My Dirty Little Secret

Two

Calum eyed the lone red cup across the table, the small ball held gingerly between his fingers. He kept his focus on the cup as the ball flew through the air, splashing directly into it. He and Luke cheered, high-fiving each other only to miss and break down in drunk giggles.

“Not fair!” Ashton whined and he let out a hiccup only to giggle at himself.

“Your drink Michael.” Calum said and the boy mumbled to himself, grabbing the ball out of the cup and chugging it down. “Want to go again?” Calum asked, and Ashton began to nod, reaching for more cups but Michael put a hand on his shoulder.

“No, this one’s cut off and I’m done for the night.” He muttered.

“Aw, fuck you man.” Ashton laughed.

“Hey guys!” Sean walked up to them, bro-hugging Ashton.

“Hey! Great to see you.” the drunken boy slurred.

“Didn’t even hesitate with the beer did you?” Sean laughed.

“I just lost two rounds of beer pong.”

“And he’s officially cut off.” Michael said.

“Well keep this drunken idiot away from my sister. I know how you get when you party.”

“Wait, your sister’s here?” Calum asked, his spine tensing up.

“Yeah she’s… over there.” Sean pointed toward the living room where Calum saw Belle. She wore high wasted jeans and a crop top, an outfit he always thought she looked hot in. The first question that went through his mind; why the hell is she here. Second question; why the hell is she here dressed like that. Sean and Ashton stumbled toward the kitchen, Luke and Michael lost in conversation so Calum stormed toward her. His mind was fuzzy as he grabbed her hand and pulled her off to the side.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he snapped.

“I came to find you.”

“Well you found me, now go home.”

“I told you we needed to talk.”

“And I told you I’d be over later.”

“No, Calum. This needs to happen now. I can’t-”

“Belle, please. I’m begging you. Go home.” Calum looked sternly into Belle’s eyes, hoping she’d see how serious he was trying to be.

“You know what? Forget it. And don’t bother coming over later.” Or ever again Belle thought. But she couldn’t find the guts to say it. She pulled her hand from his grip and stormed outside, meeting the cool night air. She sat on the curb, resting her forehead on her knees and let out a small whimper. She felt like crying but couldn’t sum up the energy or the tears to do so. She felt absolutely spent, exhausted. Through her spinning thoughts, she didn't even hear the sound of someone leaving the packed house. Luke paused, looking at the outline of someone hugging their knees as they sat on the curb. Even through his cloudy mind and fuzzy train of thought, he approached the sad little form, illuminated solely by moonlight.

“Hey, you all right?” a voice asked quietly from behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see a boy she recognized as one of Calum’s friends standing a few feet back. His blond hair was styled up and he was tugging at a lip ring with his teeth.

“Uhm, yeah. I guess I’m okay.” She replied.

“Mind if I join you?”

“I don’t see why you’d want to but go for it.” he dropped down beside her on the sidewalk’s edge, stretching his long legs out in front of him and crossing his ankles.

“So, you wanna tell me why you’re all alone out here?” he asked and she looked at him again, curious as to why he wanted to talk to her.

“To be honest, I just really don’t want to be here but my ride is in there having the time of his life.” She sighed.

“Boyfriend?”

“Brother.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I’d offer you a ride but I’m obviously not in a very reasonable state at the moment. I’m Luke by the way.” He smiled at her and she mustered a small smile back.

“Belle. And the thing is, I don’t really need a ride, I could walk home from here. It’s just a little chilly and I’m really not up for going all that way-”

“I’ll walk you home.” Luke immediately offered.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t want you walking back here on your own.” Belle shook her head.

“Well, where do you live?”

“Over by East park.” Luke bit his lip, thinking a moment.

“I think my friend lives around there. I could just go to his house and stay the night.”

“Why are you so eager to walk me home?” she smiled and he grinned back.

“I couldn’t let a pretty girl slip through my fingers that easily. Now come on,” he hopped up to his feet and stood in front of her, offering her a hand up, “let’s get you home.”