A/N--I don't really have much to say for this chapter! All I can really say is that I wrote this pretty quickly and haven't had time to proofread, so there might be a few typos. Ah well though :) Comment and vote please, it'd make me super happy!
Pic on side is of Jeanie and Fred :)
"Take your shirt off...ah ah ah ah ah ah..." a guy I briefly recognize from these parties sings, running past us with his bare chest out and exposed for the world to see. He's running down the hill the leads up to the big library, right in the direction of the fraternity house where the big party is supposed to be tonight.
Excitement jolting in my veins as an overwhelming urge to just be in that house, dancing the night away, hits me. Looking over my shoulder to see Jesse standing there, his arm threaded through mine so that neither of us stumbles while walking, I say to the three of them, "Let's go you guys!"
"Chill babe," Fred says from where he's walking beside Jesse, Jeanie practically folding herself around his body while they walk. I have the brief thought that if I were sober, I'd be somewhat embarrassed for her show of desperation, but I push it away and once again let the liquid happiness from earlier cover it. "We have all night to party!"
"I knowww," I drag out, laughing ever-so-briefly at just how drunk I sound, "But still! I want to be that way!" With that I lash my free arm out, pointing a bit sloppily at the fraternity house just a small distance away. I have no earthly idea why it's taking so fucking long to get there.
Jeanie laughs and says, "I think that-oh my God it's a bug! It's going to kill...oh wait, it's just a leaf-I think that we should make it our mission...our dying mission tonight to get Hallie here a dude! A nice, muscular dude with a big di-"
Fred cuts her off, and I see him cast a quick look in my direction before looking back at the sidewalk disappearing with our steps, and says, "Let Hallie find a guy when she wants, she doesn't need to..."
And then I cut him off laughing, feeling some tugging in my brain that says not to say it, but ignoring it anyway, "I already have a guy, you guys!" And then I fade into giggles, thinking about how utterly funny that sentence sounded, with me saying guys like a thousand times.
"What?!" Jeanie screeches, making the small group of girls walking a few feet ahead of us turn around and cast as annoyed looks. None of us say anything though, already somewhat used to sober people being irritated at how loud we can be. "Hallie boo boo, are you serious?"
"Mhm!" I say happily, somewhat loving the feeling I get by talking about finally having a guy in my life. I've never been the girl that's able to just coo over how much she's into the guy that she's seeing, and even though Ethan and I aren't exactly official, it still feels good to admit that I have a guy at least somewhat interested in me.
"Who is he?" Jesse asks me, sounding completely surprised but also really super interested. He's looking straight at me, those eyes I used dream about it gazing right into mine, but I feel absolutely nothing. I don't feel my heart skip a beat or anything. It's so crazy!
I smile lazily and say, "Ethan."
"Who the hell is that?" Fred asks, sounding just a bit irritated that he doesn't know that guy. He's probably getting all protective and whatnot, like the older brother figure that he is. He just doesn't know Ethan, doesn't know how good of a guy he really is.
"Wait wait wait," Jeanie says, but by the end of it her words are so slurred together it sounds like she's saying "eight". "Ethan? Isn't that your dad's...what was he?"
"His opening act," I tell her matter-of-factly, "The guy who's living with us for the summer."
"That tool?" Jesse asks me, his grasp on my arm getting even tighter. Why doesn't he like Ethan? Ethan's awesome!
"He's not a tool," I hiss back at him, ripping my arm from that tight grasp. "He's actually a really decent guy."
"Oh really?" Fred asks, sounding just as miffed as Jesse. "If he's so decent, then why are you spending your night partying with us instead of with him?"
"He's out of town," I explain, wondering what in the hell has gotten into the two of them. Why don't they like Ethan and why are they getting so damn mad at me for being with him? It doesn't make sense; they're supposed to be my friends. "And I like being with y'all...we're friends. But I don't understand why my friends are so mad at me!"
We've stopped walking, the three of them so focused on interrogating me about my relationship with Ethan that we're now all perched on one of the steps that help the journey down the big hill. Jeanie reaches out for me, but I'm so hurt by how mean they're being that I back away from her. She says, "Hallie...do you just, like, have a girl boner for him? Or are y'all actually together?"
"No! I mean, we're...together...kind of. He's just...we can't get serious because he's leaving for tour at the end of the summer and so we're just staying kind of...I don't know...it's weird. But we kiss and stuff." I honestly can't come up with a better explanation than that, me still somewhat being confused about it while sober, let out alone pretty damn drunk.
Looking somewhat hurt herself, she asks, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because it just happened!" I argue, still extremely agitated that they're not all super happy for me like I would be for them. They're supposed to be happy that I've finally found someone, not mad at me. "And I thought you'd be happy for me. Guess not."
She scoffs, and that hurt from just a minute ago slowly drains off her face, instead turning to anger. "Well I'm sorry, but I'm your best friend. You're supposed to tell me shit like that."
"And why would I?" I demand, not really believing that we're having a fight right here and right now. The two of us have never fought; me too scared of conflict to really say anything that would provoke one. But I guess now that I have liquid courage, I'm finally not scared to stand up to her. "So you could yell at me just like these two jack asses?"
"Hey!" Fred and Jesse yell at the same time. Jesse just keeps quiet after that little outburst, but Fred takes a step closer to me and says, "I'm just trying to help you. That pretty boy is just going to hurt you."
"No he's not," I shake my head furiously; knowing deep down that Ethan would never do anything to knowingly hurt me. He's just not that kind of guy. Sure it hurt when he said that we couldn't be serious, but he didn't know it hurt me and it does make sense. It just sucks. The whole situation sucks. But I can't blame him for it. "He's a really good guy."
"Oh gag me with a fucking spoon," Fred snaps, making me jump just a little bit. Why the hell is he so damn angry with me? He says, "He's like that fucking pop star that every thirteen year old has wet panties for. He's just an image of a good guy because he's pretty and sings like an angel or whatever the fuck they say about those guys."
"That's so deep," I spew sarcastically, my entire body practically crawling in anger at the three of them. How dare they talk to me like this and how dare they say these awful things about Ethan without knowing him. They're supposed to be happy for me. "You're really just jealous, because he's going to go somewhere one day...unlike you."
"Fuck you Hallie," he says deeply, his voice so deep with anger that it makes me skin crawl. "I thought you were cool, but you're really just another sellout."
Before I can say anything in response to that, anything at all to make him hurt the way that he's hurting me, Jeanie takes a step forward and says lowly, "You should go. This is getting ridiculous."
"And you three assholes made it that way," I seethe, before pushing between the three of them and heading back up the stairs, away from the frat houses and away from the party I was just so excited for.
My eyes are swimming in tears of frustration, that drunken happiness now so overcome with hurt and anger that even though I still feel a bit woozy and unstable, it's not the fun drunk kind. It's the irritating as hell because I can't control my actions way.
I yank my phone out of my pocket, just needing to hear Ethan's always cool and happy voice of reason, knowing that it'll make me feel better. It takes me a few tries to get to his name in my contact list, but once I finally do, I press the phone to my ear and pray that he isn't too busy to answer.
People around the darkened campus give me strange looks as I stomp furiously away from where the fun is, not all that sure as to where I'm going but knowing that it's far away from those three ass holes. I really don't care though. I'm just hell bent on talking out my tears to Ethan and then going home and crawling into bed.
"Hey," he answers into the phone moments later, his deep and calm voice already doing a fine job at settling my crazy emotions just a tad bit. "What's going on?"
"Nothing...I just...things just blew up a second ago," I answer, sounding completely stupid and scattered. I really just have no words to express what happened though, I really don't. I don't know how to say it right. "We got into this huge fight and I have no way to get home..."
"You and Jeanie?" he asks calmly.
"All three of 'em," I tell him, finally finding the gazebo that's placed next to the English hall. I plop myself down onto the bench and bring my knees up to my chin, concentrating onto a single piece of grass as I listen to him.
"Well damn," he says in response. "What about?"
Not exactly wanting to tell him that it's because they think he's this awful tool who is only going to hurt me, I say, "Just stupid stuff. We were all drinking so they were just spewing stupid shit..."
"You drank too?" he asks me, sounding just a bit stiffer than he did a second ago. "Where are you?"
"A gazebo on campus," I explain dumbly, probably confusing him even more. "I had nowhere else to go."
He sighs, and I immediately feel my heart sink at the realization that he's probably mad at me for drinking and not having a reliable way to get home or something. I don't know. He always gets quiet when I mention my drinking, which leads me to believe that he doesn't like it. I shouldn't have even told him. I just can't do anything right tonight. He says to me, "You should call a cab, go home. I don't like that you're alone on campus and you've been drinking."
And now that he's mentioned it, I look up from the piece of grass I've been staring at and realize just how dark and quiet it is out here now that I'm away from Greek row. Now I'm scared. Awesome. Obviously realizing how quiet I've gotten, Ethan says calmly into the phone, "I'm sure you'll be fine, alright? Just stay on the phone with me and go where there's people."
"Mmkay," I murmur to him, climbing off of the gazebo bench and then starting back in the way that I came from.
As I start walking back to the more populated part of campus, he asks me with his voice clearly tensed, "So they just left you by yourself?"
"Yep," I say, making sure to pop my lips on the 'p'.
About ten minutes later as I'm walking past the student union building, I lay eyes on a familiar silhouette standing not too far away from me. "Hey wait a second," I mumble to Ethan who'd been in the middle of talking about how boring whatever even they're at is, so that I can concentrate more on figuring out who that is. Maybe they can give me a ride home or something.
But then as my eyes concentrate even further on them, I realize that it's Jesse. But before I can turn around and just get the hell away from him, he calls out my name and starts jogging over to me. "Shit," I curse out loud, and then when I hear Ethan ask me what's going on, I realize that I'm still on the phone.
I tell him, "Jesse's coming talk to me, but just...just don't hang up, okay?"
"'Course not," he says breezily, but I can hear the underlying tension there at knowing that the ass hole who yelled at me in public and left me by myself is coming to talk to me. "Say my name if anything bad happens, okay?"
"Okay."
Jesse's now standing in front of me, him obviously eyeing my phone like he knows just who I'm on the phone with. Hell if I care though. He asks me, "You alright?"
"Like you care," I respond angrily. "Why?"
He rolls his eyes at my attitude, like he thinks I'm being a child or something, and then says to me, "Look, I'm sorry about the two of them and I know you're mad. Just...I called my sister and she said she'd drive you home."
His sister is usually the one who's awesome enough to pick our drunk asses up after the party and bring us home, so his offer really isn't that weird. It's just really shocking that he's willing to go out of his way to do something nice for me after what happened tonight.
"Really?" I ask him, too stunned at his sudden niceness after that whole blowup mere minutes ago to say anything else.
He nods, "Yep. She said meet her by the quad." It's obvious by the tenseness in his posture that he's feeling kind of awkward about this whole thing, but I really don't even care. I don't care that I'm still really pissed off about how he acted earlier; I just really need a ride home.
I ask him "Why are you doing this?" quietly, folding my arms over my chest after maneuvering my neck so that I don't have to hold my phone. I don't understand this sudden change of attitude. I really don't. Why is he being nice and setting me up with a ride when he was screaming at me just minutes ago?
He says, "Look...there's a reason Fred reacted the way he did, I just...it's really fucking complicated, alright?"
"You yelled too," I point out, trying to ignore the sick feeling it gives me when he mentions Fred having a special reason to have been mad. This really just adds to Ethan's earlier thought that Fred likes me, which really just would not be okay.
He sighs and says, "I just...you're like my little sister. And I don't want some famous singer guy to hurt you."
If he'd told me that he saw me as his little sister just a month ago, I would have been seriously crushed. I would have holed up in my room and cried myself to sleep because the guy of my dreams just saw me as a little sister, but now...now it actually makes me feel somewhat good. Jesse and I have never had a true relationship of any sorts; he's so quiet and I'm so socially unsure of myself that it's just never happened. So it's nice to know that he actually cares for me.
I smile softly, feeling oddly touched by his words even though he did hurt my feelings so badly a few minutes ago. At least his initial anger makes sense. And I can understand them being wary of Ethan, what with the fact that he probably will be famous sooner or later, seeing as how he's going to be touring with one of the most known guys in country music. They probably expect him to give into the newfound fame with all of the screaming girls, and I have to admit that that is a fear of mine. But for right now, I really do like Ethan. I really really do. And I trust him. He's too good of a guy for me to not trust.
I tell him, "Thanks Jesse, but Ethan wouldn't do that. You just have to get to know him."
He nods quietly, and I see his mouth open to say something, but the loud ding of his phone sidetracks him. He digs the iPhone out of his pocket and then brings it to eye range, the light from the screen lighting up his face in the darkness of the night. He reads whatever's on the screen, and then looks at me and says, "That's Fred...I got to get back to the house. They don't know I'm here. But look, I'm sorry, alright? Fred would have been mad either way, but most of that back there was the alcohol."
Even though this may be true, all of the crap he said earlier still stings when I think about it. If he wants my forgiveness, his apology better kick ass, that's all I have to say. So I just nod at Jesse and say, "Thanks. I'll see you later?"
"Definitely," he says, and then with that he turns over his shoulder and disappears in the way he came from, his hands dug firmly into the pockets of his dark washed jeans.
Remembering that I'm still on the phone with Ethan, I uncross my arms and then bring my hand up the phone, stabilizing it. I tell him quietly, "I'm back," and then start in the direction of the quad. It's not too far of a walk, seeing as how the campus is quite small compared to most, but still...I don't want Jesse's sister to have to wait long seeing as how she's doing me a huge favor.
He asks me, "You okay? That seemed like quite the little talk."
"I'm fine..." I tell him truthfully. "Did you hear what he said about Fred, though?" That part's still nagging away at me, and I don't like it one little bit.
"Yeah," he says, and I'm surprised to hear him chuckle just a bit. "Seems like I have some competition."
"Well..." I say in a false suggestive tone, knowing that he knows I'd never go for Fred. He saw the mental freak out I had when he even made the suggestion. "But no, you really don't. I just...if it's true..."
"Sounds like it is," he says, and it's then that I hear another voice in the background talking to him. It's too muffled for me to hear anything, but I do hear it when Ethan says, "Yes sir, that's fine. I'll be there. Yeah, you too."
"What was that?" I ask him when the voice has disappeared and their conversation is over.
He says, "Your dad, he was just coming in the hotel room to tell me that we're leaving for this interview at nine tomorrow."
I sigh, for the first time in my life wishing that my parents could come home from one of their trips earlier than planned. I miss Ethan already, especially now that what was supposed to be a fun weekend is completely ruined. Now I'm just going to be stuck in my room all weekend waiting for the day Ethan gets back. Pathetic. I say, "I'm beyond ready for you to be back."
I can just hear the smile in his voice when he says, "I bet you are. I'm just so damn lovable."
"Shut the hell up," I laugh, my whole body feeling much lighter than moments ago. It's crazy how talking to this guy can make such a shitty night not seem quite so bad.
Crazy indeed.