Cupcake Kisses

Chapter 11: I Am a Gryffindor

"I'm sorry," Chase cried. "I should've been a better brother to you."

"No!" Austin shook his head. "I should've told you, it was stupid of me to hide it from you."

"I'm sorry," Chase and Austin both said, at the same time.

The two brothers stared at each other, sheepish smiles on their faces.

"You know," Chase began, his normal jokey tone returning. "There's a really hot guy in my Spanish class I could totally set you up with."

Austin looked like he was about to choke on the air he was breathing as he stared at his brother in alarm.

"Please," Austin began, pleadingly. "Please, please, do not try to set me up with anybody."

Chase's face immediately fell and the rest of us burst out laughing, the awkward tension immediately vanishing.

"What about that boy in our Math class? The one with the glasses! He's kind of cute, isn't he?"

Austin let out a horrified groan.

"He's a little quiet but he's got amazing eyes," Chase continued, ignoring his brother.

After this, the next hour passed quickly and easily, all of us attempting to try and set up Austin while he rejected every possibly option.

Before we knew it the sun had disappeared into the horizon and it was dark, the only light came from our campfire and the few street lights dotted around the beach.

Alice and Georgia were preparing to head back home, as were Chase and Austin.

"Ella, it's cool if Luke gives you a ride, right?" Georgia asked.

I glanced at Luke, who was silently staring into the campfire. The flames were dancing around wildly, the orange glow lighting up his face and making his jaw and cheekbones look even more prominent.

Looking back over at Georgia, I was tempted to say no but I decided against it. Georgia and Alice lived on the opposite side of town to me and it only made sense for Luke to give me a ride, despite however much I didn't want to be alone with him.

"Yeah, it's fine," I mumbled, looking back at Luke to check if it was okay.

He simply shrugged, still not looking away from the campfire.

Alice and Georgia gave me a quick hug, before waving goodbye and walking back in the direction they'd park Alice's car.

Chase came over and hugged me too. Unsurprisingly, his hug was a lot tighter and lot longer than Alice or Georgia's had been. Even after I pushed him away he remained unfazed and instead winked at me, before saying goodbye.

Then, Austin came over and pulled me into another hug. Unlike Chase's, his was short and nowhere near as tight, but equally as warm. Just before he pulled away, he leaned down so that his mouth was level with my ear. "Thank you," he said, quietly.

I smiled, waving goodbye and watching him go, before turning back to Luke.

"You ready?" Luke asked, not even waiting for my reply before he started walking.

I rushed after him, squinting through my glasses at the ground, as I made sure there were no broken beer bottles I could possibly trip and/or die from.

The drive home, as usual, was silent and awkward. Luke's driving was still reckless and his music was still too loud.

When we finally pulled up outside my house, my head was pounding from the excessively loud indie rock CD he'd been playing in the car.