It's been a week since I found everything out, and also since I've been avoiding seeing Everett. More than being angry at the two of them, I felt more angry towards myself. I thought nothing would never happen between them, so now I just feel like an idiot after finding out. Also, I don't know how to face him and how I should act, so I just didn't make any efforts to go over the guys' place anymore, rejecting invites to go hang out over there.
Today is a slow day at work, and my ears perked up at the sound of the store front door opening. A scowl formed on my face when I saw who had just walked in.
Katherine walked up to the counter. "Hey, Nova," she said. "I'll take two iced coffees, please. I'll be sitting over there." She pointed to a table by the window and walked away.
After I made the drinks, I brought them over to her and set the cups down on the table. "Waiting for someone?" I asked.
"Sit," she said, gesturing to the seat across from her. I did, and she pushed one of the iced coffees to me. "For you. We need to talk, so I thought over coffee would be good."
I just glanced down at the coffee and back up at her. "What is it?" To be honest, I wasn't in the mood to talk to her. I'm still angry at her, so the sight of her is just irritating to me right now.
She sighed softly, stirring her coffee with the straw, the ice clinking around in the glass. "I've been thinking a lot since the other day, when you came by." When I didn't say anything, she continued. "I wanted to apologize to you. I should've told you about it, but I guess at the time, I didn't think it mattered. Peter and I made up a couple days after, so I guess I just wanted to forget about it."
I frowned. "That's not fair to Everett," I muttered. "You knew how he felt about you."
"I know," she said. "I hated myself for doing that to him. I just figured it would be easier to forget it, since he left for California." A look of regret formed on her face. "It was a mistake to not tell you. I'm sorry, Nova."
I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. "Thanks for apologizing," I said. "You also should apologize to Everett, you know."
She nodded. "I'll definitely do it when I see him next time!"
"Good," I said, nodding my head in satisfaction.
Katherine smiled as she stood up. "I should get going. I have a meeting with the wedding planner."
After work, I arrived back home and walked through the front door. My mom poked her head out of the kitchen. "Nova, you're back!" she said. "Ava's here to see you. I told her she could wait in your room."
"Thanks," I said and made my way up to my room.
I opened the door to find Ava laying on her stomach on my bed, scrolling on her phone. She looked up at me and smiled. "Hey!" she greeted. "How was work?"
Tossing my bag onto the chair near my desk, I flopped down onto the bed beside her. "Katherine came by to talk to me," I informed her. "She apologized to me."
"Wow, really?" Ava raised an eyebrow. "She's usually super stubborn when it comes to apologizing after you two get into fights."
"Maybe she realized how much of an ass she was being this time," I grumbled, grabbing a pillow and hugging it to my chest. "Anyway, what's up?"
Ava sat up, flipping her brown, curly hair over her shoulder. "Connor invited us to the band's place for a small get together. It's going to be us and some of their friends, just hanging out and stuff." She paused, pressing her lips together in thought before continuing. "Everett's going to be there, too, of course."
"Then-"
"No, you are going to go!" she exclaimed, already knowing what I was about to say. "You can't keep avoiding him forever." A sigh escaped her as she leaned back on her palms. "The two of you need to talk."
I picked at the lint of my blanket. Ava is right; I do have to talk to him at some point. There's no reason to keep dragging it out. "Alright, I'll go," I said. "At least there will be alcohol."
----------------------------
The band's home, which was about twenty minutes away, is a small, one story home. The paint on the sliding is chipped, the grass a little overgrown and a couple people stood on the front porch, smoking.
I stepped through the open front door, seeing people I didn't know in the living room, drinking. They all nodded their heads at me in acknowledgement and I did the same awkwardly.
"Nova!" Connor greeted me as he came out of one of the rooms off to the side of the living room. "It's great to see you!"
"Hey," I greeted, although my eyes were glancing around the room, trying to spot a certain someone. "I-Is Everett here already?"
Connor nodded. "Yup, he's hanging outside with the others. Come on!" He grabbed my hand and proceeded to lead me out to the back deck, where the rest of the band members were hanging out, as well as Everett, who had a beer in hand.
"Hey, Nova!" Harper greeted me, waving from her seat beside her girlfriend, Sarah, who shot me a kind smile.
I watched as Everett tensed up, not having noticed me until Harper spoke. He turned, our eyes locking together. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of him. I had almost forgotten how good-looking he is in the time I had been avoiding being around him. Almost.
Just as I felt myself starting to panic, Jason popped up beside me. "Hey," he said, smiling. "It's been a while."
I nodded my head. "Yeah, it has," I said. Glancing over at Everett, I saw that he had already turned his head away, resuming conversation with some guys who are friends with the band members. I frowned. Even though he has every right to be the one to ignore me now, I still couldn't help but feel a little hurt. I guess it's what I deserved.
"Do you want a drink?" Jason asked me as he walked over to one of the coolers they had.
I smiled. "I'd love one."
A little while later and after a few drinks more, I stood in the kitchen with a slight buzz with Jason, who had stated that he was getting hungry and decided to make the two of us some food.
"What're you making?" I asked, leaning on the counter.
"Kimchi fried rice," Jason told me. "I can't cook all that much, but this? I'm pretty much a master at making it! Especially after I've had a few drinks!" He laughed.
"Are you sure it's not because you drank that it tastes better than it really is?" Connor asked as he passed by.
Jason stuck his middle finger up at him, to which Connor just shot him one back as he stepped out to the back porch, sliding the door shut behind him. "That little prick," Jason grumbled and I laughed.
The aroma of fried rice soon filled the kitchen and I watched as he dumped the contents of the pan into a big bowl once he finished. "There we go!" he said, wiping his hands off. "Looks so damn good!"
I nodded, trying not to drool at the sight of the rice. "It does!" Jason scooped some rice into a smaller bowl, setting it down in front of me. I smiled. "Thanks!"
Just as I was about to dig in, an arm slung around my neck, startling me. "Hey," Ava greeted me, smiling. I blinked at her, growing nervous because even though she's smiling, I could feel the rage emanating from her.
"H-Hi," I said. "What's up?"
"Come with me, will you?" she said, dragging me from the kitchen and out to the front porch, where no one else was. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Well, I was just about to eat some delicious smelling kimchi fried rice until you so rudely dragged me away," I told her. After saying that though, I instantly regretted it as I could almost see the fire burn in her eyes.
"Did you forget the reason why I made you come here tonight?!" she exclaimed. "Have you spoken to Everett?"
"No..."
Ava sighed heavily, smacking her palm to her forehead. "Tonight you two were supposed to make up!" She shot a glare at me. "Instead, I come here to see you eat another man's cooking!"
"It's just fried rice!"
"Fried rice is not important right now!" she said. "Everett is!" I watched as she inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself. "Okay, you know what? Go eat your fried rice."
I pouted. "I'm sorry, I'll forget the rice!" I said. "Please, help me talk to him."
"Only if you do what I say!" I nodded my head eagerly and she laughed. "You're not as stubborn when you've had a few drinks. Alright, let's do this."
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Ava's idea involved me standing in a random dark closet that only contained a vacuum and some cleaning supplies. I wasn't able to turn on the light since the light bulb in the closet was burned out and therefore, did not light up anymore.
I tapped my foot anxiously as I waited. Being alone in the dark scared the crap out of me, but Ava promised to be quick, so I just had to deal with it.
Her big idea, you ask? It was to shove Everett and I in a closet together and hopefully we will be able to work things out. Normally, I would've been against the idea, but after a few more drinks, I became somewhat okay with the idea.
Muffled voices came from outside the door, getting more clear as they got closer. "Thanks for coming to help me look for my phone!" Ava was saying. "Luka would be super worried if I didn't answer any of his calls since he couldn't make it tonight!"
"No problem," Everett said to her.
"This door looks familiar!" At this point, I could tell they were just behind the door, so I braced myself for what was coming up next. Half of me wanted to stay still and wait, while the other half started to panic and debate on whether or not I should just burst out and pretend like I mistook the closet for a bathroom to avoid having to talk to Everett.
Before I could settle on a decision, the door opened and closed at the speed of light and I felt Everett''s body crash into me from the force of being pushed in. I stumbled backwards, my back slamming into the wall behind me.
"What the-" Everett began. I could hear him scrambling to try to feel for the doorknob and I stopped him.
"Wait!" I grabbed him and he stilled. "It's me."
"Nova?" he said. "What's going on?"
I laughed nervously. "You see, I wanted to talk to you, but I was kinda scared, and Ava came up with a plan to get the two of us alone. Which is why we are now standing in this dark, cramped closet. Isn't this funny?"
"A little...," he mumbled. "Before we get to talking though, how much have you had to drink?"
"Um... just the right amount!"
He sighed. "What am I going to do with you?" he said. I heard him shift himself to lean against the door. "Alright. What did you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to say sorry for avoiding you," I told him. "After everything you told me, I just needed some space. I didn't mean to make it seem like I didn't care."
He didn't say anything for a few moments, and just as I started getting worried, he sighed. "I thought you hated me," he said.
"What?" My eyes widened. "Why would you think that?"
"I kissed your sister," he said. "And it took so long for me to tell you about it."
"That is true," I muttered. "Okay, I am a little annoyed about that."
"I'm sorry, again," he said. "It wasn't something that I could easily tell you. If I had a brother and you kissed him, would you have told me?"
"I guess not," I muttered. "It would be awkward." I sighed. "I'm not really angry, Everett. It's just a little weird for me right now because whenever I'm going to see Katherine, I'm just going to remember it." A small smile formed on my lips. "Still, I'm glad you told me. Thanks, and I don't hate you."
"That's good, then," he said softly.
I felt his hand touch mine gently, slowly, waiting to see if I would pull away. When I didn't, he took my hand in his, squeezing my hand slightly. My heart leaped from how warm his hand is. "So, are you going to keep avoiding me?" he asked. "Can I see you again?"
"I-I won't avoid you anymore," I told him. I'm grateful for how dark it is, that way he can't see how red my face probably is right now. "I promise."
"Good. Now, can we get out of here? It's pretty stuffy in this small space."
I laughed. "I would like that!"
He opened the door and I squinted in the light from having been in the dark for so long. Still holding my hand, he led me out of the closet and shut the door.
In the hall, we were met by Connor, who was staring at us with wide eyes. "You two!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger at us before grinning. "Ya know, if you two needed a room, you could've just asked instead of using the closet!"
My face burned and Everett socked him on the back of the head. "We weren't doing what you think we were, idiot," he grumbled, although I could see a bit of pink on his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck and turned to face me. "It's getting late. Do you want to go home now?"
I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."