Late Nights & City Lights (Connor Franta / O2L)

Chapter 20

“Eh,” she said, tilting her hand back and forth in a ‘so-so’ manner.  I frowned, unsure if I liked this girl or not.  Something about her seemed off, but at the same time I found myself drawn to know more about her.  She was just so peppy.  Normally there was only so much pep I could handle, but it worked for the positive vibes she gave off.  “But I’m not going to let it bring me down.”

Jc coughed, reminding Connor and the girl that we were still here.  The girl tore her gaze away from Connor and moved onto me and Jc as though we had just arrived.

“Jc!”  She squealed, covering up her lack of acknowledgement to our existence.

“Hey.”  Jc’s greeting was short, almost rude.  He was nowhere near as excited as Connor or the girl.  His smile was painted on his face as she hugged him, but it looked forced to me.  Jc was not a rude person—quite the contrary.  So why was he completely blocking out this chick?  Who was she?

“Hi, I don’t think we met before,” the girl said, finally turning to me.  “I’m Paige.”

Oh.  That’s who she was.

“Allison.”  I offered her the most genuine smile I could muster, though I wasn’t sure how convincing it actually was.  Paige returned the gesture, so I figured mine had been passable.  She dove back into her conversation with Connor, which he was only too eager to continue.

As they spoke, I saw exactly why Connor was so infatuated with her.  On top of her model-worthy figure and overall gorgeous appearance, she had a goodness, a pureness within her that radiated from every pore and seemed infectious.  As much as I wanted to hate her and spurn her, I just couldn’t.  And Connor’s face when he was around her…It was like nothing I had ever seen.  He should be looking at me like that, not her.

My stomach churned in disgust at my selfishness.  Paige made Connor happy, and that’s all I should care about.  Right?  I didn’t know anymore.  None of this made sense.  A relationship was pointless for me right now since I would be on the other side of the freaking country in a few short weeks.  I’d be gone and everything around here would return to normal.  Connor and Paige would be happily together and I’d be in New York, working towards my degree.  That was the path I was on and I couldn’t afford to get off it anytime soon.

“Oh, and I’m single again!”  Paige was saying.  “Gosh, it’s been so long we’ve had one of our long talks.  I have so much to catch you up on!”

Someone called Paige’s name.  She checked who it was, and then turned back to Connor.  “Crap.  I have to go meet up with Dana, but come find me later, okay?”

“Okay,” Connor promptly agreed, hugging her again. 

“Bye!”  Paige called to me and Jc as she loped back over to her friends.

“Hey Allison, I’ve got some people I want you to meet,” Jc said suddenly.  He took my hand in his.  “Connor, we’ll catch up with you later.”

Jc hadn’t given him a choice in the matter, catching Connor slightly off guard.  His eyes flickered down to Jc’s hand locked on mine, but lingered only momentarily before snapping back up.  I shifted uncomfortably but didn’t let go.

“Oh,” Connor said pointedly.  “Okay.”

Connor turned on his heel and marched further down the shore to where Alexa was.  Jc started leading me towards the water, away from the majority of the partygoers.  A few stragglers had moved past the mingling and were playing in the waves, but other than that, we were alone.

“We’re not meeting new people, are we?”  I double checked with him.

“Nope,” Jc said, popping the ‘p’.