I know how crazy parties would get. I enjoy the feeling of drama and tensions in the air. It was mostly amusing to me for the solemn reason of me not having any drama in my own life. My life was simple, apart from any family problems which I tend to keep private. However, I am not the one to push on certain topics on order to provoke drama, I only pay attention to everything that's going on around me.
I place another ice cube in my glass, hoping to cool myself down. It's extremely hot today and having a ton of people in your apartment doesn't help much.
"I don't have the nerves anymore. I really don't. How do you expect me to go through that while being fine? I told you, I do not approve!"
Hearing Jessica's voice break at the end makes my heart break as well.
"Do you remember what you told me? You said you'll be with me no matter what. So what's this now?"
"Mel, come on! You're bringing me into something I never agreed to. I am with you through this, but I do not want to get involved."
"Hey, hey, hey. Jess, come on, Sarah's looking for you." I recognize Wes's voice and a small silence appears before he speaks again. "Give her some time. She'll get over it."
I hear Mel mumble something that sounds like alright before there are no more voices behind me. I guess they've dispersed and went different ways.
"You're eavesdropping, huh?"
I literally jump and small droplets from my glass end up on my shirt. I stubbornly place the glass back on the counter and fetch a napkin.
"No. I wasn't." I reply while trying to remove the tiny stain from the fabric.
"Sure, yeah." Wes says, grabbing a cup for himself. The amount of liquor he pours into it is the amount I would probably drink for three whole days.
"What's the deal anyway?" I ask and he just smirks at me, seeing as I just confirmed his theory of eavesdropping. I roll my eyes at him and give up on the napkin and the stain, because it clearly won't go away.
"It's none of your business, babe." He says and takes a sip. He doesn't even look fazed by how strong that drink probably is. I think he poured some kind of whiskey or something. I turn my entire body to face him, grabbing my own drink as well.
"Stop calling me that." I tell him and he cocks an eyebrow.
"Why not?"
"Because." I answer, hoping I don't get irritated so my drink doesn't end up in his face, because at the moment, I have the urge to do that. "You don't have the right to."
"Oh, and who does?" He forms a small smile, his eyes travelling up and down my body. And I do notice how sparkly they are, meaning the drink he's holding is definitely not his first one.
"Currently, nobody." I say, almost with pride.
"That's good." He mutters silently and brings the cup to his lips. He quickly downs the drink and tilts his head back to gulp down the remains. His neck tattoo shows from the neckline of his shirt when he extends his neck.
"It needs fixing." I lift my hand and trace the small word pure. He visibly flinches when my fingers meet his skin, and after a second he grabs my wrist and pulls me in front of him.
He smirks at me and turns my wrist, where my own tattoo is placed. It washed away, but you can still decipher what it says, blue written in cursive.
"Yours too." He looks down at it and runs his finger over the ink. I try not to let my heart beat, but it does anyway, bringing even more heat to my body.
"These tattoos were a good idea." He speaks up and I scoff.
"No, they weren't. I never wanted something that's connected to you." I mumble, looking around the room.
"It was your fault." He says simply, a hint of amusement in his voice.
I only look at him, my eyes piercing into his. About two years ago, Wes challenged me on a run. He said if I end up being faster than him, he would dye his hair the way I wanted. And if he comes first, I have to do a tattoo of his choice. Of course, being the stupid girl, I thought I was faster than him, but that was wrong. He outrun me and immediately drove me to a tattoo place. Lucky for me, he decided on a simple word, one that represents his last name.
I did, however, force him into making one himself and chose the meaning of my own name. So despite being enemies, we carry a small piece of eachother, and it's disgusting how corny that sounds.
"We'll go fix it tomorrow." He says firmly.
"What? No. I want it to fade away." I object, but he laughs out loud.
"No. We're going to fix it."
"Wes, seriously? I don't want to have that for the rest of my life." I tell him, my inner stubbornness coming out.
"Why not?" He smiles gently and pulls me even closer. He is leaning on the counter and by now, my legs are between his. He is not really acting like himself, and it makes me somewhat uncomfortable, well, not uncomfortable, but it's weird. I'm used to his flirting, but it usually feels like a joke.
"That would be stupid." I say.
"All decisions are stupid." His eyes find mine and it's really hard not to stare back at them. His hand presses on the bottom of my back and a sudden panic washes over me, the newly found feeling raising inside.
"Wes, dude, we need you!"
The same panic I felt now crosses Wes's eyes as I feel his pressure on my back loosen. I take a quick step back and he moves beside me, holding a tense and hesitant look with me. He walks over to where Mel is standing and his face fills with concern when some words leave Mel's mouth. They talk for sometime and it is impossible for me to hear anything, since the music in our apartment got louder.
After sometime, I see Wes turn his head to face me again, but I look away quickly and when I look back, they are both gone. I pull my hand through my hair right away, muttering quite a few curse words.
What the actual hell was that? There wasn't a single word of insult shared between Wes and I. Not a single threat. That did not feel right at all.
What was that?
I shake my head frantically, deciding to ignore what just happened. That little, barely noticeable moment of tension between us is something that should be ignorable for me. Blaming it all on Wes's booze, I make my way towards the balcony, where there are less people and it doesn't seem so crowded.
Of course, the view is nothing but the pool, completely decorated with different lights coming from the side. In the distance, I can see a couple groups sitting on the courts, their music extremely quiet compared to ours.
It's almost three in the morning and people inside are not really keen on leaving the apartment. I don't mind, since I've been having more fun than I can remember. However, my room is not accessible, since a couple I am not familiar with decided to occupy it and I honestly don't want to know what they're going to do on my bed.
My phone lets out a sound, letting me know I got a message. I turn it so I face the light screen.
Hailey
Where tf are you?
I text her a quick reply, saying I'm on the balcony. I haven't seen her in two hours so she must be somewhere outside. As I romantically stare (or at least try to) at the moon, the smell of weed fills my nostrils. With a quick glance to my right, I see Carter's cheeky smile as he approaches me. He offers me the blunt, but I shake my head. The last time I had weed, I ended up being scared to death and I wouldn't want to repeat that.
"Not drunk?" I ask him as he comes beside me, placing his elbows on the white balcony railing.
"Nah." He scrunches his nose, his eyes wandering into the distance just like mine did a minute ago. "Today's not for drinking."
"Everything alright?" I ask and he turns to face me, only one of his elbows supporting him. He brings the blunt to his lips and smirks.
"Nothing that should worry you." He breathes in the smoke and looks back at the night sky.
"How mysterious." I chuckle, and I do notice his lips raise in a smile.
"I do have to ask you something." He looks down and I stay silent, waiting for his question. After a second he drops his blunt so it falls on the floor beside the pool before he faces me again.
"There's this person, well, a guy, who wants to meet you." I raise my eyebrow at his statement, clearly shocked and confused. "I don't really like this guy, but he asked me to ask you, if you would want to."
"Why me? And why did you still do it if you don't like him?" Carter only smiles at my questions, his cheeks touching the bottom of his sunglasses.
"He saw you and liked the way you look." He shrugs, and my eyes do an instant eye roll.
"Obviously." I mutter, not even holding back my sarcasm.
"And he's kind of my half brother. My mom always said 'Family comes first'." He says and I can hear the annoyance in his voice. It seems like his brother and him aren't on very good terms.
"What's wrong with him?"
"What's wrong with -" The boy chuckles at me, since my questions appear to amuse him. "He functions properly."
"But his mind clearly doesn't, right?" I hike an eyebrow. And once again, Carter finds amusement in my words, as he shakes his head like he can't beileve it.
"Why didn't Hailey bring you earlier?" He asks and straightens up. "You know what? How about you meet him? I'd say you're pretty good at detecting dumb people, so this won't be a problem."
"If he's anything like you, then there will be a problem." I say while smirking.
"Jesus, Kat. Don't even try to compare us." He shakes his head and takes my hand to guide us inside. I know I shouldn't worry, but isn't it normal to be nervous about somebody who's noticed you before and now wants to meet you. It's like you already know their intentions. Am I the only one who feels that way?
Carter leads me all the way through the living room and over to our kitchen, where multiple guys are sitting by the counter, which serves as a bar tonight. When he lets go of my hand, my panic comes over and I literally say fuck off to myself because of how stupid I feel.
Of course Carter slaps the back of a very good looking guy, I mean, I could've assumed since it's his half brother. He still doesn't notice me, since the whole kitchen is extremely crowded.
"Did you talk to that girl?" The guy asks instantly and Carter slightly rolls his eyes, but nevertheless looks at me before pulling me closer.
"Oh, my bad. I didn't see you." He says and his face lits with a smile just as bright as Carter's, only more mature and I assume he's older. His hair is a little darker, and even though his eyes are a little wider, his features almost match Carter's.
"You see me now. I'm Katherine." I extend my hand. The guy raises an eyebrow and takes my hand slowly.
"I'm Damon. And you're bold, that's hot." He tells me and ew. Carter said I detect dumb people, and I'd say I also detect players.
"Yeah. She fights Wes." Carter mutters and Damon chuckles, turning his body around.
"Feisty, huh, Wes?" Damon says, facing the opposite side of the counter. I didn't notice Wes until now, but I do notice him scoff at Damon's question, his reaction mimicking mine.
"So, Katherine." Damon faces me again, and I let go of his hand. "I know my little brother probably said some shit about me, but don't listen to him, alright? I'd like to take you out, on a dinner."
"On a what?" I mutter. "That's not a good idea, I can't focus on anything while eating."
"She'll eat your plate as well."
The boys around us laugh at Wes's creative comment, but I only glare at him, catching his infamous smirk before he takes a sip from his cup. Damon doesn't seem to care, since his attention is on me.
"What about movies?" He suggests.
"How about you find me tomorrow, when I decide." I say, only finding a way to get away from him. I can see the proud smile Carter has on his face.
"You sure?" Damon asks, but nods eventually. "Alright, it's a deal."