《Look what you made me do, I'm with somebody new;
Ooh, baby, baby, I'm dancing with a stranger.
Dancing with a Stranger - Sam Smith》
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I was drinking with the girls when someone whispered down my ear, "Hey, gorgeous." I see the girls gawking behind me, going wow, hopefully, a good sign. I slowly turned around and had to catch myself from dropping my jaw on the floor. He was tall and handsome with hazel eyes to match his chocolate brown hair with his perfect kissable lips. He wore black jeans and a very fit white shirt with a leather jacket.
"Hey," I smiled at him.
"Are you done checking me out?" Instantly, my face went red with embarrassment, "I..."
"Don't worry; I was checking you out as well." He said, winking at me. And holy-shit did he had dimples.
"Hi, my name is Travis. "He continued.
"I'm Rachel."
"I haven't seen you in Greenhill; which school do you go to? "
Does this club belong to Greenhill? I giggled lightly at my inner joke "I'm a senior in Trinity high."
"Wow, this just got better."
"What?" I asked in confusion when Travis took the drink out of my hand and offered his hand to me. "I love this fucking song. Dance with me, Rachel." I didn't move at first and he said again, "Come on. Let's go." and Sam and Chloe nodded at me.
What the hell. Why not?
He leads me onto the dance floor with his hand resting on my lower back. Lights on the dance floor flashed around us as he wrapped his arms around me, and I placed mine around his neck trying my best to forget the fact that Lucas was somewhere here dancing with Tiffany.
Ughh...I hated her so much
We danced to the slow music and Travis maintained his distance from me and I must say I'm impressed. I look around us and that's when I saw, leaving Tiffany on the dance floor, Lucas pushed through the mass that had gathered around us, and before I could realize it, Lucas balled his hand into a fist, standing between us. "You ready to go, Grace?"
I pressed my hand on his stomach and pushed him to the side. "I'm dancing, Lucas." Didn't he just leave me alone to go and dance with Tiffany?
"It's getting late, come on." He said, pulling my arms.
"Can't you see that you're interrupting us?" I smiled at Travis without glancing at Lucas.
"You were the one who pushed him away, remember? Stop being a bitch now and leave with Lucas." My mind said but today I wasn't going to listen to it. Bitch or not.
"Do you even know this guy?" Lucas asked, frustratedly maybe even inwardly face-palming himself.
I smiled even wider. "This is Travis."
Travis extended his hand. "Nice to meet you. "
But Lucas couldn't take his eyes off me, which I saw from the corner of my eyes, while I kept staring at Travis. Lucas then waved his hands at me, waiting for me to remember he was standing there.
"Travis, this is Lucas." I made my voice come out intentionally less enthusiastically at his introduction, which just pissed him off more.
Lucas glared down at Travis, and then at his hand. "Lucas James." His voice was low and menacing.
Travis's eyes widened in amusement, and he pulled back his hand. "Lucas James, as in the quarterback of Trinity?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Nothing. Just watch out for your position in the team, man." Travis said, smirking.
Lucas's eyes narrowed, and his teeth clenched. "What do you mean? "
"You'll see." Travis laughed once, his eyes darting back and forth between us.
Then he smiled at me and walked away, waving at me. "I'll see you around Pretty face."
"Are you ready now?" Lucas snapped.
"You are so mean, you know that, right?"
"I've been called worse." He said, walking away, and I followed him.
With a loud whistle, he signaled Matt, who saw his expression and immediately knew that it was time to leave. Lucas used his shoulder to cut through the crowd, shamelessly knocking over a few innocent people, until Matt and the others headed us and took over for him. Sam and Matt were holding hands. Chloe and Tyler were behind them.
Once outside, Lucas took my hand, but I jerked it away and turned to walk away towards his car. My body froze when I felt his low, penetrating voice vibrating against the nape of my neck.
"Do you fucking like him?"
Turning around slowly to meet Lucas's indescribable stare, I whispered, "I don't know. We just met."
"Doesn't seem like you don't. Wasn't that why you ditched me on the dance floor or maybe you're just flattered, cause you caught the attention of someone for once in your whole life?"
Did he seriously just say that?
"Are you jealous?"
"Was I supposed to get jealous?" He chuckled with no sense of humor in his voice.
"I don't know. You tell me, Lucas."
"So, you agree with the fact that you wanted to make me jealous. Tell me, Grace, were you jealous when I picked someone else over you, or do you have a teeny tiny crush on me?" Now he was blatantly being an asshole. I wanted to slap him but instead, I walked away from him, shaking my head disappointedly.
"Fuck..." he grumbled behind me and grabbed my hand, turning me around to come face to face with him. "I'm sorry okay. I'm sorry that I kissed your neck. I shouldn't have done that. You smelled so good that it was intoxicating and I was drunk and I couldn't control myself. I'm sorry."
"There were people from our school in the club, Lucas. They're already spreading rumors about us. What do you think will happen when they will see us like this. It'll only get worse. That's why I asked you to keep our distance."
"You never cared about the world before. Why now?" He asked softly.
Because I realized that the closer I'm to you the harder I'm falling for you and I can't keep getting hurt in this unrequited love.
"Because I don't want anyone to think that we're together," I said with a straight face.
He shook his head as if stunned by what I said. Immediately he spat on my face. "You really hate the idea of being with me so much! We're together the whole fucking day, we sleep in the same bed most of the nights, but now you don't wanna be seen with me!"
"I came here with you."
"I have never treated you with anything but respect, Grace. For god sake, you're my best friend."
"No, you just treat me like your property. You had no right to run Travis off like that!" I said.
"I have every right. Don't you forget that I'm your best friend." He glared.
"Exactly best friend, not my boyfriend. I don't interrupt your dating life, so neither should you. And Rebecca told me that you asked the boys at school to stay away from me. Why would you do that?" I said, lashing out in anger.
"Boys at school are assholes, Grace. They don't deserve you?"
"Well, then I can be with Travis right. He's not from our school, and he's nice."
"Do you even know him to defend him like that?"
I shook my head.
"Well, I know those kinds of guys very well. He wanted nothing other than getting into your pants." He spatted.
"Sounds like someone I know," I whispered.
"First, I'm nothing like that because I don't go to them, they come to me. And second, that guy there wanted nothing other than to sleep with you."
I let out an exaggerated sigh and spat bitterly, "So you are saying that no-one could ever like me for me other than wanting to sleep with me."
"Oh God, No, Grace, I didn't mean that. And you know it very well."
"But you just sa..."
"I meant that you are gorgeous and stunning and so beautifully perfect that every second guy would want to sleep with you. But you don't deserve that, you deserve better and I just want to protect you until you find the right guy."
I couldn't understand if I was supposed to be angry at his confession because he wants to find the right guy for me or be happy about the fact that he just called me beautiful when he speaks again, "I'm sorry for saying all those things to you just now. I didn't mean any of it." Did he just apologize? What was I supposed to do with these overwhelming feelings in my chest? So I just apologize to him in return, "And I'm sorry for fighting with you like that."
"And I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable, it won't happen again." He said caressing my cheeks.
"It's okay, it wasn't wholly your fault." I whispered the last part as he takes my hand in his, "Now, let's go home, or your Mom would kill me." And we drive back home.
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4th August 2014
Dear Lucas,
We fought for the first time in the last eight years, and it hurts like a bitch. Maybe it was my fault, but what can I do, when I'm wholly and absolutely in love with you.
I never wanted my feelings to come in the way of our friendship since I realized my love for you in my sophomore year.
Today I heard about the rumors of us being together and sleeping together. I asked you to stay away because a part of me expected you to leave your old lifestyle, behind. A part of me hoped that maybe you'd just confirm those rumors and accept the fact that we're meant to be together. But I was so wrong, and you confirmed that by saying that you're waiting for the right guy for me.
So I've decided to keep my distance from you until my feelings for you lay off, and we can continue being best friends. I know it'll be hard, but I'll try my best for the sake of our friendship.
Yours lovingly,
Rachel
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Mission stay-away-from-Lucas starts tomorrow, with that thought in mind, I go to sleep.
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