Chapter 23- Catching Feelings
-Emma-
"So what do you think?" Amy said nudging my shoulder with her own.
"Huh?" I said snapping out of my thoughts of projects and research papers. School has gotten hectic and all that seems to be on my mind lately was homework, research paper, projects and deadlines. Amy and I were currently walking down the hallway to the doors to exit since it was lunch time. We were going to meet up with the guys since that was our usual routine.
"Stop thinking so hard about school and its work." Amy said knocking my head with her fist lightly.
"I can't, these projects and papers are gonna be the death of me." I said with a pout on my lips and I swear they are. I have two papers due by the end of this week and haven't even started plus its Wednesday already, I also have a project due tomorrow that counts for thirty percent of my final grade and I wasn't even halfway done with it. The stress was eating away at my sanity and I was pretty sure I would be insane by the end of senior year.
"Well, why don't we do something fun tonight? Something that would allow us set our stress free for one night." She said
"I wish, Ames, but I can't. I still have Mr. Gray's project to finish and I'm not even halfway done with it." Yeah you heard right, my stupid boring math teacher gave us a project and just like I said its worth for thirty percent of my grade and its due tomorrow. Kill me now.
"You do know that his project is a group project right?" Amy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"What?! Tell me you're kidding?" I questioned and Amy shook her head. "Who are you in a group with?"
"No one, I was waiting for you to figure it out." Amy said.
I glared at her. "Did you finish it?"
"Yup!" she said popping the p.
"I hate you." I muttered at her and that caused her to chuckle slightly.
"Em, you're my best friend and what kind of best friend would I be if I didn't help you out in your time of need? I'll just put your name on it since you're so stressed out and have other work to do." Amy said with a smile.
I tackled her with a hug. "Literally, the best friend ever." I said squeezing her tightly.
She laughed and patted my back softly. "Okay okay, let go of me before I die from lack of oxygen."
I loosen my grip from her and walked out the double doors with her. "So are you willing to do something fun tonight with me since you have one less thing to worry about?" Amy asked with puppy dog eyes.
I groaned. "You know I can't resist those."
"I know." She said pouting out her bottom lip.
"Fine, what do you have in mind?" I asked as we walked closer to the stairs where we meet the guys at.
"Honestly, I don't have a clue." She said nonchalantly and glared at her. Really Ames? Nothing in mind? She is so lucky that I love her. I felt strong arms wrap around my waist pulling me into something hard.
"Why are you giving Amy 'the glare'?" A deep velvety voice asked. Aiden.
"She went all puppy dog eyes and pouty lip on me asking me to do something with her tonight and when I agreed she had nothing in mind." I said grumpily.
Aiden chuckled. "You get grumpy over the littlest of things." He said pinching my cheek to which I slapped his hand away and rubbed my poor cheek. Idiot.
"Hello, my awesome friends!" Derek chimed walking up to us and wrapping his arms around mine and Aiden's shoulders. Derek was beaming with a bright smile and that made me grin at him.
"Well someone is in a good mood." Matt said walking up to us and giving Amy a peck on her cheek which caused her cheeks to turn a light shade of pink. They're too cute.
"I have to agree, what has gotten you in such a good mood?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"The fact that I'm finished with projects and research papers and no more stress on my shoulder has me feeling like I'm on cloud nine." He said grinning.
"Lucky bastard." I muttered under my breath and Derek just pinched my other cheek. What. The. Hell. "Why?" I said rubbing my other cheek. "Why do you have to pinch them?"
"Because their so pinchable." Derek said innocently.
"I have to agree." Aiden chimed in.
"Me too." Amy added.
"Well I never pinched her cheeks, but they do look pinchable." Matt said.
I just glared at all of them. "Jerks." I said. "Plus 'pinchable' is not a word."
Derek waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah you and your logic." I just rolled my eyes at him. "So what are you guys talking about?"
"Since Amy made me agree to do something 'fun' with her tonight and she doesn't have a clue on what to do, we're trying to figure out something fun to do tonight. Any ideas?" I asked as we all sat down on the different steps in front of us. I pulled out a sandwich from my brown paper bag and offered half of it to Aiden which he gladly took.
"Well we could do something criminal related for fun." Derek said with a smirk on his face.
"I second that." Aiden said with a mouth full of sandwich.
"Bad boys." I said shaking my head. "No way am I doing something criminal related and if we get caught your asses will be on the line."
"Way to ruin the fun Miss Goody Two-Shoes." Derek said grumpily and I smacked his arm.
"How about the club?" Matt asked with a smirk plastered onto his lips.
"Hell yeah!" Derek and Aiden said in unison.
"Now that I don't mind." Amy added.
"Are you guys serious?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes." They said seriously.
"Err I don't know." I said a bit on the fence about it.
"Don't be such a party pooper." Derek said.
"Yeah Em. Do something fun for once in your life." Amy said.
"Come on sweetheart." Aiden said nudging my shoulder.
"Fine you guys! The club it is." I said reluctantly.
"Yes! We're going to the club tonight!" They all cheered high fiving each other, but something inside of me was telling me that this night at the club was not gonna end well.
~~~
"We're gonna have so much fun tonight." Amy said throwing her bag at corner of her room. I just plopped down onto her bed not responding to her. "What's wrong Em?" She asked sitting next to me.
"I'm not too sure about going to the club tonight." I said honestly throwing one of her small pillows in the air.
"Don't worry about it. The club is fun and freeing."
"How do you know?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't remember you ever telling me you've went to the club."
"Err, remember summer of sophomore year, when Nick and I went to visit our grandparents?" I nodded."Well we were bored one night and we decided to sneak out to the city. We came across this club and long story short Nick got us in and I had so much fun that night." Amy said.
"And how come I never heard about this?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"Um, well you see, it was me and Nick's secret so I never told anyone."
"Yeah yeah." I rolled my eyes at her, but her telling me that the club is fun and freeing doesn't help calm this unsettling feeling inside of me.
"Come, let's get dress." Amy said. "It's almost six and the guys are picking us up at eight."
"So what kind of attire do you were at the club?" I asked curiously, you can't blame me I've never been to a club in my life and the curiosity was eating away at me.
"Well the usual attire for girls at short dresses and heels." She said walking towards her closet.
"Hell no! Do you not feel the coldness of outside? This is November Ames. No way in hell am I wearing a dress in this weather." I stated.
She rolled her eyes at me. "Well that's why I'm actually allowing you to wear jeans this time." Thank God, she's human and has feelings instead of forcing me into a dress!
A few outfits, hairstyles and makeup designs later and Amy and I were ready. You know how she said that I could wear jeans? Well I would have opted out of that if I knew she was gonna squeeze me into a pair of the tightest black jeans known to man. I swear if I had to bend down the back of them would rip. Neither fun nor cute. My outfit included the tight ass jeans of course, a long sleeved laced burgundy top to which I wore a white tank top under and black pumps to match. Amy kept my make up to a natural look and she had made my hair into waves taking the two side pieces twirling it back and clipping them up with bobby pins to give it a crown effect. Amy's outfit consists of dark blue jeans, a white shirt and a dark brown leather jacket and pumps to match. Her makeup was natural and her hair was straight instead of its usual curls. I have to admit we were looking smoking.
"I did good didn't I?" Amy said with a smirk on her face.
I rolled my eyes at her. "Yes Amy you did well. Would you like a cookie as a reward?" I said sarcastically.
"Sure you got one?" she said and I just gave her an 'Are-you-kidding?' look. A car horn sounded from outside and my guess was that the guys were already here. I grabbed my phone a slipped it into my back pocket and followed Amy down the stairs and out the house.
When we stepped outside I saw two cars instead of one and that sparked my curiosity. I saw Aiden step out of the sleek black one and made his way towards me as Amy was made her way towards Matt's car.
"Well hello there beautiful." Aiden said smiling at me.
"Hey there, handsome." I said giving him a peck on the lips and glanced down to his attire. Why does this guy always have to look good? Aiden was dressed in dark washed jeans, a white button down shirt and his usual black leather jacket. He can make such a simple outfit look freaking hot.
"Checking me out now sweetheart?" Aiden whispered into my ear and that caused me to blush.
"Pfff, you wish." I said trying to play it off.
"That blush on your cheek says otherwise." Aiden said with a smirk on his lips.
I rolled my eyes at him. "So why are we going in two separate cars?" I asked curiously.
"Just in case one of us wants to leave early, all of us don't have to go if we have separate cars." He said simply.
"Makes sense, where's Derek?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"He's in Matt's car, something about wanting us to spend time alone and how we can be boring and would rather be in the 'fun' car."
"We can be fun!' I stated walking towards the passenger side of Aiden's car.
"That's what I said!" Aiden said shaking his head. "But obviously to him we're not."
I shook my head at that and slid into the passenger seat of the car as Aiden slid into the driver's seat and started to drive off. It took us fifteen minutes to drive to the inner city and about another five to arrive at the club. When I caught sight of it the unsettling feeling of my stomach returned. Aiden parked the car near to where Matt had parked and turned to face me.
"You okay sweetheart? You look a bit pale." He asked.
"Yeah I'm fine." I fibbed. "Come on, let's go." I said mustering up a smile. Aiden looked at me for a few minutes studying face seeing if I was truly fine and I guess he saw it because he smiled back at me.
When we got out of the car we walked over to where Matt, Amy and Derek were standing. I glanced up to see the name of the club, Frost, it read in icy blue lights. Instead of the unsettling feeling dissipate it intensified instead.
"Err, how are we suppose to get in?" I asked. "Aren't we suppose to be twenty-one to enter?"
"Oh Emma, we have ways of getting in." Derek said with a smirk on his face, he was wearing a dark blue button up shirt that was rolled up to his elbows and black jeans.
"You don't speaking." I said pinching his lips shut. "I heard you said Aiden and I are no fun." I glared at him and he was trying to speak but it was coming out a mumbles instead of words due to his pinched lips.
"I know the owner of the club so we will be able to get in with no problem." Matt said and I nodded at him as he started to walk towards the entrance. I let go of Derek's lips and followed Matt.
"Emmy, I'm sorry. You know I think your tons of fun." Derek said from behind me. "And you didn't have to pinch the life out of my lips, I need those." He pouted and I rolled my eyes at him but I forgave him anyways cause who could be mad at Derek of all people? True to his word, Matt got us in the club without a hitch.
The club was living up to its name because it had an icy looking theme to it. The bar had an icy counter top, the dance floor was a light blue color, light enough to be white and the club was designed with icicles hanging from the ceiling. It looked pretty awesome. I felt a hand interlace with my own, I looked over to my side to see Aiden looking at me.
"You look very beautiful tonight." Aiden said and that causes me to blush a deep red.
"You don't look so bad yourself." I said teasingly.
"You know I look good." Aiden said smirking at me.
"Pshh, there's better looking guys in this club." I said smirking looking around the club. An arm snaked around my waist pulling me against something hard.
Aiden lower his lips to my ear and whispered in it. "Sweetheart, you're mine. Don't ever forget that." His deep voice sounded into my ear. Just those words made shivers run down my body. His lips trailed up my neck and planted a small kiss on my jaw, that made me melt on the inside.
"Yo! The lovey dovey couple, let's go get some drinks at the bar." I heard Derek's voice shouted. Way to ruin the moment Derek. Aiden tug my hand leading me to the bar where our friends.
"Drinks?" I asked them with a raised eyebrow.
"Yup! Let's enjoy this night!" Amy said handing Aiden and I each a shot glass filled with a blue looking liquid. "Try it. It tastes amazing!" I look at Aiden and he just shrugged his shoulders and tilt the glass to his lips downing the liquid. I took the liquid to my lips and downed it also, it had a burning effect at first but the after taste of it was awesome, it tasted like a liquid blue jolly rancher. "So?" Amy inquired
"That's pretty good." Aiden said and I nodded in agreement.
"Great! Now take another one and let's hit the dance floor." Amy said handing Matt, Derek, Aiden and I another shot of the fiery blue liquid. We all cheers and down the shot again and I was starting to finally feel this unsettling feeling starting to fade. Who knew that a couple of shots would do the trick? Definitely not me. I could feel my body already swaying to the beat of the music that was blasting throughout the club. Amy must have seen because she grabbed mine and Matt's hand to which I grabbed Aiden's to which he grabbed Derek shirt tugging us along to the dance floor. Once we were on the dance floor we all broke free, Matt and Amy went on they're own, Derek found a blonde to dance with and Aiden and I were left in the middle. I felt Aiden's hands place firmly onto my waist pulling me in, closer to his chest. The rhythm of the music was felt throughout my body as I start to sway my hips to it. I could feel all my stress and worries starting to melt away as I dance with Aiden.
A few hours later and a few more of those jolly ranch flavored shots and I was truly starting to have fun, that unsetting feeling had dissipated. I danced with Amy, Matt, Derek and of course Aiden and I could tell that my friends really did needed this, it was something to allow us to be free for one night.
"Want another drink?" Aiden yelled over the booming music and I nodded weaving through the crowd with him. I felt something hard jab my shoulder.
"Oh I apolog-. Well what do we have here? Finally decided to come out for some fun, huh Emma?" A familiar deep voice said causing me and Aiden to freeze.
I turned around to face Mark. "Huh, isn't that why people come to the club for?" I questioned sarcastically and I felt Aiden squeeze my hand.
"Doing all the speaking now aren't we love?" Mark questioned. "What happen? Cat's got your boyfriend tongue?" He said smirking.
I was about to say something snarky until Mark continued. "Can't say anything now and couldn't say anything when I took Mia away from you, huh Aiden?" Aiden let get go of my hand and looked at Mark with cold menacing eyes. "Didn't even say anything, when I took the one girl you were in love with away from you." Aiden was in love with Mia?
That was the last fuse to blow in Aiden's temper because the next thing I know his fist connected with Mark's jaw and they were on the floor fighting. "You son of bitch! You fucking took her away from us, from me! She was my best friend!" Aiden yelled landing another punch at Mark's face.
"You were in love with her! She came to me the day after you confessed to her that made you heartbroken! Why don't you just tell Emma that you're using her to get over Mia huh!? We all know it's true!" Mark yelled back at Aiden landing a punch at Aiden's jaw which caused him to respond with a punch at Mark's nose. I didn't know what to do, I just stood frozen there and at that time Matt and Derek pushed through the crowd and saw the fight and grabbed Aiden off of Mark.
Mark got up off the ground touching his jaw. "This is not over." Mark said staring Aiden straight in the eye menacingly then turning and walking away the opposite way.
I looked over at Aiden who was breathing heavy and was staring straight at me and saw that he had a bruised jaw and instead of tending to it I turned and walked away weaving through the crowd. Different thoughts were running through my mind.
Aiden was in love with Mia.
Mark just said that Aiden was using me to get over her.
Was that true? Was Aiden really using me to get over Mia?
Well one thing was for sure I was not about to stick around to find out.