The Final Wait

Chapter 30

'She said she wants to be with her family, they're going through stuff, so I'm giving them space.'

'But you'll talk to her, right?' Wahid sighed. 'I can't believe you even kept that from me.'

'Yeah, well, it's Lochlan. I feel like if I told you, he'd get this...feeling from all the way in his apartment and hunt me down.'

'You could've hinted or steered her in the direction of the answers.'

'I could've done a lot of things for Octavia, but I didn't.' Frederic looked at himself in the mirror and pictured her beside him. 'If she never forgives me, I'll have to live with that for the rest of my life.'

'Okay, I think I will come with to see how this plays out, but I'm not holding your hair back if you're throwing up.'

Reagan showed up in his Jeep after sundown and although Frederic was still grounded compared to Wahid, the minute his parents saw Reagan, they smiled and told him not to stay out late. 

Everything was slowly going back to normal in Frederic's life. Cressida Perkins was the story mode in a game. He was glad he decided not to follow her path. Instead, he reunited with his first best friend and no longer had to be the driver when they all went out. Things were looking up for him, and he only had one person to thank.

Frederic and Wahid followed Reagan into the busy house consumed with teenagers. Loud music thumped through the speakers and vibrated the glass windows. In one corner, Loyal Contingent played. Bechett's hair flopped into his face whenever he jumped. Doe was in the front and watched him with hungry lips.

Party lights shown on the dance floor where couples tugged at each other and friends bumped hips. Reagan stopped in front of a sofa and spun around, only to be knocked into Frederic. He picked up his glasses and wiped it with his tee.

'Is that the only top you had?' Reagan chuckled at Frederic's tee that glowed in the dim room. 'I remember that top. You guys wait here, I'll get us drinks.'

'He knows I don't drink, right?' Wahid raised a brow and watched Reagan cross the room.

'Yeah, and if he doesn't, just chuck it in the plant behind us.'

'Alright, two cruisers and all I could find was coke.' Reagan gave Frederic the other bottle and Wahid a red solo cup.

'Thanks.' Wahid nodded and waited for them to clink their bottles to dispose of the coke behind him. He leaned with one foot on the wall of the fireplace. The table that Reagan got their drinks from was full of bottles and cups. There were bowls of chips scattered around the living room and he picked at one on top of the fireplace.

'Wahid!' A voice screeched and he turned to see Sasha in a grey bralette and high waisted jeans. She threw her arms around him and raised her one leg to show off her white strappy heels.

 'I'm so glad you made it. Why is your cup empt—' she gasped when Bechett announced a song called Hot Blues. 'Come on, we have to dance! I love this song!'

'I—I'm not a really good dancer.' He dropped his cup when she tugged him toward the dance floor.

'Then you can show me what you know.' Sasha swayed her hips. 'You're from Egypt, right? Do you know any belly dancers?'

Wahid looked over his shoulder where Frederic and Reagan laughed. It was the last thing he saw until he got sucked into the crowd that grew around them. Frederic watched his friend in the middle of the crowd. Wahid wasn't one to dance but after a while, he smiled down at Sasha and began moving. Frederic sighed in relief and collapsed on a white sofa.