“Are you beautiful ladies busy tomorrow?” Ashton asked.
Ashton wasn’t a typical high school jock. Yes he was extremely popular, played for the varsity football team, very arrogant and vein and mostly very attractive. But he has this one quality that makes him so different from the other high school jocks; he befriends everyone. Whether you are considered a popular cheerleader or a complete geek, he will always try to make conversation with you. He was that one person in school you could never hate.
It was Thursday morning and Sophia and I were walking around the school to kill some time before homeroom.
“Nope. Why?” Sophia questioned.
“Well I’m throwing a party tomorrow because my parents are out of town and it’s starting to feel like summer so why not celebrate?” he smirked.
“That sounds fun,” I started. “But I won’t be able to-ouch!”
Sophia just nudged my side which now throbbing in pain. I glared at her as she continued to converse with Ashton about the party.
“Don’t listen to her. We’ll be there.” She grinned.
“Cool. I’ll see you ladies tomorrow.” And he walked down the hallway and disappeared into the crowd of students getting ready for first period.
“I am not going.”
“Oh yes you are.” Sophia said dragging me towards Evan’s locker. “Have some fun Kat.”
Evan looked up from his locker and had a horrified look on his face.
“You’re not encouraging her to have sex, are you?”
“No silly.” Sophia giggled. “I’m encouraging her to come to Ashton’s party tomorrow.”
I shook my head. I refused to go to this party. I would be forced to interact with people outside of school and socialize with them. Human interaction and I don’t mix. I would rather spend my Friday night watching my shows and taking care of my sick twin.
“Please Kat. I promise you it won’t be so bad.” Evan persuaded.
“Yes it is.” I said. “Remember you showed up at my house at like 3:00 in the morning with no clothes on except for your boxers and you were drunk?”
His cheeks flushed a rosy color as he sent a glare to me. Sophia was trying to hold in her laughter but she eventually cracked.
“That was so like three months ago.”
“Okay. But I’m still not going.”
“Not going where?”
I turned around and saw Brad and Chad behind us. Brad pulled Sophia into an embraced and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Kat won’t come to Ashton’s party.” Sophia pouted.
“Oh, she’s coming.” Chad said as he slung an arm over my shoulder. “We need to show her how to have a great time.”
I pried Chad’s arm off of me and stepped away a bit. That kid had a strong grip.
“I can have a great time in my room watching my shows and taking care of my sick twin.” I retorted.
“Just this once Kat.” Evan begged. “I’ll buy you whatever books you want if you come. You don’t even have to stay long.”
“Books you say?”
Evan nodded. His offered intrigued me. How could I refuse to free books?
So I agreed to go to Ashton’s party tomorrow.
………..
“Okay, Austin and Kat you’re up next.”
Today we spent the doing our last bonding assignment. We were performing another duet in front of the other pairs and Mr. Elliot. This time it was less nerve wracking because our performance was not planned last minute.
We were going to perform Mess We’ve Made by AJ Rafael and Tori Kelly.
Austin and I carried the keyboard from practice room and placed front and centre of the class. We decided to go acoustic again but this time with a keyboard instead of guitar. Our butts shared the same chair; our arms were side by side practically touching. His touch sent tingles through my body; a feeling that I will never get used to.
Once we were comfortably seated, I began playing the intro of the song. This was a sad song which required a lot of emotion when singing it. We somehow convinced ourselves that we were able to connect and put a lot of emotion into this song.
“I’ve been strong for long, I can handle everything” Austin sang. “Now that’s you’ve gone through that door, I can’t see anything”
His voice always made my skin break into goose bumps; he was amazing.
We sang the remaining verse and the chorus, harmonizing as the heartbreaking but beautiful words poured out of our months. I was putting in as much emotion as I can and I could tell Austin was doing the same.
“I was hoping that this would last, I guess I was wrong.” I carolled. “I planned out our future together but now it’s all gone.”
“Ohhhhh” Austin sang.
“Another mistake.”
“Ohhhhhhh” he sang again.
“We’re both to blame.”
We began to harmonize again.
“So let this come crashing down. There’s no way to fix it now. We’re lost in the crowd and our love will soon decay. Just look at the mess we’ve made.”
“We both know that we can’t-“
“Sorry but I can’t stay.”
I played the instrumental ending of the song. This song always got me so emotional. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes.
“Look at the mess we’ve…maade” we sang the last line together.
I don’t remember when this happened but as we sang that last line we locked gazes and looked into each other’s eyes deeply and dramatically. Of course, I lost myself in his eyes. No matter how I tried I couldn’t look away I just couldn’t. And it looked like Austin couldn’t do the same.
The rumble of applauses brought me back to reality and caused me avert my gaze from his beautiful brown orbs.
“Well Mr. Desmyn and Miss. Winters, I am very impressed with your performance. Your onstage chemistry was truly believable.” He paused and a sly smile formed on his lips. “Unless that wasn’t onstage chemistry at all?”
The class broke into ouus and small fits of laugher. I could feel my cheeks burn up so I lowered my head a bit. Austin was taken aback by his question but cleared his throat and answered.
“Just onstage chemistry sir.”
“Well the connection you two have built over the last four weeks is very impressive.”
Austin and I took the keyboard and brought it back to the practice room. We set it back the way we found it without a word spoken.
“We did pretty well, didn’t we?” he said, breaking the silence.
I stood up straight and leaned against the small wooden desk. Austin came and leaned on it as well. He was very close to me. Our arms were touching like how it was when we were sitting on the keyboard chair.
“We did amazing. We convinced Mr. Elliot that we had a thing going on.” I giggled.
“Aha yeah.” He said, his voice sounding a bit sad.
His face became cold and without saying a word, he went back into the class. What was his problem?
Did my words hurt him or something? Does he think that we have something going on? No of course he didn’t think that, why would he?
I let out a sigh and ran a hand through my hair. Why does this bother me? Why did seeing his cold handsome face make me feel upset? Or like it was my fault?
The real question that bothered me was, why did I feel upset when Austin said that our performance was just onstage chemistry? Why did I hope that he would’ve said our performance was not an act?
And that’s when I realized that I’m not going to fall for Austin because I already am; fast and hard.
………
-Friday After School-
“You look amazing Kat!” Sophia chirped as she set down her curling wand.
We were getting ready for Ashton’s party and she just finished dressing me up. My ombre hair fell to my mid back in perfect loose curls. Sophia somehow managed to get me to wear a dress as well. I was wearing a white sleeveless dress that hung loosely just above my knees, with white laced shoulders. A black ribbon was neatly wrapped around my torso and tied into a stunning black bow on the side of my dress. My necklace was clasped around my neck with the infinity sign pendant resting just below my collar bones.
“Thanks Soph.” I smiled at her through the reflection of my full body mirror.
My best friend also looked very stunning. She wore a black floral skin tight dress that stopped at her mid-thigh. Not a lot of people could pull off that kind of dress but she definitely had the body for it. The dress framed her curves and flat stomach perfectly. Her outfit was tied together with a pair of black opened toed wedges. Brad is definitely going to drool over her tonight
“Damn, since when did I have hot best friends?”
We turned around and saw Evan leaning against the doorframe with a smirk on his face. He wore khaki pants and a denim polo whose sleeves were rolled to his elbow.
“We can say the same thing about you.” I giggled.
“Anyways, you guys are riding with Brad right?” Evan asked.
“Yeah. Are you not coming with us?” Sophia asked as she packed her curling wand and other beauty supplies into her duffle bag.
“I’m meeting you guys there. I’m picking up Aliah.” He smiled.
Aliah has been his crush since freshman year. Whenever he tried to make a move on her she would be oblivious to it or turn him down. By the look on his face it looked like she didn’t turn him down.
“Ouu, be good to her.” Sophia said.
“Of course I will.” Evan responded. “I’ve got to go now but Brad said he’s coming in 5 minutes and he doesn’t want to wait for you guys.”
Evan waved goodbye and left the two of us in my room. I grabbed my overnight bag and packed it with my pyjamas, toothbrush and paste, hair brush and phone charger. Logan was working a nightshift so I was going to stay at Sophia’s house overnight. Kale was still sick but he didn’t mind being home alone in the house for the night.
“Come on let’s go.”
I slipped on my red vans, to Sophia dismay, and slung my overnight bag over my shoulder. I yelled goodbye to my twin as we went down the stairs and out the door. Brad’s car was parked in the driveway and from my distance I could make out two people in the front seat.
“You ladies look beautiful this evening.” Chad commented.
“Thanks.” Sophia and I coursed.
“Where’s Austin?” Sophia asked. “He’s not coming?”
“He said he’s meeting us there. He’s picking up some girl… I think her name’s Angela?” Brad said as he backed out of my drive way and started driving down my street and onto the main streets.
Austin’s bringing a girl? I tried not to let it bother. She was just girl, it’s not like she was his date, right?
Well who cares if she is his date tonight? I definitely don’t care.
I think. Feeling frustrated I leaned my head against the cool window. Brad, Sophia and Chad were having a conversation but I didn’t feel like joining it. I kept my gaze out the window until we arrived to the house.
The four of walked inside the two story house which was crowded with crazy, drunk teenagers dancing to the music that was blasting so loud you could hear from down the street. As walked through the crowd, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turn around and see Evan with Aliah.
“Hey guys.” I yell, hoping they could hear me over the loud music.
“Let’s go to the backyard.” Aliah yelled over the music.
Not wanting to strain my voice, I followed the two to the door of the backyard. A wave of fresh air hit my nostrils instantly and I felt all that anxiety I felt inside melt away. Not many people were outside but the ones that were, are sitting at tables and socializing and drinking beer.
“You look beautiful Kat.” Aliah commented as she pulled me into a hug.
I smiled and thanked her as I returned the embrace. Aliah was one of the sweetest girl at school and even though we had no classes together since freshman year and barely talked, I still consider her my friend.
“You too!” I smiled.
She wore high waisted maroon flow skirt that hung at her mid-thigh and a white crop top which showcased some of her flat stomach. She wore light brown boots that were a little bit above her ankles and her long brown hair was slightly wavy. She was absolutely gorgeous.
The three of us sat at an empty table and conversed about our lives. Of course, I didn’t have much to say since I didn’t really go out or do much with my life except accidentally reading for 11 hours or accidentally finishing a season of my shows in a night. After a while Brad and Sophia found us and joined our conversation.
“I finally found you guys.”
I turned in my seat and my eyes found Austin with his arm around some girl’s waist. I’m guessing she’s Angela. She wore a mint green romper with a pair of white converse. Her brunette hair was tied into a high ponytail and was slightly wavy too. She was really pretty.
Seeing his arm wrapped around her waist reminded me of the time we fell asleep on the couch and I found his arm wrapped around my waist when I woke up. The thought made my stomach feel weird so I pushed it away and forced a smile onto my face.
“Hey, I’m Angela.” She smiled at all of us.
“Angela that’s my best friend Brad, his girlfriend Sophia, Sophia’s best friend Evan, Evan’s date Aliah and my duet partner Kat.” Austin introduced.
“Well it’s nice to meet you guys. You ladies look absolutely stunning especially you Kat. I love your dress.”
At first I thought she was pretending to be nice because Austin was here but when I analyzed her facial expression and eyes, I could tell she was genuinely being nice. How can I hate her?
“Thanks. I love your outfit too.” I smiled.
Angela and Austin sat in the two empty chairs and we resumed to our conversation from earlier. Then we all went inside because they wanted to dance. I felt so awkward because all these people had a date and then there was me.
Just as I was about to go look for Chad, Aliah insisted that I stay and dance with them. But I declined. I knew Evan really wanted to be alone with her and I don’t want to stand in the way of that. I bid my ‘see you later’ and went looking for Chad, hoping I could chill with him.
As I made it through the crowds of dancing drunken teenager in search of Chad, someone pulled me out from the crowd and pinned me against the wall. A shriek escaped my lips and my heart was beating so fast. I gasped when I saw the person who was pinning to the wall.
Miguel.
“Miguel.” I said my voice sounding shaky and weak.
“Let’s dance.” He slurred.
He placed his hands on my hips which I slapped away. Hurt flashed through his eyes and in a blink of an eye it disappeared.
“Miguel, you’re drunk.” I said pushing myself away from him.
“You’re so pretty Katrina.” He said as he stroked my face.
Evan better buy me $50.00 worth of books. I slapped his hand away from me and tried making a run for it. Even though he was drunk, he was still faster than I was. He pinned me against the wall once again. His body was pressed against mine, our heads a few inches apart. His breath reeked of alcohol, the scent burning my eyes.
I squirmed under the weight of his body, trying to free myself. But he was obviously stronger and heavier than I could handle. I wanted to cry. I wanted someone to help me. He tried kissing my lips but I moved around as much as I could so his lips wouldn’t meet mine.
Then it all happened in a flash. He pushed himself off of me but before I could attempt to make a run for it again, he pushed me against the wall and slapped my face. Pain shot through my cheek as tears formed. I looked at this drunken bastard in fright. Before he could apologize, I kicked him where the sun didn’t shine and made a run for the front door.
As fast as I could, I pushed and shoved people out of my way afraid that Miguel was right behind. Tears were streaming down my face uncontrollably. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the pain or the fact that Miguel slapped me. Thank goodness I told Sophia not to put any makeup on me because if she did I would look like a scary clown.
As I pushed myself through the crowd, I accidentally bumped into a hard back.
“Can you watch where you’re going?” the voice sounded irritated.
I knew that voice instantly. It was Austin.
“Oh my gosh!” a feminine voice gasped. “Kat what’s wrong?”
I knew that was Angela.
Instead of answering, I continued my way through the crowd of people. I heard Angela and Austin yelling my name over the loud music. Once I finally made it outside the cool night air nipped at my skin which made me shiver a bit. I put a hand onto the cheek that Miguel slapped. He must’ve slapped it pretty hard if it was still throbbing in pain.
“Kat.” I turned around and saw Angela and Austin behind me, staring at me with concern.
“Y-your cheek.” Angela pointed. “It’s swollen.”
I lowered my head and started walking away. But a wave of dizziness crashed over me and I collapsed onto the rocky pavement. Austin and Angela were at my side instantly.
“We need to bring her home.” Angela said.
My eyes widened. If I go home looking like this Kale is going to freak out and murder Miguel. He can’t see me like this. I found that if I tried to speak I would start sobbing so I just shook my head violently which made me more dizzy.
“We’ll just bring her to my house okay?” Austin said.
Angela helped me off the ground and held onto me so as we walked to the car so I wouldn’t topple over. She helped me get into the backseat. Instead of sitting up straight, I was lying down with my head on Angela’s lap as Austin speeded down the streets. Sleepiness washed over me and my eyes were becoming harder to keep open.
Once I allowed sleep to come, the pain and dizziness vanished instantly.
A/N: So much happening in this chapter eh? Am I the only one who really hates Miguel right now? lol
Oh & how do you guys feel about Angela? Do you think she's just being nice because Austin is around or do you think she's just genuinely sweet and caring?
As for my new story, The Life of Mia Jeanine, if you haven't checked it out yet please do. I won't be uploading chapters so much until I'm finished 'The Duet'
Anyways, I'm starting to get a lot of homework for my classes so updates will be slower. Just so you all know, I do write parts of the each new chapter everyday so maybe by Thursday or Friday of every week I will update.
So until my next update remember to comment your thoughts/opinions/advice/critiques and to vote! (1 vote = 1 punch to Miguel's face.) <--- I'm kidding but don't forget to vote (;
-Melissa
p.s: The song Kat and Austin sing in this chapter is on the side. (: