High

Chapter Four- Beautiful Chaos

Lies.

That's the one thing that my father hated the most. Matter of fact-loathed.
The way that he used to see it, lies were the ultimate gateway to opening Pandora's box.

And we've heard the famous proverb: honesty is the best policy.

However, there was one other rule that my father taught me about: There is a time and place for everything.

The thing that I failed to realize, growing up, was that honesty and the ability to read the room or, better yet, the situation coincide.

So here I was, in front of my drunk ex best friend who probably won't even remember that I had unwillingly- begrudgingly- attended this party.

I blinked at him, and his steely gaze made me squirm-ish yet again.

"I'm sorry," I apologized as I looked at anywhere but at Maxwell, "I think you're mistaking me for someone else."

Maxwell furrowed his eyebrows, and he placed the bottle of empty vodka on the floor. I could still hear the faint drumming and thumping of the music from the inside.

Maxwell crossed his arms and looked at me with disapproval, "So you think that just because I'm drunk, I wouldn't be able to recognize my best friend of 17 years?"

Best friend.

At the sound of those two words, I instantly lost all of my resolve. I quickly stood up and glowered at him.

"Ex-best friend. Maxwell." I hissed at him, I pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"And if I remember correctly, I'm not the one who ended our friendship. You did. So excuse me for trying to move on."

Maxwell looked around quickly, scanning the rather quiet area, just to make sure that we weren't causing a scene.

Before he could speak, the door abruptly opened, revealing the brunette guy from earlier. He glanced at me and Maxwell, "Buttercup, right?"
He pointed to me in question

"It's Ellie." We both replied at the same.  Maxwell replyed out of instinct."

Instant relief flooded me as I asked, taking my focus away from a rather annoyed looking Maxwell.

"You're Frost, right?" I breathlessly asked him, "Have you seen Zoe by any chance?"

"It's Alex," He clarified and continued, "Zoe left a few hours ago. She wanted me to take you home."

Although Zoe was the most bubbly outgoing human being I had ever met, she was rather responsible. Given that we've only been friends for two years, I had gotten to know her fully. Had I expected her to leave me all alone at this party?

Yes.

Had I expected her to arrange a ride for me with a guy that looked like everything that Zoe warned me against when coming to this party?

No.

"I could take you home, Ellie." Maxwell offered with his hands stuck in his jean pockets, and I gaped at him, "No." I declined, "You're drunk. You shouldn't even be driving."

Maxwell shrugged, "I never said anything about driving. I'm talking about taking an Uber home."

"No," I replied dryly. I don't know if drunk Maxwell could take a hint, but if I had to be honest, Maxwell was quite persistent in nature and couldn't take no for an answer.

Maxwell looked taken aback, like no one had ever refused his advances - whether romantic or friendly.

He sputtered out twice like he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "N-No?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and stood my ground, completely ignoring the fact that my subconscience mind wanted to give in so I wouldn't have to hitch a ride with someone I barely know.

Even though I haven't been a part of Maxwell's life for quite some time- we had history. I may not know him anymore, but I used to.

"Alex," I called out to the boy that halfway through the door, looking as though he had already checked out from the offer, shot me a glance, "I'm gonna head with Maxwell."

He gave Maxwell a once over and pointedly looked at me with concern in his eyes, "Are you sure, Boterbloem? Do you even know this guy?"

"No."

"Yes."

***

I looked outside of the car window and watched the wheezing trees that were enveloped by the darkness from the midnight sky pass us by.

I glanced at Maxwell, who, by the way, reeked of alcohol, wore a baseball bat in a feeble attempt to hide his identity.

I shifted in my seat, waiting for another question that the chatty Uber driver was going to throw in my direction.

The driver-which I had come to know as Carl - fixed his rear view mirror in order to see me clearly. His beady eyes focused on me, and he asked, "You seem like a gorgeous young lady. Are you seeing anyone special?"

To this, Maxwell's ears perked up slightly, and he shifted in his seat to move closer to me, and I shifted away from him until I reached the edge of my seat.

I forcefully laughed yet made sure that it came out as smooth and melodious as possible. "I'm not seeing anyone at the moment, Carl. Besides, I'm too busy with other things to make time for a guy."

"Maybe you haven't found the person worth making time for." Carl replied. Obviously, eluding to himself.

I smiled sweetly, "No, Carl, I did. It's just that he didn't find me worthy enough to be a part of his life."

I turned to look at Maxwell, who had already passed out right beside me.

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Authors Note: As I'm writing this, I'm currently low on caffeine, so I apologize if there are any grammatical errors.

I will try and edit the chapter if need be.

But anyway, I'll see you in the next chapter with some caffeine in my system, hopefully:)

Lots of love,
H.