Dark Love

Chapter 36 - Birthday girl

"No worries, Little Red. I hope you don't mind I brought my cousin with." He said once he was passed through the door. I gave Clarke an awkward hug, in which he returned with a chuckle.

"Uh, hi." I said awkwardly, tucking my hair behind my ear. Parker looked just as surprised as I was. "It's Parker, right?" I asked, like I didn't totally remember him. I remembered him perfectly, and also the part where I threw his number away in fear that Logan might find it. Gosh, Logan had impacted my choices since the beginning of the summer already.

"Yeah," he said back, equally as awkward as I was.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" Clarke asked in surprise.

"Yeah, we met one time by the ice cream parlor." Parker explained.

"What are the odds?" Clarke laughed. I only noticed the silver gift bag now in his hand, which he suddenly handed to me. "Here you are Sera. Happy birthday, Sweetcheeks. You look gorgeous." My cheeks warmed the slightest bit when he bent down to place a kiss on my cheek.

I took the bag from his hands. "Thank you!" I said in appreciation. I couldn't wait to open all of my gifts when the party ended.

"So this guy was bored at home and surrounded by his annoying sisters, so I thought I should be a good cousin and bring him out of the house."

"I don't mind." I smiled.

"Good. Now, where's the alcohol?"

I slapped him on the arm. "There's no alcohol, Clarke."

"Kidding." He chuckled, holding his hands up in defense. "If you don't mind, I see Bella so gracefully stuffing her face with cake over there and I'm gonna go say hello."

"Go ahead." I nudged him, giggling afterwards. The mention of Bella was a bit disheartening, given the argument I had with her about an hour ago. I didn't like to be on bad terms with my friends, but Bella and I seemed to be on bad terms a lot lately. All because of Logan, my subconscious reminded me. I nudged her far to the back of my mind.

"So. . ." I trailed off shyly, having nothing to say. Parker was very attractive and also close to my age. He seemed like the perfect poster boy whom my parents would love for me to date. Although, I had to admit that I didn't feel anything for him besides friendliness, which was odd because when we first met at the ice cream parlor I was very attracted to him. Things have changed since then.

"So. . ." He murmured, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Things were way too awkward, I had to break the tension.

I smiled brightly. "There are snacks and beverages if you'd like."

"I'm good, thank you." He smiled back.

I nodded, folding my arms. I assessed my outfit which consisted of a high-low, pink and floral dress. I had on white wedge heels which made me stand a bit taller, an inch below the height of Parker. I couldn't help but compare how Parker was almost a head shorter than Logan. He didn't tower over me like Logan did, and maybe that's why he seemed far less threatening and more friendlier. I was usually very wary around basically any strange guy that I'd just met. However, other than feeling awkward and shy around Parker, he had a pretty comfortable aura. He oozed that 'nice boy' vibe, which was so different to Logan.

Why was I comparing him to Logan? Ugh.

"So, about the other day. Did I write my number incorrectly on that piece of paper, or. . .?"

"No, no," I couldn't help but rush out, feeling embarrassed. "It's just that I put it in my jeans pocket and ended up throwing my jeans in the wash that day without taking your number down." I lied.