It's starting become sad at how unemotional I'm becoming. Even I was laying there, half naked on top of Mia as she kissed me passionately, I couldn't feel a damn thing on the inside. I only felt her soft lips and warm tongue moving in sync with mine. I only felt her smooth porcelain skin under my hands but that didn't bring pleasure to me. Nothing she was doing was even arousing me in this moment. I felt so awkward as she put her all into this make out session while I kind of just...existed. Something wasn't right though. I wasn't sure what exactly but my stomach just didn't sit right as I kissed her. I didn't like this feeling but I knew that I had to put up with it. At least until I figured out what was causing it.
"Hey, are you ready – Oh God," I heard Melanie say as she bust into my room. I jumped off Mia a little bit too quickly and looked at me best friend. "I am so sorry," she said as she covered her eyes with her hands. Although I did feel a bit of relief at the fact that I didn't have to kiss Mia anymore, I did feel embarrassed. I had never been caught making out with a girl before. I could feel my face turning red as I really took in what was going on. My best friend had really just caught me kissing my girlfriend. Ugh, that's so awkward.
"Melanie, we talked about you starting to knock," I yelled as I quickly tugged my old tee shirt back on. I noticed Mia was doing the same, her face red as a tomato. Melanie giggled at me as she removed her hands from her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she said as she shot me a sheepish grin. Mia looked to Melanie and really looked at her this time. As she analyzed my best friend in her fitted red shirt that had zebra lips printed on it, slightly fitted but frilly zebra skirt that had a belt that hugged her small waist, and her high heels, I noticed a bit of suspicion cross through her blue eyes. Melanie's honey brown hair hung around her in graceful curls while her bright brown eyes were outlined in black and gray. She did look really pretty. Hopefully, Mia wasn't getting the wrong idea about her. Suddenly, my phone rang on my nightstand. I scrambled over my bed to answer my phone.
"Where the hell are you," I heard Jayden say before I could even say anything. I could hear faint music in the background. "I just got off of work and Beth is already here. Are you guys still coming?"
"Yea, we're just running a little late. I kind of lost track of time." I could imagine Jayden rolling his eyes in my mind through the short pause that followed after my statement.
"Whatever. Just get here soon." Then he hung up on me.
"Where are you going," Mia asked as her blue eyes stared at me curiously. She looked towards Melanie as she walked into my closet and starting moving my clothes around. Mia raised an eyebrow. "What is she doing?"
"She always does that," I said, waving off my friend's action.
"We're going to hang out with Jayden and Bethany," Melanie said from inside of my closet. "Gonna go widen our horizons."
"Yea, Jayden invited us to hang out with him and Bethany tonight so yea," I said as Mia looked to me in confusion.
"But I thought you and Jayden hated each other." She said.
"Well, we kind of came to work over our differences. After our fight, things kind of changed between us. I think I gained his respect since I stood up to him and stuff. We're trying to be cordial."
"What he means is," Melanie said as she poked her head out of my closet. "After their fight in school, they met up over the weekends and professed their undeniable love for each other, kissed, Jayden dicked Daniel down and now they're cool." I blushed deeply at her statement without thinking.
"That did not happen," I yelled loudly. Mia looked to me with surprise while Melanie just raised an eyebrow. I realized what I was doing and started to calm down. "We just...talked. That's all." God, the truth was sweet. Or at least much more realistic than the scenario Melanie had developed into her head. A part of me wondered about that girl sometimes. But why would she say something like that? She knew that I was straight and I'm pretty sure Jayden was straight too. Sure, she was just playing around but something about that scenario struck something in me. I was a bit afraid to find out what exactly though. I didn't think I wanted to know. Anyway, things were actually getting better between us since that day in the library last week. While Jayden still did pick at me and acted like he didn't like me, and trust me I had a fair share of keeping up with picking stupid arguments with him, I could feel an unspoken understanding between us. I could feel that we were making progress now that Jayden was starting to trust and respect me. There wasn't any tension or awkwardness between us anymore and I was beginning to find Jayden's presence a bit...relaxing at times. Around him, I didn't feel any pressure nor did I feel as if I was being judged in any way. Okay maybe a little but not in the way I usually was. I sort of felt as if I could really be myself around him and I had to admit that I was enjoying that feeling.
"Just admit that you were on the bottom and get over it," Melanie said. She came out my closet holding a clean green short sleeved cotton button up shirt that had a weird design on it and a pair of jeans. She threw the outfit at me in which I caught. Mia's face had fallen from its confusion and came to a realization of what was going on.
"I would have invited you to come with us but..." I started.
"I understand," Mia said before smiling softly. She leaned over to peck a kiss at my lips. "Have fun but just be careful...around Jayden, okay?" I crinkled my eyebrows in confusion as I opened my mouth to question her statement. She only tightened her smile before practically running out of the room. I stared after her, my mind running with questions as to why exactly I had to be careful around Jayden. We seemed to be in a good place as far as I was concerned. So what was there to watch out for?
"She seems nice," Melanie mused as she stared in the direction to where Mia ran off to. She then looked to me and clapped her hands together. "Chop, chop, slow poke. We've got somewhere to be." I raised an eyebrow at her.
"You seem to be excited about this," I said as I began to change into my new outfit.
"Well this is a bit major once you think about it. We are the first ones in our school to actually stray out of our clique and explore the waters."
"Melanie, we are each other's clique, if you don't remember."
"Exactly and now we're going to be expanding it – hopefully that is." I smiled but shook my head at her as I sprayed on a hint of cologne. I quickly ran a brush through my hair as I spoke again.
"Everything will be fine. Now let's go," I said before I stepped into my sneakers. Melanie gave me a weak, shy smile before she followed me out of my room. I drove us downtown back to Jayden's uncle's popular social spot quickly before Jayden could call me back. I had noticed that he can be patient but not for too long. Besides, it was rude to keep them waiting for so long. When we finally arrived to the big building, we hurried up the stairs to the lounge and club area. Tonight was a "Teen Night" so that meant that kids between 20 and 15 could get into the place to party. I'd never been up here in this area before but it didn't fail to exceed my expectations. The lounge was a huge, dim lit room where the music from the club played softly. I could hear the louder version of the music in the club in the back under everyone's chatter. There were big neon blue couches that stood out drastically against the dark wall and rug. There were also various neon blue glowing designs on the wall that helped light up the room. I could make out a food counter in the back and a bar full of virgin drink mixes. I noticed that a lot of the kids from school were here too. Most of them gave Melanie and I warm greetings. It didn't take me long to spot Jayden and Bethany sitting on one of the couches near a corner.
Jayden was dressed in a fitted black tee shirt, jeans, and black boots. Bethany, on the other hand, was wearing a fitted black cropped shirt that had a circle around her neck and four straps coming down from it, a fitted high waist black skirt, lace fish net tights, and a pair of black high heel ankle boots. Her uniquely shaped eyes were decorated in a deep smoky eye and her plum lips were frosted in a dark red. Her long dark hair was curled perfectly and fell over her curvy body in wild waves. Jayden had a monster in his hand while Bethany was holding a bottle filled with pink liquid. They were laughing when I saw them, a light conversation going on between them. "Wow," I heard Melanie murmur. "Bethany is gorgeous."
"Yea, she's pretty. Come on," I said as I began to walk over to where they were. Melanie followed close behind me. I felt her hand grab mine as we waved through the crowds of people. Jayden's eyes flicked to me as I got closer and I felt my stomach tingle a bit. Jayden's mouth twisted strangely at the sight of me. It was as if he was trying not to smile or something. I remembered when he did smile the week before...that handsome smile. I wished that I could tell him that it was alright to smile – that he needed to show his more often. But that would be a very strange conversation. Hell, that's a strange thing to say period. Jayden would probably punch me if I told him something like that. We were on good terms so far. I didn't want to ruin that.
"It's about time you two got here. What happened? Couldn't find your hairspray," Jayden teased. Bethany lightly hit him on his chest.
"Be nice," she said before turning to me. She smiled softly and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Bethany, AKA Jayden's keeper." I shook her hand.
"It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Daniel." She nodded.
"Jayden told me about you."
"Yea, you also saved my life when he tried to beat me to death." Jayden rolled his eyes before taking a sip of his drink.
"Oh yea, sorry about that. Jayden here doesn't know how to control his anger. Now do you Jay Jay," she said as she turned to him. He glance glared at her but didn't answer. She smiled at him before her eyes went to Melanie was looking around my arm curiously. "We don't bite," Bethany said. Melanie slowly came to my side, blushing deeply. "What's your name? I'm Bethany."
"I'm Melanie. It's nice to meet you." Bethany smiled before she looked to Jayden and swung her now empty bottle in front of his face. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"What the fuck do you want me do," he asked. "I'm off the clock."
"Then go be a gentleman. Will you please go get me another drink? Please," she said. He narrowed his eyes at her as she poked her bottom lip and got into his face. "Please Jay, pretty please with a cherry on top."
"You're lucky I love you," he said as he took the empty bottle from her. He slowly got up and stretched his back. "Come on, white boy." Melanie gave me a worried look as her hand tightened around mine. Bethany must have noticed her uncomfortable look and grabbed her wrist.
"Pretty bracelets," she said as she smiled warmly. Melanie looked back towards her and replied something back. I didn't have time to hear what since Jayden grabbed my arm and began to tow me towards the bar in the back. He weaved through the people so quickly that I was beginning to find it a bit hard to keep up. I managed to though. As we reached the less crowded bar, Jayden went to take a seat on one of the stools. I stood there beside him, looking around curiously at all the people around us. I could feel his emerald eyes on me though. He was waiting for me to say something, I think.
"It's nice up here," I said lamely. I glanced at Jayden to see him staring at me, his head tilted slightly. "I...I like it."
"That's good," he said. His eyes half blinked before he looked away. Slowly, I took a seat on the stool next to him and crossed my hands in front of me. "You look so lost," I heard him comment. "Are you okay?"
"Yea. I've just got a lot of my mind," I said as I gave him a forced smile. Jayden opened his mouth to say something but hesitated. His eyes flicked back and forth as if he were contemplating if he really wanted to say what he wanted to say.
"You know...you can talk to me about...anything if you want..." He said unsurely. "I know that we're not best friends but I spilled my guts to you so it's only fair that you do the same, don't you think?"
"Uh yea. We can talk later when there aren't so many people around." Jayden nodded, his lips turning up into the tiniest hint of a smile. "So, what's been up with you?" He shrugged.
"Same old, same old. School, work, etc. How about you?"
"Just school. My parents don't want me to get a job. They think it'll distract me from my studies."
"At least you don't have to work. I wish my mom would tell me I didn't have to work."
"You don't like working here with your uncle?"
"No. He's annoying and embarrassing." I smiled.
"And how is that?"
"Once he started singing 'Senorita' by Justin Timberlake during karaoke night and he decided to dedicate the song to me. I was so tempted to knock him right off that stage." I chuckled, shaking my head. "But I work long hours so sometimes I just get tired of it."
"But aren't you a minor?"
"No. I'm eighteen," he said. "My uncle tried to give me less hours but I wasn't having that. I figured that I could take advantage of my legal age and work."
"Why work so much if you don't like it?"
"My family needs the money," he replied quickly. "Besides, it keeps me out of trouble. I should quit complaining and be grateful." He ended the conversation there and motioned for the bartender to come over. He got the girls strawberry daiquiris and got us Monsters. We headed back to our friends when we got the drinks. It seemed that they had really hit it off by the way they were both animatedly talking on the couch. Jayden and I didn't even try to butt into their conversation. We just handed them their drinks and sat on the other side of the huge couch. "So have you chosen which Ivy League school your prissy ass is going to," he asked.
"No. I don't even know if I got in," I lied. Jayden rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his seat.
"Oh don't give me that bullshit." He took another swig of his drink. "We all know that you got in." I shrugged. "You're so humble," he stated. "Cut it out. You're making me feel weird." I chuckled at him. Again the sides of Jayden's lips turned up into a small smile. The smile immediately faded as his eyes flicked away to across the room. I followed to where his eyes were to see that he was staring at a guy across the room. This guy was really tanned with dark black hair, dark eyes, and a muscular body. He had long legs so I assumed he was tall as well. He was also pretty good looking with his sharp features and slightly slanted eyes. He was staring at Jayden, a sort of angry look on his face. When their eyes locked, the boy started to walk over to us. As he got closer, I noticed his slight facial hair and the fact that he looked to be a bit older than us. He had to be at least 19 or 20. "Don't say a word," Jayden growled at me. I glanced at him to see his face was beginning to harden.
"Hey Jayden," the boy said, his smooth voice laced with a strong accent. "Long time, no see."
"Go away, Diego," Jayden said sharply.
"Still bitter I see," the boy said with an amused smirk before his dark eyes turned to me. He scrutinized me carefully, his amusement growing in his eyes. I felt uncomfortable under his gaze though. For some reason, I felt as though he was judging me for my worth, stripping away my body to my soul. "Who's your friend," he said as he tilted his head.
"None of your business," Jayden said. I saw him scoot closer to me a bit, angling himself so that he could jump on the boy if he tried to touch me. I mentally raised an eyebrow at his readiness to protect me. But then again, it seemed as if he and this boy were having problems prior to this. Jayden would probably take any chance to bash his face in.
"He's very...exquisite. I didn't think that you associated with pretty little white boys."
"Hey," I said automatically. Jayden quickly elbowed in my side causing me to shut up. His elbow had practically knocked the wind out of me and he barely had done anything. I'm surprised I didn't pass out when he was beating the hell out of me in school.
"Leave him alone, Diego," Jayden said. There was a warning in his eyes as he glared at the other boy as well as a threat. I wished I could say exactly what it was but I'm pretty sure that I was too far behind in their drama to figure out what. The other boy – Diego I'm guessing his name was – held up his hands in surrender.
"Okay, okay, I'm leaving now." He glanced at me again as he began to back up. "Have a nice night," he said deviously before turning and going on his way.
"What was that all about," I asked Jayden. "And that really hurt." He wasn't looking at me, instead his emerald eyes were watching as Diego retreated. Once he was out of sight, I saw the tension in Jayden's shoulders relax. He looked to me and his face softened a bit.
"Sorry," he murmured. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Who was that guy?" Jayden glanced in the way that Diego had went, his eyes hardening again.
"Let's just say that he's an old...friend. Let's just forget about it, alright?" I wanted to question him more but whoever that guy was seemed to press a button for Jayden so I decided to leave it alone. I nodded in response to his request and his small smile returned. The rest of the night went by smoothly and without any unfortunate events. Jayden and I got really hyper off of all our Monsters so we spent most of the night doing the most stupidest of dances in the clubs. Bethany and Melanie joined right along with us though, laughing through it all. It felt nice: hanging out with Bethany and Jayden. They were so down-to-earth and funny once they let their guards down – Jayden especially. That night, he allowed me to see the care-free side of him. I liked that side a lot more than I thought I did. I liked dancing with him and cracking jokes and laughing and not having a care in the world. I didn't want the night to end because for once, I felt as if I belonged somewhere. But not for the sake of school or for my parents but for myself. I was having fun, dancing and being stupid with my friends. I'd always wanted that. Sure, I had fun with Melanie and I felt the same sensation with her but this felt a bit different in a way. I'm not sure why but I kind of didn't care. All I knew was that I liked it and I couldn't wait to do it all again.