Chasing the New Girl - (Complete)

Chapter 28 - Tough Decisions

Jolie took a deep breath in and let it out before saying, "Yeah. He ummm. He's not the one that had sex with Mandy that night at the party."

Austin scrunched his eyebrows. "What do you mean? Who was it then?"

She cleared her throat and rubbed the back of neck before saying hesitantly. "It was ummm. It was ......... Ryan."

"Ryan who?" he asked with scrunched eyebrows.

"Ryan Gentry. Your best friend."

Austin laughed, throwing his head back. "Yeah right. I don't believe that for one second. That asshole is trying to look for someone else to pin it on so I won't kick his ass."

Jolie sat there not sure what to say.

"Wait, do you actually believe him?" he asked in disbelief.

She hesitated before nodding. "Yeah, I think he's telling the truth."

Austin shook his head. "Wow. You're really gullible then. Ryan would NEVER do that to me. Blaze could probably tell you anything and you'd believe it. I really thought you were smarter than that."

She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Hey, just because you're in a bad mood doesn't give you the right to be an asshole."

"Whatever," he said, running both his hands over his face and letting out a frustrated exhale. "I don't want to sit here and fight with you. I'm worn out and it's been a long day. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," she nodded. She picked up their check and paid for it and he didn't argue about wanting to pay for his half like he usually did.

They drove back home in silence and when they got there he just grumbled out a half-hearted,"Good night," before heading into his house and shutting the door.

Jolie went into her house and it was quiet and she didn't see anyone around. She let out a sigh before going upstairs and getting ready for bed. As she washed her face and took out her contacts, she started thinking about what the Homecoming Dance was going to be like the next day since everyone was mad at each other.

After she got in bed she heard a knock at her door and she called out, "Come in."

The door slowly opened and there was Blaze standing in her doorway wearing black jeans and his black leather jacket.

"Hey, can we talk?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, sitting up in bed. "If you can stand the hideous sight of me without any makeup on and wearing my glasses," she teased.

"Yeah, It'll be hard, but I think I can bear it," he laughed. He walked in and shut her door behind him.

"Have a seat," she said, scooting back and patting the edge of the bed beside her.

He walked in and sat down at the end of her bed, leaving a lot of distance between them.

"So, I ummm. I told Austin the truth after you left, that it was Ryan that hooked up with Mandy at that party. Not you."

"Really? How did he take it?" he asked.

"Not well," she shrugged, looking down at her hands. "He said you were lying and he pretty much called me dumb and gullible for believing you."

He shook his head, letting out an exhale. "Honestly I'm not surprised. I wouldn't expect him to believe anything I have to say. Believe it or not, the two of us actually used to be best friends."

"Seriously?" Jolie asked, scrunching her eyebrows. "I can't picture the two of you being friends."

"Yeah, well we were. Ryan, Austin and I used to be best friends back in elementary school when we played on the same Little League team, but in middle school Ryan all of a sudden started being embarrassed that my family was poor. He's always cared way too fucking much about what other people think. He started making plans for just him and Austin to hang out without me all the time and eventually I took the hint and started hanging out with a new group of people."