The next day I couldn't wait for the evening to come. To make use of the hours I still had left, I reached for my dad's copy of Crime and Punishment and read the few chapter I had left.
After I finished I came downstairs and ate dinner while watching some meaningless show. My mom has already gone to work so I had the whole house to myself. My phone vibrated and I figured I must've gotten a message from Gina because who else could I get a message from. She sent me the address of Laura's house and the hour I should come. I looked up the address and saw her house was on the other end of Bel Air. It wasn't far, like ten minutes on a bike. The party was supposed to start at eight and it already was four, so I had a little over three hours to get my shit together. I took a shower, washed my hair and put some makeup on just to enhance my big blue eyes.
I stood in front of my wardrobe thinking of what should I wear. I wanted to make a good first impression. The idea of showing up in black skinny jeans and a plain white t-shirt seemed very tempting but I decided not to follow through with it. The weather was nice so I chose shorts, a gray shirt with Nirvana written across and black shoes.
I took a quick look at myself in the mirror. I tied my long brown hair in a high ponytail, though I considered leaving it loose. I grabbed my phone, wallet and keys and put them in my bag. I went out to the garage to get my bike. I noticed the tires got bald and I would have to change them soon. I wanted to keep the bike in a good shape since my dad gave it to me as a gift before he passed away.
The part of Bel Air in which Laura lived seemed to be richer than others. Lawns were perfectly trimmed and on each side of the road and small flower constructions were placed near every pedestrian crossing. This neighborhood was more secluded than mine, it was right by the border of the city. Also, on Laura's street there were only five other houses and they looked really expensive to the point where it was kinda overwhelming.
I texted Gina that I was right outside and asked her to come for me. She got to after a moment; her hair and shorts were wet and she had a bikini top on.
"Sorry, I didn't see your message. I was in the pool," Gina brushed and twisted her hair.
"Yeah, I can see that," I laughed.
"We have to come back quickly, otherwise they'll drink all the booze."
I nodded and followed her to the pool she said was in the back garden. We were walking by the side of the house and I had to admit it was stunning. Every single detail of the exterior was taken care of.
Gina lead me to her friends who all were sitting by an unlit bonfire.
"Guys, this is Becky, Becky this is guys," Gina interrupted the chatter of her friends and gestured that I sat next to her.
"Hi. It's nice to meet you all," I said and waved my hand. They looked mostly unbothered by my presence.
A girl with a ton of blonde curls turned to me. "I'm Laura," she said with the biggest smile I've ever seen on a person and stretched her hand to me.
"Hi," I reciprocated. "You have a really beautiful house."
"Thanks. If I had a dollar each time I heard someone say it I'd have a fortune."
"Half of it," said a guy sitting across from us. He had light brown hair and also was wearing a band shirt. There was a blonde girl sitting on his lap.
"What?" Laura asked.
"It's my house too."
"Are you siblings?" I asked even though the answer seemed obvious.
"Don't we look alike?" he scoffed.
I didn't notice it at first but when he mentioned it I started to see it. Their parents had to have really god genes.
"So, do you really listen to Nirvana or you're just another basic bitch?" he asked.
My eyes opened wide. I couldn't believe the words I heard. "Well, are you an asshole? Because you act like one," the words leave my mouth before I can think.
He smirked.
"Ignore him, we all do," Laura poked my arm.
"Wow Gina, you did a great job at introducing us," said the other boy with black hair. He was quite handsome. "I'm Nate," he continued."This is Asshole," he pointed at Laura's brother.
I lowered my head and laughed.
"I'm Sebastian," he said with a mocking voice.
Such a pretty name for such a rude person.
"And I'm Alice, by the way," said the girl sitting on Sebastian's lap. "Let's lighten up the mood, shall we?" she said and emptied a bottle of vodka. She put it in on the table and started spinning it. "Sebastian and Laura, ew. We don't want incest, do we?" She smirked. "Let's try again."
This time the bottle pointed at Nate and Alice. I mean, I knew how to play this game but I didn't know if they played it by the rules. I could expect anything.
Sebastian looked at Alice and squinted. She shook her head, shrugged and came closer to Nate. Then they started to kiss and it wasn't nice to watch. I mean, they were placing their hands all over each other. It looked more like foreplay than just a kiss.
"That was fun," Alice commented after they finally moved away. She leaned to Sebastian and gave him a quick kiss. "Again."
I watched the bottle carefully and when it stopped I looked at Gina and she looked back at me.
"Your turn," she whispered.
I looked at whom the other end landed and I felt my stomach tighten when I saw it was Sebastian. I glanced at Alice and she had a smirk on her face. Up until that point I didn't feel any good vibes from her.
I felt shivers going through my whole body when I saw Sebastian slowly lifting himself from the sofa he was sitting on.
"You want me to kneel in front of you, cause I ain't proposing," he said.
At that moment I felt that I looked like a fucking tomato. I knew that if I didn't want to be a coward I had to do it. I stood in front of him and sighed. I leaned forward to kiss him and end it quickly.
"No, I changed my mind," he said as my lips nearly touched his. Sebastian then suddenly stepped back and returned to his seat. I stood there confused, I knew everyone was staring at me. I was certain that I looked stupid but I decided to turn this situation around.
"Well, you don't know what you lost," I said as confident as I could.
I saw Sebastian lick and rub his lip with his finger. I felt heat replacing the shivers and all of the sudden a tingling sensation went through my fingers.
I realized I was still standing, so I quickly sat down and the game continued. Thankfully I didn't get picked again. I could feel Sebastian's intense gaze. It was almost like he was piercing through my soul.
The game lasted for a few more rounds and then Alice claimed that she got bored and that she wanted to swim topless in the pool. When she said that, I decided I've had enough attractions for a day and went inside to get something to eat. I mean, I could've stayed there, it was already getting dark outside, but the thought of being anywhere near Alice's boobs just made me uncomfortable.
The terrace door led straight to the kitchen which was so big it could have easily been a very small apartment. It was all white with marble counter tops, of course. On one of them lied a pack of chips which I decided to take with me on the house tour. This place was so big that I wasn't surprised if I got lost.
I decided to go upstairs first because I knew there would be no one there. I stood in front of a long hallway that probably led to all the bedrooms and maybe offices. I mean, of course they had offices, rich people always have them.
I suddenly felt the need to go to the toilet but finding a bathroom seemed like a challenge. I didn't have many other options to choose from so I decided to just open the doors one by one hoping that behind one of them would be the room I was looking for. Unfortunately for me, it looked like there was none so I figured that each bedroom had its own. I went through the door in front of me. I didn't have time to turn on the light and look around to see whose room it was. I literally sprinted to the bathroom, dropping a bag of chips and nearly tripping over the bed. I clenched my jaw because I hit my tibia so much that I already could feel the bruise.
After a moment I went out of the bathroom and felt that something was wrong. The light in the room was on but I specifically remembered not turning it on. My heart dropped when I suddenly saw Sebastian sitting in a big chair in the corner, eating chips.
"What the fuck!" I gasped and grabbed my chest.
"You're the one in my room. I should be asking questions," he said as he got up and went closer to me.
"I was just looking for a bathroom and I couldn't find one so..." I stuttered. "Did you follow me?" I asked after a moment of silence.
He laughed. "Don't flatter yourself. I saw a little bit of light when you turned the bathroom light on so I came to see what happened," Sebastian shrugged.
"Oh," I whispered and lowered my head.
"Okay, just forget it," he said as he went to one of his drawers and pulled out a bottle full of liquor. "Catch!" he threw it my way and thank God my reflexes responded in time and I caught it.
"Are you stupid?" I yelled.
"According to you, I'm actually an asshole."
I couldn't help it and I chuckled even though I was still angry. He sat on his bed and I sat next to him.
"So," he continued. "since we're both trapped here th-"
"What?"I frowned.
"My sister decided to also swim topless and you know, I don't want to see my sisters' boobs." Sebastian shook his whole body. "I assume you don't want either, unless you're into these things."
"I'm most definitely not."
"Good,because I want to kiss you." I looked at him with a 'what' expression on my face.
"Oh come on, I want to see what I missed," he teased.
"Sorry, the offer is already expired," I put my hand in the air to make sure that he kept his distance.
"It's about Alice?" He asked and took a big sip out of the bottle.
"And now you're flattering yourself," I rolled my eyes and laughed.
"We're not together... She's just friendly."
"Yeah, very friendly," I looked at him unambiguously. "You're kidding. She literally kissed you right after she finished her foreplay with Nate."
"We're very close," he explained taking another sip.
"Do I even wanna know what it means? You know what, don't tell me. I liked those chips and I'd prefer them to be in my stomach rather than on your floor."
Sebastian laughed and handed me the bottle. I followed in his footsteps and also drank some.
"This one is disgusting," I said after the alcohol got down my throat and left a bitter aftertaste.
"Then it means it's good."
"No, it means it's disgusting."
"You really don't know your liquor," he shrugged. "At least your music taste isn't total shit," he pointed at my shirt.
"Oh, yeah? Well, what you said to me, in the beginning, wasn't nice, you realize?"
"What you're gonna do? Cry?"
I wanted to punch him in that stupid face... Stupidly handsome face.Ugh.
He brushed his hair back and leaned closer to me, putting the bottle on the bedside table and the other hand on the pillow behind me.
"You really want to kiss me, don't you?" Sebastian panted and ran his fingers up my arm. I got the goosebumps.
I didn't answer. I just started breathing heavily. Yet again I felt the heat going through my body. I looked at his lips and into his eyes. We were just millimetres away from each other when he suddenly stepped back.
"I think we should get back," he whispered.
I tried to collect myself and I agreed even though I wasn't sure whether that was what I really wanted.
We went out of his bedroom but I made sure to take the bag of chips with me.
As we were walking downstairs Sebastian said that he had to come back to his room and that he'd join us in a moment. By the time I got to the garden Alice and Laura thankfully managed to put on their shirts.
"What took you so long?" Gina poked my arm.
"I...I was just looking for a bathroom," I explained. "Did I miss something?"
She laughed. "No, just two sets of boobs. Thank god they didn't decide to skinny dip."
"Gross," I looked at her and she nodded.
"Did you see Sebastian?"
With that question I felt my chest tighten. I suddenly remembered the almost-a-kiss moment we had in his bedroom. I mean, it was nothing special. He probably kissed many girls based on the relationship he had with Alice.
"Yeah. He's in his room now," I mumbled.
I jumped in my seat when I felt two hands grabbing me from behind and lifting me.
"What the hell!" I screamed.
I managed to turn my head around and saw Nate. I wanted to free myself but before I even could react, I already landed in the warm water. "What is wrong with you!" I said trying to stay afloat.
Nate didn't answer, he just laughed. In fact everyone laughed apart from Gina. I looked at her and she looked as surprised as I was. She helped me get out of the pool and I grabbed my bag from the sofa.
"You're lucky I didn't have it on me," I said through my teeth and pointed my finger at Nate's face.
I didn't care that I was soaking wet. I headed straight to my bike to go home. With every step my feet were landing on the ground even harder. It was a mistake that I came here.
I suddenly felt a big hand on my shoulder. I was boiling inside from the frustration.
"Screw you Nate," I said as I was turning around.
"Ouch, that hurt."
My eyes opened wide when I realized it was Sebastian. "What are you doing here?" I asked confused.
"I live here."
I rolled my eyes.
"But what you're doing here."
"Well, I saw Nate throwing you into the water and figured you wouldn't enjoy that," he shrugged. "You really wanna go home all wet? Maybe at least let me get you a towel," Sebastian suggested and took my bag from my shoulder.
As much as I wanted to be at home in that moment, I decided that it was a good idea to dry myself first a little bit.
"Hey, Becky. I'm sorry I laughed," Laura grabbed my hand as I was walking through the terrace door.
"Yeah, fine," I said but I knew I didn't mean it. Not at that moment at least. I understood that what Nate did was supposed to be funny and maybe it would be funny if I wasn't fully clothed. Maybe he just wanted to tease me? Or maybe he did it because he was a bigger asshole than Sebastian.
Or maybe Sebastian wasn't so bad at all? I mean, the first encounter wasn't the most pleasant but... Ugh, I just wanted to dry myself and go home to my bed.
I kept following Sebastian to his bedroom. I didn't seem to pay attention to how it looked the first time I was there. Three walls were painted light brown and one, by which lied a big bed, was white. He had so many albums on shelves from The Beatles to bands I didn't even know. I was surprised because I always imagined a guy's room being messy, but his was the total opposite.
"Here you go," Sebastian handed me the towel.
"Thanks." I said and went to the bathroom. I sat on the bathtub and started drying myself.
"So, why did you move here?" He said as he leaned on the door frame.
I twisted the towel in my hands and lowered my head. Still, wherever I went the memories were coming back. "My past," I said mysteriously.
"Were you like, selling drugs or something?" he sniggered.
"Worse. I robbed a bank," I tried to lighten up the mood and it seemed to work because Sebastian laughed. My expression on the other hand stayed the same. "No, I don't really like talking about it," I said after a moment. Sebastian nodded.
I continued drying myself. When the towel was wet, which meant that I finally wasn't, I thanked Sebastian and he walked me to the door.
"Thanks, again," I smiled softly.
"Yeah, no problem. Just don't fall into pools and you'll be fine," he shrugged.
*****
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