When Vivi and I walked in, heads turned and eyes followed us. I wasn't surprised because we are, after all, Markwell and Everett and Vivi looked like a model and she'd cleaned me up well too. I guess I should've felt flattered but I wished they wouldn't stare. I didn't like being the center of attention.
We spotted Dylan and walked over to him. He was talking to that cute guy we'd seen at the gas station when we were on the roadtrip.
"Dylan!" I said and hugged him.
I smiled at the cute guy. "Hey. Levi, right?"
"Yeah. Hi Chloe."
"Levi, this is Vivian Markwell. Vivi, this is Levi Carter, a friend of mine at André Academy," Dylan said. Cedric joined us just then and Dylan introduced him too.
"When is the damn dinner gonna start already, I'm starving," I complained. Levi laughed.
"You're always hungry," Vivi said, rolling her eyes.
"It'll start in about... five minutes," Levi said, looking at his Rolex.
Through the main doors came another family. I recognized the woman as Dr. Rose Eaton from the hospital. Beside her was Caleb and damn, he looked hot. He was wearing a black tux with a white shirt and a dark blue tie. His normally messy hair was swept back and damn he looked sexy as hell.
Every girl's eyes were on him. His eyes wandered and smiled when they landed on mine. He walked straight towards me and I swear my heart skipped a beat.
"Hi," he said, smiling.
"Hey."
"You look... beautiful," he said softly.
I blushed. "Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself."
Cedric cleared his throat loudly. "Hey there Caleb."
Caleb smiled at the others. "Hello Cedric, Vivian, Dylan and... I don't know you," he said, looking at Levi.
"Hey, I'm Levi Carter. I go to André."
"Oh. Hi."
"Um, Chloe? I think I should warn you-" Cedric was saying but I tuned out when I saw something that made my heart drop. Chace freaking Everett, walking towards me.
"Is that Chace?!" I exclaimed.
"Yea, that's kinda what I was telling you..." Cedric trailed off hesitantly, studying my expression.
There was a girl with him. He stopped in front of me, wearing his infamous smirk that so many girls had their heart broken over. It only aggravated me.
"Hello sister."
"Brother. What are you doing here?"
"College is off for a week or two. Aren't you happy to see me?"
"Thrilled," I said through gritted teeth.
"Good. Meet my girlfriend-"
"Your what?!"
Chace didn't date. He slept around a whole lot but he just never had the time to commit to an actual relationship. I guess this girl had changed that. Huh.
"My girlfriend, Vicky."
He knew I hated it when he called me Vicky. The girl held out her hand.
"Hey, I'm Carson Smith."
"Chloe Victoria Everett," I said, shaking her hand. She was wearing a sheer silver dress that ended mid-thigh and her white blond hair was straight and long. She had quite a bit of makeup on and was wearing really high stilettos.
Thankfully, everyone was asked to take their seats just then. Whoever drew up the seating plan had a sick sense of humour, because Cedric, his parents and I were at a table with Chace, Carson and my parents. I hadn't even known my parents were in town. I gave Aunt a 'you didn't warn me' glare and she shrugged apologetically.
"Chloe," my mother said. "We haven't had time to talk since we arrived-"
"I'm not surprised," I mumbled. Mother continued, ignoring me.
"Since we're all here, I think it would be better for you to stay with us while we're here."
"Nah, I don't think so," I said. Stay with them? Hell no. I've had enough of that for a lifetime.
"This isn't an option, Chloe. You don't get to choose," mother said sharply.
"Listen to your mother, Chloe," father said quietly. I raised an eyebrow at him. He hardly even talks to me.
"I'd rather not. Please don't make me," I said.
Mother sighed dramatically. "Evelyn, please convince her to stay with us."
Why was she dragging Aunt into this?
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Kendra? Moving her for a couple of weeks-"
"We are her parents, Evelyn. She needs to stay with us too."
I sighed and put my fork down.
"You know what? Fine. Fine, I'll come and live with you. I know you're only doing this for your reputation, but okay. You have been warned," I said.
"Chloe!" Mother said, looking scandalized.
"Yes, mother?" I asked sweetly. She just glared at me and went back to her food, fuming. Well, this was going to be fun.
I looked up and saw Caleb at the table opposite mine. The atmosphere there seemed to be completely different from mine. He was laughing at something his mother had said. And damn, he looked so good when he flashed those pearly whites. Suddenly he looked up and caught me watching him. I turned red and ducked my head, shoveling food into my mouth. When I looked up again, he was smirking at me. Damn it.
I raised an eyebrow at him and his smirk turned to a boyish grin. Oh lord, this boy would be death of me. His little sister tugged at his arm and he turned to her. So he was a family guy. That was so adorable.
I finished my dinner and looked around to see Adrian watching me. His expression suggested he'd seen the whole exchange between Caleb and I. Great. When I looked at him, he gave me a bitter smile and left the table. I watched as he walked to the back door, probably heading to the backyard.
I excused myself and got up. I went to the backyard and saw him sitting on the porch swing.
"Go back, your boyfriend's probably wondering where you are," he said without looking up.
I sighed and sat beside him. "He's not my boyfriend."
"Sure, whatever."
"How did you know it was me?"
"I'm in love with you, Chloe. I can recognize you blindfolded."
"It's my perfume, isn't it?"
"Fine, you win."
I chuckled. "I thought you moved on."
"What in the world made you think that?"
"You... you should move on. It's never gonna happen, Adrian. I've moved on, you should do the same."
He scoffed. "That's easy for you to say. You moved on the moment we broke up."
"That's not true. It took time. I just want to let you know that we may be friends, but we'll never date again. So it would be better for you to move on."
"You think I'm not trying?!" he exclaimed suddenly, startling me. "I'm fucking trying and it's not working!"
His eyes were watery and full of pain. I felt terrible.
"Adrian I am-"
"One more chance, Chloe. I know I fucked up, but I love you. Please-"
His face was dangerously close to mine and I found it strangely hard to breathe.
"Adrian-"
He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and his hand stayed there, cupping my face.
"Adrian, no-"
"Chloe..."
His minty breath washed over me as he brought his lips closer to mine.
"Chloe?"
I yelped and pushed Adrian away, jumping off the swing. I looked at Caleb, who was standing at the doorway, eyebrows raised.
"I- I... wow," he said, shaking his head.
"It's not what it looks like," I said.
"Yea, I'm sure it is. I just wanted to tell you I'm leaving. Sorry for interrupting," he said and left. I glared at Adrian and ran back inside. My brain was imploding with thoughts. Adrian almost kissed me. I almost kissed Adrian. Caleb saw us. Shit.
Everyone had finished eating and were just socializing. I hurried to Vivi, who looked at me in concern.
"Where were you? Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," she said.
"Where is Caleb? Where did he go?"
"I don't know, I think I saw him walk to the entrance with his family. Why?"
"I'll tell you later," I said and rushed to the entrance just in time to see Caleb enter his limo. Right before he got in though, he saw me. He just shook his head as the chauffeur shut his door and they sped away.
I couldn't believe it. Why was I so disappointed? Why did I even care? I shouldn't give a shit! I was so frustrated I just wanted to scream and pull my hair out.
"Hey, are you ok?"
I turned. It was Dylan.
"Oh. Hey. Yeah, I'm fine."
"No you're not."
"Thank you, captain obvious," I said and rolled my eyes.
"He'll come around," he said.
"What?"
"Caleb. Don't worry about him."
"What... what are you talking about?"
Dylan smiled. "I'm not dumb, Chloe. I know what this is about. Don't worry, I ship you too."
"What!"
"Yep. Hmm... Chloeb? Caloe? Ugh, it's hard to come up with ship names for people with such similar names."
"Are you serious right now?! It's never gonna happen, Dylan."
"And why not?"
"Look at him! He's perfect. He's hot and sexy and cute and he's a family guy and he's got an amazing smile and he's a good guy and I can never compare, with my dysfunctional family and craziness and mood swings and-"
"Wait wait wait, stop right there. Dysfunctional family?"
"Yea, you know how my family is, Dylan."
"Chloe, your family is Cedric and Mr. and Mrs. Everett, and I'm not talking about Kendra and Tobias Everett. Your family is also Vivi and George and Alexa and I. We are your family."
My eyes teared up and I hugged him. Suddenly, we heard a click and looked up to see Shannon taking a photo of us in her iPhone.
"Well, this gotta be interesting," she drawled.
"Shannon, what the hell?" I asked. Seriously, what's her problem?
"First you take Adrian, then Caleb and now Dylan? You want all the hot ones to yourself, don't you? Claim them and then throw them away."
"What the fuck are you even talking about?!" What kind of psycho was this girl?
"Shannon, leave her alone," Dylan said.
"Oh we'll see about that," she chirped and walked away. What the fuck?
"Great," I groaned. "Just what I need right now."
Dylan sighed. "Don't worry. What's the worst she could do?"
Oh we were just about to find out.