Cornerstone

Avoiding You

"Yes. Let's all go back to mine. Mums gone on a work trip and dad won't be home till really late. We can get really wasted," Matt said.

Matt's house wasn't too far of a walk and everyone was talking among themselves except for me and Alex. Alex had his hands in the pockets of his trousers as he looked down at the floor lost in thought. I stood by Matt and Olivia pretending to listen when in reality I was staring at Alex. Every once in a while he would take his hand out of his pockets to move his long hair out of his eyes. He wasn't even trying to engage in a conversation with me. With anyone for that matter.

When we arrived at Matt's I realized that his house wasn't much different from mine. It basically had the same layout just with different furniture.

"Olivia can you go get the beer," Matt called out as he closed the door.

"Sure thing," she winked. "Charlotte you wanna come?"

"Sure why not," I said, putting my jacket back on.

We walked down to the corner store in town.

"Liv how are you gonna get them to sell alcohol to a minor?" I asked raising my brows.

"I have my ways," she smirked, taking off her jacket and unbuttoning the top of her uniform revealing some skin.

We walked in and she put the cartons of beer on the counter. An older man sat by the cashier.

"Is that all?" He smirked.

"Yup," she said, putting her hand through her hair.

We walked back to Matt's house with the beer.

"There's no way that just happened," I said, shocked.

"Well it did. Did you want the beer or not?" Olivia laughed.

"You guys are mental," I said, as I continued walking.

We reached Matt's house, propped the beer on the table, and sat down on the sofa. We were sitting in the garage since it's where Matt kept all the instruments and where they usually had band practice. I rested my head and looked up at the ceiling. It was pretty easy for me to zone out.

"Beer?," I heard a voice say, forcing me out of my thought.

I looked up to see Alex holding two beer bottles in his hands.

"Yeah sure," I said as I reached my hand out to grab one but to my surprise he moved his hand away and sat next to me. Like really close. Our thighs were touching but neither of us bothered to move. Everyone else was listening to music and talking among themselves.

"Here," He said, now holding the beer bottle up to my face.

"Thanks," I mumbled, taking it out of his hand.

"You alright?" Alex said, breaking the silence and turning to look at me.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I questioned, taking a sip of the beer.

"I dunno you look like you're avoiding me."

"Why would I be avoiding you."

"You just seem really distant after the concert thing. Y'know...after...that night," he said, hinting at the kiss.

"You remembered?" I said, my eyes widening.

"Of course I did. I had kissed the most gorgeous girl ever. How could I forget?" he smirked. Fucking flirt.

"Well I thought you had forgotten or just didn't want to talk about it so I didn't talk about it," I shrugged.

"Why would I not want to talk about it?" He replied, almost defensively.

"Because right after you hooked up with your ex, after telling me you liked me, and you even didn't call or message me once I left," I crossed my arms.

"Which one?" He asked, furrowing his brows. Was he being fucking serious?

"Are you actually fucking kidding me? Which one? Why does it matter? You got back with your ex after telling me that you liked me and kissing me. That's what matters," I got up and left.

"Wait. Sorry that's not what I meant-"

"Hey Charlotte, help me move this table, will you?" Louisa asked as she picked up the bottom of the table.

"Sure," I said putting the beer bottle down.

"Need help?" Alex asked as he started to get up.

"Ye-" Louisa tried to say.

"No." I replied, glaring at him.

After moving the table the boys got the rest of their instruments and set them up in the middle of the room.

They all played together for a bit except for Alex. He refused to sing.

"Oh, c'mon Alex stop moping and just sing," Matt called out.

"Fuck off," he said from the couch. "I'm going for a smoke." He took the pack of cigs from his blazer pocket and left.

"What's gotten into him?" Nick asked.

"Dunno. He's just a prick sometimes. Ignore him," Matt said, as they all started to play again.

"I think you should talk to him," Olivia whispered to me.

"What are you talking about," I replied. I knew who she was talking about. I did not feel like talking to him right now. I was actually enjoying myself.

"Oh c'mon."

"Fine," I said crossing my arms as I walked towards the door.