This chapter is for an idiot friend of mine who discovered my story by force...
*******
Tanner’s house was even bigger looking during the day.
Seriously, the thing put the Whitehouse to shame.
Jaden rang the doorbell, while I stood, awkwardly, and looked out onto the huge garden that a couple of nights ago had people sharing bodily fluids on it.
“This idiot better answer.” Jaden was mumbling as he rang the bell again, and again, and again.
I sighed and moved back to his side.
“It’s still early. Face it. The fat ass is asleep.” I said shrugging. Jaden laughed and rang the bell again.
“Okay! Jesus Christ, calm your tits!” Was heard from the other side of the door and I had to stifle a groan.
I would be lying if I said I wanted to see Tanner again.
“It’s me dude.” Jaden said in a bored tone as the door was pulled open to reveal Tanner.
He was only wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms, his tanned chest bare for the world to see. Strangely, my head said: “meh,” when I took him in. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice set of pecks, but still. It did nothing for me. Not a single thing.
“Whoa, hey there. You’re that chick from last night.” Tanner said a slow, steady smirk slipping onto his lips as he leaned towards me. Whatever he was about to say to Jaden was completely lost in that creepy smirk.
“It’s Elyon douchebag, not ‘chick.’” I snapped, my arms crossing over my chest.
Jaden chuckled beside me and patted Tanner on the shoulder.
“She’s a bit hard to get used to.” He said; smiling at me the whole time. I rolled my eyes at him, idiot.
“It’s cool; it’s no fun if there’s no chase.” Tanner said laughing slightly before he told us to follow him into the house.
I was only half surprised to see the place as clean as whistle: I guess money can but everything.
“What made you text me like a stalker fangirl?” Jaden asked as we were lead into the front room.
The front room alone was the size of mine and Jaden’s apartments shoved together!
“Well, there was this hottie from Saturday that said she would go on a date with me if I hooked you up with her friend.” He suddenly snickered and looked down between Jaden and I.
I followed his gaze and felt my eyes widen.
Fucking hell, when did he take my hand?
How the rubber goose can he just take my hand without my notice?
I quickly began to slip my hand from Jaden’s but he glared at me and forced my fingers back in between his.
“But I guess that won’t be happening huh?” Tanner finished off his sentence, still snickering to himself.
Jaden pulled me to one of the sofas and sat down, taking me with him.
“Sorry, mate. I’m a bit occupied at the moment.” Jaden said slyly his thumb doodling patterns on my hand.
Oh for God’s sake, I feel like an idiot.
“I think you should go and bang the girl, your starting to creep me out.” I said my brows furrowing.
Okay, I’m lying. I really don’t want him to, but I can’t have him think that.
“Like I said Elly, I’m a bit occupied. Y’know, getting trapped in elevators and shit?” He replied an amused smile appearing on his face.
I sighed and nodded; defeated. Yet not so defeated...
“I heard the cops were at your place last night? What happened? Party too hard?” Tanner said slouching low into the sofa across from ours.
Jaden suddenly became serious and his hand gripped onto mine harder.
“No, someone broke into the house. The fucker smashed me with a fire extinguisher and went for Elyon. She knocked him to the ground and I managed to stop him from getting back up.” Jaden explained, his face going hard at the memory.
“Jesus, was it Marcus’s guy?” Tanner asked his body straightening.
“No.” Jaden said curtly, ending the discussion.
Who the hell is Marcus?
By the look on Jaden’s face I’m not supposed to ask. Psh, I’ll snoop around later when he’s not near.
“It was some low life,” I said my voice low. My sore hand itched under its bandages at the thought of the guy who tried to kidnap me.
“Well, at least you two are okay.” Tanner said; like he was struggling for the right words.
Jaden and I both nodded; our thoughts elsewhere.
“Then what are you planning on doing today?” Tanner suddenly said a smile licking his lips.
This doesn’t look very promising.
“Nothing, why?” Jaden said his eyebrow arching.
“The two could go to MJ’s for me.” Tanner said shrugging.
MJ? I’m sure I heard that name somewhere before...
“What for?” Jaden said frowning.
“She needs a lift here, I offered to pick her up. I slept in, and, no doubt, she’s cursing me right now for standing her up.” He said rolling his eyes.
So MJ is a girl? I wonder what kind of girl she is.
“Fine, we have nothing better to do anyways. It’s only a ride she needs?” Jaden finally agreed his hand already pulling me to the door.
“Yeah, just bring her here then the two of you can do...Whatever it is you do alone.” He trailed off suggestively.
Little bitch.
I flipped him off while Jaden chuckled and opened the door for us.
“Oh! And I wouldn’t mention Luke when you guys meet her, y’know how she gets.” Tanner said just as we were leaving through the door.
Jaden laughed and nodded.
“I know, just leave it to us.”
With that he closed the door behind us and we made our way back to the car.
The curiosity in me wouldn’t let the question in me shut up.
“Who’s MJ?”
“She’s Tanner’s cousin, she’s a year older than us; a year younger than Tanner.” Jaden said opening the car doors, his hand leaving mine as he entered the driver’s seat.
I flexed the tense muscles in my fingers and followed in behind him.
No need to admit I missed his hand in mine already. I don’t want to sound like a girl or anything.
“Tanner’s cousin huh? Is she as annoying as him?” I asked without much thought.
Jaden laughed quietly and started the car; he waited till we were moving before answering my question.
“No, she’s...A bit like you I guess.” He said a small smile on his lips. A soft, caring one that he only gets when he talks about him Mum.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I muttered looking out of the front window when the look on his face was beginning to make me want to smash it off of him.
“It means what is does, now shut up. I’m trying to drive here.” He said with an eye roll, the look vanishing from his face.
“Ass hole.” I mumbled folding my arms over my chest and looking back out of the window.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw him smirk.
We pulled up outside a normal looking two storey house, that wasn’t too far from where I lived.
In fact, I walked past this house every day to get to school.
“I’ll go get her, you can wait here.” Jaden said opening his door and jumping out.
I watched as he jogged up the short path to the house and rang the doorbell. A couple of seconds later a tall girl with short black hair and a massive smile opened the door and hugged Jaden. Her head the perfect height to lean into his ear to say her greeting.
A low, angry, feeling began to swirl in my stomach. It was venomous and spreading throughout the rest of my body until I had to bite my tongue to bring me back to reality.
And that reality meant Jaden and the pretty girl, MJ, were waking back to the car. The both of them laughing playfully.
Just snap out of it Elyon! There is no need to imagine grating this girls’ face off with a cheese grater.
I managed to slip my normal, passive, look onto my face when they were opening their car doors.
“Oh! You really are a normal girl!” MJ exclaimed from the backseat. Jaden grinned and looked over his shoulder at her.
“What did you expect? An alien?” He teased, that soft smile glinting at me spitefully.
“No, a blonde whore. Your usual type.” She threw back grinning at me.
“Sorry to disappoint.” I said unsure of the conversation and the anger bubbling in me.
MJ laughed and shook her head.
“Oh, you don’t. It was about fricken time.”
Jaden groaned and turned back to the front of the car.
He gave me a lopsided smile and I tried to smile back but I could only manage to purse my lips slightly. His smile fell and he tilted his head, inspecting me, asking me what was wrong.
Nothing, at least I hope that’s the look I gave him in return.
“Are we going or are the two of you going to stare at each other all day?” MJ said leaning in between the seat a coy smile on her tanned face.
Up close I could count almost every one of her long eyelashes, see the definition in her perfect cheek bones and I could tell how utterly beautiful she is.
Ugh, you’re pathetic Elyon.
I scowled and turned away from the both of them, I have no reason to be jealous!
There were a few moments of silence, as Jaden continue to stare at me and I refused to look back at him.
Jaden suddenly laughed and I snapped my head around to face him.
He was leaning on the steering wheel, his whole body shaking as he laughed his ass off.
“Wow, maybe I should become a comedian if I’m that good at making people laugh.” MJ whispered making me hate myself even more.
If I wasn’t so pathetic I would have laughed at her comment.
“What the hell?” I demanded frowning at Jaden’s outburst.
“Sorry, it’s just,” he looked at me again and laughter bubbled through his closed lips.
“Seriously Jaden: you are annoying me now.” I groaned rubbing my sore hand and scowling at Jaden.
He sobered himself up and ran a hand through his hair: a smirk playing at the edge of his lips.
“You need to calm down Elly, you over think things way too much.” He gave me a meaningful look and started the car.
MJ snorted in the back of the car and I heard her buckle her seatbelt.
I blinked back at Jaden before buckling my own belt.
I had a bead feeling that his random laughter was at me, and it was because he knew what I was thinking.
Damn, I really am turning into a big girl.
“Thanks for the ride.” MJ said throwing open her car door and practically jumping out of the car.
I guess the atmosphere between Jaden and I was little...Intense.
The whole care ride I refused to acknowledge his smug presence while he stole mocking glances at me from the corner of his eye.
“No problem MJ, anytime.” Jaden said rolling down his window and sticking his head out to see her.
“I’ll call around some time, to check up on things.” MJ replied back, her eyes flickering to me.
“It was nice meeting you. Maybe next time you won’t be scowling at me so much though.” She said; a cheeky grin lighting up her hard features.
I cocked and eyebrow at her confidence and shrugged.
“Maybe.” I said my voice indifferent.
Her grin widened and she turned her attention back to Jaden, who had that stupid smug smile back on his lips.
“Bye MJ.” He said finally, rolling up his window again. MJ nodded and waved from the other side before walking up the porch to Tanner’s house.
“So,” Jaden started, pulling out of Tanner’s drive way, “are you going to talk about it?”
I rolled my eyes and sighed.
“Like you don’t already know: retard.” I muttered back and he laughed.
“Fair enough, but I think I should probably tell you something. MJ is Luke’s ex, and she is a sister to me, like Lily, there is no need for you to get out your voodoo doll kit when we get home.” His eyes never left the road as he said this, but that same, soft, smile lit up his face and my body let out a sigh of relief.
“I totally knew that.” I huffed out refusing to actually say the words that he wanted to hear.
“Sure you did Elly, sure you did. Now, are you hungry? Because I think MacDonald’s is calling on me,” he mused stopping at a traffic light and flashing me a quick smile.
He was letting it drop?
Thank Christ for that shit.
“Sounds good to me.”
“Two double cheese burgers, twelve chicken nuggets and two medium chocolate milkshakes.” Jaden said to the guy behind the counter at MacDonald’s.
The guy was a weedy looking man. With short, gingery hair, big blue eyes and a splattering of freckles.
He was immediately intimidated by Jaden, and stumbled over all of his lines. It was cute actually.
“I want a burger.” I informed Jaden when the guy had left to collect our drinks.
Jaden rolled his eyes and looked down at me, amusement clear on his face.
“I know, I got the nuggets on the side.” He said flipping the pound coin he got as change.
“Hey, if I flip this coin; what are the chances of me getting head?”
And the pickup lines are back.
He held the coin out to me that idiotic smirk on his lips; tempting me to play his game.
“About the same as me punching you in the face.”
He laughed and leaned a little closer to me: a glint in his dark eyes.
“So, pretty high then?”
I thought over my exact words and found myself frowning.
“Smartass, flip your coin somewhere else.” I groaned shoving him away from me just as the guy placed our tray of food in front of us.
“Thanks,” I said politely taking the tray before Jaden could.
“Let’s go over there.” Jaden pointed to one of the round tables in the corner and I followed behind him.
We ate in relative silence, except when I groaned into my burger, but after a while the silence started to bug me.
“What’s MJ’s actual name?” I know; I could have picked a better question.
But the thought had crossed my mind more than once.
“Mellissa Johnstone, but I don’t think I have ever heard anyone call her that. Not even her parents.” Jaden said without asking why I brought this up.
I nodded and popped a chicken nugget in my mouth.
“What happened with her and Luke?”
Jaden quirked an eyebrow at me and took a drink from his milkshake before deciding to answer.
“They broke up a few weeks ago. Y’know that day Luke went crazy on you in detention? Yeah, the day before MJ broke it off with him when she found out what he was up to.” Jaden explained; a saddened look on his face.
“How could I not know this? I mean, Luke doesn’t seem too different or anything, it’s like he’s always...Cold.” I finished lamely.
But it was true, Luke did seem cold. Don’t get me wrong, there were times when I would see him smile or blush. But he was so closed off that it was hard to get to really know him.
“He wasn’t always like that. He was a real geek when I first met him. Super shy and hardly spoke two words, then all that shit went down with his family and he became distant.” Jaden said playing with his straw.
I nodded and picked at my nails.
“How did you guys meet? And not just Luke, I mean Noah and Nicolas. Lilly too. How did all of you become friends?” I asked a smile glittering my lips.
Jaden looked away from his straw to give me a straight, honest stare. His lips tilted slightly; his eyes wider than usual.
“If I tell you, I get to ask you something. And you have to answer.” He’s smiling. That smile that I like, the one with the dimples and the little pinch in between his brow. The stupid smile I can’t say no to.
“If it’s something dumb I will simply pour this delightful milkshake over your head before laughing and leaving with your car keys.” I warned with a sickly sweet smile.
Jaden laughed and held his hand out towards me, I eyed it wearily.
“Deal. It’s a hand Elly, you shake it.” He said when I continued to stare at his hand awkwardly.
With a sigh I took his hand in mine and shook it quickly before letting go and leaning back into the chair.
“There, now spill. How did you guys meet?”
Jaden muttered something under his breath and copied my movements: leaned back into his seat with a soft pout.
“Ugh, well Noah and I have been friends since we were like five. Our parents were fiends, so we were too. We grew up together.”
Makes sense, the two of them did seem a lot closer than the rest.
“Then when we were ten Nick got into this fight with this giant guy with a bad perm, no one would help him so we did. The guy kicked our asses and we bonded in hospital. Good times.”
He stared to the side of me, reminiscently. A smile working its way onto his defined features.
I, on the other hand, was trying not to laugh at the thought of a large guy with curly hair beating the shit out of our resident bad boys.
“And Luke?” I prompted when it looked like Jaden was going to stare at nothing all day.
“Oh, we used to steal his homework and copy it. One day he had enough and fucked us all over the head with his math textbook. Broke Nick’s nose and gave Noah a concussion, after that we had a new found respect for the freakishly strong nerd.” He was grinning now, a spark in his eyes as he told his tale.
I laughed a little and shook my head.
“You guys were jerks, even when young huh?”
Jaden pretend to scowl at me before laughing quietly.
“Say what you will, but I’m a lovable jerk.”
I scoffed.
“Sure, now what about Lily.”
He narrowed his eyes at my dismissing, but took it like a good bitch and began to tell his next story.
“Well, you know Lily’s Dad is a lawyer?” He asked and I nodded for him to continue, “well: my Mum’s his boss. So her Dad thought it would be a good idea to get his daughter and his boss’s son together.”
Ew. I pulled a disgusted face and Jaden laughed.
“Yeah I know; Lily was so embarrassed when we first met. We both knew what her Dad was trying to do. Anyway, we didn’t go much further than talking occasionally. Until she met Noah, and bam! They got together and she became the little sister I never had.”
Lily’s Dad is a douche. I always had an inkling that he was by the way she talked about him, but this clears it up.
“Wow, and that’s how the stupid squad was born; my life is now complete.” I sighed smiling slightly.
It was nice to hear a little bit more about his past, even if is only a small portion; I’m still glad to be able to hear it.
The stupid blubber nugget is turning me into a sentimentalist.
“I do believe it is your turn Elly. So tell me, who exactly were you before...Before your Dad? What were you like?”
He wanted to know what I was like?
That’s a pretty easy question.
I’m sure I’ve told him this before.
“I was a whore. A complete bitch with no friends and a shitty family life. I went to parties, I got drunk and I hooked up.” I said sighing slightly.
I hate who I used to be. I hate what I would have become.
“So no different from how you are today?” Jaden teased, but under that smirk I saw concern. Concern for what, I have no idea. But it made my chest itch.
“Shut up. Let me finish at least. Cassidy brought me back, she centred me. For a while. When I had to leave, I knew I had a chance to change, I chance to become the person I was. Under all the makeup and hair dye. It wasn’t easy. The first few weeks all I could think about was getting a good solid fuck and a bottle of vodka. But it wore off, and so did the hair dye. I became me again, this me.” I said pointing at my chest and smiling at Jaden who was smiling back at me.
“Well, at least something good came out of all of the shit in your life. At least you found yourself.”
And you. At least I found you.
Ugh, I should consider theropy.
A/N
New chapter!! Pretty boring, just bringing back some people, trying to tie some loose ends ect.
If you don’t remember MJ she was mentioned waaaay at the beginning when the hooker tried to get Jaden as a customer? Only in passing but it was there!
Next chapter will have her Dad in it, briefly, will have Alice and definitely will have Cassidy.
It’s back to the drama and back to the dark stuff.
Look forward to it!
Thanks for reading :)
Comment and Vote (Please)
Robyn x