Above: Francisco Lachowski as Andrew Price. I wasn't too sure how I felt about having his character be the bad guy because everyone uses him. But I am basing him off of a person in real life, that I know. And the person honestly looks like Ryan Reynolds, but I thought he was too old to be a high schooler.
That's it! Enjoy Chapter 7! (Almost in double digits!)
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Lia James
"Shut up you asshole." Lina told Mason, throwing a piece of popcorn at him. He immediately flinched causing all of us to laugh.
"That almost went into my ear!" Mason cried out, and I couldn't help but burst out laughing. I held my stomach for support.
"Why doesn't relationships in movies happen in real life? It's all full of promises, happiness, lovey dovey bullshit. I hate it." Lina expressed, throwing her head back in frustration.
"Key word there: movies. They're movies, Lina. It's not real life." Mason retorted, before getting another bag of popcorn since Lina and I were hogging it all.
"Well it should be."
"Guys? Can I ask you a question?" I asked both of them before grabbing the remote and pausing the TV.
"Shoot." They said at the same time, and then stared at each other wide-eyed.
"We don't have twin telepathy." They said again.
"Shut up." They said once again.
"Okay, I'm putting that paranormal shit to rest. That was insanely creepy. But anyway, I want to know why exactly you guys hate the other group so much. I know you mentioned some things to me about it. But, I'm curious. Why do you guys not like Eli, he seems...nice." I told them, and their expressions changed.
"What the hell did you just say?" Mason sat down on the couch, still holding eye contact with me.
"You think Eli is nice?" Lina grabbed my arm, turning me around to face her.
"He's practically Satan's best friend." Mason added, looking at me wide-eyed.
"Yeah, I know. But did he do something to make you feel this way?"
"Shouldn't being best friends with my enemy give you enough clarity?" Mason raised his eyebrows.
"No. Not really. I mean just because he's friends with Andrew doesn't mean he's exactly like him."
"Okay, well once I tell you this, you won't think so." He put the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table, before facing me on the couch. Lina joined on the other side of him, on the ground sitting cross-legged.
"I can't believe I'm going to tell you one of the most horrific stories to exist, but here it goes."
He takes a deep breath. "It all started at one of my summer parties, kind of like a back-to-school bash. It was a Saturday, and my Mom was out of town with her friends:
"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" They all screamed at the guy who was doing a keg stand. I couldn't help but laugh when I found out it was Cole.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" He screamed, flinging his arms in the air.
"Why don't you go sit down, Cole?" I offered when I noticed him start to lose balance.
"I think I'm going to hurl." He told me, and I saw his face turn pale.
"Okay, trash can is by the patio. Don't throw up on my furniture please!" I yelled at him as he started to sprint to the area I pointed to him.
"Hey babe." I heard her voice, and I immediately grinned with delight. Her spirit always seemed to make me happier.
"Are you having fun?" I asked her, and she put her arms on my shoulders, and hugged me tightly.
"I'll have even more fun if we can take the party upstairs to your bedroom." She kissed my neck.
"Not now, Shelby. But when everyone leaves, I'm all yours."
"Fine." She said, and I could swear I could see her roll her eyes. But I didn't think twice about it.
Jace and Ryan were playing volleyball in the pool, while I spotted Ollie playing cup pong inside with our ping pong table. Cole's face was in a trash can, and everything seemed good. I spotted Shelby walking inside, probably to get another drink.
"Dude, this parties the shit." I heard a voice behind me.
"Drew, you made it." That's was we used to call him at the time.
"You bet your ass I made it. Why did you think I wouldn't come?" He patted me on the back.
"Because you literally called me and said you weren't coming." We both laughed.
"Yeah, sorry. There was a change of plans." He told me, before he took off his shirt and jumped in the pool, splashing people nearby. Jace tackled him for splashing him, and soon enough, everyone was piling on each other.
Time had passed, and everyone was starting to leave, slowly. And I couldn't find Shelby anywhere. I had gotten her her favorite drink: Strawberry Margarita, in a glass not a can, and I was looking to give it to her. Eli approached me rapidly, and yanked on my shirt almost making me fall.
"Dude, what was that for?" I shouted at him. The drink had almost spilled on one of my good shirts.
"Because...because...oh, you know." He stuttered and I questioned it.
"We haven't had time to talk."
"Eli, we literally had a conversation 10 minutes ago." I told him and he smiled.
"Well, it feels like forever. Why don't you just tell me how life is? How your friend in Maine is? Weren't you texting her earlier?"
"Yeah, that was her. But I'm looking for my girlfriend." I told him before ascending up the stairs and walking down the hallway.
"No!" I could hear Eli say, and I immediately put it past me. Maybe he tripped and fell or something, I don't know. I was stupid at the time as you could tell.
I opened the door to my room, which didn't have a lock on it anyway, ever since my mother caught me kissing my crush in 6th grade.
And there it was.
Shelby on top of Andrew, kissing him. In my fucking bed. Both naked and sweating.
"What the shit?" I said, dropping the can I had in my hand, and I felt it spill on my shoes.
She quickly got up from him, covering herself with one of my blankets. "This isn't what you think."
"Get the hell out of my house." I spat and tears formed at brim of her eyes.
She grabbed her clothes, which were situated at my feet and ran out of the hallway. She slammed the door of one of the bathrooms, most likely to get changed. Or cry. I didn't care either way.
"Are you fucking kidding me? Do you ever control yourself?" I threw my hands up in anger.
"Dude, she just came onto me. It's not my fault."
"It's not your fault? It's not your fault, my ass. Drew, your a man whore! I never want to see you again." I told him, narrowing my eyes.
"Dude, I thought we were friends." He told me. It was complete bullshit.
"Don't you try to find a way out of this. I caught you sleeping with my girlfriend. Are you happy now, Drew? Are you satisfied that you could give her something that she wanted?"
"Yeah, actually I am." He stepped closer. He was a few inches taller than me, but I didn't car at this point. The blood boiled in my veins. I only cared about Drew's head being smashed into a thousand pieces.
"If I see you again, I will strangle you."
"Are you threatening me?" He stepped impossibly closer.
"It's not a threat, it's a promise." Was all I said before taking his clothes and throwing them out the window.
"What the fuck man?" He ran his hands throw his hair.
"Now you have a reason to get out, other than the fact that I completely hate your guts right now."
He left silently, trying to cover himself up with his hands. I ripped the sheets off my bed in anger and throwing them out of the window too. There was no way I was about to sleep on my sheets and blankets knowing that my girlfriend and best friend had just fucked each other.
I walked out of my room and into the hallway, stopping at the bathroom where Shelby was getting changed in.
"If you haven't noticed already, we're done. You know I would've just walked past this room, but you're not the smartest, so I just had to remind you."
"Wow. That sounds awful." I told him, placing my hand on his.
"Trust me, it was."
"Do you see where we're coming from, Lia? Eli was just trying to distract Mason so that he wouldn't catch them." Lina added.
"He did a horrible job." Mason laughed, trying to lighten up the moment.
"Eli is just one of Andrew's pawns. He uses him to get what he wants. And Eli complies because they're best friends. It's a system." Lina shrugged.
"Andrew is definitely an ass. I will tell you that." I agreed before having popcorn being thrown my way.
"He's more than an ass." Mason argued, throwing another piece at me.
"Okay, I see how it is, Butler. I can play this game." I told him before grabbing a handful and dumping it on his head.
"You're dead." Mason said in a deep voice before chasing me around the living room.
***
It was the second day of school for me. I had an hour detention, while Lina and Mason, along with the gang had their 2 day suspension. I was really bummed, because they were in some of my classes and I wouldn't be able to see them today.
I stared at the pictures hung on my locker. The first one was of Mason, Lina, and I at one of the local pools. We were probably 8, and we wore bright colored swimsuits. Lina insisted for Aunt Alex to take a picture of us with our backs to the camera because the sunset looked really cool. Our bodies looked like shadows, while Mason's face was in the corner, as he was swimming by the pool. His hands were on the sides and only his forehead and eyes were sticking out of the water.
Simpler times. It was definitely simpler times. When Mason didn't punch anyone in the face (sometimes), and Lina didn't force me to wear outfits to school. At least not today she didn't.
The second picture was of me and my current best friend, Kiera. We met each other in 6th grade Science class. We went through some tough times together, both having braces. Expressing how much we hated our science teacher.
In the picture, it was of Kiera and I, standing on a tree. Kiera always loved to climb the trees in her yard. She often pretended she was a monkey, and she made noises too.
The third picture was my mom handing me a rose. She stood above me, and I looked up at her, mesmerized. The other hand, without the rose, was on my chin, lifting it up. My mother smiled so happily, exposing her perfect white teeth. And I grinned. This was one of my favorite pictures of her to this day.
"Sup, James." A voice said, startling me half to death.
"You scared me." I put my hand up to my chest, feeling the ripple of my heart beat.
"I don't think I come across as a scary person." He said, looking offended.
"You know what I mean." I rolled my eyes while hitting him in the shoulder.
"What were you staring at anyway?" He pried.
I shut my locker frantically. "Nothing. Just reminiscing...I guess."
"About what?" He pried again. I turned back to my locker remembering I forgot my Anatomy textbook. I put in my combination.
"Just missing home." I said vaguely.
"Me too. I miss my Mom spanking me with a wooden spoon when I don't finish my vegetables." He looked at me with a smile.
"Kinky." Said another voice as the person approached us.
Oh no, not him again.
"You're disgusting, Drew." He shoved his best friend, and he stumbled back grinning ear to ear.
"What? That's not the first time I've thought about your Mom doing freaky stuff." He added, biting his lip. I avoided his gaze.
"Babe, I have to go to Chemistry, and I've already been late 2 times. I don't want to get a cut." I heard a whiney voice speak. I'm sure it was the Barbie Shelby.
"You know, if we were dating, I would call you babe back, but we're not so cut it out." He said, before whispering something into her ear.
I was absolutely livid about this guy could practically shove girls around left and right, feeling okay about it. But then again, one of those girls is Shelby, so that's okay.
"Oh, look, it's the girl that slapped me." He said in a petty tone as I grew more irritated by the second.
"Dude, leave it alone." Eli said, telling him politely to back off of me.
"I'm not mad, Eli. I'm fine. This girl is obviously tough and feisty."
"Look, I think we got off the on the wrong foot. My name is Andrew. But people call me Drew." He introduced, and I could see him slightly biting his lip. Ew.
His placed his hand in front of me.
"You know, I would shake that hand, but I wouldn't want to contract a disease. I'm sure that hand has been a lot of places." I said bluntly, slamming my locker causing Eli to jump.
I walk away silently and I could feel Andrew's eye burning through the back of my head. I wasn't going to let him get to me.
***
"Alright students, sit down. Your time for detention will start after the last bell."
I sighed, spotting a seat in the back where I could peacefully do my homework, and even study for my Calculus quiz I had tomorrow. A peaceful hour.
Andrew, Eli, Shelby, and their other guys all walk in late, as usual. I had my head down, and yet I could feel a presence staring at me. So, I decided to pick my head up.
"Are you seriously doing homework in detention?" Eli asked, eyeing the papers on my desk.
"I'm a good student. I promised my Dad to be on the honor roll while I was here."
"You're not going to have to do your homework in a minute." He said, staring down the teacher and back down on his watch.
"What are you talking about?" I roll my eyes. I'm not ready for another one of this groups antics.
"Right...now." He whispered, and I looked over to the teachers desk. The detention teacher slowly got up and left the room.
"Okay, that's fantastic. You've shown me the art of human movement. Can I get back to this now?" I tapped my pencil on the papers in annoyance.
He slowly gets up and offers me a hand. "Come on, let's get out of here." He nodded his head toward the open door.
~*~
Thanks for reading! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I know it was sort of boring. But you did learn a lot of things from the past, which you will continue to learn as the story progresses.
I don't think you're ready for the bomb to drop on this story. You might be able to see it coming, you might not. When it comes in to play with the story, I will notify you that that was the 'bomb drop'.
This chapter we introduced Shelby Burns, who definitely had quite the journey with Mason and Andrew. But you know what they say, don't judge a person too quickly.
Shelby Burns: Madison Beer
Just in case you were wondering who played Shelby. There's is still more characters to be introduced in this story. So don't worry.
Plus, Lia hanging out with the Leather Jacket Group? That spells suspicious. Check out next chapter to see what happens next!
Much love.
XOXO