If it just ain't right,
and it's time to say goodbye
When it all falls down,
I'll be fine
You're the drug that I'm addicted to
And I want you so bad, but I'll be fine
— Alan Walker, All Falls Down
A U T U M N
"Let me know which asshole this Frazier guy was, so I could teach him some lesson," growled Tyler by the time I finished telling him about what happened at the party last night.
"Hey, he and I are friends now." I didn't know why I defended Frazier. Maybe because he defended me in front of Margo and promised to clean up the mess. Above all else, I didn't want Tyler to get involved in a brawl.
Tyler stared at me. An incredulous look plastered on his handsome face. "You're friends which someone who made up a rumor and swore to make your life a living hell?"
When he put it that way, it sounded ridiculous that I even considered becoming friends with Frazier. To Tyler, I gave him a solid nod which he replied with an exhaustive sigh. I took a deep breath, ready to tell him what happened today. "Ty, there's something I have to tell you. Frazier, today he ki—"
His cell phone rang and he immediately reached into his front pocket. He glanced at the screen and stood. His back was on me as he started to walk away with his phone held close to his right ear. I couldn't make out his expression but I could see his neck tensed and his body went stiff. I wondered what the call was about. Plus, who it was from.
Tyler has been acting rather weird these days. We hardly had time to talk, yet when we finally had the chance, this happened.
He finished his call and shoved his phone into the back pocket of his jeans. It looked like he let out a deep sigh as he stared at the ground before turning around to face me. "Hey, love," he said as he approached me. "I gotta go."
I frowned. "Where?"
"I-uh," he paused to clear his throats. "My friend just called me."
"Your friend?" I knew his social skill was great but I honestly didn't expect him to have a friend on the first day of school straight away. Also, I doubted a friend he met on his first day would have that kind of effect on him. No first-day friend would get him that tense and that pissed over a phone call.
"Yeah." He ran one hand through his thick brown hair and gave me an apologetic smile. "Corbin. He told me there'll be an additional class starting in half an hour. I don't have my books with me, I gotta go get them and come back to school."
"Additional class?" I stood and looked him square in the eye. Somehow, I had a feeling that he wasn't telling me the truth. There was something that he tried so hard to hide from me. I didn't have anything to prove that, but I could see it in his eyes and feel it in deep in my heart. Something wasn't right.
"Yeah, Chem 1403." He pulled me into a hug. When he pulled away, he looked down at me and said, "I could drop you home, grab my book, and come back here."
I remembered that I had to talk with Jess so I didn't take his offer and shook my head. "No." I took a step back and grabbed my bag from the bench. "I gotta go and meet Jess."
"Okay." He nodded and gave me a light kiss.
After Frazier's kiss, I wanted more than just something light so I clung my hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down. He hesitated for a moment but he went for a full blown kiss almost right away. The kiss was full and wet, one that sucked my breath and sent warm tingling all over my body. We've kissed a lot of time, hell, we even kissed a lot last night. But I've never got tired of it. I'd never get tired of him.
He was the first to pull back. His lips wet from the kiss, he looked at me from beneath lowered lids. "I'll call you."
I nodded and squeezed his hand before letting go. He got into to the other side of the lawn in two minutes. All I could see was his back until he was out of my sight.
I dropped my bag on the bench and took a seat. I pulled out my phone and dialed Jess' number. It went to the voicemail. I decided to leave her a message.
"Jess, I need to talk to you. Call me ASAP."
I put both elbows on top of my knees and put my head on my palms as a throbbing headache started to move from the back of my head to my forehead. The tension pressing against my temples started to make me feel dizzy. I doubted it came from the hungover since I wasn't that drunk last night.
"Hey, are you okay?"
I looked up to meet a pair of baby blues. His hair was blonde, almost white, like Daenerys' from Game of Thrones. His blue eyes sparkled and I saw amusement mixed with worries there. "Yeah. I'm just having a slight headache."
"Oh, I have something for that." There was a hint of accent in his voice. The way he said 'I' sounded more like 'oi'. I watched him open his backpack and take out a bottle of Advil. "Here."
I didn't take pills from strangers but by the innocent look on his face, I doubted he'd have the heart to give me fake pills or swap the contents. I grabbed the Advil, two pills and chugged them down with the bottle of water I kept from lunch earlier.
I handed the Advil back to him. "Thanks." I smiled and pointed at the bottle he was shoving back to his bag. "So, what's the story? Why are you carrying Advil around?"
The blonde haired guy chuckled. From his face, the way he talked and smiled, I guessed he was around my age. Or maybe younger by a few months. "My brother gets hangover quite often." Again, that accent. I felt like I've heard it before but I couldn't really pinpoint what it was. "I carry it around just in case he needs one."
I wished Steven would be that caring to carry Advil around for me. Knowing my brother, he was probably too drunk to care about himself, let alone anyone else.
"Hey, you're not from around here, are you?" I stood and tried my best to keep my feet steady on the ground. I took my bag off the bench and slung it over one shoulder. "I could hear an accent there."
"How rude of me." He held his hand out and smiled. "I'm Corbin and yeah, I'm Irish."
"I'm Autumn." I shook his hand and let it go.
"Nice name." He shoved it back into his pocket. "Been in the U.S. for a year yet still can't get over the accent. Mum and Dad are both Irish so unlike my brother, I'm 100% Irish man."
I was confused. "Wait, so your brother isn't 100% Irish, but both of your parents are Irish? Is he adopted?" I blamed a headache for my lack ability in processing his words.
Corbin chuckled. "No. He's not adopted." He shook his head like he thought something was really funny. Probably a private joke. "His parents separated and then his dad married my mum and had me."
"I see." I nodded. I knew a thing or two about a broken family. My parents were on the verge of having divorced a few years ago. Now I was grateful that things worked out in the end. I was about to say goodbye to him when I remembered what he said earlier. "Wait, did you just tell me that your name is Corbin?"
He raised one brow, probably not sure why I asked, but he gave me a firm nod.
"Do you, by any chance, know Tyler Vincent?" I knew what people said, about having a trust on your boyfriend, but given mine has been acting really strange, there was no harm in checking.
"Yeah. Tyler's a cool dude." He smiled. "We share all same classes this semester. I heard he won the National Science Olympiad last year."
Okay. So he got the right Tyler, God knows how many Tyler Vincent in Columbia. "Aren't you supposed to go for the additional class?" Tyler had left roughly twenty minutes ago.
Corbin frowned. "What additional class?"
I had a really bad feeling about this but I asked anyway. "Chem 1403?"
"Professor McDermott's class," he nodded as he acknowledged the course. "But what additional class? It's the first week of school, we don't even get the basics done. The first week usually about the introduction and getting to know the course plan."
I knew it. "Oh, okay."
"So you're from D.C. too aye?" asked him as he started to walk towards the front gate. I walked closely beside him but not too close.
I swallowed the lump in my throats and struggled to keep my composure. "Yeah. We both were from the same school." The question was there, no matter how hard I tried to shove it to the back of my head. Why did he lie?
"So..." Corbin stole a glance at me. "Are you two together?"
I nodded. "Yeah. He's my boyfriend." We were finally got to the front gate. I turned to face him and forced my lips to smile. "Thanks for the Advil."
"Yeah." He returned my smile with one of his sweet smiles. "Anytime."
"Corbin! What took you so—"
Corbin groaned and I followed his gaze straight into a pair of grey eyes staring back at me. Frazier.
"If you're not a fan of waiting, you should lend me your car so I could drive myself," said Corbin, didn't bother to hide the annoyance in his tone. He turned to me with an apologetic look on his face. "Autumn, this is my brother—"
"Frazier." I finished his sentence before he had a chance. I waited for him to have another mood swing, swapping to the dark side and throwing insults at me, but all he did was stood there by his sleek black car, staring back at me with a charming smile plastered on his face.
* * *
TYLER
"What is it?" I shoved both hands into the pockets of my jacket and stared grumpily at the guy wearing a black outfit in front of me. He looked like a grim reaper wearing a black shirt, a pair of black pants, and topped it up with a black leather jacket.
Mario Aiello, the Italian guy who has been ordering me these past two days, stood and walked towards me. He handed me a package and gave me a warning look. One that told me not to lose it no matter what, like I needed a warning after what he has put me through. "848 Washington Street." I took the package and shoved it into my jacket's inside pocket. "I'll text you the details. Now go." He waved one hand, telling me to go away, while the other hand reached out for a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.
I let out a deep sigh and did as he asked. Thanks to the beauty of the internet, I found out that 848 Washington St was a hotel called The Standard Hotel. "Nice name," I commented as I tapped the navigation panel on the GPS to show me the fastest route to get there.
I got there in an hour. New York had more hectic traffic than Washington. As if on cue, my phone buzzed. One text from Mario and one from Autumn. It took me two seconds to decide which to open.
Le Bain. Top floor. Monique York. Image attached. M.
I clicked the image and saw a brunette girl with green eyes staring back at me. After making sure I had her face in mind, I shoved my phone back into my pocket and looked up at the tall building in front of me. I hated this job but if I wanted to protect Autumn and everyone I cared about, I had to do it. I took a deep breath as I walked into the building.
Monique was easy to spot. Just followed wherever the rich spoilt kids go and I easily found her in the middle. Mario probably sent my photo to her because she excused herself from the crowd and signaled me to follow her to the back of the club.
"You're cuter than your photo." Monique leaned against the wall with her arms folded beneath her breasts. She licked her bottom lip and held her hand out. "Got the package for me?"
I pulled out the package and handed it to her. She didn't even bother to check as she put it inside her small silver purse. "Give Mario a kiss from me." She caressed my left cheek then walked away.
I rolled my eyes behind her back. There was no way I gave Mario a kiss. I zipped my jacket as I walked to the set of elevators right in front of the club. I pushed the button and waited. Thirty seconds later an elevator came, full of people in expensive clothes. I waited for them to step outside, pressing the call button to keep the elevator doors open. Once they cleared out, I stepped into the empty elevator and hit the Lobby.
It took a while from the top floor to the lobby so I pulled out my phone and read Autumn's text.
We need to talk. I'm not really fond of liars.
"Shît!" I cursed under my breath. I wondered how much she knew. Did she know about the deal with Santiano? I certainly wished she didn't because no one was supposed to know. Santiano made it clear what he'd do if anyone found out.
The elevator opened and I immediately jumped out, knocking someone on my way. I was no Quicksilver, I couldn't prevent her from falling. She groaned as her äss landed on the polished marble floor. I dropped to my knees beside her and asked, "Are you okay?"
Her head shot up and her eyes widened once she saw me and so did mine. I couldn't believe I would ever see her again. It has been so long, far too long.
Although her blonde hair was longer, her smile was still the same. The same smile that once stirred my heart and brought me joy. And when she finally spoke, I never realized how much I missed the sound of her voice. "Hello, boyfriend." She paused as she pushed her body to a sitting position on the floor. "Or should I say, ex-boyfriend?"
My voice was barely above the whisper when I said, "Faith."
♥
What do you think, my angel?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments ;)
Btw, does anyone listen to Want You Back by 5SOS? I've been crazy about the song for these last few days, playing it non-stop.
♥
loads of pizza,
your noob neighborhood author,
agatha x
[for TBCN re-readers:
there's no change in this chapter]