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LIZZY stood motionless for a moment, unsure of how to react to Reece's daring move of kissing her. Reece was kissing her. Bewilderment blinded all her other senses and all she could feel was the smooth texture of his lips, soft and timid like a bunny rabbit. Reece didn't kiss her for very long; he disconnected after a few seconds, his focus averted to the ground, a deep maroon staining the entirety of his face. "Sorry about that, I've just always wanted to do that, and—I don't know—I felt bold tonight. Maybe because it's the first real party I've ever been to, but I—" he trailed off, rambling some string of words that Lizzy could barely comprehend as she stood, dumbfounded and inert.
"Um, o-okay," she stammered, her eyebrows scrunching together as the reality of what just occurred sluggishly descended into her slow-processing brain like feathers falling gradually through the sky. Finally, Lizzy snapped out of it as though her whole body was drenched in ice water. "What was that for?" she demanded crossly, a spark of annoyance burning in the pit of her gut. Her hand tenderly touched her rosy lips, still warm from when his grazed hers.
Apparently, Reece hadn't been anticipating such a callous reaction. "I, uh, I thought it was obvious that I liked you, Lizzy. And I just—I really wanted to kiss you," he finished plainly, his hands wringing themselves nervously, his eyes flitting about their surroundings like a bumblebee since he was unable to look her in the eye.
"Well, I—" Lizzy paused, racking her brain for some explanation to inform him that Lizzy, in fact, did not feel the same affection toward him as he evidently did for her. The party carried on all about them, they a paused movie amid the oblivious world around them. The lights cast a rainbow glow on them, various hues dancing on Reece's skin as though Lizzy was staring through a kaleidoscope. It seemed but a dream, unreal and peculiar, and Lizzy pinched herself to validate that she wasn't at home, sleeping in her bed.
"I'm sorry, Reece," she began. Now it was her turn to avoid his gaze, using her hair to conceal her reddening face. She could sense his crestfallenness from behind her curtain of curly hair. "I just don't—feel the same way. I can't—I'm so sorry," she stuttered, the snake in her stomach coiling tightly around her innards. Rejecting Reece was completely appalling because he was such a sweet friend; however, friend was all she saw whenever her attention fell upon him.
"Oh, no, I, uh, I'm the one who should be—sorry." His voice cracked, straining to keep composure. There weren't enough words in the dictionary to describe the awful feeling that consumed Lizzy. She wished she could like him (he was incredibly affable and he exhibited the most wonderful traits that every human being should aspire to acquire). Despite their owners' best efforts to journey in one direction, hearts choose another. Maybe it was the fact that he was too good for her or that her heart had already planned for another to receive her affection. Whatever it was, Lizzy understood plainly that she did not yearn after Reece.
"So, um, what were you going to ask me before?" Reece asked quietly, his voice almost drowned out and inaudible from the hammering, upbeat music.
Lizzy had almost forgotten about her original plan when she first caught sight of Reece. Her goal had been to find a worthy guy for Teagan, one who didn't carry the characteristics of a heartbreaker. Dread devoured her when she realized that she, in fact, was the heartbreaker in this situation. "My friend, Teagan—you remember her from lunch?" Reece nodded, beckoning for Lizzy to continue. Lizzy tried to ignore his sniffles and his red-rimmed eyes. He was clearly in want of a private place to release his broken emotions, to flee Paisley's house where he felt he didn't belong. "I want her to hang out with nice guys tonight and not the weirdos she usually chooses and I figured you were the nicest guy I know."
Reece let out a boisterous, sarcastic laugh and it impaled right through Lizzy who blinked and endeavored to regain some confidence. "And yet I'm still not nice enough for you to like me?" he wondered aloud, throwing his arms up in the arm in frustration. Lizzy took a step back, unused to and afraid of this strange, different side of Reece that she had never encountered before.
"Look, I told you I'm sorry," Lizzy protested, her eyes wide with fright. Her face had lost its flushness and instead it paled with alarm.
"You—You're such a—" Reece obviously didn't know how to go on, his hands flailing to his sides in defeat, his fury vanishing as quick as it had come. "Where is she?" he asked, giving in to Lizzy's request. Even though she did not feel the same way toward him, he couldn't scold his wounded heart, a loyal puppy, to run away from her and the favor she asked of him.
Lizzy searched the vicinity from her stationary spot, standing on her tiptoes at intervals, unable to catch sight of the familiar midnight hair and moon-shaped face of Teagan. "I—I don't know," she said finally when she determined for certain that Teagan was nowhere in sight. "How about you start looking in the kitchen and upstairs while I check out the basement?" Reece eagerly agreed and Lizzy guessed that his excitement emerged from the fact that he would finally be able to leave her presence and suffer his humiliation in peace.
As Reece morphed into the myriads of teenagers, Lizzy wove her way through the crowd to the basement door and descended down the stairs. The basement was dimmer and calmer than the lively, bright environment upstairs. A group of boys cheered nosily at an intense game of pool; a few others mingled about in clusters, speaking to one another with red solo cups in their hands. Lizzy studied all their faces for Teagan's and was rather disappointed when her investigation failed and Teagan was nowhere to be found. She wandered to an even darker hallway. Blood vessels that pounded through her ears matched the steady rhythm of the bass from the music upstairs.
A shadowy figure hovered in the darkness at the end of the corridor. A tentative step brought her closer to the silhouette, her voice stuck in the back of her throat. Lizzy opened her mouth as if to speak but no words scarpered from her lips. The mysterious person noticed her presence and straightened, the whites of his or her eyes flashing through the obscurity like pearls. The two distinct lighthouse eyes beckoned Lizzy closer until she found her voice again: "Teagan, is that you? It's me, Lizzy."
"Duh, it's me," Teagan admitted in aggravation. Lizzy could finally delineate the outline of Teagan's familiar figure like an artist's sketch.
"Oh, thank God. I've been looking everywhere for you." Lizzy's eyes gradually adjusted to the shadows and a frown graced her features when she realized that Teagan was staring expectantly at the door at the end of the hallway with her arms crossed as though she was waiting for something to appear from the other side. "Uh, what are you doing, T?"
Teagan pulled on her crop top in frustration, her eyebrows furrowed and mouth set in a grim line. "I was trying to have a lovely conversation with Lucas over here but he runs into this room and refuses to come out."
Lizzy narrowed her eyes into slits at the mention of Lucas who was one of Mateo's best soccer buddies. "Teagan, what is your genius plan here? Are you trying to make Mateo fall in love with you by pressuring one of his good friends to like you? Are you out of your mind?"
Teagan harrumphed, tilting her nose into the air like she suddenly smelled a batch of chocolate chip cookies—although her expression was more snobbish than overjoyed. "No, that is not my genius plan, thank you very much."
"Then, what is it?" Lizzy inquired, curiosity budding from within her.
Uncertainty crashed upon Teagan like a car collision. "Well, um—don't laugh but I was going to tell him that he should talk about me more often in front of Mateo so that I can get the idea of us together inside of his head. It sounds stupid but I thought if I could get someone he's close with to be on my side, then it might actually happen, y'know?"
"You're delusional!" a lurid voice boomed from the door that had opened just the slightest while Lizzy and Teagan were conversing. "Don't listen to a word she says, Lizzy! She's fucking crazy! She starts flirting with me and then we start talking about Mateo who is the only thing we have in common. Then, she leans forward and starts threatening me. She demanded that I go find Mateo and tell him what a great person she is and how they need to be a couple and how Paisley and Mateo need to be broken up and how she needs my help and other crap or else she'd chop off my pencil-sized dick. I told her there was no fucking way I'd do that for her—Mateo's a good guy and I wouldn't be an idiot to try to match him up with this bitch and help her break up Paisley and him—and then she slapped me across the face and she reached for her high heels so she could gouge out my eyes with them. And then I ran like hell here to safety. Take this bitch away from me!" Lizzy sought for the body that matched the voice but Lucas was frightened out of his wits and didn't dare exit the room while Teagan was still prowling on the loose like a lion ready to devour him.
"Jesus, T, you really messed this guy up," Lizzy commented with a low whistle, clutching her crazy friend's arm and dragging her up the stairs. "Don't you remember what I told you about threatening people and using violence to get what you want?"
Teagan rolled her eyes, pulling back with equal force so that Lizzy struggled with hauling her friend up the stairs. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," she muttered under her breath. "I remember, Mom."
"I'm just looking out for you."
"I know, I know, but I just can't help it." Teagan pouted, teary-eyed. "It's so much easier when people are afraid of me because then everything just falls at my feet."
"You are insane," Lizzy said, agreeing with Lucas's previous spiel that he articulated a few moments ago.
Teagan laughed, slinging a thin arm over Lizzy's shoulder and leading her toward the kitchen for a refreshing drink. "You love me."
While Teagan prepared herself a drink, Lizzy examined the area for Reece this time. Of course she'd find one of them but lose the other in the process. Luckily, Reece had shrunk into a corner, lifeless as a dummy, staring out into the dancing horde forlornly. Observing him and his motionless stance pulled at Lizzy's heartstrings but determination reigned over her for the moment and she marched to him with Teagan trailing behind her. "Reece, Teagan. Teagan, Reece," Lizzy introduced quickly. "Enjoy yourselves, get to know one another, and have fun." Lizzy wiped the droplets of sweat that had transpired on her forehead, sighing in exasperation when Teagan and Reece just stared at each other without saying a word as though they were in a museum gazing at some exhibit. "I need a drink of water," Lizzy announced, striding away, exhaustion accumulating in the marrow of her bones.
Lizzy retrieved a refreshing glass of water from the kitchen, ignoring a few random boys who tried to flirt with her and a couple girls who desired to gossip with her. She really just wanted to go home and lie in bed, either gazing at the stars or the ceiling or something mesmerizing in her dreams. She'd give anything to be asleep at this very minute, the world sucked away into a black hole, while fantasy pacified her with fireworks of creativity.
Lizzy trashed her cup away before diving straight back into the heat of the party, examining for Reece and Teagan whom she had misplaced. Again.
A series of deafening shouts reached Lizzy's ears and mayhem ignited into a roaring wildfire.
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A/N:
Hi everyone!! How are you enjoying this story? JJ did not make an appearance in this chapter but he will be coming back soon ;) What do you think is going to happen next? Sorry again for the little cliffhanger but I'm going to try and update again next Saturday. I've been doing pretty well for regular updates so far! See you next time! Please vote and comment if you enjoyed! I love hearing your thoughts!
- Payton