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The next morning, I felt absolutely horrible. And tired. Maybe it was because I barely got a wink of sleep?
The whole night, I stayed up thinking. Wondering. About Ava, about my life, about that white piece of paper that taunted me to open it and reveal Ava's darkest secret. Yet, I didn't.
Did I really wanna play dirty like that? Fight fire with fire?
No. I didn't. Ava was all talk, I wanted to show her that I wasn't. I'd rather knock her fucking teeth out. But if I probably did, all that anger I had locked up, would explode. And I wouldn't be able to stop myself. I'd kill her.
But, that wasn't such a repulsive thought..
Get it together, Ray! You are not going to kill Ava!
I trudged to my dresser, yanked it open, and randomly picked out a outfit, which turned out to be a pair of light washed jeans, a long purple shirt, and a gray beanie. I quickly shrugged them out, and slipped into my black combat boots, and then I was off.
I jogged down the stairs, bag in hand, and right into Gabby.
"Ray! You're awake!"
"Yeah."
I nodded, and stared at her weirdly, she kept a mischievous smile on her face the whole time.
"What's up with you?"
I asked, and slowly walked around her, to the counter, where I grabbed a red apple. And tossed it up and down, before taking a large chunk out of it, while I stared at Gabby.
She kept that same smile the whole time. She was definitely up to something. It wasn't till I looked over at the coffee table in the family room, that I saw the pink flyer'swith the words, 'Party this Friday! At Gabby Bardsley's and Gage's house!'
"A party?"
I raised a eyebrow at her, and Gabby nodded like a maniac.
"I'm not going." I stated. And Gabby's grin dropped.
"What? You have to! Besides, you have no choice. The party is here."
"Then I'll go somewhere else."
"You don't even know anybody in this town, where are you gonna go?"
"Anywhere but here."
I said, tossing out the know devoured apple. I watched out of the corner of my eyes as Gabby folded her arms over her chest.
"Too late. We're already going dress shopping after school."
"There is no we. There's only a you."
"Well then..I bet Dustin is going to be very sad to hear about this.."
"Yeah, well- Wait, what?"
I faced her completely, my eyes wide as I stared at her. Gabby giggled. Giggled! She invited Dustin? Even after I told her there was nothing going on with one another?
How had she even contacted him?
Then I thought of that piece of paper. I glared at her. She must have snuck into my room, and took it. But how? Half of the night, I was awake. Expect for this morning, where I only got an hour of sleep. That's probably when she had got it.
"Tell me you didn't." I took a hestiant step towards her, gritting my teeth. Gabby took a step back.
"I didn't?" She grinned sheepishly, and I shook my head.
"Gabby!"
"What? He's not that bad!"
"It's not about him being bad..it's just-"
"Are you worried I'll steal him from you? Ray, I would never. That's breaking the girl code."
What? Was Gabby crazy? Steal him from me? She still thought I liked him?
"I told you I don't like him." I scowled her, and Gabby snorted.
"Come on, I see the way you look at him."
"Oh hush, and take me to damn school!"
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By the time I got to school, I was beyond frustrated. The whole car ride, Gabby went to explain on how I had to come to terms with my so called, 'feelings.'
All I wanted to do was jump out of the car when she began to speak about picking between Gage and Dustin.
Even though I objected many times that nothing was going on, with either them. And it wasn't a complete lie. Dustin was just a friend. And I wasn't leading him on, right?
With Gage, things were..complicated. But nothing was going on. Oh god, who was I kidding? Of course stuff was going. He freaking marked me!
That stupid, hot, hunky-
Get to the point, Ray.
Right. I was supposed to be hating him. Not calling him sexy. He's an idiot, in conclusion.
"..Ray, are you even paying attention?" Gabby's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I looked at her.
"No." I said boldly, and Gabby sighed as she pulled into a free parking space.
"I'll shut up about all of this, if you attend the party, and go shopping today with me and Dustin after school."
I raised both my eyebrows up at her, "And you'll never speak of this whole, 'Coming to terms with you're feelings' shit?"
"Yes. I promise."
"Fine, I'll go stupid dress shopping." I reluctantly agreed, and swung open the car door, taking a step out.
"And to the party!"
"Yeah, whatever!"
I called over my shoulder, as I slammed the door shut, and started up the steps of the school. Immediatly, everybody started to cluster around Gabby's car, asking,
What party?
When?
Will there be drinks?
Will there be chicks?
And so on.
I shook my head, what was it about parties that got teenagers so rallied up? Maybe the thought of no parents, and sex.
Possibly.
I made my way into the school, and to my locker, and then swung it open. Suddenly, I felt a hand touch my stomach, I jumped and turned quickly, meeting a pair of sparkling eyes filled with humor. Dustin.
"Well, somebody is quite jumpy this morning." He laughed, and I let my erratic heart beat slow down before answering.
"Yeah, and sneaking up on people doesn't help."
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
"It's cool." I reassured him with a small smile, and turned to open my locker, while looking down at the combination of the piece of paper, seconds later, it popped open.
"So, dress shopping, eh?" Dustin leaned against the locker beside me, Gage's, to be exact, and cocked a perfect eyebrow at me.
"Uh. Yes. I can't believe she's dragging me along." I groaned, and shoved some un-needed notebooks in the stupid locker.
"It can't be that bad. While we're at it, we can even get our hair down, and our nails. Oh my god, and even check out cute boys." He imitated a girls voice, while flipping his hair back.
"It's creepy how good you do girl voices. I'm starting to think you are a chick."
"Damn it, you caught onto to me, Ray. I'm actually a chick. My real name is Destine." He said, keeping a straight face the whole time, I laughed.
"I knew it."
He smiled at me for a minute, and then snapped his fingers, jumping up from where he was leaning on the locker. "Oh! I almost forgot, my mom invited you over for dinner tomorrow. She's making Lasagna. You like that, right?"
I stared at him stunned for a minute, before I nodded. "Um, yeah. Lasagna's..nice."
Nice? Really? Is that the best I can come up with?
I was really just shocked that his mom wanted to see me again, with me barging in on them last time. I practically invaded their privacy.
"Alright, awesome. Do you need me to pick you up?"
"Sure. You can pick me up where you found me the other day."
"Are you sure? I can swing by your h-"
"What should I wear?" I asked, quickly changing the subject. Dustin seemed to catch on that I was aiming towards changing the subject, but being the good person he is, he let it slide.
"Jeans and a shirt is fine. Nothing too fancy."
"Noted." I nodded, and gave him a brief smile, before turning and heading off to class with Dustin by my side.
"So, how long have you been in town?" Dustin asked, as we made our way into the classroom, and into our seats. I shrugged.
"A week, or two."
"Where'd you move from?"
Holy shit. Normal people did actually ask these questions. But I'm prepared. I'll be fine. Just answer the questions.
"Colorado." I blurted, without even thinking about it.
"Must be hard, huh? Is that why you don't want me to go to your house? Because your in a foster home of some sort?"
I shifted slightly in my seat, growing uncomfortable by the minute as I raked my mind for excuses, but as I opened my mouth to utter one, nothing came out.
Something that happened way more then normal.
All of sudden, my stomach seemed to clench. Not in a nauseating sense, but a.. nice, kind of way? How the hell do you describe? Whatever it was, my body had just seemed to come alive. And as I lifted my head from the desk, I had my answer. Gage.
How had I sensed his presence? Did I have some sort of six sense shit? That was highly unlikely.
Probably something to with stupid mating. Ugh.
I watched as he strode over to where me and Dustin sat, and pressed a firm hand on Dustin's desk, catching Dustin's attention.
"Hey, Dustin. Ray."
He gave Dustin a brief glare, before looking over at me with a warm smile. One that caused immediate butterflies to swarm in my stomach. Stupid effects he had on me.
"Gage," Dustin said between gritted teeth, and he pointed a hateful glare at him. Gage met his eyes, and gave one right back. What the hell was up with those two? And why did they hate one another so much? I had a feeling something I didn't know about was going on here.
"What do you want?" I asked straight out, and quite harshly.
"I wanted to ask who's car we were taking."
"What?" My eyebrows furrowed, and Dustin mirrored my expression.
"For when we go to the mall. Are we taking Gabby's car, or mine?" A devilish smirk crossed his face, and my fist clenched at my side. He didn't give a shit about what car we were taking, he just wanted to rub it in Dustin's face that he was tagging along.
"Gabby invited you?" Dustin spoke, his voice strained.
"You can say that, yeah." He nodded.
"Bull shit!" I shouted, without out thinking..again. But I mean, come on! Gabby did not invite him. He probably just invited himself along. Was he doing this to keep an eye on me? Or Dustin?
Probably Dustin. Since because of the remark I made yesterday. Oh god.
"Believe what you want. I'll see you guys after school." He tapped his hand on Dustin's desk, before turning, and walking away. The whole time, I glared at his back as I watched him retreat.
"I'm starting to think you guys know each other more then you lead on. Is he your ex, or something?"
I sighed and shook my head, "No..it's just..I'm kind of living with his family." I explain, and Dustin's facial expression darkened, a frown touching his full lips.
"So that's why you didn't want me to go to your house?"
"Yeah."
"You could have just told me, you know. It's not like you had a choice to be put with the king of jackasses."
"You can say that again." I mumbled, and hoped I didn't regret telling him about living with Gage.
But like he said, I literally didn't have a choice.
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The day ended smoothly, and with much luck, so did lunch. Ava didn't even make a attempt to get at me. And I wondered why, but non the less, I didn't mind.
I made my way down the steps of school, and looked to see where Gage and Dustin stood, obviously in a heated conversation. Gabby stood between, pushing at their chest.
Right when I made my way down onto the last step, they stopped, and turned to look at me. Almost as if they both had sensed me. I knew Gage could, but how did Dustin?
"What's going on?" I questioned, timidly, and they stepped away from one another, but not before bumping shoulders with one another, and directing a glare at one another. Gage didn't say a word, he simply opened the door, and got in.
Dustin on the other hand, smiled at me. "Nothing. Just having a chat. Come on." He motioned me over with his hand, and I walked over to him, looking between him, and Gage, who sat in the passenger seat, looking straight ahead. I could see his jaw clenched, and his fist, as well.
"For some odd reason, I don't believe that."
I let out a small laugh, and slipped into the back seat of the car, seconds later, Dustin hopped in, and closed the door behind him.
Nobody says a thing as Gabby starts the car. And nobody attempts to. Not even Gabby, who always talked a mile a minute.
I felt like just going out and asking what the hell they were talking about, but I knew they wouldn't tell me.
Gabby had even been effected by it, the whole time while she was driving, she looked off in another world. She wore a hard expression, and for once, I wished to hear her talking about my 'feelings' instead of just staying quiet.
We pulled into the mall parking lot, and everybody hurriedly got out, and we began to walk into the mall.
I picked my pace, and soon fell in step right next to Gabby, letting Gage and Dustin trail behind.
"You okay?"
Gabby nodded her head, and looked over to me, a smile gracing her features.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."
"Really? That's a first."
Gabby laughed, "We all have our limits, you know?"
"Right. But hey, if it helps, I might let you pick out my dress." At those words, Gabby let out a squeal, and I knew the old, bubbly, her was back.
"Oh my gosh! Really?"
"Yup."
She looped her arm with mine, and dragged me into the mall, but not before looking over her shoulder, and yelling, "Come on, boys! Who's gonna hold our bags if you don't hurry up?"
I heard both of them groan, but increased their pace to catch up with us.
Gabby dragged me into the mall, and into a unknown store, and started sorting through the racks.
I looked around, feeling out of place.
The whole store smelt of Pink perfume, and sparkly gowns filled the room. It wasn't me. But what was?
"You look so out of place right now."
I jumped, for the second time that day, and turned to see Dustin behind me.
"God damn it, Dustin. Do you always sneak up on people?"
"Don't cuss young lady! And no. Just you." He grinned, and I shoved him playfully on the shoulder as I passed by him, sorting through one of racks.
"Don't cuss? Like you don't. And really? Just me? Well, aren't I flattered." I said, without looking at him while I looked at the dresses. All that appeared were glittery dresses, and bright colours. Not that I didn't like bright colours, it was just..way over used. A bunch of colours just chucked on one dress. It looked like a rainbow had just puked on them.
"I don't cuss..that much. And you should be, consider yourself lucky." He started looking through the racks as well, and pulled out a yellow ruffled mess of a dress. (A/N: Look at me with those mad rhymes. I should be poet! :P) He put it in front of his body, and posed. "What do you think?"
"Sexy," I wiggled my eyebrows at him, and Dustin laughed.
"I bet I wouldn't be able to fit a leg into this. Non the less, one of my feet." He examined the dress, disgust clearly written all over his face.
"I bet I wouldn't be able to fit a boob in there." I scuffed, and pushed it out of my sight. Dustin made a thoughtful expression, before picking out another horrible gown.
"How about this one?"
"Who's that dress for? You, or me?" I teased, and Dustin grinned.
"Me, of course!"
"This just backs up my, 'You're a chick' theory, you know."
"Well, if I'm a chick, you're a dude."
"I'm not a dude. I'm just more manly then you'll ever be." I said, in a matter-of-face voice, and I could hear Gabby's loud laugh from across the store.
"Burn!" Gabby shouted, and Dustin shook his head.
"Stop ease dropping, Gabby!" He shouted back to her.
"Now, now, don't get your panties in a bunch, Dustin, or should I say, Dustina?"
"I don't wear panties. I'm a manly man! And for your information, it's Destine. Get your facts straight." Dustin quickly defended himself, and I let out a laugh.
"Loser," I mumbled under my breath, but I couldn't help but grin.
"Jealous, much?"
"As if."
Dustin was about to answer, when Gabby came out of no where, and yanked me by the arm, and out of the store, into 'Forever 21' (A/N: Come on, who doesn't love that store?)
She began going through the racks again, and I stood watching, until I heard a loud screech, and she yanked a dress off the rack.
"Oh my god, look at this, it's perfect for you!"
I was pleasantly surprised once I saw, it wasn't pink, glittery, no ruffly. It was a simple aqua blue dress, with a one shoulder strap.
"Go try it on!" She commanded, and thrusted the dress in my hand, then shoved me towards the dressing room, where I found it completely empty.
I made my way into one of the stall's, and stripped my clothes off, then slipped into the dress.
I turned, and slowly, looked into the mirror, what I saw, was quite shocking.
Holy shit..I actually looked hot!
The dress was beyond form fitting, and it shaped all the curves I never knew I had. It wasn't too short, but it wasn't too long, it hit right under my knees. Perfect.
There was a swift knock on the door and all of a sudden, a pair of black pumps appeared over the door.
"Try these on, too. Then show me how it looks."
I took the pumps from her hand, and slipped them onto my feet, then opened up the stall door.
I came face to face with Gabby, Dustin, and Gage, who all had their jaws dropped to the floor as they stared at me. For the first time in my life, I blushed. I freakin' blushed!
"Oh my god..you have a body! A body!" Gabby cried happily, and rushed over to me, hugging me to her. I awkwardly patted her on the back. "I knew you had the potential to be a bombshell. I just knew it."
"What? I wasn't a bombshell before?" I teased, and Gabby pulled away from me.
"Oh god no, honey. Have you seen those clothes you wear?"
"Gabby!" My mouth gaped, and I hit her in the shoulder. "Bitch."
Gabby laughed, and turned to the boys who stared at the both of us like we had three heads, "So, what do you guys think?" Gabby questioned, and motioned towards me.
"Beautiful." They both said at the same time, and glared at one another once they realized they had said the same thing.
"You guys are worse then girls. Stop with the bitch fights." I commented, and rolled my eyes. But they seemed to keep the same intense glare off. Almost as if it was a competition.
"Guys?"
Gabby called, but none of them replied. I sighed, and shook my head.
"I'm gonna flash my boobs."
Right when I said that, both of their heads snapped towards me. "Pervs! I'm not actually going to!"
"Boys and their dirty minds," Gabby mumbled, before shoving me back into the dressing room stall. "Now change so we can buy it, then go get lunch!"
"More like dinner." I heard Gage say, as I closed the door, and stripped out of the dress, and changed back into my normal ones.
I exited the stall once I was done, the dress slung over my arm and made my way over to Gabby. She grabbed it from me, and paid, then handed the bag to Dustin to carry. She really did mean it when she said they'd be carrying the bags.
We made our way out of the store, and to the food court. "Hey Dustin, why don't me and you go get Subway, while Gage and Ray go find a table?" Gabby suggested, and before me or Dustin could say something, Gage quickly agree.
"Alright, sounds cool."
Gabby smiled, and grabbed Dustin's arm, dragging him off in the direction of Subway.
I sighed, and my eyes scanned the food court, before they finally landed on a empty table for four. I made my way over to it, Gage following behind me, and took a seat.
Gage sat in front of me, "You know, that dress really did look nice."
"Thanks. I was kinda shocked that I actually liked it."
"Why's that? Not too girly, eh?"
"You can say that again. Glitter and pink aren't my thing." I told him, and Gage gave me a small smile.
"I figured. You're not like most girls."
"Is that a good thing?" I raised a eyebrow at him, and he laughed with a nod.
"Yeah, it is."
"Is that you're best?" I asked, with a small laugh. And his eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
"You're best pick up line? Saying I'm different?"
"No, I have much killer ones." He grinned, and I propped my head up on my hand.
"Oh yeah? Tell me some."
"Are you a parking ticket? 'Cause you got fine-fine-fine written all over you.Oh, oh, and my best one that always makes the ladies melt is, Is there a ninja in your pants? Cause you're ass kickin'!"
I bursted out laughing at that line. Seriously, who actually says shit like that? Weird, desperate nerds, I assume.
"What? You think you have any better ones?" He teased, and I nodded.
"Of course."
"Try them out on me, come on." He challenged, and I smiled.
"Okay, just don't come blaming me when you're totally swooning over me." I warned, and Gage pressed his lips together, obviously holding back a laugh.
"I know it'll be hard, but I'll try." He said, and I leaned forward, placing a hand on his shoulder, before I could even utter out the sentence, he interrupted me, right away. "I said to tell me a pick line, not put the actual moves on me."
I rolled my eyes, and pinched him with the hand that rested on his shoulder, "Ouch!" He hissed.
"Man up! And let me tell the damn line."
"Fine, fine. Jesus, woman." He muttered, and resisted the urge to pinch him again.
"Oh, those are shoulder blades, I thought they were wings. Because baby, you look like you fell from heaven."
"Oh my god, that's horrible!" Gage shook his head, while bursting out laughing. His laughter was contagious, and I soon joined in.
"Oh no, it's you two again."
At the sound of the voice, our laughter died down, and I looked to see a semi aged man, with dark black hair, and matching brown eyes.
"Do we know you?" Gage eyed him, and I did the same, looking to see if anything was familiar about him. Then, it all made sense right at once. Holy crap, that was the dude that found us when we were fighting in the car, and said, 'Young love these days.'
"Holy crap, it's you!" I pointed a finger at him, and Gage looked at me with a weird expression on his face.
"Who's he?"
I leaned forward so that Gage could only hear me, "That dude that saw us fighting in the car, and said we were in love, duh!" I whispered to him.
"Oh yeah! Hey, wanna fuck with him?"
"What are you thinking?"
He leaned closer to my ear, and cupped his hands around it so I could only hear, the whole time, I was aware the man was watching us. "Let's start fighting again, when you pull away, act like I told you something inappropriate and start hitting me, I'll throw insults back."
"You're a freaking evil genius! Let's do it." I agreed eagerly, and I pulled away from him, making my face contort in anger.
"Ew! I can't fucking believe you'd say that, you jackass! How could you fuck my sister?!"
"She's way better then you, that's for sure, you're so fucking stiff in my bed!"
I began to swat at him, and I took it to the next level once I jumped right onto the table and yanked at his shirt.
"You man-whore!"
"Bitch! You hit like a girl!" He shouted, and disaperatly tried to catch my frailing hands that swung at him.
"I. Can't. Believe. You!" I screamed, and we soon fell onto the floor, rolling around pretending to hit one another, while people in the mall stared, and so did the weird man.
Soon, I heard whistles, and felt myself being pulled off, by what appeared to be mall cops. They yanked Gage off the ground, and escorted us to the holding cell in the mall, I caught a glance of Gabby before we were dragged off, and saw she had her hands buried in her hands, shaking her head.
I contained my laughter until they both thrusted us into the cell, and slammed it shut on us. Then walked off.
Right when they walked off, I laughed. And turned towards Gage, "Did you see that guy's face? Holy crap!" I clutched at my stomach, and made sure I wasn't gone laugh out my fucking insides.
"This is the second time we've done this! You think they'll ban us from the mall?" Gage pondered, and tapped a finger against his chin.
"Probably. But it was well worth it. You think Gabby and Dustin will come get us?"
"Of course." He nodded, and I grinned at him.
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One hour later, we were finally released, and told that if we fought one more time in the mall, we'd be banned for good. Which, I thought was pretty nice of them to do, since me and Gage had done this already twice.
And I was pretty sure that weird man was going to file a restraining order against us. But that was fine, because again, it was well worth it.
"I can't believe you guys!" Hissed Gabby as she lead us to the car, and Dustin shook his head too at me and Gage, almost as if they were our disapproving parents.
"It was just a joke." Gage shrugged, and I did the same.
"One that almost got us banned." Gabby said, and I slid into the back seat of the car when Dustin opened the door.
"But we didn't, so what's the big deal?"
She glared at me in the rear view mirror at my words. And I sunk down in my seat, trying to get away from her deathly stare.
Man, if looks could kill.
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Soooo, I know this chapter might be a little boring, but bare with me. (:
But you have no clue how long it took me to write this out. Not because of writers block or anyting, but because of the fact my computer kept shutting off on me, and I had to re-write the scenes over and over again. -.-
Also, Another ah-mazing banner on the side! Keep sending them in! ---->
COMMENT, VOTE, BLAH. (:
- CeCe.