Mood swing?
Chloe_awesome_scott
Damn my dude, you are smarrrrrrrrttttttttt.
Lemmeee try again.
Noe, my loveeeeeeeee.
The_real_prince_charming
You are most definitely not Chloe.
Chloe_awesome_scott
How do you knu?
The_real_prince_charming
Clue no. 1: She never flirts with me.
Chloe_awesome_scott
Dammit! I thought I taught her better!
But, still dude, she could have been drunk texting for all you know...
The_real_prince_charming
Clue no. 2: she would have used capitals
Noah-1, Person pretending to be chloe-0
Chloe_awesome_scott
-_-
Whit doesss it matterrrrr, anyway?
Damn! Where is the pout emoji?
The_real_prince_charming
...
Chloe_awesome_scott
Why arrrreee youuuu replyyy nowww?
The_real_prince_charming
That sentence awakened the grammar Nazi within me.
Chloe_awesome_scott
Answeeeerrrrrrrr.
The_real_prince_charming
Well, I replied because you are not Chloe.
Chloe_awesome_scott
Nuuuuu. Why?
noeee4life!
The_real_prince_charming
...
Chloe_awesome_scott
You loveeee her, right?
The_real_prince_charming
Um...I haven't even properly met her...
Chloe_awesome_scott
But, u r her matteeeee :(
The_real_prince_charming
Uh...that was a joke.
Chloe_awesome_scott
Pfft. Noe4ever!
Thisss ship will fly!
The_real_prince_charming
Huh? What?
Where is Chloe? And, who exactly are you? Mia? Sophia? Caleb?
Chloe_awesome_scott
Caleb! Ha! Lmao! He is a zoe shipper!
The_real_prince_charming
Now, what does that mean?
Chloe_awesome_scott
Zain+Chloe= zoe
The_real_prince_charming
Ew. Who came up with that? I need to wash my eyes now.
Chloe_awesome_scott
Yasss. Ikrrrrrr.
There's only one ship, Noah+Chloe=noe=happy
The_real_prince_charming
Um...not happy, please.
Chloe_awesome_scott
Why?
:(
The_real_prince_charming
Uh...is there anyone sober around you? Where are the others?
Chloe_awesome_scott
Soph is throwin down.
The_real_prince_charming
You mean throwing up?
Chloe_awesome_scott
Yesh! That! Caleb is passed out on the couch.
The_real_prince_charming
Where the hell are you all? Why are you all drunk? Where is Chloe?
Chloe_awesome_scott
Chloe, huh? I am wiggling my eyebrowsssss.
The_real_prince_charming
...
Chloe_awesome_scott
Youl mate iss yelling at someoneeee. Eeh. It's giving me a headache.
The_real_prince_charming
Do you guys have a designated driver?
Chloe_awesome_scott
Design...what?
The_real_prince_charming
Driver? Is Chloe dropping you all?
Chloe_awesome_scott
Lololololololol. She can't drive to save her lifeeeeeee.
The_real_prince_charming
Frick.
Where are you at?
Chloe_awesome_scott
Music land. Drink land. Color land. Ewwwie boys. Bishy girls. No funnn :(
The_real_prince_charming
Sounds like a party to me.
Chloe_awesome_scott
Will you talk to Chloe?
The_real_prince_charming
...yeah, give her the phone.
Chloe_awesome_scott
Nuuuu, I mean, will you be all mate-mate with her again?
The_real_prince_charming
...
Chloe_awesome_scott
Say yesh!
The_real_prince_charming
Look, since you are drunk, I can be honest with you. And, maybe I can delete these texts later.
Chloe_awesome_scott
Wdym?
The_real_prince_charming
Uh, look, I shouldn't lead on Chloe or any other girl, for that matter. I am not supposed to date.
Chloe_awesome_scott
Nuuuu.
:(
I will hunt you down and lock you in a bedroom with Chloe.
If you hurt my chlo, I will cut off your...what's it called...p-something...
The_real_prince_charming
Oh, god, you are drunk asf.
Chloe_awesome_scott
Pleaseee, love chloe.
Don't hurt her.
:(
The_real_prince_charming
...
Is Chloe back?
Chloe_awesome_scott
Eek. She is kicking and tryin to wake Caleb up.
O shitzzzzz. Bye. Gotta delete chat history. Noe4life! See ya!
The_real_prince_charming
...?
***
Caleb groaned and turned around to bury his face in the couch again. I sighed. This was not what I was expecting out of this night.
I felt asleep for thirty minutes in a corner, and all my friends managed to get drunk, even Caleb, who was our designated driver for the night. They weren't even in the state to tell me how it happened.
To top it all off, one guy kept bothering me to drink too. I had a very furious spat with him and now I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible because he and his friends were spooking me out with their creepy gazes.
I couldn't even call my brother, because my family was under the illusion that I was having a slumber party at Soph's. Yes, I fooled them into thinking that I was having a sleepover on a school night. I am a bad daughter. I would be forever grounded if theye ever found out the truth.
My gaze darted towards Mia, and my eyes widened when I saw her using my phone.
Oh my God!
I quickly ran towards her, and snatched my phone from her hands. My first instinct was to check my message history with Noah, I don't know why. Maybe, because, if Mia drunk texted Noah then, that would be the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me in seventeen years of my existence.
I exhaled a sigh of relief to see that my chat history with Noah was clear. He still hadn't replied. Great!
Let him be! It's not like I cared! He was the one who used to flirt with me!
Yeah, but, you were the one who used to lose sleep just to talk to him in the middle of the night.
That was only because I am a kind person. It had nothing to do with any feelings. He was the one who ruined my date with Zain!
Yeah, but, you were the one who let him ruin it.
"Ugh!" I groaned in frustration.
Why was I thinking about Noah in such grave circumstances? Right now, my priority was to figure out how I was getting my heavily drunk friends out of here.
My heart almost leaped out of my chest, when all of a sudden, my phone started buzzing. The caller id did nothing to help my heart.
Why the hell was Noah calling me now?
One part of me wanted to quickly accept the call, tell him my misery and ask him for help but, the other, more stubborn part wanted to be mad at him and tell him that I wanted nothing to do with him, ever!
After taking few deep breaths, I accepted the call.
"Hey, mate, what are you up to? Long time, no see," Noah greeted cheerily on the phone.
"Who is this?" I asked, coldly, "I don't talk to strangers."
There was a pause on the other end, then, "Okay, fine. I get it. You are mad,"
I scoffed, "Speak for yourself. You are mad! You are crazy! First you ruined my date-"
"What date?"
"My date with Zain!"
"I am sorry, what? You got it all wrong. It was our date. You and me. Zain ruined it."
"You never stopped being delusional, did you?"
"Well, what can I say? It's one of my specialties."
"You ruined the date, then, you pulled a stunt and disappeared without another word. Then, you went MIA for three days, and, now-now, you are talking like everything is normal!"
"Chloe, baby, everything is normal. Zain deserved that punch. I was in a bad mood after that, so I left. And, well, I disappeared because; well...I needed time to cool off and think things through."
I seemed like he was saying half truth, half lie. But, God, I didn't have time to argue with him.
"Whatever. Don't worry. You don't owe me answers," I told him, massaging my temples, "I over reacted, sorry. I have to go now. Bye"
"Wait! Where are you?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Um...well. I can hear loud music and all. Are you in a party?"
"It's none of your business. Bye, Noah. Sorry if I ever bothered you."
"Why are you saying bye?" he asked, sadly, "are you still mad?"
"No, it's not my place to be mad. As I said, you don't owe me anything. Now, bye. I have work to do."
"Please, stop saying bye."
I frowned. What was his problem? I wanted to get rid him of him as soon as possible, because, I was not in the right mood and I didn't want to say or do something wrong to him. But, damn, this guy was persistent.
"What else am I supposed to say, Noah? I gotta go, seriously." I told him, and looked around to see if Sophia was back from the washroom.
I let out a shriek, when I saw her standing on a table, with a crowd cheering on her. I dropped my phone with Mia and immediately made my way through the crowd towards Sophia.
"Everybody! Do you know what I did?" Sophia slurred, directing her imaginary mic towards the crowd. When her question was met with silence, she started giggling, and yelled, "I pooped!"
Oh God!
I reached her and pulled at her arms. The crowd which was laughing at Sophia's joke, started protesting. I ignored them, and somehow managed to drag Sophia out of there.
Next fifteen minutes were a struggle, as I dragged all my friends to Caleb's car, one by one. By the time, I was done, I was literally sweating.
I was about to enter the car myself, when I realized something.
"Mia, where's my phone?" I asked Mia through the backseat window.
She was slumped against Caleb, and stirred slightly to raise her hand and show me the phone. I sighed in relief.
"Chloe?" Sophia called from the passenger seat of the front.
"What?"
She raised both her legs in the air, one of which was missing a sandal, "I think I lost it,"
My lips pressed into a thin line, "We are not going back in there. Forget about the sandal."
Sophia's lips started trembling and she started crying, "It is my favorite sandal. I will die if I don't find it. I will never forgive you for this..."
Blah blah blah. She kept on going like a drama queen. What else could be expected from a drunken Sophia?
I closed my eyes, giving in, "Fine. I will go and find it."
Her face immediately perked up. I raised a finger in her direction.
"But, only if you all agree to stay inside this car quietly, without causing any trouble," I said sternly.
Sophia nodded, placing a finger to her lips. I turned to look at Caleb and Mia. They were both passed out.
I quickly made my way back to the frat house. It was so weird, being inside such a wild party all alone. I mean, yes, my drunk friends weren't much of company earlier but, at least I didn't feel so insecure, like I did now. It seemed like all eyes were on me.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and wondered where I could find the sandal. It struck me immediately: the washroom. That's where Sophia had spent half of her night.
I darted towards the washroom and sure enough, the sandal was there. I grabbed it, scrunching up my nose, and walked towards the exit, immediately.
But...
Two guys blocked my path when I reached near the center table.
Remember the guy who was forcing me to drink and whom I brushed off earlier?
Yep. It was him and his friend. Both of them sneered down at me.
"Looks like someone's in hurry," guy 1 leered down at me.
"Get out of my way. I am leaving," I said, trying to keep my voice steady and firm.
"No one leaves without getting wasted," guy 2 chuckled.
I backed away, looking around for any means of help or escape. No luck. Everyone was either too wasted to move or too indifferent to care.
"Look, girly, we are just looking for some fun here," guy 1 smiled maliciously, "after all, you did come to a party. Now, we can't let you go like this, can we?"
My eyes darted to the empty beer bottle kept on the center table. I started side stepping towards it.
"And, looks like you could use some friends anyway," guy 2 added.
I quickly reached out and grabbed the bottle, when I was near enough. Both the meatheads glanced at me in confusion.
"Um, sweetheart, that bottle is empty," guy 1 pointed out, then, stepped forward to grab my wrist.
I raised the bottle threateningly towards him, "Don't come any closer and let me go, or else it will be your funeral today,"
Both meatheads started laughing, "Whatcha gonna do? Kill us with an empty beer bottle?"
I smashed the bottle on the table, and turned the broken, sharp ends toward them, "I will twist this thing into your faces,"
This did the trick...or not.
They had the decency to look scared for a second before both of them advanced towards me. Without looking, I tossed the bottle at one and the sandal at the other one.
And, without wasting any more time to see their condition, I made a beeline towards the exit and straight to the next street where Caleb's car was parked.
Only once I reached the car, did I pause to take a breath. My body involuntarily slumped down on the sidewalk and I buried my face in my hands.
I wanted to yell, laugh and cry at once.
First of all, I was in a frat party on a school night. Secondly, my friends ditched me and got drunk. Thirdly, I had to struggle to drag them all to the car. Fourthly, the frustrating thing with Noah. After that, the thing with those two moronic excuses for human beings...those meatheads! And, now, I was stuck. There was no one to drive us home.
I was all alone...exhausted, tired, sleepy, stressed and in a very bad mood.
I didn't even realize that by now, my hands were wet with tears.
Why was I crying? This was so ridiculous!
I took care of everything, didn't I? I even taught those meatheads a lesson...I should be proud of myself, not feeling pathetic.
What if I didn't cause much damage and they come here, following after me?
That thought made my crying rise an octave.
I almost had a heart attack when I heard the engine of a car within earshot. I looked up to see a car coming to a stop alongside Caleb's and felt my stomach churn with anticipation.
If it was my brother, Jordan or my mom or the police or some kidnappers, then, I don't know what I was going to do. I was done for.
When I saw the familiar figure of Noah stepping out of the car, I didn't know what to feel, and my reaction surprised even me.
I started crying like a baby, burying my face in my knees.
Oh God, where were these traitor tears coming from?
"Oh God! Chloe, are you okay?" I heard Noah panicking above me, "why are you-wait, are you hurt?"
I felt his hands on my arms, lifting me up gently, "Hey, what happened? Are you okay? Did someone hurt you? Why are you crying?"
I turned my face away from him; I didn't want him to see me like this. "I am not crying, you are," I sniffled.
What the heck? What was I saying?
"Huh?" Noah asked in bewilderment, "wait, are you drunk too?"
My head whipped towards him, "No!"
"Then, why are you crying?" he asked in confusion, "what happened?"
Oh my God! Why did he have to see me crying.
This made me cry again. Noah's eyes widened and he pulled me to his chest, patting my hair uncertainly, "Hey, it's okay. Please, don't cry. Can you tell me what happened?"
"They got drunk," I sobbed, "I was all alone. I had to take care of everything. Then, he forced me to drink,' I tried to stifle another sob, wiping my nose on his shirt, "I am sorry,"
"Hey, why are you sorry?" he asked softly, running his hand down my hair.
"I wiped my snot on your shirt."
He stilled for a second, then, relaxed, sighing, "It's okay. You can do that. But, just continue the story. Who forced you to drink?"
"That meathead!" I fumed, looking up to meet Noah's eyes, "when I went back in, he and his friend ganged up on me."
It was Noah's turn to fume.
"WHAT?! WHO WERE THEY?" he seethed, pulling me back to look into my eyes directly.
"Um...it's okay, you don't have to-"
"Chloe." he cut me off, firmly, "Who. Were. They?"
Now, this is what I called calm before the storm. It was the same look he had on when he punched Zain...and I didn't want a repeat of that night
"Uh, I don't know. No need to go all hulk, now, I took care of it," I replied.
"You did?"
"Yeah, I just hope that the broken end of the beer bottle didn't actually kill him,"
Noah looked like he had a lot of questions but, he let it go, instead, "I will go and teach them a lesson. Just wait here-"
"No!" I cried. Yeah, I literally cried. I think Zain infected me with his crying allergy or something.
I wrapped my arms around Noah, "Please. I don't want to be alone again."
Noah was uncharacteristically silent. Then, after a second or so, he hugged me back, "This has been a long night for you. Let's just get you home for now. Can you just...um, stop crying?"
I grabbed his sleeve, and wiping away my tears with it, I nodded.
Noah gave me an awkward look, "Either you are drunk and you don't know it or else you are on your p-"
I shot him a glare, "Don't complete that."
He raised his hands defensively, "Just saying...the mood swing is real."
Eh, maybe, he was right. I did have a headache and very bad cramps. But, he didn't need to know that. Besides, it was such a stupid stereotypical assumption.
Noah made me sit inside his car, and he dragged Sophia, Caleb and Mia, one by one to the backseat of his car.
"Phew!" he dusted off his hands, getting in the driver's seat, "now, I know why you were crying. The struggle was intense,"
I groaned, "I know. And, to do it all alone, makes it even worse. I am going to hold this incident over their heads all my life. They owe me big time."
"They really do," Noah agreed, then, started the car and turned to me, "where to?"
Oh shit! I didn't think about that.
"I can't go to my house. My family thinks that I am at a sleepover," I told him.
"On a school night? Wow, you duped them good," he remarked, "so, to any of your friends' houses?"
I shook my head grimly, "They all made the same excuse. All doors are closed for us, tonight."
"Where were you all going to go after the party, then?" Noah asked.
I bit my lip, "I never really thought of that. I think Caleb had some plan about breaking into his own house with us. But, now, I don't know."
"Oh, man," Noah shook his head, "this night is going to be long and unforgettable."
He turned the steering wheel, driving to God knows where and my mind suddenly buzzed with a question, how did Noah even find me?