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**
Two days later, Ronnie acted like the incident at the party hadn’t even happened.
And for some reason, I played along.
I guess it had something to do with the fact that I’d sort of developed a new-found fear of him that I’d not expected to feel around anybody. But so much of me was still in complete awe of him, and it was that side of me that had won.
I knew for sure that I didn’t have any sort of romantic feelings towards him—I was too busy feeling those kinds of emotions towards the guy that was supposed to be looked at as my uncle. But it was the fact that he was such a free spirit and did whatever he wanted that made it so fun to be around him. I guess I kind of looked at him as my best friend.
So after he literally dragged me out of my house and forced me to spend a day with him on the pier, things immediately went back to normal between us. The party wasn’t even mentioned, which made me pretty positive that our plans to go to Long Beach were still open.
Honestly, part of me was hoping that he’d completely forgotten about the trip. I enjoyed being around him, but I was completely nervous about the idea of going somewhere with him that was thirty minutes away from my home and my family, and not knowing if he was going to pull another one of his stunts.
Because if he did, it wasn’t like I’d be able to run away this time.
But seeing as he’d not mentioned it, I shrugged off all those worries and continued to enjoy my night with my family at Charlotte’s house.
The whole family were here; the adults downstairs, socialising, while Charlotte, Linds and I were up in Charlotte’s bedroom, listening to music and casually chatting. Their conversation was a muffle in the background as I lay on Charlotte’s bed, staring at the ceiling while I threw my phone up into the air and caught it over and over again.
I’d gotten so carried away with my thoughts that I hadn’t heard Linds mentioning my name until I felt both of my cousins’ gazes on me, and turned my head to looked at them where they sat on the floor.
“Huh?” I blinked.
“I said,” Linds shifted on the on the floor, rolling her eyes, “that you never told us how you actually got that split lip.”
“Yeah I did.” I retorted with a frown, at which they both shook their heads slowly. “...Didn’t I?”
Charlotte shook her head again. “Nope. You didn’t.”
“Oh...” I blinked at them both for a moment, trying to come up with a story that would be completely boring and make them move on to another subject. Unfortunately, my brain wasn’t working too well. “Well, it was really no big deal. I walked into a door. You know how much of a klutz I am.”
The two of them stared at me, their faces showing complete disbelief. I wasn’t surprised that they didn’t believe me—they weren’t stupid and I was a terrible liar under pressure. The only thing I could do now was change the subject.
“So, anyway...” I rolled over onto my front, resting my chin on my hands and looking directly at Charlotte, “Tell me more about you and Austin.”
Luckily, she was more than happy to do so. I listened, fully intrigued as she explained the situation. Basically, Austin really liked her and she liked him back, but they’d agreed to take things slow and see how things worked out that way, because her dad was M Shadows.
“That’s literally what he said.” Charlotte laughed as she told us about their conversation. “He really wants to be with me but he desperately wants to prove to everyone that he respects me. Especially my dad.”
“I’m guessing he doesn’t know that Matt’s a complete teddy bear then?” Linds chuckled along, shoving Charlotte playfully.
“He’s not when it comes to boys, though. Austin has good reason to be cautious.” I pointed out, smirking.
Charlotte nodded in agreement. “Like when Riley and I were play fighting that time and my dad thought he was trying it on with me.” At that, she rolled her eyes.
“Mm. My dad’s just the same.” Linds shook her head, taking her sip of her drink. “What’s Jason like about you and guys, Midge? Does he get all protective like our dads?”
It was a good question, considering I’d never really thought about it before. My dad had given me a brief talk along those lines, but since I’d been in Huntington, I’d not had that much involvement with a guy for him to worry about it.
“I guess he does to a degree.” I answered, shrugging. “I’m not really too sure. I mean, he spoke to me briefly about it when I started hanging out with Ronnie. But I can look after myself...he doesn’t need to worry.”
At the mention of Ronnie’s name, Linds’ face fell into a slightly darkened expression. Both Charles and I caught it, but I pretended not to notice. I knew by now what the whole family thought about Ronnie, seeing as none of them had any problem with verbalising their dislike towards him, but I’d chosen to ignore them too.
As if right on cue, the screen of my phone lit up with a text from Ronnie. Charlotte and Linds got back to talking as I opened it up and read it. A frown immediately fell onto my face.
“Look out the window...”
He surely couldn’t have meant Charlotte’s window. I’d not told him I’d be here tonight. But sure enough, when I stood up and wandered over to the windowsill, trying to make it look as casual as possible in front of my cousins, I glanced out to see Ronnie’s car parked out the front, and he was leaning against it with his hands in his pockets.
Despite it being dark outside, I immediately saw the smirk that appeared on his face when my gaze met his. He raised his hand, beckoning for me to open the window, and I stared between him and cousins unsurely.
I knew they’d be worried if they knew he was here. Especially if everyone downstairs found out he was here—I’d really be in shit then. So I had no choice to open the window and find out what he wanted.
“Midge, what are you doing?” Charlotte asked, raising an eyebrow as she watched me.
I pretended not to hear, reaching over and pushing the window open. As I leaned slightly out of it, Ronnie stepped closer.
“Hey, Midge!” He loudly yelled up at me.
“Shh!” I hissed back at him, raising a finger to my lips. “You need to be quiet. What are you doing here?”
“Well I—‘’
“Who’s that?” Charlotte asked, standing up and pulling Linds up with her. “Midge?”
“Oh, it’s just...” My words trailed off as they joined me at the window, staring out of it and immediately looking disgusted as their eyes landed on Ronnie.
“Hey, Charlotte...” Ronnie said smoothly, his eyes then flickering to my other cousin, a smirk growing on his face. “Hey, Linds.”
Neither of them bothered to reply. Instead, they both turned to me, stern looks on their faces.
“What is he doing here?” Charlotte demanded. “My dad will freak if he finds out!”
“I don’t know.” Turning back to the window, I sent Ronnie a desperate look. He was bound to get me in complete shit if he didn’t leave soon. “Well? What do you want?”
He said absolutely nothing, pointing to his car. I wasn’t sure if there was some hidden meaning that I was supposed to know about, but I simply shrugged, completely confused.
“I’m not a fucking mind reader, Ronnie.” I scowled. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Charlotte and Linds both waited for his reply, just as intrigued as I was. Again, he came closer to the house, and I bit my lip worriedly. He was growing seriously close to the living room window, and if he wasn’t careful, someone would see him.
“You said you’d come to Long Beach with me.” He finally explained, shrugging. “I’m going tonight.”
“Wait...now?” I spat out, my eyes widening. “You never gave me any warning!”
He shrugged again. “You never asked for any warning.”
I couldn’t actually believe that he was springing this on me now. It was so unexpected that I really didn’t feel like going. I was enjoying my night with my family...but saying no to Ronnie was much easier said than done.
“I don’t have a bag packed.” I told him, trying to come up with an excuse.
“You won’t need one.” He immediately said. “We’re only going for one night. We’ll be back in the morning. Besides...I doubt we’ll actually be sleeping or anything.”
As soon as he said that, I saw Charlotte and Linds glance at each other. A sigh escaped my lips. There was no way I’d be able to get out of this.
“Can you two cover for me?” I desperately turned to my cousins, looking at them pleadingly. “If it gets you in any shit, just blame it on me. I’ll deal with the consequences. Please?”
“Wait, Midge...” Linds stared back at me incredulously. “You’re not actually going?”
“I kind of promised.” I shrugged.
“But your dad will kill you!”
I knew that. But I brushed it off. “That’s my problem.” I told them.
They stared between each other again, their mouths hanging open in shock. I could tell neither of them knew what to do. They didn’t want to get me in trouble, so they’d cover for me if they had to. But they were worried about what I was getting myself into.
Linds quickly shook her head at Charlotte as I stepped towards the window, perching myself on the windowsill.
“Midge!” Charlotte turned to me. “I can’t let you do this.”
But by then, I was already climbing out of the window, preparing to jump into Ronnie’s arms.
He caught me with complete ease, and that relieved me a lot, seeing as I’d kind of been risking my life up there. My cousins were still watching me from the window, evident fear and worry in their faces.
“Midge!” They both whispered loudly down at me.
I should’ve paid attention to them.
But I didn’t.
“Come on.” Ronnie smirked, as he set me properly down on the ground. “Let’s go have some fun.”
And I didn’t spare another glance at the girls or the house as he took my hand and began to lead me towards his car.
But I was trying to push away the fact that I secretly knew this was a bad idea.
A very bad idea.