A hug is like a boomerang - you get it back right away.
***
When the dark
Of the night comes around.
That's the time,
That the animal comes alive.
Looking for
Something wild.
And now we lookin' like pimps
In my gold Trans-Am.
Got a water bottle full of whiskey
In my handbag.
Got my drunk text on
I'll regret it in the mornin'
Chapter 11
"Calm down, be a man." Clay grumbled and then started to pat me on the back while I choked on my ear-piercing scream. I wasn't expecting the sound to bounce off the walls like it had. My own scream had me covering my ears while I commenced to choke into oblivion.
Once my gagging was under control, Clay's pat on my back turned into a gentle caress. I was too stunned to talk as I felt sparks scatter along my skin and shivers trail down my spine. But suddenly the silence around us became unbearably noticeable, and it felt like the temperature was rapidly increasing.
Resist, Clay. Resist him!
The command repeated in my mind like a mantra as he continued to rub my back as if I was still coughing up a bird.
Coming to my senses, I stood up and then walked over to a nearby couch. I took a look around the room while trying to gain back my composure and calmed my breathing.
The room was head to toe in red and pink furnishings and decorations. The bed resembled the shape of a heart, covered in crimson red sheets that looked similar to the beige silk blankets in our room. The carpeted floors were a pale rose pink that matched the curtains that hung from the windows, floor to ceiling.
I was sitting on a white love seat that was littered with red and pink pillows pushed up against a wall that hung another huge portrait of Thatcher, as he looked down on us, analyzing our predicament and frowning upon us.
God those portraits were everywhere!
Although most of the rooms in the mansion were as huge as the entire floor plan of my house, this room felt snug which gave me a sense of calm with the addition of the soft music playing through the room. The sound of smooth-playing trumpets and jazz allowed me to relax into the squeaky cushions of the couch.
I felt a sink next to me and let out a loud groan, "Go away Clay."
"You really don't want me to," he replied cockily.
I shook my head at him and tried to ignore the ache on my forehead. Clay reached out and swiped a bit of blood away, the drip was close enough to the wound for me to wince, but he only smiled at me.
"It's not that bad."
He got up from his seat to go into what I assumed to be the bathroom. I proved to be right when the door opened to reveal a bathroom similar to ours, but from my view I could telll that the only difference was the jacuzzi sitting to the far side of the large room, the water bubbling while lights flickered under it's depths.
"Cool." Clay smirked while getting a towel to clean my forehead I suppose. I hear the water running from the sink and then heard a couple of cabinets opening and closing until he finally arrived with a damp towel and first aid kit.
"How bad is the pain?" he asked me as he knelled on the floor in front of me.
I tried not to even focus on the slight throb of my forehead, but the pain came back- full force- when he opened his big mouth and brought my attention back to the gash on my pretty little head. "Just clean it up, scoundrel."
He rolled his eyes at me and then went to wash away the blood from around the wound. His thumb tracing my hairline lightly making my cheeks flush and my body tingle while the cold towel pressed against the throbbing source of pain.
I winced when he was done and then got out the antiseptic. That was the last thing I wanted on my cut, the burn was going to be excruciating.
And while I was wallowing in my fear, Clay was smiling like the bastard he is, "Come on, don't be a wimp."
I hit him in the bicep, not surprised to only hit a surface as hard as rock, "Don't give me lip, Binkybar."
He scowled, "I wish you'd stop calling me that."
Now it was my time to smile, "I'll stop when I want to, and I think that I'm starting to really like the name. It has a nice ring to it, Binkybar. Biiiiinkybar. Binkeybaaaaa-"
"Alright stop." Binkybar chuckled and then covered my mouth with my hand.
Even if he was covering my face, my lips were still outlined in a grin beneath his hand. We stared at each other for a couple of moments until as quick as the sliest ninja, he put the cottonball of antiseptic on my cut and I let out a squeal which was muffled by his hand. I tried to push it away, wanting him to hear my screams filling the secluded room.
Soon he was done fully cleaning the cut and placed a giant bandaid on my head that reached down to my eyelid, impairing me from opening my right eye completely. So here I was sitting there with one half-blinking eye while he looked at me with amusement clear in his eyes.
"Your horrible." I grumbled picking at the bandaid that wouldn't seem to give mercy on my eyelid.
He chuckled, "I just nursed your wounds, I believe that a 'thank you' should be in order."
I quirked an eyebrow at his thought. "Oh really?"
"Yes really."
"Like what?"
He smiled and then leaned towards my ear, the sound of the bubbling jacuzzi, filtering through the silence that fell upon us as Clay's lips brushed against my ear, the heat of his body making my eyelids flutter and making my once shivering frame go tense.
When he had finally spoken, I jumped from the deep sound of his voice, it sounded different, almost... husky? "Like you getting into the jacuzzi with me."
My cheeks flushed and I brought up a hand to push him away. I couldn't get in there with him, first of all I didn't have a swimsuit and I'll be damned if I end up in hot, bubbling water with a half naked man.
Once he was several feet away from me, I felt like I could think properly. The mist that clouded my mind seemed to clear, rearing it's way back to common sense.
"That is not a good idea." I murmured.
He stood to his full height, towering over little me that was sitting down on the white leather couch. I scowled and then got to my feet on the couch, towering over him. I sent him a triumphant smile, my eye twitching from the bandaid.
"And why isn't it a good idea Arden?" Clay asked me.
I scoffed, "Because I don't have a swimsuit and I'd be uncomfortable."
He shook his head and gave me a look that held too much of an underlying meaning, "I'd make sure you weren't uncomfortable."
"You pig." I replied with my teeth grinding together.
He just sent another dazzling smile my way and I couldn't help the small smirk that fell on my lips. I held out a finger towards him and beckoned him to come near. When he was close enough, both of us almost chest to chest. I leaned towards his ear, smiling as I saw him tense.
Although I didn't let my lips brush his like he had done mine, "Thank you... Binkybar. I appreciate it."
I giggled as he groaned at the nickname and then gave him a light kiss on the cheek before turning away and climbing down from the couch. I ignored the tingles that hummed through my veins when my lips touched his skin and then headed for the television remote.
There was nothing else to do here, so we might as well get some sort of entertainment.
I heard Clay sigh, still over by the couch as I turned on the television and then began my search for the perfect show to watch. Right now I was feeling like watching some alligators roll around in the dirt. I smiled as one of my favorite shows called Swamp Brothers lit up the screen.
"Are you serious?" Clay groaned from the reclining car that surrounded the plasma television.
I whistled to myself and then sat at the chair to his side and nodded, "I love this show."
He snorted, "Are you trying to impress me Arden?"
I rolled my eyes at his "modesty," "Please, I don't need to impress you, why would I want to do that in the first place? I don't have to prove myself to you. I really do like this show no matter how much you don't believe me."
We sat in silence for a couple of minutes and I watched as the two "swamp" brothers and a couple of the zoo help, tried to herd a camel into a trailer. The camel was fast to resist and was putting up a good fight.
"This is actually pretty interesting," Clay chuckled.
I smiled, "I know! Whenever I watch the Discovery Channel, I feel like I'm the smartest person in the world. I'll come to school the next day just spitting out intelligent information and it makes me seem all the more smart."
Clay rolled his eyes at me, as he should've. I had started to ramble.
"Your a weird character Elspeth Arden."
I grinned, "I prefer the word interesting."
We both let out a soft ring of chuckles as our gazes locked onto each other, but the laughter soon died and all that was left were our steady gazes that had my fingers fidgeting, my heart pounding, and my cheeks flushing.
I did not know what was going on but it seemed that me and Clay were starting to connect, a little bit too much. Soon his eyes turned amused as he kept his hold on my gaze, but I was the first to look away- the heat of his irises was too much for me to bare.
"Um..." I sighed and looked around the room, tapping my foot nervously and drumming my fingers on my knee. Suddenly it felt like the temperature had dropped and I couldn't help the shiver I let out. "Is it cold to you?" I asked Clay.
He shrugged and gave me a sly smile. "A little bit, I guess."
I narrowed my eyes at him, "What do you have up your sleeve Batson?"
He stood without a reply and then began to strip his shirt. Although I should be used to seeing his abs, I was still surprised when I saw them in view, the eight pack still causing my jaw to drop. He looked over at me and my mouth closed shut and I looked at him as if I wasn't the least bit bothered.
Clay chuckled and then went towards the bathroom, shivering himself. "Wait where are y-you going?"
"To take a dip in the jacuzzi, your welcome to join me." He shed his pants, leaving him only in his boxers. I looked away before I could fully asses the rest of him.
I was still shivering and I wondered how the air conditioning had dropped to such extreme measures, but I knew that I wasn't going to go in the jacuzzi with Barclay Batson. I had more dignity than that.
My eyes drifted over to the door that held my freedom and I looked around the room, trying to find something, anything that could get me out of here. Maybe a card of some sort, like a credit card, but I didn't think that I'd find anything like that in here.
I walked over to the door and once I reached the stupid artistic thing, I reached for the door knob. I was surprised when it began to turn, then all of a sudden the knob jammed.
"W-wha- No!" I shouted in frustration, my teeth now knocking together. What the hell was wrong with the heat in this room? I should not be this cold, especially in June.
I went for the knob again and turned it as much as I could, but that deemed useless when it didn't work. I stomped my foot in frustration and then made my way towards the bathroom where the jacuzzi was.
Once I walked through the door, heat wrapped around my body and I found myself sighing in contentment. I didn't need to get into the water to get warmer, just stand next to it.
"So your finally going to get in?" he asked me.
I shook my head, "I'm just going to sit next to the water, I feel fine like this." I explained and then sunk my legs into the jacuzzi, feeling my body slowly relax.
Suddenly my thoughts drifted towards the locked door and I became skeptical. Someone had locked it from the outside and that meant that someone had a hidden agenda and locked me in a room with Barclay Batson. I scoffed, whoever it was, they're a jerk. What a horrible thing to do!
"Do you have any idea who locked us in here?" I asked Clay.
His eyes widened the slightest bit and I caught onto it, my eyes narrowed, wondering what he'd say next. "Maybe it was Axel, you know the guy's crazy."
I shook my head, the last person that I thought would lock us in here is Axel.
"He's too nice."
Clay scoffed, "The kid is as far from nice as it gets."
I cocked my head to side, seeing pure hatred in his expression, his eyes were squinted, irises pointing up to the right as if he was trying to recall a memory, his nose was scrunched in disgust with the upturn of his pink lips to add onto the effect.
"What happened with you and Axel? I"m feeling some bad vibes from the two of you."
Clay shrugged, but I knew that something was going whether he would acknowledge it or not, "I don't really want to talk about it."
"That's what you said about your problem with Stephanie, didn't you feel better after letting it all out?" I asked him as a thoughtful look replaced his gaze of disgust. And I smiled as I saw him considering the thought of telling me what happened between the two of them.
Finally he let out a big breath of air and looked up at me with those milky brown eyes that had my heart instantly melting for him.
"Wel-"
"Elspeth!" A lone voice called out from the distance.
Both me and Clay stopped what we were doing and listened for the voice once more.
"Elspeth!" The same voice called out.
I went rigid.
That was my mother's voice.
"Ooooh no, my mother's looking for me...." I trailed off.
Now, what's worse? Staying in this room with Clay? Or feeling the wrath of my most likely drunk mother?
Feeling the wrath of your alcoholic parent. Obviously.
"What-"
"No!" I whispered fiercely and then covered his mouth to keep him from uttering another word. I could hear my mother opening and closing doors, slamming them in her frustration. "Elspeth Ever Arden, get your butt out here now!"
I shivered and tried not to display my fear to Clay, although I could feel the smile of his lips under my hand which had me shivering again. His lips were so warm and smooth, I could just picture myself kissing them, but he was already going through too much with Stephanie without me adding to the mix.
I jumped when the knob to the intricately carved door started shaking. She was twisting and pulling the knob so violently that I could hear it, clear as day, from the bathroom even if the sound of the bubbling water was also accompanying the silence.
"Shoot." Mom cursed and I felt like I was finally able to breathe once I heard her heels clicking away.
I counted to a thousand before taking my hand away from Clay's mouth and getting more of the proper air that I needed.
"Are you going to tell me what that was about?" Clay asked.
"You know I'm grounded and I'm not suppose to be out of my room, but I am... with you... while your in a hot tub. You can't possibly think that that looks in any way, shape, or form acceptable."
Clay chuckled and then traced patterns on my calve that was submerged in the water. I felt warmth shoot through my veins, and sighed contently. I was actually enjoying myself with Clay which was surprising. "Are you having a nice time Arden?" Clay asked me.
"Shut up." I mumbled and then stood up and stepped out of the jacuzzi and away from Clay's laughter.
"I guess that's a yes."
"I'm going try to find some food." I explained while leaving him there in the bubbling water while I went back to the room. I tried not take another look back at his buldging muscles that lay just under the surface of the water. If I looked now I would never stop.
***
"So you like sardines I'm assuming?" Clay asked me as I took another sardine into my mouth, spitting out some bones in the process.
I danced in my seat, humming to myself from the taste of the fish. "I love sardines!" I giggled as my foul breath reached his nose and scowled.
"You seriously need to brush your teeth." He said while plugging his nose with his fingers.
I hit his hand and pouted, "Don't be rude Clay, I'm sure your breath is just as disgusting, I mean your eating sour cream and onion chips! Onions smell bad too." I grumbled.
He only smiled back at me and flipped his brown hair out of his eyes like the girl he is, "Yet, my breath isn't half as bad as yours."
"Psssha! It probably is, come on Binkybar let me smell."
"What? No, your not smelling my breath," he angrily replied.
I shook my head lightly laughing, "Calm down, can't you take a little bit of sarcasm?"
He rolled his eyes at me and then proceeded to take one of my sardines, "Hey! Get your own buddy."
"I'm just trying to see why you like these so much."
"Hmph." I huffed and then turned around in my seat on the bed and facing the television that we had turned onto Food Network. Right now we were watching Dinner Impossible. I smiled and swung my legs back and forth as I watched Robert Irvine fighting to finish a dinner that should have never been... possible.
"Ugh, guuh." I turned my head to see Clay gagging on the sardine as if the very little fish was sucking the life from his masculine body.
"Clay? Just breathe, honey, just breathe." I chuckled.
"Ahggg, t-that was d-disgu-usting uggh." He coughed out which only made me laugh even more. I stopped when my head unintentionally banged on the headboard and I felt pain shoot towards my forehead.
"Ouch." I groaned and waited until Clay caught control of his shaking body.
"You alright?" I asked him.
He shook his head, smacking- as if tasting the leftover sardine still in his mouth, "How can you eat that crap? I almost had a seizure it was so bad."
I giggled and shook my head at the expression splayed on his face. It was a mixture between, I'm-about-to-vomit and did-your-smell-that-dog's-fart. I almost burst out laughing again, but I pulled the reign in on my hysterics. "That's because I have the strength of a man, your little girl self just can't handle man's food."
His eyes bulged out at the insult and he was about to protest, "I am a man."
"Barely." I scoffed.
He shook his head at me and then ran his hands down his eight pack, "You know this is all man."
I shrugged, "Axel had a ten pack and that is definitely manly."
Clay scowled and then turned back to his sour cream and onion chips that we had found in a nearby pantry and cooler pushed up against the side of the room. We were happy that we found some source or nourishment. If I hadn't gotten food in my system soon, I was sure that I was going to pass out.
I took in another sardine and watched Robert Irvine, clean a couple of turkeys. Although he was working fast, I had some doubts in my mind about how "clean" those turkeys really were. I mean what if they weren't processed right? Does he even know what he's doing? Of course he does! He's Robert Irvine... right?
I shook my head, trying to get these thoughts out and I noticed that Clay was abnormally quiet. He was also turned towards the television, his hands clutched in the red silk of the bed as if he was trying to withhold all the anger that was building up inside of himself.
I smiled and then went to poke him in the cheek. When he didn't respond, I did it once more. I chuckled, his cheek was strangely squishy. Instead of poking it once more without a response, I just pinched his cheek, like grandmothers do with their adorable grandchildren and then lightly tugged his head back and forth.
Finally, he brought his hand to up to swat mine away, and gave me the look of death. "What are you doing Arden?"
"I'm bored, and your just sitting there. We have to find a way out, I can't be in here any longer."
He sighed, "Your probably right, it's getting late anyway. But... we can have our own fun, all you have to do is ask." He raised his eyebrows, suggesting the last thing that I wanted to do with my time.
"Pah-lease, when you are six feet of polite, kind, and STD-free, then you can talk to me."
"But honey, you've just described me to a T."
I scowled at his mockery and then started to take the food off of the bed and then went to place it on the end tables next to the recliners. Once I was done with that I snuggled under the silk sheets, trying not to think about there being any germs lurking in the threads.
"Are you going to be bed now?" Clay asked me.
I nodded, "Yes honey, you tire me."
"Well honey what about escaping?" Clay wondered.
I shrugged, "Well do that in the morning, and I've already claimed the bed, so please take habitat on the leather couch... honey."
Clay growled and I almost started laughing, but I stopped once I heard some rustling then felt a hand snake across my waist. "I think I'll stay right here honey."
I rolled my eyes but didn't tell him to remove his arm, or attempt to do it myself. It would have been an unsuccessful attempt anyway. So why was my heart racing, heat coming to my cheeks, and a surprising warmth filling my chest?
Resist Elspeth, just resist.
I sighed, well there was one thing that I wouldn't be able to resist at that point and it was my much needed sleep.
***
I woke up to the sound of someone pounding on the door. It was almost like they were ramming their whole upper body into the wood. I yawned sleepily and wondered who could possibly be at the door this time. "Clay? I know your in there, and I know your in there with that bitch Elspeth. So it's time to come on out."
"Is that Veronica?" Clay whispered to me.
I jumped, not noticing that he was also awake. He was laying on his back, looking up at the ceiling and my eyes bulged when I realized that he wasn't wearing a shirt, I'm sure my cheeks were about as red as the sheets just from the thought of sleeping with him like that.
"We have some things to talk about, Osias and Riki sent me out to find you and I thought you might be in here, getting things ready for our date tonight." Veronica called from the other side of the door, and I could just picture her smiling to herself as if she was getting under my skin which she really wasn't. Although I felt a small pang in my chest from the content of her words, I wasn't able to distinguish why I was feeling this unwarranted pain.
But one thing was stamped clear in my mind, "Did she just call me a bitch?"
Clay nodded mutely, and then we heard the turning of the knob, I was surprised to find that the sound was becoming alarmingly louder as she started to turn it back and forth with more force. And then started shaking the knob, the door rocking back and forth from the force of her anger.
Finally Clay yelled out to her, "You need a key, it's been locked from the outside."
"Of course it has." She cried out, her voice full of anguish.
I just rolled my eyes and then went to run my fingers through my hair, knowing that it looked like a discombobulated mess.
I went to go to the bathroom to find a toothbrush and toothpaste. Surely Thatcher would have disposable toothbrushes here since he must have company over all the time, right?
Right.
I was delighted to find just what was I looking for after searching through the cabinets, and groaned when I heard the lock click and the door slam open.
"I've saved you Barclay." Veronica cooed as she walked over to him seductively.
I had full view of the bed from where I was standing and did not appreciate the sight of her devouring his face with her pouty red lips. I felt another tug at my heart and hit my chest as if it would stop the pain.
"What's wrong with you little buddy?" I whispered. Once no response came, I shook my head and then began to brush my teeth ferociously.
"Ugh, what have you been eating? Your breath is horrible." Veronica told him and I fought to hold in a smile.
The power of sardines.
I walked out once I was done to see her sitting on his lap as if that was where she really belonged. She shot my daggers as I walked to the door, her girly laughter filling the halls as I walked away. "Oh Barclay!" she called out.
I scrunched my nose up, feeling my stomach churn and then tried to find my way back to the main hallway where the living room, dining room, kitchen, and grand staircase all were.
I was surprised to find Faith waiting for me, sitting in on a kitchen stool as I entered, and was even more surprised when she began to look at me with pity.
"It's a shame that Clay won't come to his senses about you."
My expression turned puzzled and I headed towards the fridge, "What are you talking about?"
"Well it' clear that Veronica is no good, and Stephanie wasn't either, but you my dear, are a beautiful sight, your smart, innocent, and kind. Your everything that he needs."
My blush found it's way from my cheeks to my neck and went into the collar of my shirt. "I don't think that I am, I mean we hardly get along. Anyway, I should probably be getting back upstairs, I wasn't suppose to be out of my room."
Faith waved her hand away, "I'll talk to your parents, what you need to do is come with me. We're going to go on a family outing today, so I suggest that you get dressed."
"What are we doing?" I asked her.
"We're going to have a bachelorette party." She explained.
I looked at her as if she was crazy because I thought that only Richard was having his party, but it was just like Holly to not half ass anything.
"I c-can go?" I asked her.
She nodded and then stood up from her seat, folding the magazine she had been reading before I came in here, under her armpit. "So I suggest that you change into something nice, and maybe pin your hair up, it always looks so darling like that."
I smiled, "Thanks."
"No problem dear, I have to admire my future granddaughter-in-law now don't I?"
I blushed, "I'm sure that I won't-"
"Oh nonsense, I know you will."
Suddenly a thought came into my mind and I spit out the question before thinking about what trouble she might get in for giving me the answer. "Do you know what happened between Clay and Axel?"
Her brown eyes darkened and she fixed her glasses upon her nose, looking at me with a dead expression.
She placed her magazine back onto the granite counter top, and then continued to sit down in the stool that she had recently vacated.
When she opened her mouth to explain, I didn't miss the look of pain and anger on her face, "Axel has always been the instigator in their relationship, which has always been a rocky one. Axel was childhood best friends with Richard while Clay was more of an addition to the group along with his best friends Osias and Kristoff-"
"I thought that Axel didn't go to NC State."
She nodded, "He doesn't but that doesn't mean he isn't originally from North Carolina and didn't visit the college regularly. I guess Axel felt like Richard replaced him with Clay, which on all accounts he did, but in a different way. Axel was like Richard's twin brother while Clay is more like Richard's little brother. If you understand my analogy."
I told her I did and then gestured for her to proceed.
"So this was a little while after Clay had joined the fraternity and Richard had welcomed him in with open arms and tried to help him get out of some trouble. Clay's always been in trouble with something. One thing after another, that was for sure.
"It was during spring break that they had all gotten together and Axel decided that he didn't really like Clay, especially when a girl that Axel occasionally... what's the term you children use?" Faith asked me.
I smiled, "Hooked up."
"Yes, hooked up with Clay, you see. And Axel became angry for a while, but soon got over it. But you see, they've done one little thing after another that has made them both angry at each other, but I think that Clay once told me that he had an idea that Axel was the one who told Stephanie about him cheating on her when they were still together. Although he never did."
This was all interesting and I nodded towards her explanation. It now made perfect sense as to why whenever Axel was around Clay would get cruel and make snide comments, about the both of us, jealousy maybe? I almost outright laughed, there is no way that Clay is jealous of Axel. I don't think he could ever want me that much.
"So... what are you trying to tell me?" I asked her.
She smiled at me, a lovely little smile that almost had me thinking about my own grandmother who would wrap me in her tight embrace and give me five year old chocolates when she came to visit.
"I'm trying to tell you that Axel is just as bad as Clay if not worse. They have a rocky relationship and add you into the mix, well... it's not the smartest thing in the world."
So she was basically tell me that I shouldn't string along Axel if I really like Clay, but that wasn't part of my plan. My plan was to get Clay to resist me and by doing that I'll get with Axel, repel him with his disgust towards our relationship and then hold my hand out for my one hundred dollars at the end of next week.
Huh, who ever knew it was going to be this hard?
***
Alright so sorry that this took so long to upload, but I've been doing a lot lately it's getting towards the middle of the second semester of school for me and things are hectic, apparently my teachers think that it's cool to give a kid homework every night! But never no mind, I will try to upload on Sunday as much as I can, plus I had an appendicitis scare, but no worries, I'm fine alls well that ends well.
Well thanks for reading I hope this is at least seven pages, I tried to make it long!
-heykay_23 xoxo
(ps, for those who don't know that's a picture of Axel on the side-------------->)