Dedicated to Coloursplatterer for her amazing idea (having to do with the dance.)

Chapter 20: Saturdays

It was quiet, too quiet. Although this line may be overused, when I say it- it’s true. My house is rarely quiet, unless my parents aren’t home. But then it’s still not quiet, I usually play music to fill in for their incessant chatter. Creeping downstairs, I saw a note from my mom.

Audrey,

Went out to lunch with Emily and a few of the girls I work with. Your father’s at work; he picked up a shift today. Ms. Janie called earlier, the girl scouts can’t make it to the library- sorry for not waking you; I didn’t think it was too important. I love you and do the dishes.

-Mom

Placing the note back down, I frowned. I hate being alone in my house, unlike most teenagers. Glancing at the clock, I did a double take when I realized that it was almost two in the afternoon. I rubbed my face before walking over to the sink, turning on the water and starting on the dishes.

About an hour and a shower later, I was seated on the couch, halfheartedly watching a movie about an alien apocalypse when the door rang. I groaned as I sat up, putting the remote on the couch beside me. Swinging open the door, I furrowed my eyebrows when I saw Sandra and Lola standing there.

“What?” I asked as I opened the door further, allowing the girl’s to enter my house. I noticed them lugging bags behind them and I groaned again. This can’t be good. “What’s in the bags?”

“Didn’t you hear? Oh my gosh, you weren’t answering our texts- of course you didn’t hear! Angelica Sanders is throwing a party tonight!” I shrugged as Lola blabbed on. Last time Angelica Sanders threw a party, it wasn’t anything special. It was in her medium sized house and people were drunk even though they were underage- the usual house party. The police came and busted it; the girls and I were already driving off down the street. Thankfully, I didn't drink.

“Her father owns that new club in the downtown area. He’s away on business. Her mother is with him. They gave her permission to throw a party!” Sandra squealed.

I stood there, my mouth slightly open as my eyebrows furrowed together. “What? Why would they do that? Do they know their daughter? This doesn’t sound right; are you sure this isn’t some kind of trap?”

“What is this, the FBI?” Lola snorted. “Besides, her uncle is the co-owner and he will be there to make sure things don’t get too out of control. There won’t be alcohol, well, people will probably manage to sneak it in but I don’t care! I don’t plan on drinking anyway!”

I rolled my eyes. “You guys can’t be serious about wanting to go.”

They motioned to their bags. “Yeah, and we want you to go!”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not going. Definitely not!’

“We already told you that it’s safe!” they informed me.

I shrugged. “I don’t care about that. I don’t want to go out tonight.” To be honest, I was a little crushed about the fact that Grayson didn’t mean anything by almost kissing me. I wonder how much of a fool he thinks I am. He’s probably guffawing with Shane, Carson, and Kyle right now.

“What happened to you?” Sandra snorted. “Your face just twisted like you’d been hit with a frying pan.”

I sighed, shaking my head. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s obviously something. How about we talk about it while you help us get ready?” Leaving me no time to argue, she grabbed my arm and yanked me up the stairs, questioning my parent’s absence.

~~~

Once we were finished getting dressed, we all exited the house together. I hadn’t explained to them what the problem was, in fact- I lied to them. I told them a stupid excuse about just being tired. I’m not sure if they believed me or not, but they didn’t bother to ask any more questions. Even though they said that I didn't have to go, I told them that I would. It's better than sitting home alone with no one to talk to, seeing as my friends would be at a party.

The two girls climbed into Sandra’s car and instead of taking the front seat of Sandra’s like Lola insisted, I climbed into my own car- staring out of the window at the snow and slush. I waited for them to pull out of the driveway before I even put on my seatbelt. My phone vibrated, telling me that I received a message. Bringing my phone out of my pocket, I looked down at the screen.

‘Are you guys on your way to the party?’ I looked to see it was Shane. I sighed and allowed my fingers to slide across the screen, quickly typing out a reply.

‘Yeah, and I wish I didn't agree to go.’

‘What? Why? You get to see you-know-who.’ If I was being sassy, I would reply with something along the lines of: 'Who, Voldemort? It's actually He-who-must-not-be-named.' I would express my love for the fictional character, but instead, I just sighed and ran my hand through my hair, pushing it out of my line of vision.

‘Please don’t bring him up,' I replied.

‘Why? What happened?’ Shane asked.

I groaned. Does he listen? ‘You don’t listen at all, do you?’

‘Oh, sorry,' he responded. I just placed my phone back into my pocket, ignoring the messages that made their way to my inbox during the drive to the club.

I looked at the large place, my eyes wandering around from the building to the people surrounding it. All of them were around my age, most of them coming from my school or a few schools around Rodencia. I wonder if Seb is here. That’d make things a bit better.

“Come on, we’re going inside!” Lola told me, pointing to the dim entrance. I managed to pull a smile on my face, prepared to greet the guys we’ve surprisingly become friends with.

Sandra smiled at me and we approached a booth in the back where the guys were sitting, pushing each other playfully as they laughed. Once we reached them, Kyle and Lola immediately kissed while Carson smiled at me and hugged Sandra. Sandra told me that they're not a fan of PDA. Shane walked over to me and smiled. “Are you okay?”

I shrugged and nodded. “Are you going to cry?”

Snorting, I shook my head. To me, crying over a guy, especially one I wasn’t even dating, was pathetic. It was even more pathetic considering the fact that this guy was Grayson, who I did hate no less than three months ago. Seeing as he's acting like it's nothing, I'm going to act like it's nothing. “No way would I ever cry over a guy.”

He sighed and placed his hands on my shoulder. “One day, you’re going to date a guy who loves you very, very much- so turn that frown upside down,” he told me, reaching out and placing his hands on either side of my face, yanking the sides of my mouth upward.

Shaking out of his hold and offering him a genuine smile and a laugh, I punched his shoulder. “That day won’t be for a very long while.”

He slung his arm over my shoulder. “Well, until then- you have a very wide selection of guys, don’t you?”

I rolled my eyes at him and elbowed him in the stomach. “What are you trying to say?”

He smiled at me, shaking his head. “Nothing, just be free- like me!”

“That’s not called being free, that’s called being a player, you idiot,” I told him, laughing lightly.

“Hey, I thought that was my nickname,” Grayson butted in.

My smile immediately vanished before I forced another one to shove its way onto my face. “No, your nickname is Gracie.”

Noticing my abrupt mood change, he looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. “Are you okay?”

Looking towards where Shane was standing only seconds ago, I internally groaned when I saw that he wasn’t there. Instead, he's standing next to a tall girl, chatting her up. “I’m perfectly fine.”

Grayson stared at me with his eyebrows knitted together. “Did I do something wrong?”

Well, yes, but no. I overanalyzed everything and got myself hurt. Trying to feign happiness, I shook my head. “No, you didn’t do anything. I’m just really tired.”

He gave me a disbelieving look before I walked past him and sat down in the booth, putting my head on the table. “Do you want something to drink?”

I looked up and shrugged. “Sure, I’ll take a Sprite.”

He nodded, walking in the direction of the ‘bar,’ which was now being used as a soda, juice, and water bar. I need to stop overreacting. So what if he didn’t want to kiss me? I mean, I don’t like him that much anyway. I guess it’s just the shock of befriending him and realizing that I don’t actually hate him that’s getting to me. I mean, how can I think he liked me? Besides, I'm the one that rejected his kiss. And then when we actually kissed, I told him to forget about it. I pressed my head against the table, groaning. Why did I do this to myself?

From his past romances, it’s obvious that he likes tall, popular girls who are thin and sporty. I’m not tall or popular, nor am I thin and athletic. I’m not his type but it just so happens that he is mine. Sitting up and running my hand through my hair, I looked around and saw Grayson walking towards me with two cups in his hand.

He sat down at the table, close to me but not too close. It was at a point where we could turn and look at each other without worrying about accidentally kissing or bumping heads. Putting my drink in front of me, he offered me a contagious smile. “Are you okay now?”

I rolled my eyes before shrugging. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Probably because you’re around me,” he teased. More than you realize, Grayson.

I scowled at him, shaking my head. “You’re so arrogant.”

He smirked. “But you love it, Darling.”

Maybe not love it, but like it- sure. But it’s still despicable. “Yeah, I don’t.”

He shook his head before looking towards the dance floor. “Want to dance?”

I glanced towards the dance floor before shaking my head. “I’d rather dance with Sebastian.”

He gave me a flat look. “That idiot isn’t even here.”

Wrinkling my face, I frowned. “That’s a shame.”

“Well, I’m obviously the second option- so now do you want to dance?” he asked.

I shook my head again. “I’d rather dance with Shane.”

Giving me another flat look, he sipped his drink. “Please tell me, Darling, what number option am I?”

I grinned widely before tapping my chin. “Well, you're somewhere in the fifties- after Leonardo DiCaprio.”

“Funny, you’d think your crush would be option number one,” he muttered and I glared at him.

“I can’t hear you,” I snapped.

He scowled at me. “Lying is bad for your health.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“You make things so difficult, Darling,” he shook his head while I just smiled, sipping my Sprite occasionally.

Grayson had his head resting on his hands, breathing evenly. I would’ve though he was sleeping if it wasn’t for his light chuckle. Furrowing my eyebrows, I wondered what he was laughing at. I also wanted to touch his hair. It looked so soft and messy. I gasped aloud causing Grayson to dart up.

Wrinkling my face into a scowl, I glanced around. “Natalie isn’t here, right?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know; I’ve been ignoring her texts.”

“Check them.” I told him nervously as I wrung my hands together.

Sending me a curious look, he unlocked his phone and began scrolling through his text messages. Biting his lip as he read through them, he locked his phone and put it back down. He nodded before resting his head back on his arms. I gasped again. He looked up and gave me a flat look.

“What?” he asked tiredly.

“She’s here?” I whispered and he nodded.

“Somewhere around here," he motioned to the crowd. I looked around. “Why? Jealous she’ll steal me from you?”

"Not quite, she's just vicious when you're not around; so if I decide to get up and go somewhere, she'll be quick to snap my neck." I glared at him. I scooted out of the booth and peeked around, noticing a bunch of blonde heads moving towards us. I whipped my head towards Grayson and he sent me a confused look. “Is that dance offer still on the table?”

Smirking, he got up and I grabbed his hand, dragging him towards the actual dance floor. Unlike before, I didn’t get elbowed and pushed. Instead, Grayson pushed us through the crowd. Meanwhile, I kept on the lookout for the blonde group of girls.

~~~

I’m not a big fan of dancing but dancing with Grayson is fun, maybe it’s because he’s a good dancer or maybe it’s because he’s just Grayson and he has that effect on almost everyone. I sighed when I realized that I have no chance with him, absolutely none. He’s just a flirty guy and I’m just a family friend.

Standing alone outside in the cold, I stared at the moon. I’d already talked to my mom and told her where I was. I placed my head in my hands as I felt a headache coming on. “Are you okay?”

My head snapped up and I saw Grayson standing there. I shrugged. “I’m about to go home.”

“Would you mind giving me a lift?” he asked and I just shrugged again, motioning towards the parking lot where my car was. I realized how much I’d rather be at home than here, in this stupid place.

When we arrived at my car, I saw Sandra’s car beside mine and I sighed. I’d have to call her and tell her that I left in a little while. I got into the driver’s seat while Grayson sat in the passenger’s seat. After buckling my seatbelt and starting the car, I drove to our street in silence. Grayson didn’t say anything nor did he play music and I appreciated it. He didn’t try and force me to talk and I appreciated that, too.

When we arrived on our street and my car was idling in front of Grayson’s house, he turned to me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I shrugged again as I stared at him. He offered me a small smile and as if my mind was playing tricks on me, his eyes flickered down to my lips. As if I need this right now. Surprising me slightly, he leaned in- our eyes locked together. Okay, so maybe my mind isn’t playing tricks on me. Maybe he is. I mirrored his actions, watching as his eyes trailed down to my lips again before meeting my gaze.

Before he could pull away and climb out of the car, causing an awkward aura around our friendship- I closed the space between us by pressing my lips to his. Although we would’ve had an awkward aura around us because of another almost kiss, I’d rather have an awkward aura around us because we actually kissed. His hand rose and cupped my cheek while our lips moved together. It was an awkward seating position; my body was twisted and I’m sure his was too, but I didn’t care.

My hand reached up and touched his hair like I wanted to since I’ve known him and I felt my lips quirk up into a smile as I kissed him. His lips did the same. His mouth tasted like Sprite and I never realized that soda could taste that good. His skin was warm ad as expected, his hair was soft. I felt his eyelashes brush against my cheek every few seconds and I wanted to grin. About a moment later, we pulled away and he coughed, clearing his throat. Please don’t apologize. He looked at me before averting my gaze and I did the same thing. “Well, uh, I’ll see you…whenever I see you.”

He quickly got out of the car and walked up the steps to his house, waving one last time before entering his home. I felt giddy and ecstatic because he didn’t apologize, meaning that he wasn’t sorry about kissing me. As I drove up the street and pulled into my driveway, I sighed dreamily. Kill me now. I’m turning into a girly girl all because of a simple kiss! Man up, Audrey!

~~~

As I got into bed that night at eleven, my phone vibrated on my bedside table and I lifted it up, expecting it to be Sandra or Lola but I was surprised to see that it was Grayson. ‘Goodnight.’

I squealed girlishly. 'G-goodnight.'

'Shut up.'

Maybe I have a chance! Maybe he actually likes me! Maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes up because Grayson is, well, Grayson.