C H A P T E R 15 | DON'T MIND US
"Is this going to be and everyday thing now?" I asked narrowing my eyes at Haze who was smirking across the lunch table. "Isn't there some popular table you people usually sit it?"
Haze puts his hand over his heart. "You really know how to hit a guy where it hurts." He taunted.
I let out and exasperated sigh. "Don't provoke me."
"Are you guys going to that party tonight?" Aspen says changing the subject before it got any worse. "I hear it'll be the biggest one of the year."
Quinn scoffs rolling his eyes. "We all know Mr Haze Grey over here throws the best parties, every girl in the state will show up." Quinn says smacking Hazes back in accomplishment.
"Well he hasn't had a party this year has he?" Aspen hissed, I was surprised she talked back to Quinn.
"Don't worry sweetheart." Haze winks at Aspen who I can see blushing. "I'll throw my party and show these losers how it's really done."
"Attaboy." Quinn cheered him on.
Oh brother.
"So then we're all going tonight." Haze says smacking his hand on the table.
"No." I shook my head. I wasn't in the mood to party tonight. "I have some homework to catch up on." Like I ever cared about homework?
"Homework!?" Haze and Quinn start laughing. "Jaime cmon you have to say something about this?" Quinn adds.
Jaime has been very quiet and it was making me nervous. I felt like he was coming up with more scenarios for us to interact as a fake couple.
"It's her choice." Jaime tells them.
The bell rings and we all get up from are seats.
"Hey after school I gotta go help Janice with the baby, is it okay if Haze gives you a ride home?" Jaime tells me. Jaime had gotten his car back and since my bike was currently off limits he'd been taking me to and from school.
Instead of making a snarky remark I chose to keep it to myself and nodded my head. "Catch you later?"
After school I found Haze leaning against a wall as he probably sweet talked the girl in front of him. His eyes glance over at me and he quickly finishes the conversation.
"You ready to leave?" He says. "Your lucky I agreed to this."
I furrow my eyebrows. "You didn't have to give me a ride home." I remind him. "I could walk."
"With that leg cupcake?" He shakes his head unlocking his car. "Now get in."
I get inside closing the door once I was seated. Haze starts the engine and his loud music instantly makes me deaf. He fixes his seat tapping one hand to the beat on the steering wheel.
"Great now Greyson is going to start crying." I shouted over the loud music.
"That's why you put it louder." He grins turning up the volume. "See can't even hear him now."
Haze backs out of the parking lot and I realize we are not heading the right direction. "My house isn't this way." I said shutting off the radio.
"Hey!" He said. "I know, clearly." He sarcastically replies.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Just sit back and relax for once El." Haze says shaking his head in disapproval. "You've only been here for a few weeks now so why not take you to my favorite place."
I cross my arms over my chest looking out the window.
"Is this the part when you throw me inside a ditch?" I asked when he parked his car off the side of a dirt road.
"No this is the part when I tell you to shut up."
"What are you doing?" I said when I see him starting to get out of the vehicle. We were in the middle of nowhere, a deserted road.
"Get out?" He says coming over to my side of the car. "Great so you really are going to kill me."
"Elaina."
"What?" I said.
"Shut up."
I groan and step out of the car before I see him dangling his keys in midair. "You clearly don't know how to drive—why don't I teach you?"
I scrunch up my nose in confusion. "I know how to drive." I said grabbing the keys from his hands. "Why do you want to help me out anyway?"
He shrugs. "We have nothing else to do but take care of Greyson before the party." He mentions taking his seat in the passengers side.
Okay, this is going to sound crazy but I've never actually driven a car before. My first vehicle to drive was my motorcycle so this was very different for me. "You realize you have to start the car first?" Haze sighs.
I snap my head over to look at him with. "No shit."
"Don't cuss, we have a child in the car." Haze said.
I turned the key and the car starts up. "By the way you get one little scratch on her Elaina I will end you."
"You not serious right?" I said with uncertainty.
"Lets go."
I press on the gas and start heading down the empty road. "I told you I could drive." I smile.
"Slow down." I hear Haze say.
The sound of sirens catch my attention.
"What the hell Haze?" I hissed. "I thought this was an abandoned road!"
"I never said to start going eighty on a road did I?" He scoffs back.
"You never should have let me drive either." I groaned.
"Just calm down."
"Mam you know you were going forty over the speed limit?" The man says lifting the tip of his hat. "License and registration please."
Haze was already grabbing my wallet from inside my bag and pulling out his registration in the glove compartment before handing them to me. We wait as the officer looks over the papers, that's when Greyson starts crying from the backseat.
"Do you have a child in the vehicle?"
"No it's a doll." I said.
"Are you being sarcastic with me mam?"
"No it's and actual doll." Haze and I say in unison. The man glares at the both of us.
"Are you the owner of the vehicle?" He says starring over at Haze now.
"Yes, sir we're sorry my girlfriends pregnant and we're trying to get to a hospital as quick as we can." Haze lies making me literally roll my eyes.
"Pregnant you say?" He says.
I nodded going along with Hazes plan.
"Make a u-turn the hospital is about six miles down." He says handing back the license and registration. "Good luck with your baby."
"Thanks." Haze waved.
"Your and an idiot." I said annoyed.
"How? I literally just got us out of that?"
"Well you did get us into it in the first place."
We both switch once again and head back into town. "So is Jaime picking you up later?"
"Why would he?"
"Why don't you want to go to this party? You seem like the party type?" He asks.
"It's my day to take care of Greyson."
"That's not and excuse."
"If you haven't realized I don't get along very well with people."
"Oh yes I heard you greet people with punches." He laughs. "Well I'm not taking no for and answer your coming to that party."
"I don't get why you want me to go so bad?"
"I don't get why you want to be away from your boyfriend so badly? I mean that is unless he's not your boyfriend."
"Let's not talk about Jaime."
"Are you guys having relationship problems?"
I quickly shook my head. "Oh look we're here." I said getting out from the car. "Thanks for the ride." I waved marching to my door before he could answer.
"Who dropped you off?" My dad says staring out the window.
"You remember the guy from the hospital?"
"The troubled one? Of course how could I not forget him."
"He's my friend besides remember I told you I'm pretending to date his best friend?"
He laughs. "Like that'll stop em?"
I head up to my room quickly changing out of this outfit.
*ring* *ring*
"Hello?" I answered.
"Quinn and I are picking you up around eight." Aspen says from the other side.
"Quinn and I? Did you get Quinn's number?" I asked.
"I have my ways." She giggles. "Anyway I want you to go, Mac isn't the party type."
"Okay I'll be ready by eight."
"Oh one more thing." She added. "By we're I mean Haze, toodles." She hangs up.
Great. But I had a better idea.
I stared at my outfit, it was decent. Something different than Elaina would wear. Actually it was totally something Elaina would wear. I tried my best to look different tonight I wanted to see how these people I called friends reacted to her.
"Your leaving the house like that?" My dad says. I nodded my head at him. "With the blonde on? Not sure if that a good idea Lainey."
"Dad I've done it plenty of times before." I laughed. "See you later."
I had to make it to Hazes house before he left. I'm sure he'd ditch Elaina any day for her. I cut through the alleys avoiding attention because I clearly looked like a stripper. Luckily he was still home and I could hear he was already making his way over.
"You?" He says confusion spreading across his face. "Why are you dressed like that?"
"I hear there's a party tonight, can I tag along?" I asked a smirk rising to my lips.
"I actually gotta pick up a friend-"
"Cmon?" I sighed. "I'm sure she'd love to stay home anyway?" I said stepping a little closer this was a little weird, I've done this before but with Haze it just feels extremely weird.
He bites his bottom lip contemplating the idea. "Your right."
I smile. "Great."
"So the girl you were going to pick up?" I add. "Is she your girlfriend?"
Haze chuckles under his breath. "No."
I could tell Haze didn't know what to say to me, a complete stranger on the way to a party. "Lain?" Haze finally breaks the silence.
"Is that your real name?"
"You can call me Lain if you'd like." I tell him.
"Well Lain I want to know who the hell taught you how to fight?"
"I have trainers here and there." I said. "Obviously I'm the best if I took the title away from the champion."
"Now your starting to sound like Elaina." He rolls his eyes. My voice hitches when he says the name and I stay quiet.
"Sorry, you seem to not like the mention of her." I hiss.
"It's not that, she's just super annoying sometimes."
I'm holding back. Don't do something stupid Elaina.
Hazes parks the car on the curb just a few houses away from the party. We both step out and I could already see people taking notice at the both of us walking in together. Haze looked nice though he wore denim jeans with a white T-shirt that clearly tugged nicely in all the right places. His hair was messy and walking behind him, he smelt heavenly.
"Who the hell is that girl?"
"Shes clearly losing her virginity to Haze tonight."
"Did you hear about the girl with Haze?"
"Umm?" I hear Aspen. "Where's Elaina?"
"She didn't want to come."
"So you brought this girl instead?" Aspen hissed angrily at him. That's my girl at least someone around hear appreciates Elaina. "Hey." She says clearly trying to be nice.
"Hi." I said.
Quinn who has his arm wrapped around Aspen gives me a smile. "You know her too?" Aspen asks.
"We met her a while back, she's cool."
"Someone lit the fuse to your tampon, chill." Haze tells her.
"Hey." Jaime says approaching us. "Oh hey, where's Elaina I need to talk to her?"
What! He needs to talk to me!
"She didn't come."
"I told you to bring her?" Jaime says.
"Take care of your own girlfriend man." Haze groans making his way to the alcohol.
"So where are you from? The south?" Aspen sarcastically replies.
"Aspen." Quinn says.
"Sorry Haze started inviting random strangers to are friends list." She tells him. I just stand there awkwardly waiting for this to be over maybe this wasn't such a great idea.
"Wanna go get some drinks?" Quinn asks me. So that's when we begin the first round of shots. Then there was a few more rounds that I had already lost track.
"We're all in the basement wanna join us?" Jaime asked, but all I could think about is what he wanted to talk to me about?
"Sure." I said. A few people were downstairs already drinking bottles and getting high.
I was handed another beer which I took, I was bored what else could I do? Most of us had split up so I was left with Jaime in a weird basement.
"So I'm guessing your Elainas boyfriend." I said. "I hear a lot about her."
"Yeah." He nervously laughs. "She's really cool but I don't know she's not my type really."
"What is your type?"
He shrugs. "It's hard to tell."
"You two get up here." Quinn calls from the stairs. Everyone was standing still instead of dancing as they watched a group of people starting to come inside. These weren't just any people.
"Vince."
"Cmon people!" Vince shouts. "Keep partying on don't mind us."
"What the hell are they doing here?" I hear Haze say beside me. Before he can approach them I step in front of him making are chests hit. "What are you doing?"
"You really think fighting is going to solve anything with the south?" I say.
"Everyone just needs to relax." I said.
His eyes stare into mine for a second. "I didn't think it's going to solve anything." Haze smirks. "It'll just make me feel better when I beat there asses."
"Haze." I said. When I talk as her it was a much more feminine voice but that time when I called out for his name it was clearly Elaina. His head turns back to look at me just to make sure Elaina wasn't around. We were all drunk I don't think he'd even remember, hopefully.
"Haze Grey." Vince says stopping in front of us.
He looks over at me. Vince knew it was me and the gang knew it was me, they looked like they had all seen a ghost.
"Why are here?" Haze asked.
"Why wouldn't I be here?"
"Your looking for problems?" Haze stiffened.
"I'm just here for my girl that's all." Vince says grabbing my arm and pulling me toward him.
Haze looks at me in disappointment, like I had betrayed him.
I did.