(Picture of Carson Gray)
• • •
Needless to say, for the entire breakfast, I had to have my hair tied up in a low side braid to cover my neck. Zac retaliated by giving me back a hickey. He didn't manage to get much of it though, because the next thing I did, I opened up the driver's door and jumped out of his lap.
Breakfast got a little awkward after we gathered everyone in the dining room. I went up to get the girls first. Cass is relatively comfortable in a bathrobe, while I had to borrow some clothes for Ally. Zac then went to knock on the guys' doors to wake them up before all the food turns cold.
"Oh, food!" A feminine voice sounds from the stairs and I furrow my brows. Ally and Cass are already seated in the dining chairs, while I am prepping the cutleries in the spare kitchen. Who else could it be?
The mysterious girl appears and all our doubts are instantly answered. She's wearing Wayne's white t-shirt from yesterday, half her ass showing since the shirt isn't long enough to reach her thighs. Unlike us, she make herself comfortable by sitting herself down at one of the chairs opposite the girls and reaches for a cinnamon roll with her hands.
Ally stiffens, her grey eyes narrowed as she scrutinizes Wayne's latest Bratz doll. Nobody dare say a word until the man himself emerges at the doorway.
"Why are you still here, Vivian?" He cocks an eyebrow. He's half-naked, his abs fully on show while his briefs hang lowly on his hips.
"Jeez. Did you forget your sister is here?" I enter behind him, holding plates and mugs. "I so do not need to see your crotch."
He rolls his eyes dramatically, taking a seat next to Vivian. He nudges her again, prompting her to stop stuffing her mouth with food and reply.
"I know," the blonde responds, one hand resting on Wayne's chest. "Will you drop me off later?" She bats her eyelash.
Oh, lord, spare me. Before I lose my appetite.
I deliberately pull up a chair between Cass and Ally, much to the annoyance of Zac. He clearly tried to keep the seat beside him empty. But how can I stomach food if I were to sit next to him?
"Man, this is awkward." Drew abruptly mutters. Ally remains silent, staring intently at her empty plate. I glare at Wayne, while he shoots me a what-did-I-do face.
"Wayne?" Vivian draws circles on his chest with one finger and I feel Ally's body heat practically burning up as the scene unfolds right in front of her eyes.
"Ugh, stop it with the display." I groan. "Do it in the room, for fucks sake." Vivian scowls at me, dropping her hand.
Ally sends me a discreet smile, thanking me for stopping it before she flares up. I pat her knees then proceed to fetch myself a muffin.
"Get up," Wayne suddenly commands, reaching for a cinnamon roll with one hand. "Change back into your clothes. I'll book you a cab." Vivian reluctantly stands up, but still hooks her arm with his as they leave the room.
"Damn. This one's thick-skinned enough to stay for breakfast." Drew chimes in once the two of them vanishes from our view.
Carson laughs. "If it wasn't for the shirt, I would've assumed she was yours."
"You slept alone, bro?" Zac joins in the conversation.
"Sadly. I don't ever have much luck whenever Wayne's around." Drew pouts, picking at his waffles.
We all stifle a laugh at his dramatic expression. Breakfast went by okay, with the guys discussing about the party while us girls eat in silence. Cass fiddles with her phone by my side while Ally still seems crestfallen even after Wayne returns ten minutes later.
"You're better than them, Ally." I try to cheer her up while the both of us enter the kitchen to drop the dirty plates in the sink.
She sighs, leaning against the sink and looking down at the ground. "Do you think he'll want me if I sleep with him?"
"Fuck no." I scowl at her. "Stop it with whatever you're thinking. I probably shouldn't say this since he's my brother, but he's not worth it."
"Why?" She glances up at me. "I mean, all of you aren't virgins anymore either. All the 'first times should be special' shit likely doesn't applies to most people anyway."
"Yes. But you're doing it because? You think just giving him your virginity will make him want you back? That's just... foolish, Ally. You've seen how he's like. It's not worth it to give your first time to someone in hopes of keeping them."
"So, what do I do? He doesn't even talks to me." She looks down again and I feel my heart clench.
"You know... he's not the only tree in the forest, right? Just because he's a jerk doesn't mean others are. You will find someone who deserves you."
"So you're saying I should move on, find some other guy to crush on and forget about him?"
"No. Of course you can keep liking him. But you ought to stop having thoughts of giving yourself to him in exchange for his attention. I can't speak for him but who knows, one day he may come around when he decides he's ready to date again? Don't lower yourself to that position where you have to sleep with him for that to happen, sweetheart."
Ally straightens up, smiling at me. "I know. It was a hypothetical question. I don't think I'm that bothered since I won't see much of him eitherways." I pull her in for a side hug. "But you're being hypocritical."
Huh? How did this somehow centers around me again?
"What?" I shoot her back.
"Let me quote, 'there isn't just one tree in the forest'. You've been shutting yourself out because of one toxic tree when there are much better, healthier trees out there for you. There's even literally one right in front of your eyes, but you refuse to see it. Isn't it ironic? That you're letting one tree stop you from hanging out with other trees again?"
Okay. So this is now a topic about trees.
I sigh, my turn to slouch. "It's not the same, Edison."
"It is! You're the most ridiculous girl ever. Like I went to see your following on your instagram, and you literally do not follow a single male species except those four outside and some celebrities. Like is it really necessary? To shy away from all the guys who tries to befriend you?"
"I mean..." I trail off, not knowing what to counter. The only reason why I refuse to make male friends was because I never believed in platonic friendships. Well, that's until I met my brother's friends. Even then, now the situation with Zac just proved me even more right.
"What are we talking about? And why am I not included?" Cass walks in, breaking my train of thoughts.
"We're talking about how dear Kelsey here is being hypocritical with her boys logic." Ally grins and I glower at her.
"Oh? I'm all ears!"
———
Later in the day, we are pretty much at a loss of what to do. Ally is rarely ever free from work, so we wanted to use this chance to spend more time hanging out together. We all searched online for ideas until I come across a event page on Facebook advertising for a Halloween themed carnival, and today will be the last day before it ends.
The guys didn't have any opinions about it, although I didn't miss the surprise on Wayne's face. Even though we've been trying to get along for two months now, this is the first time I actually try to invite him to hang out with us. Most of the time he was the one who had to initiate.
But as we queue up for the haunted house, I begin to curse myself for my stupid idea.
"Are you nervous?" Cass asks, looking a little too hyped for my liking. Us girls are up infront while the guys stay behind us, courtesy of Cass and Ally's enthusiasm. You'll be surprised that out of all three of us, Ally is the one who isn't scared of ghosts or horror movies.
"Yes," I rub my palms together. "What was I thinking?" I stare up at the worn out house, which looks like it will instantly fall apart once a lightning strikes. Everything is black and dark like you expect a haunted house to look like, with dirts and cobwebs as decorations. We are the next in line and when we move up, the sounds of screams can be heard as soon as the group before us steps through the door that says 'enter at your own risk'.
Ally giggles, even doing a light jump on the spot. "I'm so excited!" And she goes on to take photos of herself with the house as the background. I shut my eyes, chanting some kind of prayers in my head.
When the staff tells us we can enter now, I flick my eyes open and my heart begins to pump twice as fast. I can't will my body to move at all that Cass and Ally have to drag me by my arms with them. We are told not to have our phones with us so that we don't misuse the flashlight feature, and also not to take photographs.
I had a few strategies in mind to get through this tormenting twenty minutes. One of them includes hanging on to someone for dear life and walk with my eyes closed, so I don't have to witness anything gruesome. However, my plan quickly fails because Cass notices I'm cheating and refuses to let me hold her hand anymore. So now, Ally leads in front of us all, Cass one step behind her while I practically use Cass as a human shield.
In the midst of my own fear, I couldn't give a shit about what everyone is feeling. I didn't hear anyone behind me screaming, so I assume the guys are coping just fine. I mean, how can they not be? Carson is basically the advocate for zombies.
A few times when something jumps out, I grip my hands tightly onto Cass' shoulders and hide my face down, staring at the ground instead; but my action clearly annoys her as she pries my hands off.
"Don't do this to me!" I mutter, wrapping my arms around myself now that I feel weirdly cold and trembling. We are passing by an abandoned corridor and before we even do anything, I already know something is bound to scare us from one of those damn doors. They never just let you have a spot to catch a breath.
"I'm not! You're scaring me every time you grab me like that!" Cass whisper-yells. She has clearly gotten a little freaked out too since she no longer takes as large strides as she did earlier. Ally on the other hand still seems stoic, not saying a word and merely walking on without glancing back at us.
By the time we take a couple more turns here and there, I am already so close to tears and wishing the exit sign just pops up soon. The scare actors here must really be paid a hefty sum if they are so good at scaring people that I even scream when the curtains move from the wind.
There was a clown earlier that jumped out of nowhere, startling me that I flew to another figure and held on to them, only to realize it was a bleeding little girl whose half her face was disfigured. That made me wail even more. I could've sworn I saw the girl stifled a laugh at my reaction.
After what feels like hours, we arrive at a creepy part of the basement. Blood and knives are spluttered all over the room. Dismembered parts of bodies are hung on the ceiling, dangling in the air as we try to navigate without coming into contact with them— dummy or not, I refuse. Then we come to a large worktable with a woman sitting there, reaching out to us with her hands as if she's begging us to help her; while a masked man is behind her holding on to a large metal blade at her throat.
"Ahhhhhh!" Screams filled the room as the man murders the woman in front of our eyes, blood practically bursting out of her vessels in all directions. I don't even know if I what I saw is fake or not anymore.
The guys are a few metres behind us since they were, well, mocking the scare actors and having fun laughing at others. Suddenly, Ally is the first to turn tails and run, causing Cass and I to do the same. If Ally is scared too, god only knows I am beyond hysterical. All three of us blindly run back, crashing into the four men with an 'oomph'.
I am in nowhere a right state of mind to tell you any of the conversations that happened because all I can recall is a string of 'Oh my god, oh my god' coming from somebody's mouth. I think it's mine.
I don't even know who caught me, but I allow them to do so anyway as I cling helplessly to their torso. Unfortunately, we have to walk pass that same murder scene once more in order to get out of the house, so I hide my face into said person's chest and let him guide me out of hell.
I of course couldn't will myself to lift my head up for the rest of the house anymore, although thankfully there was only about two more jumpscares until we reach the door that leads us to fresh air.
"Okay, okay, we're out, we're out." I feel someone hitting my back lightly to signal me. I quickly open my eyes, scanning the surroundings just to make sure, my hands still tightly wrapped around someone's waist. And then I glance up, realizing that for the past few minutes I have been hugging my brother for dear life.
As soon as our gaze meet, he bursts out laughing at me— doubling over, and I frown. I hit him in the chest, hard, and push myself off him. This is what having a brother is like. They laugh at you when you're literally scared to death!
I make a full circle turn and check on everyone else, only to see them hiding their own laughters. Even Ally and Cass are chuckling to themselves for god knows what, while I feel myself wanting to break out in tears. I must be mad. Why did I ever think it'll be fun to pay someone money to scare me?
I feel a presence coming up to me from behind and I immediately scream, much to the amusement of everyone else watching me. Strong arms come around my shoulders, in a weirdly familiar way, and I calm myself down. Knowing it's Zac, I relax and let him hold me. He bends down to my ear, his hands rubbing my upper arms up and down in a gentle manner and whispers, "shhh. Don't be scared, I'm here."
We stay this way for awhile, him holding me and whispering comforting words, forgetting that my brother and the rest of them are still very much in the vicinity until we hear a cough coming from one of the girls. Oops, I forgot, that only Ally and Cass knows about the weird situation between Zac and I. The other three guys must be confused with how it looks like.
I tap his hands to get him to release me, but he instead keeps one hand on my shoulder while he pulls me in to his side. Wayne looks at the both of us with a weird expression, before opening his mouth to ask, "you okay, Kel? It was your suggestion!"
"You laughed at me!" I narrow my eyes at him, causing him to laugh once again.
This time, I am the one to lead everyone else as I stomp my way to the snacks booth; frantically pointing at every single food I see to the employee. Food will help me forget about the scary episode, or so I hope. Carson and Drew hurriedly follow behind me, both of them snatching the snacks that I picked for myself. We end up buying a hill of chips and candies for all of us.
"I'm not gonna lie, that was the most fun I've had in a long time." Ally admits to Cass and I as we stroll behind the guys. We smile back at her.
"Well, I'm not going to lie either. That's the last time I'm ever going into a haunted house."
• • •
A/n: Chapter 2 of Come Back To Me has been published! Please, please, please give the book a chance if you don't mind.
Also, for some reason I keep feeling like writing a third book. But it seems unfair if I have to split up the little time I have to juggle three books at once. So, it seems like the solution would be to speed up my writing for IHMB! I apologize if I'm being a little slow on updating. Life hasn't been easy for me this year.