It finally happened.
I was finally sick of my old story and ready to start a whole new one. It was my curse, really; the thing that held me back from going all in for the writing career. I would start a story and get a few chapters in when, suddenly, I found myself repulsed by the idea of finishing it. Where the heck was my old story going, anyway? Well, I didn’t know. That was the problem.
I’d considered the mansion being haunted, but that seemed too cliché. I considered Kelsie getting with the no name gardener, but that seemed cliché and also a bit hypocritical, being as though I didn’t write romance. So, really, I had tried creating a great black abyss of nothing.
Today I was trying to start anew. But everything I came up with seemed stupid. With a heavy sigh, I gave up on trying, knowing inspiration would strike sooner or later.
It was late and Leander was throwing another of his infamous parties, which meant my mom was out with Alaric.
What made me do it? Well, I was blaming it on inspiration.
I ran back into my room, curled my hair with my curling wand—I didn’t know the specific name for the thing; I just called it my wand—put on some serious eye-popping makeup, and dug in my closet for sexy-ish clothes. All I came up with was a purple mini skirt and a black tank top. Being the coward in leg showage that I was, I decided on black leggings. And being a non heel girl, I opted for my black ballet flats. Stylish, right?
But, surprisingly enough, I was satisfied with my thrown together look. It was simple, yet cute.
I didn’t call Sawyer, mostly because I knew he was busy. Something about a previous engagement? I had already forgotten. I just had to hope Maddie was there, or that I could be confident enough to stand alone sober.
Like always, crappy music was playing and mostly everyone was intoxicated. I walked in hesitantly, wondering why I was going in alone. I had gone alone the first time, though, and came out with two friends. So that was something.
I wasn’t here to make friends, though. I was here to get inspired. Though I didn’t know just how to do that, I was pretty open to anything.
A few people bumped into me with sloppy and “heart felt” apologies. I brushed it off and headed to the drinks.
When I saw who else was there, with his posse, I immediately turned to go. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the best place to be, as everyone was there. It was almost like they were blocking my way, which was ridiculous, of course.
“Hollywood?” the man of the hour called after me.
I cringed before turning around with my best poker face.
He laughed, like he was so hilarious. Maybe he didn’t realize no one was saying anything funny. “Care for a drink?”
I shook my head. “No, thanks.” I turned again to try and get out of that room.
“Aw, c’mon!” A second later, Leander caught up to me, catching my arm. “I’m being civil, see?”
I looked him over. Yeah, I think he was beyond civil, what with his eyes glazed over and that silly grin on his face. “I can see that. Jeeze, man, how much have you had to drink?”
He waved me off and offered me a blue cup. “Enough that you gotta catch up to me.”
I pushed the cup away. “I said no thanks.”
“Aw, Hollywood.” He got real close. What was it with drunk people and personal boundaries? “I’m tryin’ to be nice.”
I sighed. “It’s not about you, okay? I just don’t want one. Thanks.”
“But it’s fun!” He raised his voice and everyone cheered him on.
“Yeah, until you wake up in your own vomit.” I shook my arm off. “Forget it, dude.”
Even though I was walking away, Leander kept following me. “You know somethin’, Hollywood? You’re pretty cute.”
I snorted a laugh, rolling my eyes. “Gee, thanks. Why’re following me, exactly?”
He grinned sloppily, but he looked a little bit adorable when he did so. “I’m gonna follow you all night ‘till you finish this drink!”
“Oh my God! What is with you? I’m not gonna drink it, okay?” I snapped. “Let it go already.”
“Oh, Hollywood. You know me better than that. I never let anything go.”
Wasn’t that the truth. I stopped and turned around, holding out my hand. “Okay. Let me see the cup.”
Leander looked me over skeptically. “Nah,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re just gonna chuck it.”
I smiled cheekily. “Why, Leander! I thought you wanted me to chug it?”
“I ain’t that drunk, sweet pea.”
I actually debated the drink. Would it really be that bad to let myself go for just one night? I wanted inspiration. What got better than getting drunk, even if it was just a little bit?
Dark thoughts filled my head. Memories of parties with my California friends. They really knew how to throw a party. Memories….horrible memories. They mostly revolved around my dad. How he got when he’d had too much and how those “too much” nights escalated to where I hardly recognized him as the man who’d raised me and loved me.
Without thinking, I grabbed the cup out of Leander’s hand and chugged the bitter liquid. I would not be thinking about my dad! No way. And since I had been fighting those thoughts for so long, I just needed to get away from them.
Leander whistled. “Damn, girl!”
But I wasn’t happy and I certainly wasn’t silly. I tossed the cup over my shoulder, furious with myself for breaking that promise. I was already in now; might as well join Leander’s silliness.
“You know,” I said a half hour later with a few beers in me. “I came here to get inspired. I’m a writer. Did you know that?”
Leander laughed. “Me, too!”
I slapped his arm. “I’m serious, dumbass.” But I was laughing too hard to come off as serious. I frowned, scanning the room we were currently in. “Where the hell are we, anyway?”
Leander, sitting on the floor beside me, leaned against the bed. “My room.”
I laughed harder. “Dude, there isn’t enough alcohol in the world for me to stay in here with you.” But when I stood up, the floor moved beneath me. I swayed, trying in vain to get my balance.
Leander stood up, laughing, and helped me back down. “Back at ya, Hollywood. The door’s open for a reason, you know.”
I looked up in his blue eyes. “You repulse me, you know?”
He raised his brows, one side of his mouth pulled up in a smirk. “Careful, Hollywood. You’re gonna hurt my feelings.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, what feelings?”
“You know somethin’? We are pretty much the same, you and I.”
“Oh, we are, are we?” I laughed for a whole minute at that.
“Yup,” Leander said. “An that’s why we can’t stand eachother. We’re both stubborn.”
I nodded my approval.
“Mean.”
I nodded again.
“Independent.”
I just kept bobbing my head up and down.
“In fact, I don’t know why we’re not dating.”
I pushed Leander to his side. “You idiot! You just got done saying we hate eachother!”
He stayed propped up on his elbow, eyes searching me. “Yeah but hate is also passion, is it not?” He wiggled his dark brows suggestively.
Had I been sober, I might have slapped him. As it was, though, I just kept laughing at him. “You’re a moron.”
“Seriously, though. You’ve never thought about it.”
“About banging you?” I snickered. “No. I really haven’t. An you know I’m tellin’ the truth. No one lies when they’re drunk. Why, have you thought about banging me?”
His nose wrinkled and he shook his head. “No way. You look like a fifteen year old.”
I stared at him, open mouthed. “Meany! I so do not.”
Leander nodded wisely. “You so do.”
“Easy for you to say,” I pouted. “You could easily be, like, twenty-one.”
He brightened up, more, at that. “Why thank you, Hollywood!”
I straightened up, or at least tried to. It was obvious that where my butt sat was where it intended to stay. My head and butt were in cahoots together. Because my butt wanted to sit, my head began to shake the room every time I stood, knowing damn well I’d be back on my ass in a matter of seconds.
“Hey, I got an idea,” Leander said suddenly.
I perked curiously at the sneaky tone in his voice. “Yeah?”
He stared at the wall, blinking for the longest time. “Oh, damn,” he muttered finally. “I went on forgot what it was…..”
I laughed because, let’s face it, it was so hilarious.
“So, Hollywood. You ever been kissed?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not really fifteen. Cut me some slack.”
“Aha!” Leander held up a finger, excitedly sitting up. “But you avoided the question all the same!”
“Yes, you twit. I’ve been kissed.” I gave him a flat look. “What about you? Have you been kissed?”
He hung his head. “Sadly, no. I mean, look at me?” He gestured to himself. “Who’d wanna kiss this?”
My laughter increased to where my stomach began to hurt. When was the last time I had laughed so much? “Oh, brother. Like I’m falling for that!”
“Oh, that’s right!” Leander smirked at me, like he knew he was all that. “You think I’m hot.”
I raised a brow. “Excuse me?”
“Your words, not mine.”
“Psh. Sure.”
“You did. You call me hot.”
I leaned forward, smiling coyly. “I knew you hung on my word.”
He leaned in, too, not one to be intimidated by a girl. “You’d like to think that, wouldn’t?”
And then my eyes did a terrible thing. They lowered from his eyes to those very kissable lips of his. What would it be like, kissing Leander? I mean….I could get away with it, right? We were drunk. We could cough it up to that, couldn’t we? It didn’t have to mean anything. We could still hate eachother in the morning.
Leander’s lip pulled back in a wide and arrogant smirk. “Why, Hollywood. Just what are you thinking right now?”
His voice was low and, curse me, sexy. It only made me wanna kiss him more.
I shifted closer to him. “Just, you know…..thinking…..”
His eyes watched me closely, flickering to my mouth every so often. And then he was leaning in, and I was leaning in. I could feel his hot breath tickle my cheeks, teasing my lips. Our noses brushed. His lips touched mine and pulled back, teasingly. I grinned stupidly, doing the exact same to him. His hand was under my chin, just barely touching the skin there.
“What if I did kiss you right now, Kodi?” he murmured. “What would you do about it?”
In answer, I closed my eyes and waited, never moving.
And then someone, someone that was not Leander, was saying, “Uh….Is there, like, a Kodi McNelly here?”
I pulled back hurriedly, for no reason at all wiping my mouth. My eyes flew to the little blonde in the doorframe, waiting patiently for an answer. “Y-yeah,” I answered at last. “That’s me.”
“Oh. Cause, there’s like a guy downstairs looking for you…..”
My first thought was Sawyer. And the thought that he was here and that I was up here with Leander sent defensive waves through my body. In my head I came up with a million excuses to tell him, to explain just why I’d been alone with Leander.
I stood up fast, too fast, but pushed passed the dizziness as I followed the small blonde downstairs. I never dared to look back at Leander.
“Who is it?” I asked the girl.
“Don’t know,” she answered simply. “He doesn’t sound like he’s around here, though.”
Shit! I thought frantically. Shit, shit, shit, shit! What was I gonna do? What would Sawyer, because I had to be him, think?
The blonde stopped at the bottom of the stairs and nodded toward the front of the house. “He’s at the door. Do you, like, need help or something? You look like you’re gonna throw up….”
I shook my head. “No. I’m cool.”
Fearfully, I stumbled as quickly as possible toward the door. I couldn’t lose Sawyer as a friend. I couldn’t! He hated Leander. I hated Leander. Oh, God, I was so dizzy! I just wanted to sit!
“Kodi?” a familiar voice asked.
I looked up toward the door, totally not expecting to see the face my eyes were seeing. Vaguely, I knew I should remember the girl beside him, but I just cared about him. Could it be true? Why was he here? When did he get here?
“Jason?”
A/N Bam! You totally thought they were gonna kiss! Admit it! Naw, those two are gonna kill me, I swear. Okay, so I’m finally getting to the heart of this story. While it’s still mysterious and vague about Kodi’s dad, you get a little more info about him.
And Leander called her Kodi, not some smart ass pet name. How sexy is that? Gah!
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TTFN,
HaNnAh
P.S Kodi is seriously my favorite character right now, even if she can be bitchy J