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CHAPTER 2
“Hello girls, is it okay if we joined you?”
My friends and I sat there, frozen in place as the question hanged in the air. There was just really something off about this situation. I never expected that we’d actually come face to face with them at this place.
How were you supposed to react when four boys who you just watched perform on stage and strip suddenly talk to you? Well, some would definitely flip and can’t believe their luck, but that isn’t the case with my friends and I.
You see, all of us have been going to the same school all throughout high school, but we’ve never actually spoken to each other. It was just always the occasional glances in the hallways, and despite their popularity in school, I only know little about them.
They stood there; out of place and clearly not knowing what to do as we continued to stare at them. “Uhh… So do you mind if we joined you?” The same guy asked us again, and this time we finally snapped back into reality.
Marie smiled at them and spoke in our behalf. “Of course not. We would love for you to join us.” Then she suddenly kicked my leg under the table and made me jump in surprise. I glared at her as she beckoned me to sit beside her along with the other girls, giving The Wanderers the whole seat opposite to us.
Once they were settled, the same guy spoke again. “Hello, lovely ladies. It’s a pleasure seeing you here,” he said cheerfully. Too cheerful if I might say. “Did you finally take the time to watch us perform?” He wiggled his eyebrows and winked. “I knew you would fall for us soon enough,” he said with a seductive smirk on his face. The boys, however, just sighed and rolled their eyes.
I looked at him if he was serious, and when I saw that he was, I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud. The thought was hilarious, how did he end up with that idea anyway? Unfortunately, my friends were less subtle with their reactions and broke out in laughter.
“Sorry to burst your little bubble, but that’s not the reason we’re here,” Hazel stated out. “It’s not even close to it, actually.” He blinked at what she just said and frowned like a little kid that lost his candy, causing all of us to laugh even more.
He pouted his lips and laid a hand on his chest, pretending to be hurt. “Oh, and here I thought you’d actually fallen for our charms,” he said dejectedly. I recognized him as the drummer of the band. He had one of those amazing smiles that come along with a set of dimples and I could see a mop of curly blond hair pouring out from his hat. There was also something quirky about the guy that makes you want to get to know him better. “Anyway, my name’s Matt. In case you forgot,” he said playfully.
The guy from his right who plays guitar and has weird hair color spoke next.”Hey, I’m Drake. Nice to finally meet you.” He smiled warmly at us and gave each of us a handshake. His hands were warm to the touch and his hair reminded me of cotton candy. I instantly liked the guy. “And don’t mind him, he’s just being his cocky self,” he said, shoving Matt on the shoulder.
“Hey! Who you calling cocky!” He snapped at Drake and shoved him back until the both of them got caught up in a playful argument. They continued their rant until one of the boys shut them up.
“Sorry about that. It happens a lot.” The bassist of the group spoke up. “I’m Jace, by the way.” He was as stunning as the other boys, but something about his features made him stand out. It was definitely his hair and eyes that made him look like his Asian. Although, he was also the one with the most amazing biceps among the group, that’s definitely a plus.
Once he finished introducing himself, we turned to the last person of the group.
I knew exactly who it was. Who else would it be?
“And I’m Nick,” he says as he smirked, showing off his dimples. He was the typical blond hair and blue-eyed guy that could easily captivate a lot of girls. But there was also something gentle in his eyes that instantly made you warm up to him.
He looked at me and I immediately looked away. This was the closest we’ve ever been, not to mention he’s sitting right in front of me, and I’m really not comfortable with it. I’ve practically lived by the “Grayson Code” all my life that my family says we should never break. But here I am, sitting across him instead. If they ever saw me right now, they’d totally flip and lash out on him.
As much as I want to avoid him to spare both of us the madness, I think I’ll have to make an exception on this one since there’s really no way out of it anyway. I just hope Andrew doesn’t pop out anytime soon ‘cause it would totally be a disaster.
I break free from my thoughts when Marie suddenly elbows me. I looked around the table and saw that everyone was staring at me. “What?” My expression must’ve looked funny because they suddenly laughed.
“We just finished introducing ourselves to them. Now it’s your turn silly,” Hazel says and giggles.
Oh. I totally zoned out and didn’t realize. “I’m Alice. Nice to meet you,” I say as I gave them a wave. “You guys were amazing on stage by the way. Everyone went literally crazy.” As soon as I said it, they laughed.
“Yeah, we tend to get that kind of reaction every time we play,” Jace says and smirks. “It’s good to know that we have that kind of effect on them.”
Ren snorts. “To the point where they even ripped their clothes off. How bizarre is that?” She points out.
“Well, we aren’t complaining to that. It’s really a sight to see from where we’re standing,” Drake retorts and the boys break out in laughter as they give each other a high five.
I rolled my eyes and smiled. Boys will be boys.
Marie smirks and folds her arms. “Now, I just feel bad for all those poor ladies who you’ve harassed with your eyes,” she says playfully.
Matt chuckles. “Oh really? Don’t forget the fact that they undressed willingly without us even saying it.” He rests his elbows on the table and looks at Marie. “If you think about it, they were pretty brave, actually. You know, to even dare without caring what others might think,” he says in a teasing tone.
Marie rolls her eyes and snorts at him. “Oh, please. They were plain stupid if you ask me.” But Matt just laughed at her reply.
A waitress came up to our table to get our orders and as we waited, we got submerged into lengthy conversations about the most random things. I don’t know how it happened, but we just all clicked like we’ve been close friends for years. These boys weren’t anything what I expected them to be. They were friendly, charming and really hilarious. Maybe these were the reasons they were popular at school despite of their looks and talents. How come I’ve never noticed it before?
Then my eyes landed on Nick. Oh, right. I almost forgot about the fact that we weren’t supposed to be near each other. I was too focused on having as little contact with him as much as possible that I didn’t realize that my friends got dragged along in the process. But now that I think about it, maybe it was also the same thing for him and his friends. Keeping our distance was the only way to avoid trouble, especially when my brother always had a close watch over me.
It’s just depressing to know that our situation has caused a huge loss of a potential friendship between both sides.
Our orders came up and I push the negative thought out of my head and tried to listen to the conversation instead.
“You girls aren’t the partying types. So, what brought you here?” Jace asks before biting on his burger as the rest of the boys looked at us expectantly.
“Well, my brother’s off to college soon and he picked this as the venue for his farewell party. But as you can see, he’s nowhere to be seen at the moment.” I shrugged and took a sip of my drink.
Once I finished explaining, the boys suddenly stiffened and their expressions suddenly became hard to read. “Andrew’s here?” Drake asks with a frown.
Their troubled expression suddenly puts me off edge, so I sit up straight and nod. “Why? What’s wrong?”
They looked warily at each other before one of them spoke up. Matt pursed his lips into a thin line and looked at me. “Let’s just say that he isn’t very fond of us.”
It took me a moment to process what he just said as I stared at his intense gaze. When I finally did, I mentally slapped myself for being stupid. Of course Andrew wouldn’t be in good terms with them when they were hanging out with a Wilde. I shouldn’t have said anything, now they were troubled by the thought of my brother popping out anytime soon.
Way to go in killing the mood Alice. My subconscious mind mocks at me. But as I thought of the reason behind it, I just felt frustrated. The feud between my family and the Wilde’s are just getting worse and it’s frustrating when our friends got dragged into it.
I was still deep in thought when suddenly, Nick bursts out laughing. As surprising as it was, it was a real humorous laugh. He had a genuine smile on his face like the news about my brother didn’t affect him at all.
“Why are you guys getting so worked up?” He folds his arms and raises his eyebrows. I don’t get it; he was supposed to be fuming just by the thought of Andrew, but instead he’s being calm. How can he not be angry by the thought of a Grayson?
Wait. A. Minute… Now that I think about it… Why isn’t he upset with me?
My eyes widen at the thought. All this time, he hasn’t started a fight with me or dropped small hints of hatred at my way. Instead he has been the total opposite and acted so nice all the time. Why didn’t I notice it before? I stared at Nick for a long time, trying to figure him out. Could it be that he was being indifferent to our situation like I was?
Suddenly, he stands up and stretches his arms. “Don’t you think we’re just wasting our time sitting here?” Then he places his hands on the table and leans over us. “We’re here to party aren’t we?” He looks over my friends in the eyes until he settles on mine and holds my gaze. I should have looked away, but I can’t. The nagging thought about why he’s still not lashing out at me is still running wild in my head. It just feels so…unreal. Probably sensing my confusion, he smirks and stands straight, then walks away from our table.
We were at a loss for a moment but when his message finally sinks in; the boys were already up and about and ready to go. “Nick’s right. It’s time to jump into the party,” Jace says and begins dancing like a mad man. While we laughed at his poor dancing abilities, the boys made fun of him until they began to shove one another and got caught up in a wrestling match. It was a relief that the tension before was gone, I definitely prefer this quirky side of The Wanderers.
“What do you say, girls. Want to dance with us?” Matt asks when they finally broke off and gave us a wild grin. The girls and I looked at each other before nodding in response. Why not?
“I thought you’d never ask.” Hazel says and puts a hand on her hips. With that, the guys started leading us back to the dance floor and hooting like crazy.
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Finally updated! Wohoo! It's sooo hard especially when I get easily preoccupied. I just hope there's still poeple reading this story. I ain't losing hope :D
Well, 'til the next update! ;D