Prove It

Chapter VI

"Whore" Nick fake sneezes, getting a laugh from everyone, and even a chuckle from me. What can I say? But as much as I don't like Brooke, I'm not letting him think it's alright to call her anything like that.

So I do something that aways gets the point across. I slap him upside the head. Hard.

"Ow! What the fuck!" he yells.

"Don't call her that" I snap back, and he looks at me surprised.

"You don't like Brooke" he responds, brushing his hair out of his eye.

"Yeah, why is it a big deal, anyway?" Kevin asks.

"Well, unpopular opinion, I don't like being called a whore" I snap and everyone looks at me surprised. I don't know if it's I was already irritable, but I'm just over being here already. A whole twenty minutes in. God I need a nap.

"I didn't call you a whore" he rebukes.

"I've been called a whore, and it sucks, so excuse me for not liking anyone being insulted that way" I snap again and everyone stops talking. Nick looks guilty, and everyone is uncomfortable, the main reason I can't hang out with everyone at once.

I get up from the beanbag and walk upstairs. I need to get away from them and from all the smoke in the air.

I know this house well, and there's a balcony that shoots out of his parent's bedroom. I need to be there... before he says something stupid and I smack him again. I didn't even realize Marcus' arm was around me until it drops from my shoulder.

I walk through the noisy people and the drunken crowd to the one off limits area of the house- Mr. and Mrs. Morris' bedroom. I don't want to tresspass, but it's the only place I can get as much peace and quiet as I can.

I open the glass doors to the wooden balcony. It has cooled down since last being outside, and the fresh air is refreshing on my heated skin.

I don't know why I came here anymore. I'm not usually a party pooper at these kinds of things. When I go out, I go out, but I don't know why tonight is so stressful for me. I could barely stand to spend fifteen minutes in that house without bursting everyone's bubble.

I sigh and rub my hands across my forehead and down the rest of my face. I slug down the rest of my drink, this time ignorning the burn. I don't even know why I reacted the way I did- it wasn't a big deal.

"Amanda, are you alright?" I twirled around to see Marcus walking up behind me.

"Yeah, I'm all good. I don't know why I'm so on edge right now" I confess, leaning my back against the railing.

"Is it because of me? I'm sorry if you didn't want me to put my arm around you" he rushes to say, but I shake my head.

"No, no, it wasn't that. I didn't even notice, actually. I don't know why I freaked out so easily down there".

"Do you want to leave?" he asks.

"I don't want to leave you or Sofia"

"I can go with you. We can go somewhere else"

"No! I just need a minute to cool off. I can tell you want to be here, and I don't want to ruin anything" I explain and cringe internalyl. I wish I could stop rambling.

"Amanda you shouldn't have to be walking on eggshells around me. Meet me in the front, and I'll text Aaron that we're leaving. Everyone will just assume we want to spend alone time with each other, okay?" I look up and his face shows so much concern that my heart doesn't know what else to do other than melt.

"Okay, thank you" I say, and walk after him back to the front door and out onto the lawn and wait for Marcus to return.

"Are you ready?" he asks coming up to me. I smile in confirmation and walk beside him to his car. Marcus surprises me and opens the passenger door for me, leading me into the car.

"Ladies first" he says as I duck my head into the car.

"Thank you" I respond. As soon as I take my seat the door closes and faster than I could imagine he's next to me in the driver's seat.

"So what do you have planned?" As much as I don't want to admit it to myself or him, I am excited for whatever escapade he is thinking of. At this moment I don't think any idea is a bad one.

"I was hoping we could spend some time together at my house" when the words come out of his mouth I see his face morph into a self-conscious expression. "Or we could do something else, I mean whatever if fine with me" he adds adorably.

"That sounds great, actually" I reassure him and he smiles at me as he starts the engine.

"Let's go, then".