Close The Yearbook
We pulled up to Dylan's house
Castle**
Castle would be a better description, his house was astonishing. It was a gorgeous grey brick with a matching dark roof. There were giant windows and a garden decorating the ground around it. A vintage gate guarding the large property with a long driveway. I didn't even have enough time to count how many cars could fit in the garages. This place was like a fairytale.
"Welcome to my humble abode" Dylan announced turning his car off. We walked inside to a very modern living room. Everything about this place screamed new. I don't even want to know how much this place costs.
"Make yourself at home, I'll only be like 15 minutes." Dylan said walking into his bathroom. His house is so big that I decided to stay in his room for fear of getting lost.
I walked over to the giant window that was allowing the moon light to shine in perfectly.
He has two pools?! Who needs two pools?! I walked around his room, which is also huge by the way, looking at all his pictures, trophies, and wall decor. I've come to the conclusion that he's also good at sports and loves boobs.
How appealing.
After a couple minutes out came a wet Dylan with a towel wrapped around his waist. You could see every definition on his body. From his sculpted abs, to his back muscles that flexed with every step he took, to that damn V. The V is my weakness. His wet hair fell perfectly onto his forehead.
He walked over to his closet, a walk in closet, unphased by my staring. My gawking was interrupted by his gorgeous voice.
"Hey Chey, come help me decide what to wear." He shouted from his closet.
"What help could I possibly be" I asked walking in.
"Well you look like a snack tonight so I thought I might match your style. Help me choose from some options so we can be, without a doubt, the best looking people at the party." He said trying to sound convincing.
"Fine"
We settled on some khaki pants, a nice button up, and some sperry's.
"So is this a frat party we're going to?" I asked.
"No.. why?"
"That's a shame, you're dressed for the part." I said as I started laughing. He gave me a dirty look that only made me laugh harder.
"You know, you helped me pick this out. You can't make fun. But if this is your way of trying to get me undressed I'm totally down.." he said wiggling his eyebrows.
"Calm down Brett, your sleezy comments aren't helping your case." I chuckled.
"Whatever, that was the most insulting thing you could say to me. Anyways, you ready babe?" He said leaving his room.
"As ready as I'll ever be.. babe" I replied turning off the lights before waltzing out.
We hopped in a different car than earlier. Now we were taking a brand new Audi R8. I wasn't the one driving but I was almost sure I'd be the reason we wrecked it. I was a nervous mess for half of the ride before Dylan finally told me to relax. He tried holding my hand but I demanded he have both hands on the wheel.
"So who's party is this?" I asked turning the loud music down. Dylan insists on blaring his music until you can hardly hear yourself think.
"Just some friends from high school! His name is Jacob, he's pretty cool. His parents are almost never home so it's the prime place for parties. Most of us are attending UCLA so it's never a bad idea to make some friends from the school and area."
We pulled up to another large house that was dark red brick. It's pretty but has nothing on Dylan's. We park in front and get out to start walking up there. There were people standing in the front dancing, making out, throwing up, anything you see in the movies really. The music that I heard bumping from the outside quickly got louder as we entered.
"I didn't think parties like this actually existed. I thought you only see these kinds of things on TV." I quietly said as we entered into the house.
"Man, you've really been missing out in Kansas huh? Welcome to it, it's real. Just be careful, people can get pretty stupid at these things." Dylan spoke into my ear.
Our conversation was cut short but a group of guys coming up to say hello to Dylan. I got stares from them all and could easily hear them asking about me. I took the opportunity to introduce myself to them all. They all seemed pretty cool, I even remember a few of the faces from the beach party.
"Hey Dylan, I really gotta use the bathroom. I'll catch up with you in a sec!" I basically had to yell that at him because the music kept getting louder.
"You sure you don't want me to come with?" He asked looking concerned.
"I think I'll be okay. Go catch up with some friends, I'm sure I won't be too lost without you" I winked.
"Alright, don't talk to strangers and don't accept drinks from anyone!" He shook his finger at me.
"I didn't live under a rock Dylan, the parties are just in wheat fields." I stated rolling my eyes. He laughed and walked away with the group of guys.
Now comes the challenging part: finding the bathroom. Preferably an isolated bathroom.
I roamed around looking for one and decided to take an empty hallway. Before I could walk down I bumped into somebody dumping his drink on him.
"Oh my god, I'm such an idiot." I said rubbing my head and finally looking up into this persons eyes.
My lanta. Those eyes. They're a beautiful green that glowed so bright. His tan skin and dimples were hard to miss too.
He laughed real low and sat his cup down on a table in the hallway.
"I'm Aidan, nice to meet you idiot." He chuckled offering his hand.
"Well my friends call me Cheyenne but idiot probably suits the situation a little better right now." I replied. I couldn't help but smile about it either.
"It's alright, I didn't even like this shirt that much anyways." He said in attempt to make me feel better about it all.
"Umm I was actually looking for the bathroom so I could help you clean up? It's the least I could do right now." I offered.
"Yeah, I guess you could. Here, it's right down this hall." Aidan replied putting his hand on my lower back to guide me there.
We walked into the bathroom which was only a half bath and kind of small.
"So where're you from Cheyenne?" He asked taking his shirt off.
Ugh this boys body is a dream.
I cleared my throats to answer "A little town in Kansas. I'm here for college."
"Kansas huh? Get lost on the yellow brick road or something? How'd you end up in California?"
"Clever" I rolled my eyes. "That's just it, I wanted off the yellow brick road. My grandma lives in Malibu and I'm attending UCLA for nursing." I grabbed his shirt from him running it under some cold water.
"Malibu huh? Our rival." He said persing his lips.
"Rival? Like high school rivalry?"
"Oh yeah, I went to high school in Westlake Village. Just some "friendly competition" you know?
That didn't sound good. I wonder if he knows Dylan? I ignored it and got a wash cloth, wet it down, and began wiping down his chest since there was no shower in here.
"Gosh, I'm such a clutz. There's alcohol all over you. I'm really sorry Aidan." I stressed.
"Hey, its fine Idiot. It's not every day you get to have a pretty girl dump beer on you" he smirked.
I looked up into those bright green eyes and managed to get lost in them.
"Uhh well you're all clean. Not sure what you wanna do with your shirt though, it's still soaking wet." I said wiping my hands on my pants. Not because they were wet but because they were sweaty and I was nervous.
"It's alright, I have a sweatshirt out in my car I can go grab. Thanks for the help though, Cheyenne." He grinned.
"Oh so I'm Cheyenne now? What happened to idiot?" I giggled.
"I figured we were friends by this point. Friends text too ya know.."
"Very slick. Here, put your number in my phone" I said handing him my cell.
"Cool, I'm gonna go grab that shirt. I'm sure I'll see you later?" He half asked half stated.
"Yeah, for sure." I smiled.
"Awesome, see ya Cheyenne" he winked before walking out.
All this time I forgot why I even came here so I finally did my business and headed back downstairs. Dylan was probably freaking out wondering where I was.
I found him in the kitchen talking to a bunch of people.. one girl in particular was hanging on him. I felt a pang of jealousy. Once I walked in his eyes met mine and he came running over to me.
I mentally slapped myself for getting jealous again.
"Oh my god, are you okay Cheyenne? Did anything happen to you? I knew I shouldn't have let you go alone. I'm such a piece of shit.." he would've went on had I not put my hand over his mouth.
"Relax Dylan, I'm fine. I ran into someone and spilt alcohol on them. I decided to help them clean up and then I finally went to the bathroom. Everything is okay" I smiled.
"Who was it" he asked still shaken up.
"Some guy named Aidan from Westlake Village, I think it was?" I said trying to remember the name of the city he lived in.
"Aidan Thomas, you talked to Aidan Thomas? That doesn't make me feel any better. He's actually lucky I wasn't up there.. I would've kicked the shit out of him." He said gritting his teeth.
"Woah, slow your roll cowboy. What's the problem with Aidan? He seemed like a nice guy." I said almost defending Aidan.
"Westlake Village is our rival town. We've had this intense rivalry for as long as anyone can remember. They play dirty too.. it goes beyond the games. They have gone as far as lighting buildings on fire trying to prove a point."
Well jeez.
"Aidan said it was nothing more than friendly competition." I said confused.
"Yeah maybe for them. They're all bat shit crazy. We were in the championship game and they tore up our field the night before so the game had to be moved around and we ended up losing because we were so focused on other things. All those douche bags think it's okay to come to our parties and try to crash them." He expressed angrily.
"Wow, I didn't realize it was that big of a thing. That's probably why he was laughing about it.." I spoke slowly starting to realize a lot of things.
"Look, just promise me you'll stay away from any of them. Aidan is like the king of the whole group. It's no surprise he tried pulling something on you."
"Actually, he didn't. We just talked.. I'll stay away from them but Aidan seemed genuine. If I bump into him again I'm not going to turn the other way and run, but I won't go out of my way to hangout with him either. High school is over anyways so maybe he's over it too?" I dared to consider the idea.
Dylan let out a big breath and said "Okay, just be careful please. Seriously if anybody else from our group finds out you're talking to him they'll flip. We should be grateful Luke wasn't here.. all hell would've broke loose."
I cringed at the thought of that. Even though he already released some hell on me earlier.. but I wouldn't tell Dylan that.
"Yeah, no kidding. Anyways, I'm here now. Where's the vodka?!" I yelled.
"Talk about slowing your roll cowboy. Here, I'll mix you up something. You can talk to this group over here while I do" he said pointing to the people he was standing with before.
I looked over and watched for a couple seconds before agreeing. That girl that was hanging on him was still there. And her eyes like daggers staring at me.
Great.
Dylan grabbed my hand to squeeze it before leaving to go find some alcohol considering all that was in the kitchen was beer.
"Hey guys, I'm Cheyenne." They all smiled and introduced themselves except for that one girl with the really bitchy face.
Someone introduced her anyways. Jade Hill.
"Nice to meet you, Dylan says you're going to be attending UCLA? That's where we're all going" said a guy named Jason.
"Yeah, I'm pretty stoked. California has been a huge step up from Kansas already." I noticed Jade still staring at me with a nasty look. What was this girls deal.
Finally, the first thing I heard from her all night was her squealing "Dylan!! You're back!" And hugging him.
Ugh. Disgusting.
"I wasn't gone that long Jade, just getting a drink for Cheyenne." He said slipping out of her death grip. It was actually impressive how easily he got out considering she was holding on for dear life.
"Thanks Dylan" I smiled grabbing the drink.
"So how did you two meet?" Jade asked with a devilish smirk.
"I met Brooke at her mom's cafe and she invited me to that beach party the other night where I met the whole group. They're all pretty great" I smiled at the memories of them. They really were all amazing people.
"You're already hanging out with all these guys? I could've guessed that. I know a slut when I see one."
WHAT
"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean?" I was making sure to stay calm and keep the upper hand.
"Oh please, don't act like you weren't just walking out of the bathroom with Aidan Thomas. Now you're playing Dylan too? Guess what bitch, two can play at this game. Except I'm undefeated." At this point Jade was in my face.
She was crazy.
Bat shit crazy.
"For starters, I was helping Aidan clean the alcohol off of him that I accidentally split when I bumped into him. Nothing happened.. not that it's your business anyways. Second, who are you again? You think that just because you were some popular girl in high school that you're still hot shit? Guess what.. YOU'RE NOT. Close the yearbook sweetie, graduation was months ago. You're irrelevant now that we're in the real world. Get over yourself."
Other than the music the place was dead silent. Jades jaw just hung open. It wasn't long before she stomped her foot and stormed off.
"Dude, nobody has ever told Jade off like that. That. Was. Awesome." Jason said. Then he yelled "HELL YEAH. I'LL DRINK TO THAT." He held up his beer to make a toast.
"TO CHEYENNE.. THE BADDEST BITCH TO EVER WALK THROUGH THIS TOWN" he announced. Everybody cheered and took a shot or drink.
This night definitely took yet another turn.
"That really was pretty cool, Chey." Dylan said wrapping his arm around my waste.
"Really? Nobody has ever said anything to her?"
"Nope." He said popping the 'p'.
"Well I wasn't about to let her walk all over me like that. College is gonna bite her in the ass when she realizes she isn't the queen she thinks she is" I said throwing my hands up. I downed my drink and asked Dylan if we could dance for a bit. I ended up kicking off my heels and just vibing to the music.
I danced with and met so many people. A few guys tried getting handsy but luckily Dylan was there to fight them off.
After wasting the last bit of my energy I asked Dylan to take me home. I just wanted to change out of this tight dress into an over sized t-shirt. He agreed and we said our goodbye's to his friends.
We walked to his car and then drove me home. We talked about college and what his plans were for just about the whole drive. He was also playing football but his scholarship wasn't as big as Luke's. I was still proud of him though, it's a huge accomplishment. He hugged me goodbye and left.
I was walking up my driveway when I saw a car parked and someone leaning against it with their arms crossed.
"..Luke?"
Were my eyes deceiving me? Was Luke really in my driveway right now?
"Hey Cheyenne. I came to apologize for earlier. I know it doesn't make up for what I said but I really am sorry. I didn't mean anything of what I said. My dad's kind of a sensitive subject. I got mad and took it out on you and that wasn't right. I saw you get in a car after I chased after you and assumed you needed space. Judging by how long you were out I think you did. I suck, I know. I shouldn't have ruined your night like that.." he would've continued but I stopped him.
"Stop." And so he did. He completely froze.
"I understand it's a sensitive subject.. I get it. You invited me up there and started laying everything out in front of me. Maybe it wasn't my place to ask questions or dig deeper but I also didn't deserve to be talked to the way you did, much less insult me. I may be from Kansas but I'm not ignorant." I took a deep breath. Remembering how he treated me made me a little mad all over again but I had to be rational.
"Listen Luke, you're amazing. It's been fun getting to know you and I really wanna be friends but I just got out of a 3 1/2 year relationship with a guy that has yet to fully exit my life. I came to California with the intention of focusing on school and only school. I won't lie.. you make it hard to focus." As I said these words I slowly watched his face fall. It had to be said though.
"I hope we can be friends after this. I really had a lot of fun tonight until that small conflict." I was almost begging.
"Okay." Was all Like said. His face Was expressionless.
"Okay?" I asked.
"Okay. I'll leave you alone. I'm sorry once again, Cheyenne. Have a good night." He pivoted around and walked to his car, starting it to leave without hesitation.
Then I was there.. standing in my drive way alone. Torn at what to do. I had just met Luke, Dylan, Brooke.. all of them yesterday but I feel like they've been in my life forever. They were my missing piece.
Now one of those pieces are missing.