Below the Surface

Chapter Four: Dysfunctional System

"I. Cannot." I look away and look around to see everyone socializing. Then I notice who is missing. "Where the hell is Jay?" it's a random question with a lot of attitude, but I need to think of something else.

"He's going to be running late. He's stuck at the gym. He should be here soon." I check the clock that is hanging off the wall; it's only five in the afternoon. Then a sudden thought pops into my head. Once Jay arrives, Bella's going to abandon me to hangout with him, "Don't you dare leave me." I exclaim and to show her how desperate I am, I set my beer down and grip her arms tightly.

"Relax..." she chastises me. I relax the tension inside me by taking a sip of my beer, well more like a long chug. "Oh." I hear Bella exclaim, but I ignore her.

"You know what I need to relax? Something a little stronger." I examine my beer, taking another sip and glance to the side to see her smiling at someone behind me. When I look into the mirror that is hanging on the back wall I see Liam sauntering over here. I inhale sharply while drinking, causing the drink to hit the back of my throat. Now I'm really not breathing. I set my beer down and cover my mouth as I try to cough out the beer. I try to breathe right again, but it only causes me to cough nonstop. Coughing one last time, I make a full recovery and chuckle at my own clumsiness.

"Are you alright?" Bella asks. I nod my head as I wipe my finger under my eyes incase my eyeliner smudged. "Well don't forget to breathe." She mutters. I breathe in deeply turning around to see Liam standing before us smiling widely. I'd be lying if I said I didn't jump a hundred feet in the air when I realized how close he was standing.

"Hi." Liam stands before us with one hand stuffed in his front pocket and a beer in the other, smiling at us sheepishly. His voice is smooth and much deeper than the last time. I ground my teeth together and force a smile on my face.

"Hey!" Bella smiles cheerfully and then it's quiet because they are waiting for me to respond. Bella kicks the side of my leg and I force my smile to widen, but I can't speak. All the air is sucked out of me and my eyes will not leave his face because they're too busy counting the 32 freckles splattered across his face. So I take my beer and raise it up instead.

"Hey." I force out, but it did not sound like me at all. It sounded like an animal trying to speak; it was all deep and grunted out. Shit.

"Are you feeling okay, Gaby?" he asks all too kindly cocking his head to the side. I swear, my eye twitches.

"Great. Splendid. Awesome." I ramble off staring straight into his eyes as he watches me, "Fabulous. Wonderful. Marvelous." I can't stop. "Excellent. Spectacular. Outstanding. Magni -" a grip on my arm from Bella stops me and she squeezes tighter to make sure I do shut up.

Liam chuckles looking down at the floor and then looks at me. "Wow, that's magnificent?" he furrows his eyebrows together checking if he chose the right word. And he did. Well shit. He takes a sip of his beer and I do the same, but I go for another chug. My arm is slapped and I pull away making sure I don't choke like last time. I notice Liam looking away and when I turn to face Bella she gives me another pointed look and before I can tell her I'm sorry she takes her attention away from me.

"Jay!" she shouts, Liam and I both turn around to see Jay. As per usual he's wearing his infamous bright orange swim trunks with a white t-shirt that sticks on him like skin. Like Liam, Jay is athletic fit, but a bit bigger because of his years in track, surfing, lifting, and being a food specialist. He comes our way doing handshakes with some of the guys and then finally steps beside Bella.

"Hey sweetie." He wraps an arm around her side and gives her a peck on the cheek. "What's up, Gaby." He turns around and grabs me a bit too forceful to give me a hug. That's Jay. He's a hugger. Not that I don't mind, like I said, Jay is cool. But this time he struggles because I'm stiff as stone and I still can't move properly. He stares at me and I stare back until I realize what he's wanting. Jay is like a child, always needing attention.