Mira
"Aaaaaaah, remind me to never ever let you anywhere near me with wax!" I shrieked as Renee pulled away a waxing strip from my arms, a stony expression on her face. The girl was heartless. Did she really not care if I was undergoing sheer physical torture at her hands?
Nope.
From the way, she was hell bent on getting rid of every single hair on my body, certainly not and even though I had shaved just recently, she was here ripping off even the smallest and the most non-existent of hair from off my body.
It was sheer torture.
Remind me to never get waxing done again, at least not by Renee. She was brutal and stone-hearted with hot wax in her hands. In short, hot wax and Renee were a lethal combination.
"Shut up and sit up straight," Renee commanded, engrossed in her job as she pulled off another strip from my arm and I bit back a shout.
Her hand held my skin tightly. "You are so not making this any easier for me, Renee." I groaned. Renee did not respond but she did loosen her grip slightly.
"I'm sorry if it hurts but I'm almost done." She said in a soothing voice when I winced again.
"About time," I muttered dryly and held out my arm straighter for her to wax.
After Renee was done inflicting the torture of waxing on me and was sure that my skin looked smooth and well, hair free, she shoved me down on a chair in front of the huge mirror in my dressing room and began opening several drawers in my vanity to reveal hundreds of products that Dylan had bought for me, unused and still packaged. I hadn't even bothered to try any of them except the Kylie Jenner lip gloss, which I actually liked a lot.
Soon enough she had selected a bottle that seemed to be full of some beige liquid, a round container that seemed to have something creamy brown in it, a handful of brushes-big and small, round and flat, another small bottle, another bottle and well.......a whole lot of other bottles.
Yeah, kill me. I did not know the first thing about makeup. Makeup for me was a moisturizer, a mascara, that I used rarely and a lip gloss. But I also knew that what I considered as party makeup, was something that girls wore to bed- so yeah I was a dummy.
Big hoohaa.
"You are one lucky girl, chica." Renee whistled as she looked at my things and I raised an eyebrow at her.
"One Dylan Scott's enough for me, thanks," I rolled my eyes as rubbed my arms. Thankfully they weren't red. Having a wheatish complexion was good sometimes, especially to hide the aftermath of a rough waxing session with your best friend who ripped your hair off your body the way infants cut paper with a pair of scissors that was too big. Messily, carelessly and way too quickly.
"Not that there's another anyway." Renee shrugged. "I mean isn't he just so hot?" She sighed dreamily and put her arm around me.
I swatted her arm away, surprised. "Don't you have a boyfriend, missy?"
"Oh yeah, I do but what's the harm in fangirling a little?" She said slyly. "Afterall Dylan Scott is one fine piece of a-" She began but I beat her to it, slapping a hand across her mouth. "Okay, I don't want to hear it." I gave her a look.
"Fine," She huffed and whirled me around in my chair eyeing me critically. Up and down and then back up again, her eyes analyzing the nerdy me in a white camisole, black sweatpants, glasses and my hair in a loose knot, trying to come up with a way to transform the weird-ass nerd into a wannabe beauty queen.
Ugh, I was much better off as the weird-ass nerd.
Oops! I swore again.
"These," She took off my spectacles and set them on the vanity. "-need to go." She muttered as she looked at me, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
"But-" I began protesting but was cut off.
"No buts, M. You can't and you won't wear them." She said firmly cutting me off. " Besides, I know you don't actually need them."
I pouted and my pout quickly transformed into a frown when Renee spoke again. "Now what shall we do with you, sweetums?"
What did she mean?
I had no idea.
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
"Holy moly, I left my dress outside." I groaned.
As soon as Renee had done my makeup, she walked outside the dressing room to let me change and when I had stripped out of all of my clothes except for the underwear, I remembered that I had left my dress outside, on the bed.
God, I was so stupid.
I quickly grabbed a towel off the towel rack and draped it around my body. The towel was way too short but at least it covered up a little; besides I was too shy to walk into my room in nothing but underwear even if the only person there was my best friend.
I hurriedly slipped on my black pumps and took a long, deep breath before walking out the vanity. I walked slowly and cautiously, my gait wobbly. The moment I saw Renee from behind the curtain as she did her hair with her back to me, I cursed myself for wearing the heels in a hurry. I could have sneaked off with my dress easily without being seen, had I been barefoot.
Cue a facepalm.
I was so not used to wearing heels this high, I thought remorsefully as I pushed the curtain aside to enter my room but not at all surprisingly, I lost my balance and tried to clutch at the curtain to slow down my momentum, but all I got was air.
I closed my eyes on instinct. I was so not prepared for this fall. Why in the world did I have to be so darn clumsy? I cringed at the thought of my body hitting the hard floor, in the most ungraceful way there was and mentally scolded myself for being so careless but instead of the cold, hard floor, I was embraced by a pair of strong arms that encircled my waist and the next thing I knew, I was being pulled up gently. I could feel a hand on my bare shoulder, warm and calloused. A bit hesitant but extremely gentle. I felt a shiver run through my body.
I knew whose hands they were, at once. There was only one pair of hands in this world which could make me feel this way.
"Easy does it," Dylan said, a mix of concern and amusement evident in his voice and I looked up to see him smirking.
"Nice towel." He winked suggestively and I suddenly realized I was wearing a towel and my eyes widened. Wriggling out of his arms, I made a dash towards the dressing room and hid behind the curtain.
I blushed as I saw his eyes shine with amusement as his lips curled into a knowing grin. He knew what his gaze did to me and he was determined to make the best out of the effect he had on me.
I watched as his mouth moved a little, a barely there movement, a tiny little quirk to the corner of his mouth as his eyes locked with mine, his eyes conveying exactly how I had looked to him, in his arms, barely covered and beautiful. His eyes told me exactly what he had wanted in that second and a spark went through my body. His gaze was intense, hot and scorching as I felt his voice; a low, sexy croon in my ear whispering to me the naughty things he would have done to me, given a chance. Telling me the way he would have held me so close in his arms so lovingly, touched me, cherished me so beautifully that........
"Ahem." I heard someone clear their throat and my gaze zeroed in on Renee who stood a little to the side, a sly grin plastered on her face as she looked at us with an 'Oh god, here we go again. What shall happen of these two? There certainly is no hope!' expression.
I blushed and averted my gaze from Dylan who seemed, not flustered but equally surprised at being caught staring at me that intimately and uh, meaningfully.
My heart fluttered as I thought of the intimacy we had shared in that moment, the way he had said to me things that he knew I could never have beared to have spoken to me, without blushing pure scarlet.
Not that I was any better right now, I realised that I had been blushing profusely at the thought of him whispering things to me.
Biting my lip I threw one last discreet glance in Dylan's direction only to find he was staring at me too. Flustered, I pulled the curtain hastily to prevent him from seeing my hot face, before running inside to my vanity.
I let my towel fall to the ground as I stood in front of the mirror in my underwear. I had a curvy body, average uh, chest area and an average backside. What could he possibly like in me to look at me like that?
I wasn't exactly well built either, I mean I had no abs, my body wasn't toned like that of the girls in the cheer squad at the university. And didn't all the bad boys go for petite little blondes with a perfect figure- long legs and perfectly toned abdomen?
And other than that, I didn't have the perfectly styled hair, nor the pouts, nor the huge eyelashes, not even the fashion sense! I had no idea why Dylan liked me. I didn't fawn over him like the other girls did but he never seemed to mind that. Instead he was pursuing me relentlessly and that confession he had made to me-it had me stumped.
I did not know how it was going to work between us. There were so many differences. I was so unlike him and the fact that he liked me instead of all those pretty girls confused me.
I sighed. Pulling my towel back up and wrapping it around, I peeked from the curtains. I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw that Dylan had left. Quickly grabbing my dress, I changed into it while Renee stood with her back to me, hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently.
"You can turn around now." I said when I had changed into the dress. The dress was a beautiful red satin, smooth and soft.
"Finally." Renee turned around rolling her eyes but her eyes widened when she saw me. "Oh. My. God." She gazed at me dumbstruck. "You look-you look......."She seemed to be at loss for words.
"What?" I frowned. "Is it not good?" I straightened the fabric a little. "Please tell me it is not too much? Oh God, I knew I would never be able to pull such a look off. It's too revealing for me."I said in despair.
"NO!" Renee exclaimed and I looked at her surprised. "No, it's-it's perfect. Oh my God, Mira, you look gorgeous." She said as she walked towards me and hugged me.
I held onto her and when she pulled away, she grinned. "Dylan's not gonna be able to take his eyes off ya tonight, girl. You have my word on that."she said excitedly and I couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.
"My hair's still left you know." I said as I realised that Renee was already dressed. Her makeup was done, her hair was straightened to perfection, in short she was party ready.
"Oh yes, right. How silly of me to skip that detail." Renee spoke to herself as she slipped into her professional mode again and pushed me down onto a chair. After about twenty minutes of pulling, combing and pinning; my hair was done but I wasn't allowed to look yet.
Renee led me to the vanity and rushed to tell the boys.
I smiled and turned to the mirror once again, but this time I wasn't the same old, plain jane. I looked pretty........almost sexy. The red dress clung to my body like second skin, the fabric unbelievably light and smooth. The neckline was low but not vulgar somehow. It was backless dress and ended mid thigh-a lot of skin on show but it looked classy. My makeup was sultry, eyes dusted with black glitter and red eyeshadow. My lips were bare except for a nude shade of lip gloss. My cheeks were rouge, I had no idea whether it was so due to my extreme tendency to blush or due to the actual blush but it looked beautiful.
My hair was done up in an elegant messy bun with a few wavy strands framing my face. It emphasised my neck. It was me staring back from the mirror but it wasn't me. I never revealed that much of skin. Never.
I never put so much effort in getting ready, nor did I ever look so pretty.
The dress, the make up, the hair, the shoes, the perfume, everything was perfect except the lingering feeling in the back of my mind, that perhaps I wasn't. That maybe, I wasn't supposed to do these things. Maybe I wasn't supposed to feel so pretty.
A knock at the door pulled me out of my thoughts. Shaking my head I reached towards the door of the vanity and pulled it open. Renee stood there with a huge smile.
"Are you ready?"
"I don't know, am I?" I asked breathily and Renee gave me a look.
"Seriously M, I know you're nervous but come on girl, relax." She said.
I sighed. "I don't know what's going to happen."
"Nothing's gonna happen. Chill girl, breathe and move it. Ya ready?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am." I smiled as she offered me her arm. Grinning, I took it and we walked side by side, down the stairs.
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Dylan
"Mom? Dad? Dylan? Come out. You've got to see this!" I heard Alex shout and rushed out of my room.
A last spritz of my cologne and I was inspecting myself in the mirror when I heard him shout.
"Jeez, Alex! Keep it down, chap. You'll wake Val up." I said as I saw him standing there, in the middle, gaping open mouthed at something........or rather someone.
"I know. I know but this is phenomenal. " Alex said and I rolled my eyes.
Alex and his crazy obsession with big words. Ever since Mira had come in this house, he idolized her. Hell, he even studied a lot more than before and she had inculcated in him this weird habit of learning three new words everyday.
I think the poor boy might just be in love with Mira, the way he always paid so much attention to what she said.
I looked up to see Mira and Renee walking down the stairs, hand in hand. I watched as Renee whispered something to her and she glanced at me. She ducked her head and averted her gaze. Too bad her hair wasn't open, to hide her face behind it.
I knew she could feel my gaze on her, even though she wasn't looking. I allowed myself a leisurely once over. Surely, that wasn't too much?
I smiled at the way she discreetly tried to pull her dress down. She looked like she could use a couple more inches to her dress.
She looked so beautiful. The dress was red, a sensuous colour with a very strong sexual appeal. It was a breathtaking experience to see her pulling off the fiery shade with such elegance. She looked everything I had thought of and so much more, as if she had walked right out of my wildest dreams. She looked gorgeous, a perfect blend of sexiness and innocence, elegance and class, shyness and audacity, strength and vulnerability.
The neckline was decent but quite low than what she usually wore. My gaze rested at the base of her throat and I could see her pulse racing. Her eyes widened as she saw me looking and immediately her hand flew to cover her neck as if trying to hide the neckline as she blushed furiously.
I groaned inwardly.
What was she doing to me?
I thought of all those horny, drunk guys that would be at the party and I cursed myself. They would drink in the sight of her, like drug addicts and believe me, Mira was no less intoxicating than the freaking marijuana.
As far as I remembered, the dress was backless. I knew because I had selected the dress and had it flown in from Paris. I let out a few colourful expletives under my breath as I saw her walk towards me. I noticed the way she walked, with a sexy sway but it was too slight to have been fake.
Thank God, Jayden wasn't here. I didn't particularly appreciate the way he looked at Mira these days. It certainly wasn't brotherly-the affection he had for her, unlike Ash, Chase and Dennis. It irritated me, a lot, that he thought he could feel that way about her. She was mine, only mine.And God forbid, any guy, any guy who dared to eye her, I was gonna rip out his eyes.
With a determined yet casual stride I walked towards her. One second she was smiling at Alex and the other she was being whirled around as I pulled the pins from her hair.
She looked at me confused, as I let her hair tumble down in beautiful, soft waves all over her back. Her soft gasp of surprise was so beautiful to my ears.
"Perfect." I murmured softly before walking away as Renee stared at us, open mouthed and dumbfounded.
Alex gaped at me and I grinned at the effect I had produced.
"Guess I did manage to woo her, big guy. What do you say?" I smirked.
"Ah,"Alex began dramatically. "Finally." He said rolling his eyes. "I thought, I was gonna have to make you up your game, dear brother."
I narrowed my eyes at him as he smirked up at me.
Great, now we had another smirking Scott.
Mira giggled and Renee grinned. "Alex turned out to be so much smarter than you." She teased and I huffed.
"Let's just go to the party, shall we?"I drawled. "Move it, ladies or we're gonna miss all the fun." I walked up to Mira and put my arm around her waist, pulling her along gently. Fortunately she didn't protest. I don't think I would have been able to pull away.
I watched amused as she avoided Renee's surprised expression. Renee did not know about us yet and I guess Mira was too shy to go talking about it yet.
Her eyes took me in and I smirked.
"Can't take your eyes off me, huh bella?" I teased and she blushed.
"I'm guessing bella means beautiful." She said softly.
"Yeah it does and you do in fact look very beautiful tonight." I whispered.
"Sach? Uh, I mean d-do I?" She stuttered as my grip around her tightened.
"Yeah true." I grinned at her surprised expression. I seemed to take her by surprise a lot lately. "I've been looking up words." I shrugged.
In two long strides, I had reached the car. Renee was already with Ash and Chase, Dennis and Jayden were going separately.
I opened the passenger door for her and watched as she slid inside, trying not to trip. She almost did and immediately my hand was on the small of her back. She looked at me wide-eyed but I ignored the tingles through my hand and shut the door as soon as she pulled her legs in. Her skirt rode higher, revealing her beautifully toned legs but I kept my gaze neutral and my touch deprived of too much possesiveness.
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Mira (sorry for the POV switching, yikes!)
I watched as Dylan reached the other side, in smooth long strides, his gait confident yet casual. He was always so graceful, so confident, so smooth and so sure of himself. It seemed all of his movements were choreographed to perfection, fine tuned and flawless. I could never be like him.
"Watcha thinking, chica?" Dylan asked staring ahead as he started the car.
"Nothing." I replied hastily.
"Nervous?" The smirk was back again.
"No."
He raised an eyebrow. It was perfectly clear he did not believe me.
"Alright, maybe a little." I admitted hesitantly as I fumbled with my seatbelt. I always did that. I just did not want to ruin his car and I was too anxious to function properly.
Dylan sighed and reached over to strap me in. His breath fanned my bare and now extra sensitive skin and I held my breath. When he pulled over, his hand brushed my knee and I gasped causing him to look at me questioningly.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm fine. Nothing's wrong." I said quickly.
"You're acting weird." He frowned.
"No I'm not." I said as I rubbed my arms, a movement that did not go unnoticed.
"Are you alright? You look cold." Dylan asked with concern. He had one hand on the steering and one on my shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"No, I just feel a bit out of my skin. This dress...." I said doubtfully.
"It's amazing," I heard him say slowly." And on you, it's perfect." He said and I felt myself melting under his gaze. Why did he always have to do that to me?
I could not deny anything he said when he looked at me like that. Earlier he was all eyebrow raises and amused glances but now his intense blue gaze scorched me deep inside and left me all flustered speaking of unspoken promises and beautiful things. I could not handle this.
I forced myself to look away. "Thank you."
"Um, would you like me to put up some music?" He said after sometime.
"Will it take us long to reach the party?"
"Yes, it's a thirty minute drive." He hummed, shuffling for some USB.
One Direction's 'Little Black Dress' filled my ears and I grinned.
"Nice choice." I said, grinning ear to ear.
Dylan gave me lopsided smile. "I'd make millions of such choices to see you smile like that, niña."
And my heart fluttered at his words. What had happened to the Dylan I used to know? This cheesy, sweet, caring, always grinning Dylan was so different than the crazy, smirking, jerkhead I was used to spending time with. My poor heart could not take it.
"Dylan?"
"Mhmm."
"I want to ask you something." I said, uncertainty creeping in my voice.
"Sure." He glanced at me.
"Do we have to-do we have to uh drink at the party?" I asked nervously.
"What?" He said. "Oh no. I mean people do drink but it's no compulsion and also it'll be good if you don't drink. I'm so not looking forward to a drink Mira." He feigned a terrified expression.
I smiled when I remembered that day at the carnival when my drink had been spiked and I had been found modelling for a crowd of horny teenagers and had to be forcefully taken away by Dylan.
"Yeah me too." I replied smiling.
"Huh, you seemed like a totally different person out there, you know. It kinda scared me." Dylan admitted. "I mean I never imagined you drunk and then someone might have thought you'd develop a sense of humor when you got drunk which you otherwise seem to lack but no such luck." He made an exasperated sigh. "I was stuck with a drunk, stubborn and uptight you in all your humorless glory."
"Hahaha, very funny." I made a face and kicked him on the shins.
"Ow." Dylan exclaimed rubbing his shin. "See, no sense of humor." He grinned teasingly and I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Yeah very mature, princess." He mocked.
"Shut up before I kick you again." I mock-glared at him trying to be threatening but he was just amused as he regarded me with a teasing expression.
"I really don't mind-" He said tongue-in-cheek, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Just as long as you stay clear of the area where the sun don't shine." He smirked at my horrified expression.
My jaw almost dropped to the floor when the words came out of his mouth and I was dumbstruck for a split second.
God, he was so..........so bad.
"Ugh, shut up. As if I'd ever be interested." The words slipped out of my lips before I could I process what they could mean to the perverted brain of the jerkhead sitting next to me.
Dylan's eyes widened at the same time I realised my mistake. I was humiliated. I groaned covering my beetroot red face with my hands.
"Ugh, that came out so wrong."
"Damn right it did." Dylan laughed slapping his thigh as he roared with laughter, throwing his head back and wiped a fake tear. "Oh Mira. You're so cute." He said, his body still shaking from his laughter session.
"No I'm not." I replied blushing.
"Yes, you are."
"Nope."
"Yep."
"Ugh okay and um one more thing." I accepted finally but there was something disturbing me and Dylan seemed to detect that because he quietened and waited for me to speak.
"Do I have to dance?" I asked but this time he turned to me a bit surprised.
"Do you want to?" He said carefully.
"Not-not really." I spoke truthfully. I did not want to dance in front of complete strangers who did not even have any consciousness of their deeds.
"Then you don't have to do it." Dylan shrugged. "Look, it's a party but no one's going to make you do anything that you don't want to do."
I nodded." And um that alcohol thingy?" I said cringing. I honestly did not want to talk about it with Dylan but I had no choice. I had to know things and the way they worked at these parties.
"What alcohol thingy?" Dylan asked amused.
"You know...that thing where uh where....oh god this is so humiliating." I whined covering my face.
"Where?" Came Dylan's smug voice. He was clearly enjoying this. He knew exactly what I was talking about and here he was acting all ignorant so that I would have to put my thoughts into words.
"Shut up Dylan. You know what I'm talking about. Quit making fun of me." I snapped and he grinned.
"The thing we see in movies?" He asked, his eyes glinting mischievously.
"Yeah." I nodded relieved. Thank God he wasn't going to put up an act of innocence anymore.
"Care to put your thoughts into words?" He said trying to keep a straight expression but burst laughing at my expression and when I smacked his arm, he grabbed my hand and pulled it to his lips. Taken by surprise, I tried to pull back but froze when he placed a soft kiss on my palm, glancing slyly at me.
"You know niña, as much as I love your hands on me, you should never harass the driver." He smirked.
"More like you're harassing me right now." I whispered indicating my hand which was still in his grip.
"Oh am I?" Dylan feigned concern and looked at me, his eyes glinting wickedly. "How?"
I closed my eyes and let out a shaky breath as he pressed his lips to my palm again, leaving a gentle lingering kiss. "Is this how?" He said slyly.
"Stop it. You so don't play fair." I whined and tried to pull away my hand but Dylan did not let go of my hand before placing another sweet kiss on the back of my hand.
"I never said I do." He winked. "And yes they do that alcohol thingy but you always have a choice." He said after a while. "Though I'd love to do that to you. So shame." He silently mouthed the last words and left with a wink, ignoring my flushed expression, closing the door behind him.
Breathe Mira, breathe. He's not sucking champagne from your belly anytime soon.
Dylan crossed over, pulled open the door and helped me out. His hand rested on the small of my back in a gesture that was very intimate and comforting at the same time. I ignored the tingles that spread through my body at his touch and tried to focus on walking without stumbling in my high heels. As we neared the party's location, a huge mansion that I assumed to belong to the host, came into view. It was big, not as magnificent and grand as the Scott's mansion, but huge nonetheless.
It was a warm night, I felt my hair sticking to the nape of my neck but I resisted the urge to gather it all and pull it up into a messy bun. If Dylan liked them that way, so be it.
I smoothed my hands over my dress and stood waiting for someone to let us in. This was a high-end party. We couldn't go in without invites. After about two seconds the door opened to reveal a dark haired guy who grinned at Dylan.
"Yo man. So glad ya showed up." He greeted Dylan and they did that weird guy hug you could easily see in any typical high school. The type of hug that screamed 'Yo, get away. Two jocks greeting each other'
"Yeah, the pleasure's mine Nathan." Dylan muttered.
I saw Nathan give me a interested look as he turned to Dylan.
"And who's the Latina? I gotta say she's cute af." He smirked.
I blushed as Dylan's hand tightened on my waist. "That's my girl, Mira." He said tightly.
My heart fluttered. Since when was I Dylan's girl? Since when was he so vocal about him and me?
"She's off limits." Dylan spoke slowly as if challenging Nathan to make a move, his expression dark.
"It's okay man, I understand. I'll try to keep my hands off her. But please do come inside." Nathan said laughing but funnily enough Dylan did not seem to be pleased. "Yeah, you better." He murmured to himself as he gently pulled me along into the mansion.
"Woah." I exclaimed looking around. The scent of sweat and alcohol was prominent in the air. The place was so full of people that the atmosphere was stifling near the door, I wondered what would it be like to have to breathe in the middle of the party. There was hardly any oxygen here. I cringed and jerked away hastily as a sweaty body moved past me leaving behind the lingering feel of a warm liquid on my arm.
Ugh, I hated it when sweaty people touched me.
The party was so not my scene. It was exactly what I had imagined it would be, if possible even worse. Teenagers were making out like crazy everywhere you looked. Any nook or any corner, there was definitely a girl or a boy pinned down against the wall while the other did the unspeakable to him/her and this is as bluntly as I could put it without throwing up.
Paper cups were strewn all over the place. The flower pots were overturned or broken, some even stank like puke as if someone had emptied their guts into a pot and then knocked it over.
Ugh gross.
"Careful there." Dylan warned as we stepped over a puke-puddle. "That's disgusting." he said. I pinched my nose and nodded.
Dylan led me inside to a room through a crowd of dancing people. Here in the middle although the oxygen was dangerously scarce, the smell of puke wasn't all that prominent. The teenagers were so high on booze they didn't seem to mind the low oxygen levels. I rolled my eyes when I saw a girl down four shots together. Like how could they? And why would someone want to damage their livers like that? It was crazy how teenagers here were so much different than teenagers in India or rather it was crazy how the teenagers here had so much more freedom to do whatever they wanted than the teenagers in India.
My own mother rarely ever let me out of the house till a few months back and had I demanded to go to party like this one, God forbid, I'd have been murdered within a second of stepping inside my house.
And not to mention the unmentionable names I'd have been called by the so called "society".
People here believed in liberation. Not just of thoughts but of the body as well and I was all for liberation but this environment did feel kind of foreign to my brain in which the hypocrisies of Indian society had been hardwired, much to my dislike. I'm not saying India didn t have good things. Sure it did, but I had always felt that I could do better and perhaps this was the first step to find if I was right in wanting more. Wanting better.
I was led inside the room and to my surprise we were greeted cheerfully by almost a dozen girls and boys. They all ran to Dylan as if he were a long lost friend and the girls were gushing all over him. I'm sure I caught a few girls throwing me that 'who the heck are you?' look. I quickly ran a hand though my hair and tried to appear confident. Dylan threw me a look and I smiled forcefully.
"Oh Dylan baby, I've missed you so bad." A blonde girl in a little golden dress threw herself upon Dylan and I resisted the urge to punch her face. Dylan looked surprised and taken aback as he slowly stride to unentangle himself from her grip but she seemed hell bent on having her way.
"Why'd you leave me babe?" She slurred. "Didn't you see, I loved you so much."
Dylan looked very uncomfortable as he tried to push her away to my satisfaction. "Now's not the time, Ava." He said tightly. "Get off me."
"Oh so I should get off now? Last time I checked, less than an year back you were dead set on having me in your bed." She said angrily, all traces of drunkenness gone from her voice.
"It was a long time ago." Dylan threw me a glance but I kept my expressions neutral. I always knew Dylan was a player but why did it hurt so much, now that I had met a victim of his player ways? "And besides that night, I was the one who was wasted Ava, not you." He seethed pushing her away from her shoulders.
I quickly glanced away as he turned to me and tried to speak. "I can-" he began but I cut him off.
"It's okay. You don't have to explain anything." I said slowly although I felt someone was killing me from inside, slowly cutting of my breath. Choking me.
I let him take my hand and lead me to the couch. The warmth in his hand was still there but now I could feel the anguish radiating off him, in his inability to explain himself. I felt guilty for making him suffer but to me it felt justified. Almost.
Yet I squeezed his hand slightly. He looked so upset, as if he was despairing, cursing himself for hurting me, so I let him know that it was fine. I couldn't tolerate a troubled Dylan. His job was to annoy me not the other way around. It touched me that he knew I was hurt even though I was silent.
"I'm so sorry, niña." He whispered.
"It's okay, really. It was a long time ago, wasn't it? And besides you don't really have to explain you know. I'm not your wife." I shrugged and he nodded.
"You're not even my girlfriend yet." He said, almost remorsefully. Or it could have been my imagination.
"Yes." I nodded. "Exactly." But my heart fluttered at the fact that he said 'yet'. That meant he was going to ask me soon, right?
Oh my god.
"I want to-" Dylan began.
"Hey Scott. " We were interrupted by a group of teens who were playing something that seemed a lot like Truth and Dare. "Wanna join us?"
I heaved a sigh of relief. One thing was certain, Dylan sure was quite popular around here. Everyone seemed to know him.
"Do you want to?" He asked me. "No pressure." He added quickly but it was clear he wanted to so I nodded.
"Okay."
"So what's the new flavour of the month, eh?" An auburn haired girl asked Dylan and I quickly withdrew my hand from his grip, much to Nathan's dismay who was sitting there.
"Uh we are just friends." I supplied before Dylan could even open his mouth to speak. I ignored Dylan's surprised glance and went on. "I'm actually his tutor."
I ignored the weird way in which Nathan was looking at me. I just hoped he would spill the beans.
The group seemed to buy that and all of a sudden the cold vibe coming off from the lot of them, lessened.
"Oh that's very cool." The redhead said smiling."We sure do appreciate a brainy girl as long as she doesn't steal the hottest guy in the uni." She spoke twirling her straw.
"Oh rest assured, I'm not going to steal him from you." I fake smiled but they seemed to be buying the act so I continued. "Mind if we sit here?" I gestured towards the seat next to the redhead.
"Yeah sure. Make yourself at home." She said and I slipped onto the chair, Dylan following suit as he slid onto the couch right next to me.
"I'm Tash by the way." She extended a hand forward for me to shake. "And these are my girlfriends Christina, Angela, Melissa, Sara and Daphne." She introduced her friends. "And these are the guy friends. Christina's man Adam, Angela's boyfriend Elijah and Nathan, the host. I hope you've already met him."
"I'm Mira. It's a pleasure and yeah." I nodded.
"Interesting name." Nathan observed. "You from around here or-?"
"Uh no, I'm from India."
"Ah, that explains the features." Nathan grinned. "Because damn girl, you're pretty."
I blushed. "Thanks."
I jumped when I felt a hand on my thigh, just near my knee but placed provocatively enough to cause my breathing rate to accelerate.
It was Dylan. "Stop flirting with him." He whispered angrily.
"I'm not flirting with him, Dylan. He complimented me and I returned the curtsy." I whispered back fiercely.
"You don't know him."
"Well, neither did I know you when I first met you." I retorted.
"You don't understand, do you?" He whispered agitatedly. "He's not a good guy."
"He hasn't done anything objectionable yet, so I think I'm good." I said as Dylan rolled his eyes. "Besides it isn't as if I'm going somewhere with him. We are sitting at a table full of people, Dylan for God's sake. You can't expect me to stay quiet and not say thank you when someone compliments me. Can you?" I whispered back angrily and quickly so as to not attract attention.
"Okay, fine. Do whatever you want." He glared at Nathan and I sighed. "Look Dylan, I know you're concerned but don't worry. Nothing will happen." I said. "Just take a chill pill."
Dylan grinned despite the tension and I turned my attention towards the group again.
"You definitely know how to calm me down." He whispered against my neck, his voice an octave lower. I shivered as I felt warmth seep into my body where his hand had crept up my thigh a little bit higher. "Stop." I shot him a playful glare. "Take your hand off." I gestured towards his hand and his eyes widened. It was clear from his expression that it had not been intentional.
"Holy shit!" He exclaimed suddenly and pulled away his hand as if he had been electrocuted. "I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to." He said hastily.
I gave him a look but his expression didn't change.
"Oh crap, of course you don't believe me. Great." He held up his hands causing the whole table to throw weird looks in our direction. I pursed my lips and looked at him.
"Look what you've done." I glared at him.
"Sowy." Dylan gave me a cute smile. I rolled my eyes to prevent myself from smiling at his cuteness. I couldn't let him know that the cute Dylan got to me way more quickly than the brooding one. Yet.
"Hmm." I smiled faintly to myself but Dylan noticed and I turned away, a crimson red blush on my cheeks when I noticed that he was smiling too.
♡♡♡♡♡♡
"So who's next?" Christina spoke.
"I am." Elijah quipped. "Never have I ever played a dangerous prank on my teacher."
Ash, Renee, Tash, Dennis, Jayden, Chase, Dylan, Christina, Angela, Melissa, Elijah, Adam, Nathan, Sara and Daphne all took a sip of their vodkas and I stared down despairingly at my still full glass of Orange juice. The boys had joined us a couple of minutes into the game and all of their glasses were near about empty but mine, it was full to the brim. It was like I had had no fun in my whole life of almost eighteen years at all!
"Never have I ever made out with someone in the janitor's closet." Nathan hollered and almost everyone took another sip and to my extreme pain, Dylan too, although he didn't look very happy about it, which was a consolation.
"Dude, Mira's not drinking at all." Jayden complained drunkenly and I laughed at his state.
"Dude, that's because I'm a good girl." I emphasized the last part to hide my feeling of shame. I couldn't let my inferiority complex show through. I had to keep a cheerful face. Now don't get me wrong, I was proud of myself for not indulging in sort of fun activity but there were times like this where I couldn't help but feel that perhaps I had missed something.
"You're so damn safe." Angela taunted.
"Yeah, seems like you've had no fun at all. I pity ya girl." Elijah tutted. But I kept my calm. I couldn't let these morons get to me.
"And for a pretty chick like you, that's a shame." Adam said enjoying my humiliation.
"Yeah you clearly dont belong here and oh by the way, where are are the braces nerd?" Daphne hollered.
I fisted my hands to stop myself from retorting but before I could react Dylan slammed down his palm on the table, his eyes blazing with anger.
"Shut the fu*k up." He seethed. "One more word and you'll regret the day you were born." He glared at all of them. Everyone looked shocked by his outburst. I guess they were expecting Dylan to support them but he took them all by surprise. He was furious and so were the boys. Renee looked absolutely enraged too, just seconds away from slapping someone across the face.
"Let's get away from here man." Dennis placed a hand on Dylan's shoulder and threw him a look.
"Yeah let's go." Dylan said tightly and then his arm was around my waist as he pulled me along. The girls gawked at us open mouthed and clearly horrified that he had his arm around a girl like me.
Ha! The joke was on them.
"I will kill that piece of shit." Dylan said angrily as we manoeuvred our way through hundreds of dancing bodies. "I swear I will. That-"
"Okay, calm down Dylan." I murmured rubbing his back. "It's okay. They were only saying the truth. I don't feel bad at all." I said truthfully.
"Gosh, I didn't know I was friends with such douches." He said his fingers digging involuntarily into my waist.
"Dylan, please. It's okay. They were right. I don't belong here. Maybe I shouldn't have come in the first place." I said lowering my head.
"No!"Dylan said quickly and hooking a finger under my chin made me look him in the eye.
"Don't ever say that. Don't ever say that you don't belong. I swear I'll kiss you so hard you won't ever say that again." He said his eyes intense, his voice velvet.
"But-"
"Shh. Nothing. You belong, okay? You do." He murmured, pressing his forehead down to mine. "Come on, let's dance."
"I can't dance." I said ashamed. Clearly this was another thing everyone except me could do.
"Neither can I." Dylan smiled. "But that doesn't stop me from shakin' da bootie." He grinned and I giggled at his attempt to make me laugh, so he kinda succeeded but uh whatever.
"Come on, it's one of your favourites." He urged as he pulled me to the dance floor and I smiled at him as 'Thinking Out Loud' came up. He pulled me flush against his body as we began moving to the rhythm. I was sweating already due to two reasons:
1. I wasn't used to dancing.
2. I wasn't used to dancing in such a close proximity of a super hot guy who also happened to like me and surprisingly, I liked him back too.
So obviously my focus was more on not crushing his feet and not on him.
"Oh come on, loosen up." Dylan teased as he twirled me around and pulled me back to him. I kicked off my heels hastily and rubbed my sweaty hands against my dress before placing them in his hands again. He would never know how hard it was loosen up when he was this close to me. Our bodies were pressed together, completely aligned. It was hard to think straight with his hand on my waist. It was hard to form coherent sentences with the warmth of him seeping into my body.
Flustered, I lost my balance and looked up to him, slightly embarrassed but he looked unaffected.
"I told you, I can't dance." I shrugged.
"Oh well we shall see about that. For now-" Dylan said placing his hand on my waist and then twirling me so quickly that I let out a little gasp of surprise.
"This will do." He finished, smirking as he executed a dance move flawlessly.
I gasped. "And you said you couldn't dance!"
He grinned. "I'm a Scott, niña. We need to know things." He said charmingly as he turned me again pulling me such that my back was pressed against his. His hand held my arm captive against my hip as he traced my side with another finger, which caused me to hold on to him to stop my knees from buckling and then he twirled me around yet again only to catch me and then continue dancing in a steady sync. I watched him in awe as he moved with effortless grace, his movements so unique and smooth. It seemed as if he was gliding across the floor and was making me-the clumsy nerd, glide along him too, which was basically a miracle according to me because I had a frickin' pole in the place of my spine.
I looked into his deep blue eyes and sighed. "You dance so well."
"Why thank you, you're not bad yourself." Dylan bowed, faking an English accent and I laughed as he lifted me and twirled me before setting me on my feet again.
He pressed his forehead to mine again and I closed my eyes.
"You're so hot and bothered, right now, aren't you?" He smirked.
I blushed. I could feel the pulse racing at the base of my throat as colour rise to my cheeks. Here I was so out of breath, that I couldn't even speak and there was Dylan smirking at me as if he had just done those terrific lifts with a lighter than air flower and not a girl who weighed over a hundred pounds.
"I'll take that as a yes." He said amused.
I pushed away my hair from my sweaty face. "Here let me do that." He offered as he began arranging my hair behind my ear gently, not caring that I was all sweaty.
"Men are strange creatures." I quipped surprised. "I'm all sweaty and sticky and awful and disgusting." I scrunched up my nose.
Dylan looked at me amused, something glinting behind in his eyes, probably mischief. "Yeah, sweaty and sticky maybe but you're definitely not awful and disgusting."
"Your English accent was very bad by the way." I teased him trying to change the topic. The truth was that he had executed it perfectly but hey, I needed to change the topic!
"Sure sure." He smiled, amused. "You're just jealous."
"Uh huh. Nope." I said.
"Oh you so are." He smirked. "And oh, don't change the topic." He winked at me leaving me gawking behind.
What the hell?
How did he know?
I was so smooth.
Ugh Dylan Lorenzo Scott, why'd you have to be so smart!?
"Where are you going?" I shouted at his retreating back.
"To get myself a drink. You want one?" He shouted back. I shook my head and mouthed no. He gave me a thumbs up and mouthed back, "I'll be back in a second."
I nodded and smiled as he disappeared into the crowd. Suddenly the party didn't seem so bad anymore.
But I was too quick.
........................................................................
Hiya, ma awesome people. A new chapter's part one.
And a cliffhanger. Hehehe.
Don't hate me. But I hope you like the chapter. See I wasn't planning to update (personal reasons😫 ) but I did anyway because I couldn't stop myself. It's a very long chapter (8000 words) so I couldn't write it any further. There's a lot going to happen *evil laughter* and I couldn't fit it all in one chapter coz that would simply ruin the fun so wait for it. You'll be surprised at the slightly nasty turn this book takes.
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Until next time.
Adios muchachos.