Chapter 11

It's been almost an hour since I got back home and just mentioned my accidental Twa Corbies visit to Leigh who has become really excited over the news.

Let's just say that she wasn't even interested in my job, she was only curious about Perkyn. She even said now that I've gotten the job, now we can get to the exciting part of my day.

"So, he is awkward?" Emilia asked who joined us after en minutes of exciting whisper exchanges between us.

"He can be really awkward," I laughed and crossed my legs. I was sitting on my bed, chewing my sour gummy candies.

I knew what Seeley would say to that with the healthy lifestyle while he wasn't listening to his health just as much but I just had to buy a few snacks on my way home to gift myself. I could have been much worse, maybe I could have just chased him away or even call the cops on him but I thought I had handled the situation very well.

Wow, the bar was really low for me. My mother must have known a few things to say those hurtful things then.

"I don't know about you, girls, but awkward guys are just so mysterious..." Emilia daydreamed and sighed.

Leigh gave me a confused look before turning back to her.

"What is it?"

Emilia gave Leigh a disapproving look as if she found it almost disrespectful that Leigh had dared to ask such a question.

"From my experience," she pressed her palm against her chest. "Socially awkward guys are the best in the sheets."

"Em." I amusingly rolled my eyes.

"Of course, this is the first thing that comes to your mind," Leigh smiled. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Well, sorry for not being afraid to admit that I have a sex life," Emilia leaned her back against the wall behind her. "No shame."

"Just don't get infected." Leigh teased and Emilia threw a pillow at her.

"Anyway, as I was saying..." he adjusted her hair to collect her thoughts. "Last year I met this cute and devilishly handsome guy in AP Chemistry. He was a little behind, so I offered my help to him."

"And you asked a thousand dollars for an hour of tutoring," I finished it for her and she turned to me.

"What's wrong with asking for the price that I deserve?" she played along with a smug smile on her red lips. "After all, I offer my services, time, and nerves to tutor those who don't give a crap about their education and they always realize that only at the last moment. I'm not for free neither my brain."

We laughed together, our voices echoing in the small room Leigh and me. Lately, I haven't gotten to spend too much time with the girls because of my work and desperation to pay the bills, so it felt heartwarming to have a girl's afternoon after so long.

Moments like this made me realize that despite our weird and hard lives, we always were there for each other and would always help each other. I couldn't imagine living my dysfunctional life without them.

They weren't perfect, neither of us was but that was the reason we clicked together.

We always knew what to expect from the other and would have never humiliated each other for not being people we were expected but not meant to be.

"This guy was really cute and charismatic but he had the social skills of a goddamn rock," Emilia continued with a soft chuckle. "Long story short... We spent a lot of time together and one night when I was helping him learn for our next exam he just lost his cool and started panicking."

"He must have realized what kind of a monster he has been studying with." Leigh gave me a side glance and I smiled.

"Em must have raised the price for her tutoring because of the exam," I said to Leigh who couldn't help but laugh at me.

"You are jerks." Emilia narrowed her eyes but I could see the glimpse of her smile.

"Never claimed to be anything else-" I said honestly and spread my arms.

"I guess he just really was scared that he'd fail," Emilia continued. "So, I decided to distract him a little."

"I knew you threw your shirt off, you animal." Leigh slapped her knee and we laughed again.

"That wasn't the plan actually," Emilia smiled innocently. "I just kissed him to stop him from talking and grumbling. But it didn't seem like he wanted to stop."

"Wow, the silent kid has got some skills," Leigh commented.

"For real." Emilia added. "I almost didn't have to do anything, he was good at his job."

"That took a turn," I said quietly, almost impressed by Emilia's story.

"It really did." Emilia agreed. "So, just to give you some advice, Heddy... The more awkward he is, the better he most likely is in bed."

"That's an important thing." Leigh joined her narration.

"I think you girls are overthinking it," I let out a dry laugh and grabbed another gum. "He is my co-worker..."

"And he happened to be handsome and kind enough to take you on a date,"

I almost choked on my gum after I heard Leigh saying the date. It couldn't be, could it? We just met and he wanted to help me fit in and befriends me, so I wouldn't be pressured on Monday.

Perkyn was handsome, there was no point in denying that but I didn't think I needed that kind of drama in my job too.

I came here to have fun and loosen up. But sometimes I've got to meet and see other people too.

This situation was more complicated than I had expected it to be.

"It wasn't a date, just a friendly..."

"Cake taste?" Leigh asked and my eyes widened. When she realized how she had expressed herself, she burst out laughing.

"You little pervert." Emilia laughed out loud and I couldn't help but bury my face into my hands as I tried to hold back my laughter.

We have always been wasted when we were talking about guys... And we were even worse while being drunk.

"I know my ways around words, let's just admit it." Leigh shrugged but her face was red from her failed attempt to hold back her laughter.

"We can only hope that this Perkyn guy will never meet us, we'll scare him away." Emilia joked and the door opened.

When we turned to the cracking sound of the door being pushed open, we saw Casen's curious puppy eyes searching for us.

"Why didn't you guys tell me that you had weed?"

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked back at the girls who seemed just as confused as I was.

"Seems like you're the one who has had weed," Leigh answered and Casen tilted his head to the side.

"Don't be so sure about that, Leigh," he said. "I'm not the one laughing for minutes now like a hyena."

"Aren't we allowed to have fun?" Emilia narrowed her bright eyes.

"Not without me," Casen said excitedly and hurried into the room and jumped on the bed beside me.

I let out a small scream as he almost bumped into me with his whole body. For a moment I felt my heart jump up to my throat.

"Are you out of your mind, Casen?" I snapped and scootched away from him.

When he was about to answer, he noticed the gum in front of me and his eyes lit up like a little kid's who just saw his favorite candy in the shop.

"Oh, I love these!" He took a gum from me and threw it into his mouth.

"But those are mine," I slapped his hand away and pulled the bag of gums into my lap.

"But I love those," he gave me a sad look but I stuck my tongue at him.

"Buy for yourself, it's mine."

"Yes, Casen, have the same respect, she deserves it after today," Leigh chirped and I tensed. I didn't want the boys to know about what happened. If anything they came last on my list among those whom I wanted to tell.

Casen raised his head and gave me a questioning look.

"What did you do now?" He asked and I inhaled sharply.

"Why do you have to always think that I've done something?" I asked and pulled my leg under myself.

"Don't be like that." Casen scolded me. "I could have thought of a positive thing, not only a negative one."

"But you're always confronting me about my negativity." I argued.

Casen gave me a tired look before leaning down on his elbow.

"I always confront you about your pessimism," he pointed his finger at me as he corrected me.

"Same thing."

Casen shrugged and stole gum from me so fast that I didn't even have time to react.

"So, you want to tell me what happened today?" He asked casually and I leaned against the cold wall.

"I got a job at Waren Hotel." I said with a proud smile.

"That's great, what else?" He asked and I stirred in my place.

"That's it," I tried to pursue him but it wasn't easy to lie to Casen.

"I'm not a divorced mom who is too blind from all the soap operas she has been watching while mourning over her lost divorce," he glared at me and I felt called out.

The only problem that I've ever had with Casen was his strict rule of honesty. This must have been one of the reasons why he could notice other people lying right away.

"Heddy had got to meet with one of her co-workers." Leigh clapped her hands together.

"One down." Casen turned back to me with a warm smile.

"And he also happens to be a very handsome young man who took her to a diner as an introduction." Leigh finished and Casen raised his eyebrows.

"You kind of forgot that part, huh?" He asked with a cautious face.

I smiled to hide my nerves and shrugged a little.

"You know how easy I forget things," I gave him a bigger smile, showing my teeth.

"Some things a little too easily," he remarked with a knowing grin. "Please tell me that you asked for the most expensive food."

I laughed and wiped my hair out of my face. It felt great to have Casen be this open and understanding, and also sarcastic about this.

"I didn't have a chance for that," I answered and he frowned. "He was the one to choose for me."

Casen groaned and dropped his head to my pillow.

"Typical guy technic, why am I surprised." Casen shook his head lightly.

The thought didn't even cross my mind, regarding the why behind Perkyn's actions. Maybe that was why he insisted on choosing a cake for me.

I was so slow.

Or maybe he didn't want me to know that he didn't have enough money on him, so he gently sat me down and brought something to me. And we didn't even drink which had been my main goal. Damn it, Perkyn has corrupted my thoughts for this afternoon with his adorable awkwardness and handsome face.

"Point still stands, he is something else," Leigh pointed a finger at me. "You heard Emilia, he might be special."

"Am I not special enough for you, girls?" Casen asked us and shrugged.

"You are," I let him know. "But not enough."

Casen hummed and turned his head away in a dramatic way.

"Might need to ask Seeley and Austin about this," he suddenly pushed himself up.

I shot up from my bed with a horrified expression on my face.

"Casen, don't you dare," I warned him but he already flew the room in a hurry. "Casen!"

"Heddy has got a boyfriend!" he sang out loud as I ran out of the room after him. "And he is not a mater!"

I could feel my face burning as Seeley who was lying on the couch with a book in his hands, slowly stopped reading and turned to us with a questioning look.

Austen was standing in the kitchen, his back facing u as he was making himself a sandwich but he also stopped in the middle of his movement and followed Casen with his eyes.

"Isn't this great?" Casen spread his arms as he walked into the living room.

I fastened my speed and jumped on Casen's back. He grunted from our collision and almost even fell but he kept himself steady as he grabbed my legs to stop me from falling.

"What on earth are you two doing?" Seeley asked with a scoff on his face.

"Praying for my life" Casen grunted as I steadied my hold around the bottom of his neck.

"Making him praying for his life," I added and pulled his hair.

"You two are ridiculous," Seeley shook his head and turned back to his book. I didn't even know that he liked reading,

Casen slowly peeled my hands off of him while he bent over so if I'd fall, I wouldn't hit the ground too much.

Once I was on my feet, I exhaled sharply and wiped my messy hair out of my face.

"Finally, if you two stopped chewing each other's ears…" Austin walked out of the kitchen and held his sandwich close to himself. "Can we reverse this whole thing?"

"Yes," Casen nodded and I slapped his arm but he didn't even feel it. "Heddy is all grown up, finally… I'm so proud and excited."

"You act like I've never had a relationship before," I snapped and Casen gave me an intriguing look.

"Please tell me that you aren't talking about who I think you are talking about."

I huffed and put my hands on my hips. We were most likely talking about the same person who happened to be my one and only ex-boyfriend whose memory was still irritating.

How did I become his girlfriend anyway? I was young and naive and wanted someone to look after me but now I'd finally come to the realization that the only person I could really rely on was myself.

"Anyway, she's got someone all for herself," Casen put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed me to his side.

Austin arched his eyebrows and took a bite from his deliciously-looking sandwich.

"Really?" he asked and Casen nodded.

"And she's got him wrapped around her little finger," Casen popped my nose and I pushed his arm away.

This couldn't be more awkward anyway, so all I could do was accept my fate and listen to Casen's narration.

Seeley gave me a side look but his face remained serious while Casen and Austin were talking about me.

"He is her co-worker and he must be really attractive if Heddy is this nervous about him," Casen teased me and I pushed his arm off my shoulders.

"We have to celebrate then," Austin spread his arms. "We could watch a movie and go for a swim after."

"What do you want to celebrate?" I asked and Austin finished his sandwich.

"This right here doesn't happen every day… We have got to enjoy the moment while it lasts," Austin said and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not that horrible," I defended myself. "I just happened to meet with the wrong guys from time to time."

I could feel Seeley's eyes on me which was why I have been staring at Austin like my life was on the line. I was terrified that if I looked at Seeley, the guilt would crawl its way back into my heart which was already pounding.

"Be my guest," Austin advised. "You don't have to pay for anything."

"Wow, you are very serious, aren't you?" I crossed my arms. If Austin would offer his money then I had to debate my cards sooner or later.

"This is what we came here for." He answered. "To have fun and to enjoy this summer together."

He didn't need to say a word anymore, he had already bought me a free cinema and a late swim. I hated being in a bikini around hundreds of strangers anyway.

I've always waited for hours to see most of the people slowly walking off the beach so that I wouldn't be stared at. Especially by older men.

"Give me five minutes." I grinned and Austin nodded.

"As you wish," he winked at me then slapped the back of Seeley's head. "Get up loser, we didn't come here to become freaking walking dictionaries."