CHAPTER 22

It was Friday and I was walking home from school, as usual. Dad and Shelby had already left for Boston earlier, so there's only Layne and me at home. Not that it mattered, since we never communicate anyway.

I let myself in through the back door and threw my bag on the breakfast counter. I went to the fridge and started rummaging for some food. After the grueling soccer practice, I needed to refuel. I found some cold meats and started making a sandwich. Just then my phone rang. Munching on my sandwich and I answered with my mouth full.

"Ello!" I chewed as I spoke.

"Eww.. You sound like a cow chewing on cud. Gross babe." Frankie's whiny voice could be heard on the end of the line. I rolled my eyes as I finished chewing and swallowed the mouthful of sandwich.

"Oh God, you 're such a girl. So, what's up?" I asked as I put the plate in the sink.

"So there's a party tonight. Layla's house. We're going. We're taking Matt to experience his first taste of the real American high school party. We'll be there at 8 to pick you up." Frankie said and I sighed. Urgh, I felt so tired and so not in the mood to party.

"I just got back from soccer practice and about to drop to my bed and sleep for a hundred hours. Please let me sleep...Please.." I pleaded pathetically.

"Nope, you're coming with us. Wear something cute! Be ready by 8!" Frankie said and hung up. I groaned. Urgh, I have 1 and a half hour to take a nap. I dragged my half-dead carcass up the stairs and threw myself on my bed. In a few seconds, I was out like a light.

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"Hello.. Wakey, wakey... Get up, get up! " Frankie's annoying voice rang through my dream.. Urgh, why was he bothering me while I was eating my ice-cream couch in my ice-cream palace?! I groaned and stretched like a horny leopard.. Or ape.. Whichever's appropriate.

"Urgh, let me sleep. I ache all over.." I groaned as I scratched my exposed belly.

"Yes, nice, very nice." Frankie said sarcastically. I ignored him as I hugged my pillow tighter to my chest.

"She certainly is very lady-like, huh Frankie." A British voice said arrogantly. My eyes snapped open and I sat up.

"Good grief, what the heck are you guys doing in here?! Get out!" I cried as I threw a pillow at Frankie who caught it perfectly.

"Come on sweetheart. Get up. We're going to that party. Here, wear this. We'll be downstairs." Frankie said and then he moved to the door. I blinked sleepily at the two guys, wishing I could smack their smirks off their faces. Just then, Matt turned his head towards me. He had rhis annoyingly cute smirk on his face.

"Oh, by the way. Love the hair." Matt said with a wink and left, closing the door behind him.

Quickly I got off my bed and went to the mirror. Oh, good God!

My hair was a light brown nest, matted, tangled and frizzy to death. My eyes widen in horror. Good God, Matt saw me like this. Frankie was fine, he'd seen me at my worst. But Matt... he's new and any hope of him liking me was as good as non-existent..well, if I like him, that is. Which I don't. Not like I like Wes that is. I shook my head to clear my head of any thoughts of Wes. I quickly got up and got ready.

When I was ready, we ambled into Frankie's mum's minivan and headed for the party. When we arrived, the party was in full swing, although there were no drunk kids sprawled on the lawn ..yet. It was 9, so it's pretty early.

As we got out of the minivan, Matt looked excitedly at the 2 story mansion throbbing with EDM. He was grinning and put his arms around Frankie and me, dragging us with him. When we entered the house, it was semi-dark and quite a few kids were looking at Matt with interest. The girls were looking at him excitedly, wondering who he was. Well, with a face as angelic as Matt, of course he would catch the attention of many, many admirers. Made me wonder, why the hell was he hanging out with me. Frankie, I understand because he's gorgeous. And Frankie's with me because we've been friends since kindergarten. With looks like that and a pleasant personality like that, Matt would be very popular in no time. And then, he'll forget all about me. Or he'll be embarrassed to be seen with me. Like Wes. Urgh, stop thinking about Wes!

"Yes, this is what I'm talking about! Let's get wasted!" Matt said with a huge grin on his face. Frankie shook his head with a small smile on his face. I just rolled my eyes and Matt just laughed as he pulled me with him to the drinks table. Frankie pulled himself from Matt's embrace and started to mingle. Frankie was pretty popular. But he always gave off the aloof, bitchy vibe so nobody's brave enough to really talk to him. Especially since he's so gorgeous. Many didn't know he was gay because they thought he didn't act gay, which is stupid.

Matt pulled me to the drinks table and handed a red solo cup filled with beer to me. I was never a good drinker. I'm a little scared of drinking. Alcohol loosens the tongue and losing control is the one thing that scares me the most. A few girls giggled and flirted with him at the table. I was right there with his arm around me and still they flirted with him. I mean, I wasn't his girlfriend or anything, but still, what if I was? Talk about shameless.

Just as I took a sip of the beer and tried to not cringe in disgust, I caught sight of Wes. He was drinking alone. And he kept glancing at me. I ignored him and let Matt man-handled me as he pulled me to the middle of the packed living room. He started dancing with one hand draped on my shoulder while the other one was slugging beer from the cup in his hand. I felt eyes on us as Matt moved to the music. Damn he's a good dancer. I caught sight of Wes staring at me, even when there's a girl talking to him as she kept touching his chest. I pretended not to notice and just focused on dancing with Matt.

"Why does he do that?!" Matt asked suddenly in a loud voice, trying to be heard over the loud music. I didn't understand what he was saying.

"What are you talking about?" I said loudly. Matt gestured towards Wes who looked like he was burning a hole through my head with his sharp stare. I groaned.

"Why does he keep staring at you?! You guys used to go out or something?" He asked and suddenly twirled me. I laughed in surprise. He twirled me perfectly and caught me by the waist. It left me breathless.

"Well, it's a long story." I said, not in the mood to dwell on Wes' issues.

"Okay, why not give me the short version?" Matt said as he looked at me and did a body roll. Good God, this boy was too much! I looked at him incredulously. I caught the girls and guys looking at Matt with interest. i had a feeling he would rise to the ranks and by tomorrow, everybody would know his name. And that sexy British accent only adds to his allure. He winked to the girls nearby as he danced with me. i had to laugh. Matt was too much for me to handle.

"Well? Short version. Now." Matt said as he pulled me closer by the waist. I put my hand on his shoulder and followed his movements.

"Fine. We spent a lot of time together in the summer. And became friends. One thing led to another, he kissed me. I fell for the guy. Suddenly when we're back in school, he acted like nothing happened. I know he's embarrassed that he hung out with me and all that. So, he's acting like he doesn't know me." I said, feeling a lump rise in my throat. Matt frowned but then smirked. He moved closer and spoke into my ear.

"Well, from the looks of things, I don't think he's really that much in denial, judging from the way he's staring at you and looking at me like he wanted to hit me. From where I stand, I'd say he's jealous." Matt said, clearly satisfied with his observation.

"Yeah, right." I said not believing him one bit. Wes would never feel jealous. He's too much of a moron for that.

"Let's have a fun experiment, shall we?" Matt said into my ear. I cocked one eyebrow up at him, feeling that he would do something very crazy. He looked devilishly at me and suddenly kissed me on the lips softly. I just stared at him in disbelief. What the hell?! Then he smirked at me and looked at Wes' direction. He grinned even wider. I frowned and looked at the same direction. I caught sight of him walking away. Wait, where did he go?

"Ahh..There! Mission accomplished!" Matt said with flourish. A few girls were staring at me since they saw Matt kissing me. And they looked jealous. Haha, I like that. Maybe Matt is onto something.

"Come, my dear. Let's go look for lover boy, shall we?" Matt said as he pulled me with him, his arm draped over my shoulder. I followed him, a little interested whether the plan worked. Matt was crazy. And fun.

We walked around the house looking for Wes. In the end we saw him at the balcony, drinking alone. I just looked at him. Must be really miserable to be alone like that. And to protect his reputation at the cost of his own happiness. Stupid. Just then he caught sight of me and was looking at me with an unreadable expression. Especially at Matt's arm around my shoulders.

"Ahhh, there's the stupid boy. Well, I see that the plan worked. Congratulations. He likes you. It's so obvious. Why can't the moron just admit it?" Matt said exasperatedly. I shrugged as I looked away. It's stupid to pine for a guy who doesn't seem to care about you at all. He seems to care more about his reputation than my feelings.

For the rest of the night, Matt stuck by me. And I was glad he did. He's fun, nice and crazy. An adorable combination. He was a shameless flirt and flirted with both guys and girls. Some girls even came up to me to ask about him. Since I had zero feelings for him, I was more than happy to play the part of the wing man. I had so much fun that I didn't notice it was getting very late until Frankie came up to me and hugged me drunkenly. Okay, time to go home. I dragged both Frankie and Matt to Frankie's minivan. Both were drunk out of their minds and were not fit to drive. So, I stuffed them in the minivan and drove them back to my home. At home, I dragged them out and let them sprawl on the sofas in the living room. I was panting heavily after I had finished dragging the 2 dead weights into the house. I groaned tiredly as I threw myself on the armchair. Both guy were lying on the huge sofa in odd angles and snoring like foghorns.

After I have caught my breath, I went to my room to get cleaned up. I took off my party clothes and pulled on an oversize t-shirt over a pair of boxers. I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and get cleaned up, but when I turned the door knob, it was locked. That's weird, I thought. there was even the sound of running water. I rattled the door knob again. Still locked. Suddenly, I heard a moan from inside the bathroom. I jumped and was seriously spooked. The eff was that!?I Suddenly, I had a bad feeling. I ran to Layne's room. The room door was open, which was weird. I poked my head inside the room and saw nothing weird except her handbag and phone were there. Layne never leave her phone. Ever. It's her lifeline. Suddenly I had a really horrible thought. What if Layne was in trouble?!

I quickly dashed to the living room. I tried to wake the two drunks but to no avail, they were dead to the world. Feeling frantic, I took out my phone and scanned for anybody who would help me. Just then, my eyes fell on his name. I fought really hard to avoid making the call but when I heard another moan from the bathroom, my finger hit dial and I waited as his phone rang and rang. Finally, just when I was about hang up, Wes answered.

"Hello? Addy? What do you want?" Wes asked in that graceful manly style that we all loved.

"It's Layne. I think she's in trouble. She had locked the bathroom door and I heard like painful moaning coming from the bathroom. I tried breaking down the door, but I couldn't. It won't budge.

"What? Why is Layne with you?" Wes asked in confusion.

"Oh God, Wes, just come here already."I said in desperation.

"Ok, ok! I'm on my way." Wes said and hung up. I quickly went to the bathroom and tried to open the door again, but I still failed. I knocked on the door and called out Layne's name. I only heard some pathetic moans and sobs. Oh God, what's happening to Layne?! I was so scared that I cried outside the door. Even though I never really liked Layne, she never really bug me and just go about her day. I was praying Wes would come soon...