𝐒𝐈𝐍 | 𝟏𝟖+

Chapter 8

Such a cutie.

"There's this one guy, Thomas," he begins and scratches the back of his head. "He asked me out one time and we're still talking," he says. I smile, but then am reminded by Chris' horrible dad. He kicked him out the minute Chris came out of the closet. 

Chris stayed with us for a couple of months till we moved to New York for college. Now he refused to stay with us because he feels guilty that he 'takes advantage of us' and is now in a hotel nearby.

"I'm glad to hear that," mom smiles. We drive to the center, passing Vincenzo's office. I look away and ignore the blush coming up to my cheeks. Chris notices it and smirks. "Doesn't your father work here, Athena?" he asks and points with his finger to the giant building.

"Fuck you," I mouth to him. "Yes," I answer and look away, annoyed.

We drive to the center of town and get out of the car, walking over to the restaurant. As soon as we enter the restaurant we see my mom's friends, and I am relieved not to see Nicole. I greet every single one of them by pressing a kiss against their cheek and take a seat at the table.

"How are things going with you and your prince charming?" Chris asks as he takes a seat next to me. I roll my eyes. "He's not my prince charming, dickhead," I mumble, "and I don't really know what's happening right now."

He frowns, asking for an explanation which I give him. Meanwhile the waitress walks over to our table, and I ask for a glass of water.

"Shit," Chris mumbles when I'm done. "Well, look at it from the bright side. At least you got laid," he mumbles from beside me. I punch him playfully and smile. 

"But I think Lucy's right," he says. I look up to him, and right on time the waitress comes with our drinks and asks if we know what we want to eat.

When she leaves with our orders, I return to my conversation with Chris. "You think so?" I ask and frown. He sighs.

"From what I've heard it has been fun getting your revenge, but you're nineteen, Athena. You should grow up and move on," he says and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear.

I bite my lip in thought. "I know, I know, but... I just can't leave it alone," I mumble.

We decide to leave the topic alone – even though I can't stop thinking about it – and join the conversation with my mom and her friends.

"Oh my God! You guys won't believe what I've read," mom's closest friend suddenly exclaims, and takes a sip of her white wine.

"Spill the tea, Maria!" mom laughs. Maria leans forward, making us do the same – in the typical gossip-way. "Did you guys know that Vincenzo and Nicole are broken up?"

I almost choke on my own spit, and everyone at the table gasps, leaning back again and sipping from their drinks with their eyes wide.

"What?" mom asks, disbelief on her face. Maria nods. "Yep, they got into a major fight, and she accused him of things he apparently didn't do – which I doubt," she tells us.

They broke up? I'm so surprised and dumbfounded that I don't know what to think about it. I don't know if I should be happy or not.

"Excuse me," I mutter and stand up, heading for the restroom. I push my hair away from my face and open the door.

What the fuck? Why did they break up? Was it because of me? Was Nicole too suspicious? The cold water feels good against my heated skin, and I let out a deep sigh. I feel the tears prickle behind my eyes, and my lower lip starts trembling. You've accomplished what you wanted.

I rake a hand through my hair in frustration, and tug on it. Why am I still unsatisfied? I rest my hands on the sink and look down, letting my hair fall around my face like a curtain.

What is it that I want? A big part of me wants to listen to Chris and Lucy, because a part of me does knows better. And the irresponsible part of me is confused. I don't know what I want. But I'm not ready to let go of him yet.

With a confused mind, I walk out of the bathroom, with my eyebrows furrowed. I don't know where I'm going, so I don't notice where I walk. 

Suddenly, I collide with something hard, and a strong arm wraps around my waist, preventing my from falling. I open my eyes, and meet dark-brown ones. I lick my lips and blink my eyes a couple of times. Why is it that every time I see him his presence keeps stunning me?

"Vincenzo?" I ask confused. "Athena?" he asks. He looks down at me, mirroring my expression. His eyes scan my face, and his frown deepens.

"Are you okay?" he says once he sees my state. His eyes look down my attire, taking in what I'm wearing before looking back at me in the eyes.

He almost looks... intrigued.

Carefully he raises his hand and brushes a strand of hair away. And in my vulnerability, I let him do it. He cocks his head slightly to the side. 

"Athena?" he asks, but this time with another emotion. It's like he starts to recognize me, like he's seeing through me.

In search for the old Athena.

I break through my trance and pull my guard back up. "I'm fine," I breathe out and stand a little straighter, shrugging his arm off of me.

"And I'm sorry for crashing into you," I mutter and turn around, ready to walk away but stop dead in my tracks.

The way he looked at me... like he was interested in what he saw.

And in that moment, I decide to listen to the irresponsible part of me. 

. . .

Re-reading this is really making me emotional ngl.