Once in my party clothes, I head downstairs to meet my parents in the kitchen. My dad is attempting to aid my mom in whatever delicious-smelling food she is cooking for the two.
"Hey, Asher's here to pick me up," I say and kiss my mom's cheek. "I'll see you guys tomorrow morning."
My dad pulls me in for a quick hug. "Have fun at the party."
"Call us when you get back to Sam's after the party," my mom orders. "I won't sleep until I get that phone call."
I salute. "Yes, ma'am."
As I'm heading out, my dad stops me. "Wait!" He throws a medicine bottle my way, which I skillfully catch. "Your brother forgot to take his heart medication today. When you see him at the party, tell him to get a brain."
"I tell him everyday, dad," I laugh. "Bye, guys. I love you!"
I stick Wren's pills in my coat pocket and head out the door. Asher and his beat-up truck wait for me in thedriveway.
"Hi," I greet when I slide into the passenger's seat, kissing his cheek.
"Hi," he says in nearly a whisper, as if I took his breath away. "Hello. Hey. Hi."
I smile softly. "So, how does the beach house look?"
"Riley, you ordered five-hundred balloons, a ball-pit, and an insane DJ kit for Zander!" he laughs. "It looks like a freaking circus."
"It was all necessary," I say surely.
When we get to the beach house, there are only a few minutes before everyone arrives. I go through the checklist to make sure there's enough food and drinks for everyone. As I'm racing through the house, Asher pulls me into his arms for a hug.
With my face smushed against his chest, I ask, "why are you impeding me from completing the checklist?"
"Because you need to relax," he laughs and kisses the top of my head. "It's just a party. And I already checked to make sure we had everything. You need to have fun to night. Do you remember what that's like?"
I place my finger on my chin. "Hm, no. Don't really care though."
As I try to break away, he holds on to my hand to keep me from running. "Riley, I know you think that this party is your only way to show Sam how much you'll miss her and that you're her best friend. But no party can do that."
"That's not what I'm doing," I deny, crossing my arms over my chest. He stares me down until I cave. "Okay! So, maybe I'm a little worried that Sam will move on in Nebraska. Not from Zander and her relationship with him, but from me and our friendship."
"You have to tell her that," he advises. "I don't think five-hundred balloons and a ball-pit qualify as friendship-savers."
I nod, knowing he's right. "It helps though, yeah?"
He laughs and rubs the side of my arm. "Yeah, it helps."
The party kicks into full-gear pretty quickly. More people than I expected showed up, but I'm sure that's because of the promised 'no parents' thing. I'm not much of a partier myself, but Asher seems to have things under control.
I catch Sara walking in with some of her friends and head over. "Hey, Sara, have you seen Wren? He stupidly forgot to take his medication and I'm supposed to give him it if I see him."
"I'm sorry, but I have no clue where he is," she says apologetically with a frown.
"Okay," I pause, "well, have you talked to him at all today? Is he coming to the party?"
She sighs. "I'm really sorry, but I can't help you. Wren and I broke up. I haven't talked to him in three days. I've tried, but he keeps ignoring me."
"Wait.." I try to wrap my head around things. "You and Wren broke up? Three days ago? Why?"
"I..It's complicated," she answers vaguely.
I can tell she's upset about the break up. Oh no. Did Wren cheat on Sara? He is always saying how he isn't one for commitment. But he loved Sara. He told me he loved Sara!
"Why wouldn't he tell me you broke up?" I ask, unable to get an answer because my phone starts ringing with a call from Zander. "I have to take this."
"Go ahead," Sara says with a soft smile, her eyes sad. "I'll talk to you later."
I nod and answer the call. "Hello? Are you with Sam?"
"Um, yes, I am with Sam," he says. "And...your brother."
"Why are you with Wren?" I ask apprehensively.
He sighs. "He was outside my house with a bottle of vodka and he was singing about my mom's cookies. Actually, he's still singing about them!"
Zander pulls the phone away and holds it towards my brother, who is loudly and horribly singing about chocolate chip cookies made by Mrs. Harris.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Alright, just bring him here and I'll deal with him."
"Okay," Zander says. "But I will warn you that Sam is on the verge of throwing him out the car window."
"It'd be a service to all of us!" I exclaim before hanging up the phone call.
Sighing, I head back out to the party. The band I hired- not because I didn't have faith in Zander but because I didn't have faith in Zander- is setting up outside. I hired Lainey, Ari, and Jedi's band. Might I add that this was before Asher found out his sister and Ari were getting married without telling him.
I sort of forgot about everything until I walked outside only to find Asher and Lainey arguing.
"Look, Tucker told me what you had done and I.. I was too disappointed and upset with you," Lainey sighs.
"Tucker doesn't know what he's talking about!" Asher defends. "Things are different now! That was all a mistake."
Lainey rolls her eyes. "Yeah.. I'm sure that's why you haven't told Riley yet."
"Told me what?" I ask, leaving my hiding spot and jumping into the conversation.
Asher mutters something under his breath, pinching his bottom lip. "Not right now." He moves past me and storms off into the crowd.
I look to Lainey in desperation, but she only offers me a small smile before turning towards her band members. I run after Asher, finding him heading down towards the bonfire on the beach.
"Asher, where are you going?" I yell, the waves covering my voice.
"To find Tucker," he answers angrily.
"Why? What did he tell Lainey?" I ask desperately, finally catching up and grabbing his hand.
Asher turns to face me. "I can't explain everything to you right now, Riley."
"Why not?"
"I don't how to explain it because I don't know what the hell I did! I don't understand it!" he exclaims emotionally. "I'm a complete idiot and I don't know how to explain that to you."
"Asher, you have to let me in," I say softly. "If you just tell me, I can help you understand it."
He shakes his head and pulls his arm away. I follow him as he strides towards the bonfire. I can see Tucker with some of his friends from school. He is in the middle of a great joke when Asher barges towards him and pushes him out of his beach chair.
Tucker scrambles to his feet, holding his arms out in defense. "What the hell is going on?"
I stand in between a steaming Asher and a terrified Tucker. "What are you going to do, Asher? Beat him up?"
"Maybe!" Asher says. "Just move, Riley."
"What are you going to beat me up? What happened?" Tucker asks, his eyes moving from Asher's to mine. "What'd you tell him?"
I can hear the conviction in his voice, laced with fear. He obviously thinks I told Asher about him being gay and having a major crush on him. Asher cuts me off before I can tell him I didn't say anything.
"It's about what you told Lainey, asshole!"
Tucker holds his hands out on either side of his body in confusion. "What? C'mon, dude. So what if I told her?"
"She's disgusted! They didn't even tell me about the wedding! And you know how I feel now, man."
"Do I? You haven't talked to me in weeks, dude!" Tucker reminds.
Asher clenches his jaw. "That's.. You- you kissed my girlfriend!" His finger points directly in Tucker's face.
Tucker pushes Asher's hand out of his way and takes a step forward, pushing me to the side. "Hit me."
"Don't test me, Phillips," Asher warns.
"Hit me," Tucker repeats. "I kissed your damn girlfriend, so hit me. "I deserve it, don't I?"
"Don't," I say to Asher, holding onto his arm. "He's your best friend."
"Do it!" Tucker screams much louder than before.
Asher shakes his head and backs away from Tucker. "You're not worth my time."
Tucker's face falls from one of intensity to pure sadness and despair. I find it difficult to follow Asher back towards the beach house, my feet stuck in the sand. I'm unable to meet Tucker's eyes.
"Tucker.." I say quietly. "I-"
"Stop," he cuts me off, his voice sounding as if he's on the verge of tears.
I don't know what Tucker told Lainey, but I get this weird feeling he was protecting me or something. It sounds as if Tucker told Lainey this secret Asher has been keeping from me, a secret that is serious enough for a sister to hate a brother for. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking of the possibilities.
I watch as Tucker walks back to the bonfire, sitting back in his chair in silence. His friends don't say anything, even though they clearly saw what just went down.
My thoughts are preoccupied with a thousand things as I head back for the beach house. Asher and Tucker's fight. What Tucker could've told Lainey. Wren and Sara. Sam. Everything is banging in my head, each problem seeming as great as the other.
I find Asher in the ball-pit and climb in next to him. "Hey."
"I'm not going to apologize to him," he says without looking at me.
"I'm not asking you to," I say. "I'm just sitting in a ball-pit with my boyfriend. Must a girl have a reason for doing so?"
He smiles ever-so-slightly.
I rest my head on his shoulder, needing a few minutes of silence for myself. With all that is happening, sitting in the ball-pit in silence with Asher is the most comfort I've had in awhile. He rubs my hand with his thumb, back-and-forth.
There's a loud crash in the room next to us, followed by a blood-curling scream from none other than Zander Harris himself.
I'm first to jump out of the ball-pit, Asher right behind me. We make it to the living room to find glass shattered all about with the smell of vodka a bit too strong.
Sam is holding Zander in her arms, his eyes widened with fear. I look on the other side of the room, spotting my brother with bloodshot eyes. Asher holds my waist protectively.
"What happened in here?" Asher asks intimidatingly to the crowd of fearful teenagers.
"What happened in here?" Wren mimics in a high-pitched voice. "I'll tell you what happened, Westfield!" He says his name in such disgrace. "You happened."
"He threw the bottle at Zander when he tried to take it away from him," Sam explains.
I move out of Asher's hold to stand next to my brother. "Wren, why don't you come upstairs and we can talk about what happened with you and Sara-"
"You're so stupid, Riley!" Wren slurs. "I mean, Asher Westfield? Do you honestly think you're in love with him?"
I bring my eyebrows together in confusion. "You don't know what you're saying. You're too drunk."
"Oh, I know exactly what I'm saying!" he says loudly. "You're not in love with him and he sure as hell isn't in love with you!"
I glance back at Asher, who has his hands balled in fists with a menacing glare on his face.
"Let's face it, Riles. Whatever you feel for Asher is completely made up," Wren says. "You like the idea of a boyfriend, and Asher just happened to come along. He happens to make you feel special. News flash, your boyfriend is a dick!"
"Stop it," I warn.
"Stop what? The truth? It's really sad, Riley, that you are that desperate for love. You know, deep down, Asher isn't who you're in love with. Having a boyfriend is what you're in love with."
"Why don't you just shut up, Wren?" Asher asks, stepping in front of me.
"Aw!" Wren pouts dramatically. "Is little Asher scared that I'm going to talk some sense into my sister? Oh no! What will you ever do if Riley found out that you've been lying to her this entire-"
Asher punches Wren across the cheek.
I'm frozen in horror as Sam pulls me away from the fighting. My brother punches back, throwing his fist into Asher's stomach. They grunt with each punch, and I am unable to look.
"Zander, do something!" Sam cries.
"I'm on it!" Zander declares and sticks his finger in the air.
Next thing I hear is a loud ninja scream and then the punches and grunts stop. Hm, maybe it does make sense to why Asher was afraid of Zander when he first met me.
My brother and my boyfriend stand on opposite sides of the room, bloodied and beaten.
Wren's chest heaves up-and-down as he glares at Asher from across the room. "He doesn't love you, Riley."
"Wren," I start.
"He has been playing you this whole time." For the first time, Wren looks at me directly in my eyes. "He's in love with Sara."
My stomach drops when I look to Asher who is staring at his feet, unable to look me in the eyes. "Asher, is.. is that really true? Were you just using me?"
"Riley, you don't understand-"
"Why don't you just get out of here?" Wren snaps, stepping in front of me protectively. His chest is still moving quickly, as if he hasn't completely caught his breath.
Asher's eyebrows bunch together as he looks at my brother. "Are-are you okay?"
I move to my brother's side, observing how he is clutching his heart and struggling to breathe. "Wren?"
"Someone call 911!"
~~
AN:
somebody call 911 shawty is fire burnin' on the dance floor
ok
can I just say
I'm sorry
but in my defense I have a horrible case of writer's block and this chapter was difficult for me to work out plot wise
I knew exactly what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go but I didn't know how soon it should happen and blah blah blah
to recap for those who feel utterly confused from the recent events in this chapter:
- Wren hasn't been taking his medication for his heart condition
- Wren and Sara broke up and it's v sad
- Lainey is angry with Asher because of something Tucker told her and it deals with Riley
- Tucker and Asher are no longer friends and it's v sad
- Riley and Asher hung out in a ball-pit
- Wren threw a bottle at Zander which is v sad
- Wren and Asher beat each other up which is v funny
- Wren accuses Asher of loving Sara and Asher doesn't deny it which is v shady
- Wren collapses due to what we can only assume is a heart attack which is v sad and v dramatic and v something i'd leave as a cliff hanger
let's just hope Dexter and Georgia found each other and are deeply in love as of right now
•comment•vote•enjoy•