly. He had completely pushed the sheets away from him and his legs were stretched out in an awkward angle, “-Jack’s house. His, uh, car broke down and we had to stay for the night. I’ll be there.”

            “Lexus Lennon, if you are not home in fifteen minutes, I am grounding you for three weeks! Get your ass home, now!” That was the last thing she said before the line went dead.

            “Jesus,” I muttered to myself as I sat up in bed. I had only fifteen minutes to get home, when Lou Sanders’ house was thirty minutes away on foot.

            I mentally cursed myself for falling asleep. We were only supposed to stay here until the party died down, but somehow, we both fell asleep.

            Getting out of bed, I glanced down to where my clothes were supposed to be, but they were gone. It didn’t come as a surprise to me that someone stole my clothes. That was one of the reasons why I hated people in general.

            Instead, I tip-toed to the other side of the bed and rummaged through Jack’s jeans. I pulled out his wallet and stole a couple twenties because I would need bus fare if I wanted make it home on time.

            Before I left, I took one last look at Jack. I knew I probably should have waked him up, but something told me that I shouldn’t. He was a nice guy, really. But I didn’t want a boyfriend, and I knew that was what he would become if I kept him around.

            I swung the door open and jogged down the stairs, only having tripped a few times. But before I ran out of the house, I caught a glimpse of my appearance in the hallway mirror. My dirty blonde hair stuck out in all directions in a disheveled mess. Not to mention I was only wearing Jack’s t-shirt. I probably should have stolen his pants too.

            If anyone had to guess, I had gotten lucky last night.

            I threw the front door open, ready to face the world, but what I saw made my jaw go loose.

            I was standing with nothing but an oversized t-shirt and a wicked bed head in front of a huge gathering of people, taking pictures and videos with their cell phones.

            And the worst part was, they didn’t even get my good side.

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            As soon as I walked through the doors of my house, my mother rose from the couch with her arms folded across her chest. “You are two minutes late!” She rubbed her temples in an attempt to suppress her anger, but we both knew she was nowhere close to being calm.