I’m lost.
You must be thinking I’m lost after Parker and I broke up. I mean sure I am, I feel lost, sad, confused. But what I really meant is that I’m lost, literally lost. I have no idea where I am.
Yeah, a pretty typical situation I put myself in. Wanting to have the last word, I stormed away from Parker who tried to follow me but he either gave up or lost me. I didn’t want to go home, maybe because Parker might want to try to talk to me there or my parents would notice my gloomy mood and want to talk about it. I honestly wanted time to myself, to think to myself. So I put one foot in front of the other and started walking.
And now here I am, lost.
I’ve checked the map on my phone seeing I’m way off course. I’d have to take a couple buses to get back home, making me wish I didn’t waste the last of my money on a hot dog a street vendor was cooking. Well it wasn’t really a waste. I mean the hot dog sizzling on the pan, the smell coaxing and taunting me, made me buy it, but it was still delicious never the less. The last thing I wanted to do was call my parents to pick me up all the way here and get a lecture all the way back. Parker was out of the question. That’s when I thought about it, the guys. It would be too much trouble, and I doubt they would do it after all that had happened was for nothing.
I sat down on a bench and put my face in my hands, letting out a sigh. “All for nothing.”
And now I had no one. Again. Or maybe I never really had anyone, I didn’t even have myself. I didn’t know whether I should start a flood of tears or scream in frustration about me and my sad pathetic life which I made even sadder and more pathetic when I lost the guys. I just needed someone right now, I needed the guys. I don’t know what I would say or do when I see them, I don’t care what they would say or do when they see me. I just wanted to see them.
I turned on my phone and went to the Trace Ace app. I looked at the map of where I am and blinked. They were close, all three of them were just a few blocks away. I got up from the bench and followed the map as I walked down the street. When I arrived, I looked up from my phone to see it.
A bar.
Well, they’re my only chance for a ride home. But I knew that was only an excuse to see them again. I took a deep breath and walked towards the bar. I went up the steps and started to open the door when a hand suddenly slam shut. I looked up to see it was this huge guy wearing a black shirt and blue jeans, startled, his size made me back up a bit.
“Whaddyo think you’re doing?” He asked me, setting his beer down on the ground.
A bouncer, that’s what he must be.
“I never saw a bar with a bouncer before,” I commented to myself.
“Then you must have never been to a bar before,” he said, eyeing me suspiciously.
Well he got me there. “I have to go into the bar. My friends are in there.”
“Okay, let me see your ID, then.”
It took me by surprise. And I already knew I lost the chance to lie to him not that it would work anyway, I don’t have an ID yet.
“I-I don’t have one,” I said, hoping he would give me the some pity.
But instead, a creepy smile formed on his face. “Well, I guess we have a problem. You want to go into a bar, but you’re not old enough.”
“Can you please let me in? I swear it’ll be quick.”
“I could…” he mused, “if you’ll do something for me?”
“Name it.”
“Flash me.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Flash me.”
I laughed. “Please tell me you mean taking a picture.”
“If you want to take a picture of them, then go on ahead. Either one will give you a pass to the bar.”
I did my best holding my fake smile when I really wanted to knee the pervert right where the sun never, ever shines. But I knew I had to go into the bar. At the same time, I don’t want to flash the pervert just to go into a bar. When I give my first flash, I want it to be to someone special (note the sarcasm). It was then I knew I had to play a card. It wasn’t any card. It was the card. The Bennett card.
“My friend’s name is Bennett, Bennett Frazier. Ever heard of him?”
The bouncer’s eyebrows furrowed together. “Frazier, Bennett Frazier. Is he tall, dark, and emo?”
I frowned. “Well I wouldn’t say emo, he’s more-“
“Emo,” The guy interrupted. “But yeah, I know of him. Rich kid who always keep his cool, who thinks he’s better than everyone else.”
He does not.
“Well if you let me inside, I’ll have him give you a couple bucks.” Actually I didn’t know if Bennett will do that for me, but he doesn’t have to know that.
The bouncer took that in for consideration, but then he gave in with a sigh.
“Alright, you can go,” he said, as I fist pump the air, my flash virginity is saved. “But if you don’t do your part of the deal, you’ll be flashing more that the original offer.”
I grimaced at the thought. “Fine.”
He took a step to the side and held out his arm to the door, taking a small bow. I rolled my eyes and entered through the door. Already I was overpowered by the smell of sweat, alcohol and smoke. I coughed and waved my hand in front of my nose, trying to fan out the smell.
It was a small bar like the ones I see in the movies. There was music, but the TV blaring was louder than it. There were questionable people drinking alcohol around the place, playing darts, watching the game, and playing pool. People were talking with each other, either flirting with girls or talking game. As soon as I stepped into the room, I could feel eyes right on me. I didn’t make any eye contact, I just wanted to find the guys and go. That was when I saw them.
They were hanging out around a pool table next to the bar. Jordan was sitting on a stool while Declan was taking a sip of his drink as he leaned against the counter. The both of them were watching Bennett playing pool, pulling his cue stick back, about to shoot the ball.
I cleared my throat. “Hi.”
All three of their heads snapped to me. Jordan fell off his chair, crashing onto the ground and was left groaning. Declan did a spit take, spewing his drink in the air and started coughing. And Bennett at the last second missed the ball with his cue stick, letting out a sigh, he set his head on the pool table.
I held out my hand to Jordan and helped him up.
“Thank you,” he said before demanding making me jump in surprise, “What are you doing here?”
The music and talking suddenly stopped. Everyone stopped what they were doing, drinking and talking, and just stared at us.
Declan coughed and waved them off. “Don’t mind us. Go back doing what you’re doing.”
The music and talking started again.
He whispered to me with the same demanding tone, “What are you doing here?”
“I uh-“
“Nevermind that,” he said, “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Yeah, I kinda figured that out by now,” I said slowly.
“You use the app, didn’t you?” Declan asked me.
I held out my phone and waved it. “Ta da,” I said weakly.
Jordan looked back at the guys. “We better go now anyway. C’mon Bent, stop teasing the poor guy. You could’ve won ages ago. Just beat him already.”
Bennett sighed. “Fine.”
The guy who must be Bennett’s pool opponent frowned. “What do you mean by-”
Bennett had leaned himself back against the pool table on the opposite way he was at first shooting. Before the guy could finish his question, Bennett shot the ball. The white ball he was aiming at hit the wall before hitting the last three stripe balls, sinking each one of them. The guy’s mouth dropped not in amazement, but probably the thought of how Bennett was holding back on him.
Bennett straightened himself up, leaning against his cue stick. He looked at the guy and gave him a blank smile. “Good game.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the guy said, tossing his money onto the table before walking away.
I picked up a solid red ball. “What’s the use playing for money when you already have so much Bennett?”
“Oh, it’s not for the money,” he said, casually setting his cue stick on the table. “It’s just for the look on their faces when I win.”
“It is to me though,” Jordan said, grabbing the cash off the table before laughing. “Nah, I’m just kidding, here you go,” he said, tucking the money inside Bennett’s jacket pocket.
“All of it Jordan,” Bennett said calmly, making Jordan stop to a halt.
Jordan looked back at him and grinned mischievously. “Alright, alright, you got me.” He held out the rest of the money between two fingers.
Bennett strode past him and plucked the money out of his hand. He paused and looked back at us.
“Do you want to stay here all night or what?”
With that, the rest of us followed Bennett towards the bar exit. Bennett was the first to leave out the door. But then an arm suddenly blocked the doorway.
“Hey, hey, hey,” The bouncer said, stopping the four of us before we could leave out the door.
I winced, at the sound of his voice. I can’t believe I actually forgot about this.
“What?” Bennett asked coolly.
“Where’s my money?” The guy demanded, not to Bennett but to me.
Jordan frowned. “What money?”
The guy smirked. “She didn’t tell you, did she? She promised that the Frazier kid- which is you by the way-” he said, pointing at Bennett “-would give me some money for letting an underage kid into the bar.”
“And why should she?” Declan asked.
“Cause if she didn’t, she had to flash me. But since you guys obviously don’t have the money, I guess she’ll be showing more that she was hoping for,” said the sick pervert before he flashed a grin at me.
I looked back at the guys with reddened cheeks. But what I saw were twitching eyes, clenched fists and a forced smile.
“I’m sorry,” Jordan said. “I must be hard of hearing. But I thought for a second you actually said that Naomi was supposed to flash you.”
The bumper huffed. “You heard right. And if you want a piece, get back in line, I asked first.”
“No, I don’t want a piece,” Jordan said growling the word.
“We just wanted to know if we heard you right instead of mistaking you for say something else,” Declan explained, cracking his knuckles.
Bennett turned to me and tossed me the keys. “Naomi, how about you go ahead and start the car for me? We’ll catch up with you in a second.”
“I doubt it’ll really be a second,” I told them.
They all looked at me. Feeling the tense atmosphere, I turned on my heel and pressed the car button. Bennett’s car beeped slightly lighting up in the dark night, letting me walk towards it. I got into the car and sat in the passenger seat.
After sitting there awkwardly for a few minutes, I turned on the car and began to reach towards the radio. But just when my hand touched the dial, someone grabbed my hand. I looked up to see that it was Bennett.
“I will only say this once,” Bennett told me. “The driver-“
I heard the car doors from the backseats open and close as Declan and Jordan went in.
“-picks the music,” they finished in unison.
I nodded. “Okay, that makes sense.”
Bennett sat down on the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition to begin driving.
“Something tells me you want to talk to us about something important.”
I looked out the window, watching the cars and building blur by. “What makes you say that?”
He shrugged. “Well for one, the honor of your presence. Also, you could be talking to Parker-” I tensed at his name “-but here we are.”
“And it has to be really important for you to be stupid enough to walk into a bar,” Declan added, having me feel the glare from behind my car seat.
“Yeah I’m-“
“I don’t think I emphasize it enough how stupid it was for you to walk into that bar,” Declan said.
“I knew you guys were in there with the app,” I muttered.
“Even if,” Declan interjected.
“Don’t worry Naomi,” Jordan assured me, leaning back in his seat. “Him nagging you only means he cares, that we all do.”
I looked back at them and smiled. “I know.” Then I turned to Bennett. “Where are we going then?”
“A place to talk.”
Jordan leaned forward and said, “He means his place.”
-
“We broke up.”
If I’m going to tell them, I might as well cut to the chase. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, if I wanted anything to happen next. I just wanted to tell them. They were all quiet, deadly quiet for what felt like a long time. I was sitting at the middle of the couch, Declan to my left, Bennett to my right, and Jordan sitting on the coffee table in front of me.
Suddenly Jordan stood up and walked out of the living room. He came back a few seconds later carrying three medium ice cream containers with the flavors: strawberry, vanilla and chocolate.
“Which one do you want?” He asked me as he sat back down. “In my opinion, I prefer you have the vanilla. But really, it’s your-“
Before he could finish, I took all three of them out of his hands. Jordan held out a spoon to me which I took with a smile. Then I popped open all of the containers and alternated eating each one.
“You can’t seriously expect me to choose one,” I told him as I began to chow down.
Then Declan stood up and began walking out the door. All of us turned around to look at him.
“Where are you going?” I asked him between bites.
“No where,” he said as he grabbed a jacket off the coat hook, then he looked at the guys. “By the way, do you guys know any good places to hide a body?”
I choked on my ice cream. “What?” I demanded.
“Well there’s the dump, the river, the ocean…” Bennett began.
“And you can put it where they least expect it, inside a cemetery,” Jordan pointed out with a shrug.
“You’re kidding right?” I asked, looking at them. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“Yeah, sure,” Declan said.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Declan…”
“Alright, I won’t,” he said, hanging the coat back on its hook. He walked back to us and hopped onto the couch from the back. “But it’s tempting though.”
“Well stop being tempted,” I told him. “You won’t do anything to him.”
“Not even a little?” Jordan asked, holding out two fingers with a little space to it.
“No,” I said firmly. “Stop acting like hit men and expecting me to hold up his picture and say ‘he’s the target. Go fetch.’”
“Well you could,” Declan said with a shrug. “It’s not like we’re going to tell the cops on you.”
Jordan looked at him. “What little faith you have in us. You actually think we’re going to get caught?”
“Guys! Stop!” I sighed. “You guys are scaring me a bit.”
“We’re only kidding,” Jordan said with a laugh.
“Sure,” Declan said.
I glanced at Bennett who was quiet the entire conversation.
I took a bite of some ice cream. “I don’t want you guys to do anything. I don’t want anything to happen to him.”
“Then why are you telling us this?” Bennett asked, saying something at last.
“I don’t know,” I said quietly, looking down at my ice cream. “I just thought I needed someone to talk to. And to say I’m sorry for-“
“No, don’t say it. You don’t have to say anything, we know.”
“But-” Jordan cut me off when he popped a spoonful of vanilla ice cream into my mouth. When I ate the ice cream, I said, “Go ahead. You guys can say it.”
Declan blinked. “Say what?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.”
Jordan laughed. “That’ll be hard for him since that’s the only way he can play,” Jordan said which got a glare from Declan.
“What do you mean?” Bennett asked me.
“Just say it already. Just say I told you so. I earn it.”
Bennett sighed. “We’re not going to say that Naomi.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t hold back. Just do it.”
“We’re not going to do it,” Jordan said. “We’re not animals. Plus, you take the fun out of it if you admit it yourself.”
“Next time we will though,” Declan said.
“What little faith you have in me, thinking I’ll mess up again,” I told them, making them laugh. “But you guys are too good to me.”
“I don’t see a problem there,” Jordan said, pinching my cheek.
Declan then held out a tissue box in front of me. “Go ahead. You can do it.”
This time, I blinked. “Do what?”
“Don’t blame dumb with me.”
Jordan snorted. “That’ll be hard, she’s a nerd remember?”
“Nerd and proud,” I said confidently. “And what are you doing? Repeating the same conversation we just had.”
Jordan rolled his eyes. “He meant you can cry. Go ahead and cry.”
“Cry?” I repeated in disbelief. “Why do I need to cry for?
“You just broke up with someone. Now you can cry.”
“Stop it. I don’t want to cry.”
“Yes you do,” Jordan said. “You’re crying in here-” touching his chest “-but you can let it out now.”
I punched him on the chest slightly. “There’s no crying, there will be no crying.”
He pulled out a tissue and held it out to me. “Cry.”
“No.”
“Cry.”
“No.”
“Cry.”
“I’m going to make you cry.”
“Yeah? And how are you going to do that?”
I grabbed the vanilla ice cream tub and dumped it on top of his head. Jordan sat there, blinking stupidly, not doing anything.
“M-my hair,” Jordan stammered. “And the ice cream. Why the ice cream?”
“Well,” Bennett said, sitting back. “I guess we know she’s her old self again.”
“Dude, are you crying?” Declan asked.
“No,” Jordan said with a sniffle. “It’s the ice cream. I-I’m going to go to the bathroom now. Bent could-“
“Yeah, you can borrow a shirt,” Bennett said.
Jordan quickly got up and left to the bathroom.
“Was it really worth it?” Declan asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.
“I think so,” I said. “I mean, it was a waste of vanilla ice cream, but I was sure to eat enough of it. And the look on his face-“
“I don’t mean Jordan,” Declan said. “I meant you and Parker. Was it worth it?”
I scoffed to myself. “I think I really am going to cry.”
“I knew it!” Jordan’s voice called out. “
“I was just checking if you were listening in Jordan,” I called back.
There was a slight pause. “Liar!” He finally concluded.
I looked back at Declan and took a bite of some ice cream. “I thought about that, I thought about that a lot. And I still don’t know. Maybe no, I’m a bit hurt and it almost caused us our friendship. But at the same time yes, sure it may or may not have been real, but I felt it was real and it’s comforting to know I’m capable of feeling this human emotion-” making air quotations at that “-after all of these years.
“Aw c’mon, you’re capable,” Jordan said as he walked back to us, wearing a different shirt and drying his hair with a small towel. Now he had the faint smell of vanilla as if just used vanilla shampoo. “You love us don’t you?”
I smiled. “Yeah, I do.” They smiled back at me.
“So what now?” Bennett asked me.
“Well, whatever you want. We could order some pizza and-“
“No, I mean what now? What will happen Monday when we come back to school?”
“Oh.” I was quiet for a moment. “We’ll just have to go through the day. Together.”
“Alright then,” Bennett said as he took out his phone. “Let’s order a pizza and watch a movie.”
“Yeah, some cheesy comedy-romance movie filled with aw’s and tears, needing a tissue box at hand.”
“Why do you want to watch that?” I asked Jordan.
“For you.”
“You guys are something. The last thing I want is to watch something like that with you guys. Let’s watch something else.”
“What kind of pizza do you-”
“Everything,” we all said in unison.
“Ah pizza, the best comfort food,” Jordan said with a sigh as he plopped down on the couch. “You might not feel happy about to eat it or feel happy after eating it. But when you’re eating it, you feel so happy.”
“Pizza has always been there for me, through thick and thin.”
“You mean the crust, don’t you?”
“Yeah I am!” I said with a grin, giving Jordan a high five.
“The pizza will be coming in a few minutes,” Bennett told us. “Naomi, share some of that ice cream or you’ll spoil your appetite for the pizza.”
“Ice cream won’t spoil my appetite,” I said confidentially before taking another scoop of ice cream.
Declan grabbed my strawberry ice cream and started eating it for himself, leaving me the chocolate.
“We’ll see,” Bennett said before he looked at Jordan. “And there’s more ice cream in the freezer-” Jordan didn’t even wait for Bennett to finish, racing into the kitchen to get some more ice cream, hoping for vanilla.
“What will we be watching?” Declan asked as he started to flip through Netflix.
“A movie,” Bennett said.
“What kind of movie?”
“A good one.”
“What’s a good one?”
“Depends on the person.”
Declan sighed. “I give up.”
They started to argue back on forth on how Bennett can’t make a decent choice. Jordan came back from the kitchen eating a full container of ice cream only to find out its Neapolitan. Now the conversation steered to our different ice cream flavors and which one was best. I was happily eating my own favorite flavor as the three of them made good arguments backing up their favorite flavors. I couldn’t do anything but just laugh and eat their individual flavors in front of them, sometimes ticking them off and eating all three of them at once.
The pizza came and Bennett ended up being right, I felt sick on my second pizza. But I was alright when Bennett heated up some leftover soup he had for dinner last night. We all watched some comedy movie, laughing our asses off. Jordan literally laughed his ass off the couch when Declan’s face hurt for laughing to hard which made Jordan reply, ‘What face?’.
I didn’t know how much I missed the guys until the night we hanged out with. I missed the jokes, the laughs, the arguments, the fun, and most of all, I missed them. I guess you’d never really appreciate what you have until it’s gone. And they were gone, but I’d never want that to happen again. I never want to go through that again or go through anything without them again.
This time I’m holding on to them and I won’t let go.
Hello again.
Well then, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I forgot to mention this in the last chapter but I just reached 2 million reads! Yeah, I know! How did I forget to mention that? I have no idea.
Sorry no meme or video today, I’m not really in the mood for it right now. I’m pretty tired and I have to think about the next chapter, Monday for them, y’know? Wattpad change my book genre to teen fiction, but I rather have it humor. I miss the two genre/ category choices, because you get to mix and match, and just show the readers what the type of book it is on the spot. I miss it being adventure and chicklit, because it is, well, was.
Before I forget, a reader name suSpence64 private msg and told me this thing. At her school, they have this activity called “A Challenge a Day”. What is this challenge you say, well let me put it out of the way, so I can give you a say (I had to rhyme it, I just had to). She explained it to me how it’s a different way of standing up to bullying, not directly but indirectly. Each day there’s a new challenge like inviting someone new to sit with you during nutrition or lunch, giving five compliments, and so on. I’m really happy that she gave me this idea and I would like to spread the word. Direct standing up to bullying is rare like the said “Parkomi metaphor”, so how about we do a different approach of standing up to bullying indirectly. Slow but I bet an efficient process. I don’t know I can do it a day of course because I can’t write a chapter a day, so try doing this every day until I give you a new challenge, or make up your own and talk about your experiences in the comments below.
Let’s give it a try! And of course I’ll join in the fun! So let’s start something easy, five compliments to anyone who deserves it or needs it, make it brighten their day, give a smile on their face, whether you know them or not. If you guys have any ideas, feel free to comment them on this chapter and the others, it’ll be really helpful! Be sure to spread the word, tell people it’s this thing called “A Challenge a Day” and have them do it too, try getting classes, no, schools to do it. Do you guys want to stand up to bullying after reading this book for so long? Me too!
Also, this chapter is dedicated to suSpence64, she made a difference sharing this idea to me, and I hope you guys will do your part in making the difference too. I can actually see this thing go worldwide, make that dream a reality, I can count on you guys.
RubixCube89201