Jace Vanderbilt
Thursday nights meant clubbing nights with the boys, but sadly tonight I didn't have my car so Charles had to come swoop me. Talk about embarrassment. My parents didn't budge on negotiating my punishment at all, especially when I missed most of family day to hang out with Avery last weekend. But it was worth it.
OMNIA was the same as it was every time we went, the same table in the same VIP lounge along with the same girls and booze. Charles always invited the same group of girls from East High and Sheldon, nothing new or interesting. But tonight, there was a new chick. From East High. Who could not shut the hell up or leave me alone. Her hand kept finding its way down my thighs and I was getting sick of it.
It was annoying as hell how I could not stop thinking about Avery West. What the hell was it about her and that stupid but addicting peaches & cream scent? She and her scent were so intoxicating that I couldn't refrain my hungover ass to stay away from her that Sunday morning she came over to work on our project together. I really laid on her lap, like a love sick puppy. Except I was anything but. If only she knew how much I wanted her.
Goddamn it, little Jace. Shut the hell up.
"What's going on inside that mischievous head of yours, Vanderbilt?" Charles turned his head away from the brunette with hazel eyes and handed me a glass of scotch, "You look miserable. West got you all fucked up or what?"
"Shut up." I narrowed my eyes at him as a warning. "Where the hell are the handles we ordered?"
I didn't want to think about how Avery West really did got me all fucked up, flustered and shit. I didn't like it, but at the same time I did. I didn't know what the hell was wrong with me. I didn't do vanilla romance. Ever. And here I was, still thinking back to the Saturday breakfast with her. Goddamn it. I didn't even know what got into me when I called her and asked her to go get breakfast. That was definitely not Jace.
Speaking of the devil, the handles of liquor arrived as well as more girls. Jesus fucking Christ. How many fucking girls are there here... When they say boys night, it's never really a boys night.
Harrison walked over and sat down next to me, putting his arm around me. He knew I hated this stuff. "Drink up, Jay."
Four handles later, we were beat. I definitely had to call for Blake, there was no way neither one of us was going to drive home tonight.
As soon as I sent Blake a text to pick us up in an hour, that chick put her head on my shoulder as she lit up a cigarette. Goddamn, how much clearer did I have to tell her to get the fuck off of me?
Annoyed as hell, I got up and walked outside for some fresh air. Then I saw her. Avery West. Walking with her friends across the street. She was laughing and talking to that weird chick, Nicole. And Will.
For some reason, the dude got my fucking nerves. I would get oddly angry as hell whenever I saw him in the cafeteria ogling his eyes at my girl.
Goddamn it, shut up soft Jace.
She was laughing, at something Will said. And I realized my fist balled up for some reason. Here I was, couldn't stop thinking about her while there she was, laughing at something Will said. I was being petty. Yeah, I was definitely being petty but drunk Jace didn't really give a shit.
Before I could refrain myself, I stormed across the street. I didn't know what the hell I planned on doing but I just knew I had to see her. Drunk Jace definitely had no fucking chill. And sober me was definitely going to regret it tomorrow morning.
But it was too late to turn back now.
Will was the first to notice me coming, he narrowed his eyes and pulled Avery behind him defensively. Oh fucking hell. The guts of that boy. I was going to end him. I didn't like the fact that he had the audacity to think he had the right to get defensive over her as if she were his.
Avery looked up and saw me, she stopped laughing and her eyes widened in shock. Maybe it were the horrendous amount of alcohol in my system fucking with my head, but I swore I saw her cheeks blushed.
"What do you want, Vanderbilt?" Will barked with his nostrils flared out, like a fucking dog. He even had the guts to walk up to me and raised his chin to meet mine, like he was challenging me. "You're drunk."
"And you need to back the hell up, Linington." I growled, my eyes fixed on Avery, who looked terrified of what was going on. "I just want to talk to Avery for a second."
"No, you're drunk. Can't you see she's scared?" Nicole stepped in between me and Will, knowing I was about to kill him. "You can talk to her when she's sober, dickhead. Leave, Jace."
"Avery." I didn't know what the hell I was doing when I pushed Will away, with little ease I might add, and walked toward Avery, who avoided my eyes. "Come with me, I'll take you home."
She flinched when I grabbed her wrist and stepped back away from me. The horrified look on her face made my heart drop. She took her eyes off of mine and tried to wriggle her wrist free of my grasp. "Jace, you're drunk... Please...."
"Avery, you're not safe with them." Oh, fucking hell Jace. I tightened my grasp on her wrist and she let out a soft whimper.
"Jace, you're hurting me..." That was when Will stepped in and took her hand away from my grip.
"Vanderbilt, get the fuck away from her." I couldn't give a shit what Will was saying when all I could see was Avery's expression. She was terrified. Like she was gasping for air. Was she that scared of me?
I wanted to kill myself. I didn't realize how hard I gripped her wrist until I saw red marks.
That was when I realized what the hell I was doing.
Goddamn it, Jace.
That was when I knew I fucked up.
"Jace!" I was getting really fucking lightheaded now but I could recognize Cameron's voice, whom I assumed to be the one grabbing my arm right now. "Let's go, Blake is here. We're so sorry, Avery. He's drunk as hell. I'll take him home. I'm so sorry."
And then that was the last thing I remember before I closed my eyes.
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1:45 PM
Fuck.
Why did no one wake up for school? Holy fuck. Coach was gonna kill me if I missed practice in a few hours. Goddamn it, I felt like a truck had ran over my head. What the hell happened last night? Why did I drink so much? I rushed into the shower and while the hot water hit my skin, memories of last night came rushing back and I nearly collapsed from remembering what the fuck I did.
Fucking hell....
Avery. Will. Me. Her expression.
Fuck.
Seriously, someone should lock me in a cage whenever I have alcohol in my system... why the hell did I get so angry last night seeing her with Will? And why the hell did I storm over and grabbed her and terrify her? Goddamn it. What the hell was wrong with me?
School was almost over by the time I pulled up in the lot. I waited for Avery outside our English class, hoping to apologize to her for my idiotic actions last night. But I didn't see her. I peeked inside the class to see if she were there, but her usual seat was empty.
Avery West would never miss school.
Fuck, what if she didn't go to school because she was trying to avoid me? Then I went to look for West, the other West. To see if he knew where she was.
"Do you know why Avery didn't come to school today?" Landon West looked up from stretching and narrowed his eyes in suspicion at my question. "We have a group project."
"She's sick." He nodded slowly, trying to detect a lie. "But I'll let her know you were looking for her."
Avery was sick. Goddamn it. Why did I even care. It wasn't like she was my girlfriend, why did I feel this stupid feeling. I just wanted to apologize to her for what I did last night.
"Can I come by to see her? Just really quickly. I need to give her some stuff for the project." I was perfecting the lie now, good shit Jace. I would buy that.
"Sure I guess. I don't know if she's awake though, she might be asleep from the meds." And then coach whistled to start practice.
I couldn't fucking focus on practice at all today. I couldn't stop replaying last night in my head, and her expression. She was terrified of me. The kind of terrified reaction that was strange, as if it was PTSD. Did someone fucking hurt her before? Goddamn it, this girl got me all sorts of fucked up.
42 pine street.
Her window was closed. Should I ring the doorbell? I didn't want to wake her. So I texted her asking if she were awake. No reply. Great.
I looked at the pint of tillamooks ice cream, hoping it wouldn't melt so fast. After 15 minutes of ringing the doorbell, the door finally opened. But it wasn't Avery. It was a little boy, who looked just like Landon West.
"Are you looking for my brother? He's not home yet." There was no way in hell I would ever come here to look for Landon West. But I smiled and told him I was looking for Avery. "Sure but she's sleeping right now."
"Can I drop this off in her room?" I held out the ice cream and some cold medicine along with a container of chicken soup Darcy nade for me to give to Avery.
He nodded and invited me inside. He showed me the way to Avery's room, which was next to Landon's. And for some reason, that bothered me.
Her door was white with a wooden heart-shaped pink sign that says Avery's in blue. I was certain that her little brother made her this. As soon as I slowly opened her door, her scent hit me and I felt like I was intoxicated. Her room was dark from the absence of sunlight but it was enough for me to see her.
She was in bed, under her cover and her hair was all over her pillow. I could tell she was sick as her lips were pale and as I walked closer to her, I could see sweat beads covering her face. She was in her pj's and on her forehead was one of those fever-reducer head stuff that Darcy always gave me whenever I was sick.
She grimaced and I sucked in a breath, was she in pain? I wanted to help her but I didn't know what to do. I put a hand on her forehead and almost cursed out loud from how fucking hot it was. Why was no one here with her taking care of her?
"Avery, how can I help make you feel better?" I whispered but her eyes stayed shut. I held her hand swept her hair out of her face. I softly rubbed her head, remembering what my mom used to do for me. I knew it wouldn't help much but at least she stopped grimacing. Her expression softened and I felt my heart relaxing. I pulled her chair from her desk and sat down, my eyes stayed on her as if something might happen if I looked away.
When Avery fell back into deep sleep after I changed her cloth and put another one on her forehead, I looked around her room out of curiosity. It was small, but it was totally Avery. The walls were a pretty shade of blue while everything else was white.
She was simple, she didn't have much of anything beside books. Jesus Christ, she had lots of those. But they were all neatly stacked on her bookshelves that lined one wall of her room or stacked in neat piles on the floor by the shelves. She had a lot shelf full of different little plants and I couldn't help but laugh when I saw neat cursive on each pot. She named her plants. That was such an Avery thing to do.
Her desk was also filled with books, and pictures of her family. But there was one picture that caught my eyes. I couldn't believe it, so I took the picture and looked at it closely. This was impossible.
Grace. My Grace.
It was a picture of little Grace hugging her parents at her 6th birthday. I was there. How did Avery have this... how was this possible....?
I felt like collapsing when everything rushed to my head, all the dots connecting themselves. But how did a princess from New York end up in an adopted family? I knew her family basically vanished from the elite circle but there was no way Grace Lodge would be adopted... what the hell was going on?
I walked over and stared at Avery, who was still sleeping so peacefully. There were so many fucking questions I wanted to asked her but I knew better than that. I would overwhelm her and she would close herself off if I asked her questions about her past...
Fuck.
Avery was Grace? My Grace...
Everything was confirmed when I saw it. The necklace that rested on her chest, the one I've never seen before as she always wore sweaters at school.
AGL.
Avery was Grace. Avery Grace Lodge. Fuck, how did I not figure that out before? But how could I? It was too fucking impossible to believe. How the hell did Grace end up all the way here from New York? And why was she not living with her relatives?
I had so many questions and I fucking wanted to tell her we knew each other, and more than that. But I knew that if I did, especially right now when it was still too soon, I'd overwhelm her. So I had to wait.
For now, I was going to keep this a secret until I know she's ready to tell me about it. This was good enough for me for now.
Avery Grace Lodge, I found you.