Chapter 25
**Valerie's POV**
At that moment, my breath hitches in my throat, as reality comes slapping me across the face. He is so close, that I can feel his cool, minty breath, but I anticipate nothing. He isn't about to do what I think he is.
The everlasting silence is finally broken, "Uh, I'm supposed to meet Adam," I mumble, awkwardly shifting my body underneath him. Disappointment flashes in his eyes, as he moves from above me, and onto his back. We both awkwardly stand up, brushing the grass and dirt off of our clothing.
"I guess we should get going then," He stares blankly into space, moving his hand behind his neck, awkwardly scratching it. Oh no, not that that again. It seems that our friendship constantly moves between getting along and awkward distance, and I absolutely hate it.
"Yeah, I guess," I let out a deep sigh. I decide not to bring up anything about him always scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, because I'm hoping for us to go back to getting along really well and to keep it that way.
He abruptly throws his soccer ball back into his bag, zips it shut and slings it over his shoulder, as we begin to make our way back to the car. The awkward silence is slowly tearing me apart as we continue to walk. The distance between us is very clear, as we continue without once making eye contact. There is clearly something I am doing, that causes him to act like this, if only he would tell me what it is. But after, what just happened back on the field, I have a feeling he is going to be retreating from me again.
When we get into the car, the awkward silence continues, except Calum decides to make it even more awkward by not turning the music on. We drive for for about 15 minutes, arriving in the parking lot right outside my dorm. I keep quiet until he pulls the keys out of the ignition and the car comes to complete stop. I wait silently for him to say something but he doesn't.
"Calum?," I mumble, reminding him that I'm still in the car, but he doesn't even acknowledge me. He just continues to stare blankly out the window. I brusquely unbuckle my seat belt and open the car door, "Bye," I add in obnoxiously, before climbing out of the car, slamming the door shut, and walking briskly towards my dorm, without looking back. I don't what I am doing to make him react like this, but it's really beginning to piss me off. Maybe this whole "friends" thing isn't going to work out between us.
Just as I am about to turn into A hall, the building in which my dorm is in, I hear someone speak from me behind me, "Valerie Wells? Is that you?"
I turn around to see a familiar girl smiling widely at me, and I instantly recognize her. Although the last time I saw her was two years ago, she hadn't changed much since the last then.
"Hannah Simpson? Oh my god, what are you doing here?" I exclaim, wrapping her into a huge hug. (picture on the side is Hannah)
"I go to school hear now," She replies excitedly, "And I'm guessing you do too," The last time I had seen Hannah was two years ago, at my aunt's wedding. Hannah lived next door to my aunt, and basically every summer break when I was younger, my mother would ship me out to live with my aunt in Brisbane, and Hannah and I would spend everyday together.
"I'm so glad to see you," I cheer, "We have so much catching up to do," I tell her. She nods in agreement, as we take a seat on a bench in front of the building, and begin to reminisce for what feels like hours.
"And remember when we were 13 and we stayed up till 5 in the morning watching re-runs of Hannah Montana," She mentions, holding her stomach from all the laughing she had been doing,
"Oh my god, we were so weird," I laugh along with her. A grungy feeling soon takes over me, and I remember that I just played 3 hours of soccer and my best bet was to shower, "Hey, I gotta go, but we should meet up again,"
"Definitely," She agrees as we both get up from the bench, "Call me anytime," She hugs me briefly one last time, before waving goodbye and heading off in the opposite direction. I am honestly very relieved that I had ran into her cause I hadn't seen her in forever and I missed her dearly. Also, since I started here I hadn't really made any friends that were girls and I really just needed someone that I could be girly with and talk to about my feelings to, my feelings that the guys wouldn't understand. Although I'm sure Ashton wouldn't mind being girly with me, cause oddly enough he did ask to come with me to get a manicure and pedicure once.
I make my way into my room and feel a sense of relief when I see that Susan isn't in there. I get into the shower, letting the warm water wash away all the sweat and grime. That's another reason I hate physical activity. I hate sweating. I try my best not to let Calum cross my mind too much, because I don't need my thoughts of him ruining the rest of my day. So far we've worked out every problem that we've been through, so I'm gonna leave things be and hopefully everything will just return to normal. If not, I guess we just aren't meant to be friends. He's not meant to be in my life, and I'm not meant to be in his.
After I finish showering, a tranquil sensation taking over me, I quickly change into black flannel sweats and a plain white-tee. I walk back into the room, startled to see Susan who was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room.
"Oh it's you," She groans getting up from her chair, making her way to the door. I roll my eyes, as I continue to dry my hair off with my towel, "I'm leaving," She mutters before storming out the door.
"Knock Knock," I hear someone say from the other side of the door, after Susan disappears down the hall. I watch as the door opens and a wide-smiled, blue eyed boy walks inside.
"Luke," I exclaim, flashing him a toothy grin before continuing to towel dry my hair.
"I brought this for you," He presents me with a cup of coffee from starbucks as he takes a sip out of the one in his other hand.
"God bless you," I chuckle, graciously taking the cup from him, "I needed this."
"Anytime," He grins, as he takes a seat on my bed. I quickly run a comb through my hair, and take a seat beside him, "I believe this is yours," He chuckles handing me my phone,
"How did you get my phone?" I ask, giggling along with him,
"I uhh...didn't see it on your bed, and I kinda accidentally sat on it," He blushes, shyly shifting his gaze to his feet.
I stare at him, with an amused smirk on my face, until his eyes meet mine, and we both burst into laughter. My giggling soon dies down when a message appears on my screen.
"What's wrong?" He asks, his amused expression fading to one of concern,
"Oh it's nothing," I assure him, clicking the lock button at the top of my phone and placing it on the night stand beside my bed.
"Valerie," He gives me a look of disbelief.
"Well, It's just adam texted me telling me he wants to take me to a bar tonight at 8," I mumble honestly, watching my foot intently as I tap it against the hard wood floor.
"Oh, the boyfriend," He acknowledged, moving to lay on his side propping himself up with his elbow, "But I don't see the problem,"
"It's just...I-I've never been to a bar," I confessed, frustratingly running my hands through my damp hair,
"Well you are 18 now," He reminds me, "You're old enough to go,"
"I know, but I just don't want to make a fool out of myself in front of Adam," I sigh, "I've never had alcohol before,"
"Really?" He pretends to look shocked, "I never would have guessed that little miss goody-two-shoes has never had a drink before,"
"Shut up," I chuckle, playfully pushing him over, so that he falls onto his back, "I just don't want to look like a complete idiot. Can you come with me?"
He seems to be slightly taken aback by my question, "Valerie, I can't just be a third wheel on your date,"
"I guess you're right," I admit, trying to think of another solution, "What if we double date?" I suggest, "I'll find a date for you,"
"A date?" He gulps, looking slightly nervous, "Don't you think it'll be kind of hard to find a date for me on such short notice?"
"No, not at all," I reply, grabbing my phone off the night table, "In fact, I know just the girl,"
"Valerie, I don't know if this is such a great idea," He warns as I begin to dial the number,
"Luke, please I need you to be there for me. If you don't enjoy yourself, you don't have to go out with the girl again," I plead. I really need him to be there, cause I know he'll be able to save me If I make a big fool out of myself, "Please, Luke? For me?"
"Fine," He obliges, with a smirk, "But only for you,"
"Yay," I exclaim, throwing my arms around his neck, him stumbling back a bit from my unexpected gesture, before wrapping his arms around my waist. I quickly jump off the bed, and continue to dial the number.
"Hello?" The voice rings from the other end,
"Hi Hannah? Are you busy tonight?" I ask smirking at Luke, his cheeks turning bright red.
"Not really, I guess," She replies quite excitedly, "What's up?"
"Well I was wondering if you wanted to go on a double date tonight? I'm going to a bar with my boyfriend and I was wondering if you wanted to come with my friend Luke,"
"Sure," She accepts, and I can imagine her smiling widely on the other end, "Is he cute?"
"Oh yes, he's very cute," I chuckle, looking to Luke who is hiding his face in his hands.
"Okay cool," She giggles, "What time?"
"Um come to my dorm around 7:30," I thought it would be best to have Hannah and Luke get to know each other a little bit better before we go so this whole thing doesn't appear completely set up to Adam,
"Okay cool see you then," She says before hanging up. I quickly text Adam to see if its okay that we double date with my friends and when he says it is, I place my phone on the table and jump on the bed, sitting myself right next to Luke.
I look to him, as he looks back at me with a nervous smile, "What?" I ask,
"You're lucky I'm a nice guy," He jokes, sprawling himself out on my bed,
"Well it's not like I'm trying to torture to. Hannah's a sweet girl and I think you'll really like her. Just be thankful that I didn't set you up with Susan," I chuckle, him joining in.
"I take your word on Hannah being nice, I just don't know her, that's all. And I feel uncomfortable going on dates with girls I don't know," He mumbles
"Well you will get to know her," I assure him. I know Luke can be shy at times, but when you get to know him, he's such a fun guy. And I can tell he is feeling really insecure and nervous about going to the bar with Hannah, but he shouldn't because I know Hannah is going to love him.
"I guess you're right," He admits getting off of my bed,
"Now go get ready," I tell him, giving him a little push towards the door, "Come back to my dorm at 7:30,"
"Okay," He groans as he opens the door, "Later Val," He coo's with a smirk before heading out.
Now I have to focus on getting myself ready. This is my first real date with Adam, so I want look my best. I mean, we did go to mall, but we didn't really do anything. I was to busy focusing on what had happened between Calum and I, to even focus on what we were doing then. Also I am kind of upset that the he picked to take me to a bar on our first date. I was kinda hoping for something a little more romantic, but whatever. I open up my dresser and make a huge a mess of it, as I try to find something to wear. I come across a black Jeane Blush Emmy lace top and some denim skinny jeans and decide to go with that, along with some black block heel platform ankle boots. I straighten my hair until its pin straight and pull out my makeup bag, beginning to apply my foundation when Susan walks in.
"What are you all dressed up for?" She asks,
"I have a date tonight," I inform her, slightly surprised that she's actually talking to me.
"Of course you do," I turn around to see her rolling her eyes, "I'm leaving again," She says opening the door, Luke being on the other side. He was dressed in a white tee and black skinny jeans, with a plain black beanie slung over his head.
"Wow," He says closing the door behind him, "You look....lovely,"
"Thanks," I reply, looking down at my outfit, "Do you think it's too much?"
He eyes me head to toe one last time before taking a seat at the edge of my bed, "No not at all,"
"Are those for Hannah?" A grin fills my face as I motion in the direction of the bouquet of roses he holds in his hands,
His cheeks turn bright pink as he looks down to the floor and slowly nods his head up down,
"Luke that's so sweet," I admire his adorableness, before continuing to get ready. I finish up the final touches of my makeup before I here a knock the door.
"Hannah," I smile widely when I open the door and see her standing on the other side. I turn to see Luke sitting wide-eyed as she makes her way into the room, I try to stifle my giggles, and introduce him, "This is Luke,"
"It's lovely to meet you," She smiles at him warmly. His face burning bright with redness as he gets up from his comfortable seat on my bed, and hands her the flowers.
A few moments later Adam arrives and we all make our way to his black convertible as he drives us to a local bar in town. We make our way inside and Adam makes his way to the other side of the building where there were a clump of empty bar stools. I was about to follow when I was stopped by Luke.
"Valerie, don't let him pressure you into doing anything you're not comfortable doing okay? I'll be right over here with Hannah if you need me," He gives me a reassuring smile, which I return before heading over towards Adam on the other side of the room. I am glad I asked Luke to be here, cause I know I can trust him to look out for me.
"Hey Val," Adam winks as I sit on the barstool next to him, "What do you want to drink?" He asks taking a sip out of the Lone Star he had already ordered,
"Oh I don't really want anything," I reply, repositioning myself on the uncomfortable bar stool.
"Oh c'mon let me buy you a drink," He insists as he waves for the bar tender to come over.
"Adam, you really don't have too,"
"No I insist," He pushes as the bartender arrives to where we are standing, "She'll have a Carlton Black,"
"No Adam I really don-" I begin to say but am too late when the bartender places the beer in front of me and Adam hands him the money. I grab the cool bottle, quietly thanking the bar tender for it. Adam looks at me with a grin, waiting for me to take a sip. I hesitantly bring the bottle to my mouth, one sip can't hurt right? I allow the smallest amount of liquid to enter my mouth, instantly regretting it. I try to hold my grimace from the sour taste.
"Is it good?" He asks taking a sip of his,
"Oh yeah, it's great," I lie, taking another quick sip so that he thinks that I enjoy it, the enduring bitter taste, taking over my mouth.
I sit in silence as Adam picks up a conversation with the bartender and another guy sitting next to him. The conversation goes on for a while, cause he goes through four bottles of beer while talking to them. I'm glad that he hasn't paid a single ounce of attention to me, because he hadn't noticed that I haven't been drinking the beer he bought for me. Yet, I'm pretty bummed that he's basically ignoring me on our date. I look over to Luke at the other end of the bar, glad to see that him and Hannah really seem to be enjoying themselves. He quickly glances at me and sends me a reassuring smile, which I return. I turn back to Adam, who at this point is beyond intoxicated, for he appears to barely have any control over his body.
"Why the sad face?" He slurs turning to face me. He pokes my nose and starts laughing so hard he looks like he's gonna fall off the bar stool, "You have a funny nose," He manages to say between laughs. I look into his red-rimmed, dark, dilated eyes, with confusion in mine. He chuckles deeply before pushing himself on top of me, pressing his warm, moist lips against mine, He forcefully shoves his tongue in, as I uncomfortably attempt to push him off of me, hating the bitter taste of alcohol on his tongue. This is not at all how I wanted my first kiss to go. I wanted it to be romantic and unforgettable, not with a drunk guy who will probably forget everything the next morning. In desperate attempt to catch my breath back, I finally push him off of me.
"Calum," I whisper the second our lips detach, instantly covering my mouth once I realize what I had said.