Alison POV
I drop my jaw when we get inside. "If this is her beach house I can't even begin to picture what her actual house looks like."
"I know right? And my mom and I can barely manage to keep up with our water bill..."
I throw a sympathetic glance towards CeCe who just shrugs, "text me if you need me."
She walks away and I walk over to a bathroom, knocking on it when I hear someone say it's occupied. When they get out I see the person to be Hanna Marin so I sigh, "sorry." I go to enter the bathroom when she says, "how's the tutoring going?"
I cross my arms over my chest and she chuckles, "you're tutoring Emily right? Don't worry, she tells me everything."
I clear my throat, "yeah um...she needed help."
She scoffs, "maybe you could teach her to stop being such a goddamn jackass."
I snort, "yeah I'll add that to the list." Hanna smiles and looks at me warmly then caring-like, "just be careful, okay?"
My eyebrows pull together but I nod, "yeah...sure."
She drinks from her red solo cup, then starts to walk away but stops, "does CeCe know you're tutoring her?"
I stand still, lowering my head but never answering. This makes Hanna nod, "you know... you say a lot when you keep your mouth shut."
I look up at her, "I'm handling it."
She chuckles, "okay well...I can keep mine shut too. Don't worry."
Emily POV
"Alright everyone knows the rules?" I say as I pour more vodka into Aria's cup and they all nod. "CeCe! Come play," Aria welcomes and I look at CeCe who's taking a beer from the fridge.
"Alright. What game?"
"Never Have I Ever," I say and she nods.
"Do you know how to play?" I say with an attitude behind it. She gives me an annoyed glance, "yeah. I know."
"Alright. I'll go first," Noel says and smiles.
"Never have I ever...slept with someone's parent."
Aria groans and drinks, leaving me scoffing, "no way." I laugh and so does everyone else. "Aria, you go."
"Alright...huh...Never have I ever...no wait I did that..." We laugh and she groans, tilting her head back. "Never have I ever...fucked Emily Fields on Wayne Fields' work desk." She smirks at Hanna and I only chuckle, shaking my head as I watch Hanna drink her cup.
"Screw you Ar. That one was totally for me."
"Obviously," she says and I chuckle, "okay I'll go."
"I never had a dad who wished I was a stain on the bed sheets," I say, staring right at CeCe who clenches her jaw tightly, then walks over to me, "then you're welcome to mine," she hisses, walking away while chugging her cup, then throwing it on the ground.
I chuckle and so does Noel and the other guys. "Really?" Hanna says and I shrug, "what?"
She gets up, following CeCe and I roll my eyes, "she's overreacting."
Alison POV
CeCe walks into the room I'm in and pushes a picture of Wayne and Emily face down angrily. "What happened?"
"Oh, same old crap. You know, she thinks that if she keeps hammering me, I'll quit the team."
I nod slowly, "oh. What did she do this time?"
CeCe stares disgustingly at a picture on the wall with her head shaking in annoyance, "she made some feeble comment. Not gonna let it get to me."
My mouth lets out a scoff, "yeah, obviously that's working out for you."
She laughs and nods while my smile turns into a serious line, "Ce... have you guys ever actually talked?"
She laughs, "yeah, sure. We trade text messages too."
I close my eyes and then walk closer to her, "I'm just saying. You're so hypersensitive around each other. And... I get it. I just think that maybe everything she says, you take the wrong way...and vice versa."
She snaps her head to me in shock and confusion, "okay, there is no misunderstanding what she said. And why are you defending her?"
"I'm, I'm just...I'm trying to bring some perspective. I mean...It's a really fucked up situation and I'm sure having you around isn't any easier for her than it is for you and I think maybe if you guys could just talk- " "okay, tell me that I'm not hearing this right now."
I scoff sarcastically, "then what are you doing here, CeCe? Obviously, you're looking for something, right?"
"I'm not going to let her win."
I shake my head disapprovingly at her changing personality. This is not the CeCe I know. She's turning into such a dark person.
"Fine. Don't let her win...I'm gonna go."
"Ali!" I raise my hand up when I walk out of the room, "nope."
I bump into someone and I gasp, "sorry."
"Leaving so soon?" Emily looks down at me and I stare at her angrily, "Emily...we had a deal. You promised you were gonna be nice."
"I- I am nice! I invited her to this stinking party, didn't I?"
"Well, what for? So you could pick on her in public? What did you say anyway?"
She stares at me and then groans, closing her eyes, "oh, man. Is that what- I made a lame joke. I mean, look. The guys... sometimes we get kind of raw with each other. I was just trying to include her. She took it the wrong way."
I cross my arms across my chest while I look up into her kind brown orbs, "well, maybe you need to rethink your approach."
She shrugs, "well, you're her friend. How do I handle this?" She has a light, playful smile on her lips and I almost smile but I shake my head, frowning at her, "It's easy. Stop being such a...jerk."
CeCe POV
"She really bashed you in there," Hanna sits beside me and I shake my head, "I don't care what she thinks."
I nod in agreement, "neither do I."
I squint my eyes and look at her, "oh yeah? Then why are you drinking?"
She stares at me and nods, "fair enough."
"And speak for yourself miss broody. I know she gets to you. You're mad."
I stand up, leaning over the railing to look out at the ocean, "she's an ass."
"I'll drink to that," she scoffs and drinks.
I turn around, "I don't get you Hanna. You keep yourself anonymous, yet you let the world watch you on a web cam?"
"The world isn't watching me. But now I know you are," she smirks up at me and I feel a blush push against my cheeks and heat up my skin.
"Besides the point. You want people to see your work but you don't want them knowing it's you. What's the point in that?"
"Look Fields. I don't need you analyzing my life, okay? I draw because I love it, I love a lot of things. Just like I love my music and that webcam is symbolic of my life. People always have their eyes on me, trying to see my next move. This webcam shows that I really don't give a fuck. And people can also see the killer clothing designs I make, then create on real fabric."
I chuckle and shake my head.
Emily POV
I see Hanna and CeCe talking and even smiling, pissing me off beyond compare.
"Hey Em where do your parents put the good porn?" Noel shouts and I turn to him, thinking for a moment, "I got something, don't worry."
I go into the cabinet under the TV and pull out a DVD, "here. Put that in."
"What is it?"
I look towards the back porch where my girlfriend and CeCe are. "A comedy."
"Here they are, Rosewood High's prom court King and Queen, Wayne Fields and Mary Drake. Mary, what's the secret to your success?"
I hear the back door open and I know CeCe and Hanna are in here, watching.
The camera pans in on Mary who is smiling and her dark hair is in a weird hairstyle, "um, the secret to our success. Hmm. I don't know. Good question. Wayne?
My dad leans in with a cocky grin, "good sex!" We all laugh and Mary chuckles, "be serious," she whispers to him.
"Mary, do you think you guys will get married?"
Mary sighs happily, "do I think Wayne and I will get married? Hmm... who knows. I mean...nobody ever really knows what the future is like. But he really is the sweetest guy in the whole world. So I'm thinking...yes. Come visit us in 10 years and I bet you can meet the kids and get a tour of our big house and see how happy we are."
Noel frowns, "who's the girl?"
"Okay ladies and gentleman, there's your Prom King and Queen, Wayne Fields and Mary Drake."
CeCe breathes out painfully, "that's my mom."
I smirk, turning back to look at her, "at least their dreams came true for one of them, right?"
CeCe nods and glares at me like she's shooting knives at my head, "yeah, except for the happy part, right?" She walks past me but not before shoving me back with her shoulder and I chuckle, "touchy?"
The guys laugh but none of the girls are. Hanna stares at me with disbelief and I can only shrug innocently.
After a while I see Alison at the end of the pier walkway to the beach. I walk outside and over to her, leaning against the railing opposite of her.
"Thought you left?"
"I tried. Damn cab never came to pick me up," she shakes her head and I nod, "well I'm glad you stayed. I wanted to thank you. For holding back."
She looks at me with a confused expression, "what do you mean?"
"Jerk is pretty tame. You could've called me a lot worse. I'd deserve all of it anyways."
Truth be told, I've been called way worse than jerk but for some reason, when Alison said it? It hurt a lot worse. It actually hit something in me.
"Look Emily. I've been thinking a lot about this whole tutoring thing...I'm sorry. It just isn't a good idea."
I bite my lip, "because of CeCe?"
She scoffs, "well obviously! Yeah! There's no good thing that could possibly come of this and honestly? I have no idea what I was even thinking."
"Really? I thought I saw you guys fighting back there."
Alison scrunches her eyebrows and looks up at me, "just because of one fight you expect me to just keep tutoring you just to stick it to him? Maybe that's how they do it in Emily land but I'm not doing that to my best friend."
I nod, "who knows, maybe you're doing me a favor then by not tutoring me."
"What do you mean?"
I sigh and usually I wouldn't ever say this out loud but it's like my body and mouth forced me, "sometimes I think it'd be easier if I got kicked off the team. Especially with my dad."
She stares up at me and I feel something pulse inside of me and I have no idea what it is. I feel drawn to her. When she looks at me in that disapproving way she did before I felt so...naked. Her words are so honest and pure. She means everything she says.
"I should um...I gotta go find CeCe and patch things up."
I frown, "oh she left. A while ago actually."
Alison sighs and starts walking, "guess I'm walking home."
She gets to the driveway but I chase after her, "let me drive you."
"It's not that far, I can handle it," she says dismissively but I shake my head, "forget it. We'll take Hanna's car."
She stares at me but shakes her head at me, "I'm fine."
I try to lighten the mood so I smirk, "You're a little high on yourself, aren't you? Going around telling people you're all fine."
Alison cracks a slight smile but sighs, "really, I can walk."
I grab her hand and feel a strong shock surge through my body but I ignore it, "look, please, at least take the ride. It's the least I can do."
She looks up at me, our eyes locking together and I see just how beautifully blue her eyes really are. My god they're gorgeous.
She sighs and I open the door for her and shut it once she's settled in.
I drive us and she gives me directions until we pull up in front of a pretty, but smaller house than mine. I like it.
"Yeah this is it. We're actually just staying here while we renovate the mansion."
I chuckle and look at her, "it's not like I was trying to show off."
Alison scoffs, "isn't that your default setting?"
I wince as her words sting me and she stiffens, "sorry," she says and looks at me but I cover up my pained face before she can see it.
I stare at her and say quickly, "can I be honest with you?"
"Well I don't know. You tell me."
My lips pull up into a smile but fall when I start talking, "what I said at the beach back there...that was a lie. I'm really lucky to have basketball. It's pretty much my bridge to everything from here on out. If I lose that, it's all over for me."
She frowns and shrugs, "so don't lose it," she says so simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I shake my head, "well, that's just the thing. With my grades, I'm close to being ineligible to do the one thing that I'm actually good at. It's not just my life, either. It's my dad's, too. It's like he's still got something to prove to Whitey. And if I screw it up, it's gonna destroy him..." I close my eyes and sigh, "and it will destroy me. Look, I know you have no reason to do this, and I know it's just going to complicate things with CeCe, but... I really need your help." I look into her ocean blue eyes that make me feel like I'm swimming.
"And I will find you someone else. I promise-" "no. I came to you because you're the best tutor at this damned school. And you're not going to tear me down. It's not exactly easy having everybody know you're failing. It's you or nobody else."
She stares at me, almost speechless but she composes herself, "I...Okay. I will, um... I will get you through the semester. And then you've got to be on your own. I'm serious."
"That's totally fine with me."
"Okay, um... great, so we'll start on Monday." She pauses and stares at me before getting out of the car, "lay off CeCe."
I nod and she shuts the door, walking into her house.
Why the hell did I just tell her all of that? I thought this was just to mess with CeCe? I wasn't supposed to feel this way. Like I can trust her.
Like I care about her.
I drive away and try to tune out my thoughts with music but nothing playing is good. I look around for a good CD of Hanna's but I see nothing. I turn around and reach in the back seat to grab a CD. I put it in and hit buttons to try and start it and when I look up I scream as I swerve the car away from a truck but I lose control, swerving all around.
CeCe POV
I see a car pass by, swerving and I squint my eyes, seeing that it's Hanna's car. I hear a loud crash and I scream, "HANNA!" I sprint down the road and the door opens as I slow down, "Hanna! You okay?" I say and go over but freeze when I see Emily get out, holding her head as she sighs.
"Yeah she's fine. Can't say the same for her car though. Shit." She pulls out a bag and I know there's beer in it. "And what the hell are you doing following my girlfriend man?" She stares at me angrily.
"I wasn't! Look. I thought she was driving and she was drinking," I reason and Emily nods, walking away.
"Where are you going?!"
"Back to the party dumbass," she remarks and I widen my eyes, "you're just going to leave her car like this?!"
She turns to me, "yeah, actually. And you can stand there and watch me do it."
"You know this is a crime, Emily."
She shrugs, "so call the cops."
"Emily you can't walk away from this. I saw you do it!"
She walks closer dangerously and I back up slightly, "no, you didn't see me do it. Because I was with Noel the whole time. Which is exactly what he's going to say if anybody asks him. He owes me...So it looks like its your word against ours now. You can guess how that's going to go down."
Is she kidding me?!
"So you're just going to lie and walk away. What about Hanna? You know, your girlfriend? The car's registered in her name!"
Emily nods, "yeah, and you know what? Come to think of it, like you said, she was really drunk tonight. Maybe she did this. But then again, all I see is a wrecked car... and you." She points at me and chuckles, walking away.
I stare at the coward and then back at the car.
I can't let Hanna go down for this. I have to fix this. I go back to get my tow truck for the auto shop and I tow Hanna's car to the one place I know is smart. My Aunt's auto shop. I'll text Aunt Spencer. She'll help me out, right?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Aunt Spencer ;)
Spence/Keith parallel lmfaooo
NO SPENCER WON'T GET WITH MARY THAT'S NARSTY
XD
Longer chapter :) more Cenna. Hope you liked this chap :D
Review and comment!
~stay fearless~
caleigh <13