Laila
I should've been expecting it. So, it really shouldn't have come as a surprise. Of course someone as gorgeous as Justin Richards and someone as beautiful as that girl would invariably find a way to be together. That's the way high school worked, right? And not just high school, I guess - more like the entire universe. If that girl and Justin weren't together, the entire solar system would go out of alignment or something.
Justin froze the second Maggie pulled him down to her level so she could kiss him. He was immobile for what felt like half a second before he was kissing her back, his hands moving to cradle her face. It looked like he was trying to devour her with that kiss.
I felt like an idiot when the room started spinning and I thought was going to start crying. I inconspicuously tried to take deep, calming breaths while my heart started beating wildly.
Strike that - I was an idiot. Justin kissing another girl shouldn't have hurt as much as it did.
"Hey, Nick?" I found myself saying, my voice oddly high-pitched. "You wanna go get a drink or something?"
"Sure," Nick said, taken aback by my question. "It's a bit hot in here, isn't it?"
I laughed. It was awkward and at least two octaves higher than normal, but Nick didn't know that. I'd barely even just met the guy. And in all honesty, he was fairly attractive in his own right, too. He was at least a head shorter than Justin, but had tousled blonde hair, pale skin, and bright honey colored eyes.
It was definitely my imagination that conjured up a somewhat sympathetic look in Nick's honey eyes as we wove our way through the guests, away from Maggie and Justin - who, might I add, were still locked in a furious embrace.
"Maggie's my twin," Nick was saying as we walked along. "So, I do apologize on her behalf."
"Apologize? For what?" I asked confusedly.
At least my voice wasn't that off.
"Maggie always likes putting on a show," Nick said. "And if Justin's around, she can't resist."
"So, they're dating, right?"
I tried to keep the bitterness in my tone to a minimal.
Nick snorted out a laugh and shook his head a little. What was that supposed to mean?
"You'll have to ask Justin, Laila, because I honestly don't know," Nick clarified, his lips pursed.
I scowled, biting my lower lip. I should've figured that some girl would be Justin's play thing. That jerk.
"Don't think too little of Justin, though," Nick continued, eyebrows raised. "He's a bit of a jerk, don't get me wrong, but he's a great guy. You just have to catch him on the right day."
I put on a false look of surprise. "No kidding."
Nick grinned in response, giving me a sort of admiring glance.
"How long have you known Justin?" he asked, once we had grabbed sodas from a few coolers that were propped up by the double doors towards the back of the house.
I sipped thoughtfully at my Coke and leaned against the back wall.
"Probably since I was four, I think," I answered after a moment.
Nick whistled, making a horrific grimace. "And you're still sane?"
I sighed dramatically, putting a hand to my forehead. "It's so hard to be me."
Nick laughed at that. He had a nice smile, I noticed. I liked this guy Nick. He was definitely too nice to be hanging out with a jerk like Justin. Yeah, I'd only known him for not even ten minutes, but I liked his personality. He seemed like a carefree and easy going guy.
Nick and I chatted for what felt like hours after that. We talked about how our sophomore year had gone, who we hung out with, what our favorite subjects were, what music we liked...things like that. He was actually a pretty intelligent guy - all Honors classes.
As much as I hated to admit it, this whole party thing wasn't that bad.
"So...." Nick trailed off as there was a lull in the conversation.
I sat cross-legged on one of the kitchen counters, taking a sip of my third can of Coke.
"So...." I hummed.
"How long have you liked Justin?"
"Excuse me?!"
I spat out my mouthful of Coke, my eyes wide. Nick burst out laughing, and he fell back against the counter, clutching his sides and his can of Dr Pepper at the same time. I, on the other hand, was fuming with anger. And yeah, I was blushing, too.
"Oh, c'mon, Laila," Nick said breathlessly a moment later. "You've got it written all over your face. You definitely have a thing for him. It's so obvious."
"I do not, and I repeat, do not like Justin," I said firmly.
"All right," Nick shrugged. "If you say so."
"I don't," I repeated firmly.
"Right. Keep telling yourself that, Laila."
"I don't!"
Nick was still laughing under his breath when he suddenly reached up on his tiptoes, waving his hands over his head like a lunatic, shouting, "Avery! Hey, Avery!"
I glanced over my shoulder and saw a girl with pin straight black hair piled up into a knot and black-rimmed glasses perched on the edge of her nose heading over towards us. She was wearing a simple white t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and despite her rather plain appearance, she really was quite pretty.
"Bothering people again, Nick?" the girl said with a slight Spanish accent, cracking a smile.
Nick looked over at the girl and smirked. "It's me. I always bother people."
The girl shook her head, rolling her eyes, before she turned to me with a polite smile on her face.
"I'm Avery," she introduced herself.
"Laila," I replied, my lips twitching into a half smile.
Avery's dark brown eyes widened in evident surprise. "The Laila?"
"Yep," Nick bobbed his head, looking amused. "This is the Laila."
I frowned, very confused. "I think I'm missing something.”
Just what were they going on about now?
Nick seemed to realize my confusion, because he quickly spoke again.
"Justin's been...ah, talking about you for quite a while."
My face was blank for a second before I laughed sarcastically.
"Very funny."
"No, really," Avery said, giving me a bemused look, almost as if she was just as confused as I was.
"Laila here seems to think that Justin hates her or something," Nick interjected, giving me a pointed nudge.
"I -"
Avery laughed loudly, causing a few people loitering around us to glance over.
"Maybe you don't know Justin that well, Laila, because he never shuts up about the girls he likes."
"Yeah, right," I said, scowling. "Justin's a jerk."
Nick and Avery exchanged knowing looks. I frowned. Apparently, they didn't believe me. This was ridiculous.
Avery bent down and grabbed a Sprite from one of the several coolers before cracking it open. We started talking about how our summers were going, but before we could even discuss anything else, there were several loud shouts and wolf-whistles and shrieks coming from a group of rowdy boys that were sprinting into the kitchen.
"NICK!" a guy with a buzz cut shouted, reaching forward to grab Nick in a back-breaking hug.
"JACK!" Nick shouted in return, giving the guy called Jack a noogie.
"Why, hello there," one of the guys with a mess of brown curls said, leaning forward on the counter with his elbows. "Who might you be, pretty lady?"
I arched an eyebrow, fighting back a smirk. It was safe to say that I'd never seen a guy be so direct with me before.
"Lay off, Marshall," Nick warned, giving the guy called Marshall a shove. "That's Laila Hayes right there. She’s Justin’s girl."
Marshall's eyebrows shot up his forehead and his jaw dropped. "The-?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm the Laila Hayes," I cut him off, annoyed. “And I am not Justin’s girl.”
As if that was even possible. No way.
Marshall, Jack, and Nick laughed, unable to keep straight faces. The other guy, the one whose name I didn't know, just stood off to the side with a sort of embarrassed smile.
"Oh, this is Alec, by the way," Marshall continued, tossing an arm around Alec's shoulders. "He doesn't talk too much. Mainly because we think he's afraid of women."
Alec flushed furiously red, ramming an elbow into Marshall's ribs, muttering a few obscenities under his breath. I smiled at Alec, and his cheeks only darkened in color. After the events of today, seeing a guy so shy around girls was sort of cute.
"Hey," Jack said, glancing around the kitchen confusedly. "You came with Justin, right?"
I glowered at the mention of the Jerk. "Unfortunately."
"Where is he?" Marshall cut in, frowning.
"Probably still sucking face with that one girl," I said without thinking.
Marshall, Nick, Avery, Jack, and Alec all stared at me, and then exchanged knowing looks.
"Maggie," they all said in unison.
"What's the story with that girl, anyways?" I asked, sort of scathingly.
"Maggie's been after Justin since the sixth grade," Nick said, leaning against the counter as if he was readying himself for a story.
"And the thing is, I don't think Justin even actually likes Maggie," Jack said thoughtfully.
"Yeah," Marshall added with a nod. "He mainly plays her along because he's bored."
Avery scoffed under her breath, rolling her eyes. We exchanged withering looks.
"Boys," we said in unison, irritated.
"Hey!" Marshall, Jack, and Nick exclaimed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Avery and I just started laughing.