Take Me Home | ✔

Chapter Thirty-Two (unedited)

[holy guacamole, ONE HUNDRED COMMENTS ON THE LAST CHAPTER??? YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING, THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU, thank you guys so much, honestly. i know this book is a mess hahah, but its a first draft kind of mess, so don't take it seriously, okay, just enjoy, and thank you again :) p.s. this is unedited. feel free to point out any mistakes.]

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO 

    Seeing Austin again after a long, hectic week was like seeing your dead childhood pet come back to life. It was absolutely terrifying, numbing every muscle in me and leaving me stupidly paralyzed and open-mouthed like a fish who hopped out of water and will probably get humiliated in a Vegas casino.

    Austin hadn’t changed. He looked relaxed and confident, his hair in that trademark gel-infused cowlick and one hand on Patricia’s waist. Austin’s eyes softened at the sight of me, before flicking over to Patricia, then back to me.

    "What... what are you doing in Vegas?" 

    I opened my mouth, but nothing would come out. Just incomprehensible croaks. I was officially a dying frog.

     "I...I, well--" 

     "We thought you were headed to California already," Austin said slowly, looking me over like he was afraid of me being an illusion. I wished he was the illusion. His hands twitched, and he was unsure of what to do with them. I admit, after a week without being beside him or even talking to him, all I wanted was to feel some sort of affection. He was staring at me like I was a distant cousin, twice removed and barely recognizable.

    "They told us you got left behind, but by then, we were already on the way to the airport,” he explained slowly.

    I frowned. "You mean they didn't notice until then?"

    "They offered to turn back around, but the plane was leaving soon, so they sent a chaperone to come get you. But she said you were gone by the time she reached the hotel." 

   So if I had stayed just a little while longer, I could've been rescued? I could've been back in time, way faster. Probably in the same day, if we had taken a plane back. This whole impromptu road trip would never have happened. I would never have gotten arrested, I would never have gotten to see the Grand Canyon, I would never have gotten to meet Elliot – again.

    "Vienna?" 

    I blinked. "Huh?" 

    "Why are you here?" I hated the way he sounded so familiar. The accusing tone that made me feel like the bad guy when it was obvious there was an elephant in the room between us.

     Gulping, I stood up a little straighter. "I'm here with a good friend. I came to have a good time." 

    Austin's mouth was left ajar, and he still looked shell shocked to see me. Patricia was off to the side, watching all of this with her dagger eyes, and she must have felt threatened, because made a beeline for Austin and latched onto his arm like Lycra.

    "How did you even get to Vegas?" she asked, icy drops of insecurity dripping with every word. She tightened her grip around Austin, her long clawlike nails almost digging into the jacket I bought him.

     "Like I said, I had a road trip with a boy I met back in North Carolina," I said. It was the truth, was it not?

     "What? You came all the way across the country with someone you just met?" his eyes were dead set on mine.