**Part One of a Triple Update**
"Was it really that bad?"
"Two words!" I exclaim, shoving fries into my mouth. Our friend group decided to meet for lunch to discuss how horrible my night went. "Garlic. Breath."
Maggie and Zayne make a face. The former playing with the sleeves of her boyfriend's hoodie. "That's unfortunate."
"So no post dinner fun?" Wes asks.
"No!" I slurp my milkshake. "I brushed my teeth for a solid ten minutes." I lost more than a few taste buds.
"Want to try again?" He asks. "I'm sure she'd be more than happy to."
"I'm good."
Wes and Graham look at me in shock. The latter pushing his glasses up. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but what the hell is wrong with you?"
"She's boring." I shrug. "She talked all about herself, has no aspirations in life and is kinda shallow."
"She's a girl." Wes says like I'm an idiot.
Maggie and Chloe punch him. "We're girls."
Wincing, he corrects himself. "A different type of girl than Freya. She's gifted and it's not in school." Almost the entire football team can agree with that statement.
"Pig." Chloe reaches across the table to hit him again.
"What now?" Maggie wonders, nibbling on a chicken tender.
"Who cares." Chloe sighs. "Can we talk about something else?"
Looking down at her, I raise a brow. "Did someone else not have a good night?"
"A certain itch not get scratched?" Wes props his elbow on the table.
"It was scratched just fine." She tears into her burger. "Just like I'm gonna do to your eyes in a second.
Wes makes a cat noise, scratching his nails at her. "Down, kitty cat."
"So, what should we talk about?" Graham asks. "Because we're only here to discuss garlic breath."
Holding my head in my hands, I'm ready to head out. Chloe fumbles for her words. "I-I don't know."
"Zayne had to hide under my bed last night." Maggie blurts out.
Oh, shit. "Now that's funny."
"Why?" Graham asks.
"Because we were cuddling, and he fell off my bed."
"A twin bed is too small for the both of us." He protests. "I moved an inch and bam, I was on the ground."
"I don't even remember the last time I saw a twin bed." I admit. I outgrew mine when I was ten.
"We get it, you're huge." Chloe waves me off. "But how did you end up under the bed?"
"My grandparents were asleep and after they heard the earthquake that shook the house," she sends a pointed look to Zayne. "Gramps wanted to check on me."
"So why did he hide?" Wes demands.
She sips her shake. "Because I snuck him in through the window."
Our jaws drops, a mix of shock and admiration washing over us. Our little goody two shoes isn't so good after all.
"Maggie, you're a lot more badass than I thought." Wes says, appraising her in a new light. Hell yeah, she is. I've never even snuck anyone inside the house. Granted the person responsible for me is 19 and not 60.
"We were finishing The Office." She shrugs. "If I watched it without him, Z would've pouted."
I cough to cover a laugh. "The things we do for Netflix and chill."
*****
An hour later, we leave the diner with full bellies. Stopping in the parking lot, I call out to Chloe. "Want a ride home?"
"Wes is going to–" She starts.
"Look, Graham lives further away and my mom wants me home in 15." Wes cuts in. "If pretty boy could help me out, it'd save me a grounding."
"Anything for you." I wink and he flips me off.
"But Graham lives closer to Sage." She argues.
"Bye, Chloe." Wes climbs into his car.
Raising a brow, I wait for Chloe to relent. After watching all of our friends drive off, she moves for my car. Buckling up, I head for her house, already knowing the path.
"I'm sorry your night sucked." She offers, breaking our silence.
"It's fine." I shrug. "Everyone has a horror story." Hopefully this is my only one.
Parking in front of her house, I tap my fingers against the steering wheel. "Well, here we are."
Going for the door, she hesitates. "Do... do you want to come in?"
Glancing between the front door and her, I gulp. "Sure."
Sending Scar a quick text, I follow her up the rickety front porch. Chloe shoves the key inside the lock. "It might not be very clean."
"Chloe, open the door." I smirk. Let's just rip the band-aid off.
Sighing, she opens the door and peaks her head in. After a second, she walks in and I follow her. Stopping, she swings her arms out. "Well, this is it. I'd offer up a tour, but you already know..."
Her voices dies out as I walk around. Trying not to snoop, I take in the subtle changes. The walls have been painted. The horrible carpet from the 80's has finally been replaced. Moving to the kitchen, I turn on the gas stove. Uncle John did a good job fixing this place up.
Realizing how weird I must look, I clear my throat. "The gas used to stall."
"Oh," is all she offers. A few more seconds of silent observation later, she coughs. "Do you want to go upstairs?"
Letting her lead the way, we end up in the front bedroom. I'm trying to remember what this room looked like, but when the door opens all I can say is "wow."
The walls are covered in pieces of paper. Images from magazines, pages torn from books with specific lines highlighted. If I wanted to know what color the wall is, I'd have to guess. "You want to travel?"
My eyes scan images of Paris, London, Tokyo and so many other places. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she blushes. "One day. That's the dream."
Nodding my head, I continue to take in new things. Everywhere I look, there's a new verse of words or picture to look at. "This is so cool."
"It's just paper." She hugs herself.
Just paper my ass, however, sensing that she doesn't want to discuss it any further, I drop the subject. Cracking my knuckles, I get an idea. "Coming Home is this week."
She rolls her eyes. "How can I forget? It's all Graham can talk about."
"He only mentioned it twice at lunch." That's a major improvement. "I'm a part of it." She nods. "And I sorta need a girl to be my escort. You know, smile pretty on my arm and whatnot."
"Very fancy." She mocks. "So who's gonna be your arm candy?"
"You."
Her smile falls. "What?"
This is going well. "You're the one who got me into this mess so it's only fair you partake in it with me."
"We'll be in front of people." She pales.
"Don't tell me Chloe Hale is crowd shy." I smirk.
"I'm not." She crosses her arms. "But I don't have anything to wear."
"So you have no clothes?" I raise a brow.
"None." Well, we'll just have to see about that. Opening up her closet door, I start to rummage through black and gray tops. "What are you doing?"
"Looking at all the clothes you don't have." I state the obvious, pulling out a red dress, I gasp. "You own color."
"Put that up." She demands and I tsk. "Sage."
"Hold on." I dig deeper. Just when I think she's done, a weight appears on my back. Arms reach over my shoulders as she tries to stop me. "You're being dramatic."
"You're being an ass." She hisses, accidentally hitting my nose.
Ignoring the pain, I find exactly what I'm looking for. "Wear this."
Grabbing the black, velvet dress, I study it in the light. Chloe stills, "I forgot I had that."
"It's pretty." I offer. "And you'd look pretty in it."
"Fine." She grumbles, no longer trying to rip my eyes out.
Hanging the dress up, I move over to the bed pressed against the wall and plop down. "What now?"
Her breath tickles my neck as she crawls out from behind me. "I don't have much to do."
"We could watch Netflix."
"My laptop is downstairs." She goes to get up and I grab her arm.
"I have my phone." Opening up the app, I scroll through the movies. "What are you in the mood for? My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The Adams Family. The Bee Movie."
"I've never seen the first one." She says. "Is it funny?"
"I think so." The family sorta reminds me of my own. "Let's watch it."
Grabbing the blanket, I go to lay down, but she takes it back. "My bed is too small."
"No, it isn't."
"Yes, it i–" Pulling her down, I lay on my side.
Fluffing the pillow behind us and pulling the blanket tight, I offer an AirPod to her. "Now can we watch?"
Silently, she nods, and I press play.
*****
An hour and a half later, I've heard Chloe laugh more than ever before. As the credits roll, she turns around and hands my AirPod back. "That was funny."
"It's one of my favorites." I admit. "There's a second one."
"Don't you have to go home?" She yawns.
Checking the time, I frown. Damn Clay and our stupid watch party. "Soon."
"I've never seen your face so close." Chloe observes. "Your eyes look like chocolate."
They aren't anything special. Chuckling, I study her face. Not to see what she's thinking but to just study it. Her skin looks like toffee. "I don't know what's darker, your hair or your eyes."
"My eyes, you can't even see my pupils."
Running a strand of hair between my fingers, I purse my lips. Pressing my forehead against hers, I zero in on her eyes, our lashes touching. "No, I can see them."
"Thank God." She snarks.
My phone buzzes with a text that I'm sure is Scar asking where I am, I frown. "I should go."
Nodding, Chloe goes to move but I hold her in place. A few more seconds wouldn't hurt. "I can see this window from the street."
"That, you can."
Nodding towards the window directly opposite from her bed, I smirk. "So, if I show up later and toss pebbles at your window will you let me in?"
Twisting to study the window, she scoffs. "Your giant ass is fitting through my window?"
"It's the thought that counts." I argue, leaning in to whisper in her ear.
Her head whips back around and our noses bump. Chloe bites her lip and my eyes track the movement. I've never noticed how soft they look. Brushing my nose against hers again, I move my hand to her waist.
"Sage." She breathes. A question. An answer. Before I can make a decision, the door opens.
"Where the fuck have you been?"
Chloe jumps up, hitting my head in the process. "Zoe."
Rubbing my face, I unfold myself from the bed. A woman who looks strikingly similar to Chloe snarls down at me, sucking on a cigarette. "You have a new one?"
"He's a friend." Chloe snaps, grabbing my arm. "And he's leaving."
As I'm dragged for the stairs, I offer a wave that the woman doesn't return. So much for making a good first impression.
Chloe doesn't stop moving until we're by my car. Running her fingers through her hair, she groans. "I'm sorry about her."
"Sister?"
"No, that is the woman who birthed me." She snaps almost as aggressively as she did inside.
"So, your mom." Damn, how old was she when she had her? 15?
"No, she's Zoe." A woman named Zoe who named her kid Chloe.
Chloe's hand shakes and I steady her. "Hey, do you want to come with me? Scarlett ordered wings and pizza."
What I genuinely think is tears well up in her eyes, but she shakes her head. "I can't, Gigantor. I'll see you Monday."
Looking up at the window, I notice we have an audience. Biting my tongue, I try to hug her, and she jumps back. Trying to not be offended, I open my door. "Bye, Chlo-bear."
Driving home, I want to scream. What the hell did I almost do?
*****
All weekend, I try to distract myself. Clay won the Heisman and my family partied like no other. I had brunch at Uncle John's and spent time with my favorite kids. I even did my history homework with the hops of it distracting me.
However, it is now Monday morning and I have one question I still can't properly answer. Do I want to kiss Chloe Hale?
That would be wrong. She was horrible to me when we first met. An absolute bitch. She called me names. Insulted my intelligence. Made me feel bad. But, since then, she's also helped me through more than I'd ever care to admit. She's apologized for everything she said and did. She's become one of my best friends.
That's what makes it even worse.
She's my friend. I already know how that goes. Badly.
"Why do you look constipated?' Silver asks from the backseat.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I glare at him through the rearview mirror. "I'm not."
"Are you sure?" Sterling questions. "Because there's pills for that."
"Get out." I order, unlocking my car.
"But we want to listen to music." They protest.
"Tough shit." I pocket the keys.
"Shit." Silver snickers, grabbing his bag as I get out. Slapping the back of his head, I reach for the bagel I have saved.
Moving through the halls, I stop and watch Chloe rummage through her bag. Here goes nothing. Walking up, I hold the food over her face. "Morning."
"Morning." She offers dully, zipping her bag up.
"Breakfast." I shake the bagel.
Taking it, she offers me a blank glance. "Thanks."
Hurrying to catch up with her, I panic. I've only seen her like this once and she ended up sleeping in Mel's room during lunch. "You okay?"
"Fine." She offers tightly. Not believing a word she says, I try to hug her. Like a wild animal, she jumps back. "I have to print something out."
As she runs off, I lean against the wall. Sage Rhodes, you really know how to fuck things up.
"Pretty boy, just the guy I'm looking for!" Wes shouts, eagerly rubbing his hands together.
"What do you want?" I demand, rubbing my face.
"I got you a date." He says. "And before you ask, this girl is a little more genuine."
He knows those types of girls? "Who?"
"Sasha Clemons."
"The cheerleader?" I clarify, knowing exactly who he's talking about.
"Yeah." He slaps my chest. "So you in?"
Considering her and the shit show I've created with Chloe, I shrug. "Yeah, I guess."
"Good, this will be better." He decides, staring off into the distance like he can see the future. "Take her somewhere other than Olive Garden."
"But breadsticks."
"You're trying to woo her, not bloat her." He says as the bell rings.
Shaking my head, I head for class. So much for dating being easy.
*****
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