"I've always loved you."

I looked in front of me in shock. How the hell had I not seen this coming? The popcorn in my hand stopped midway in the air before it could've reached my mouth.

"What the fuck." I whispered, taken aback.

Chicken decided it was the perfect moment to purr out loud, breaking me out of the daze. "Shut up, Chicks," I said, patting her head. "I just got the worst shock ever."

How would you feel if your worst enemy just said those words to you who also happened to be extremely hot and was almost dead?

Thankfuck it wasn't really happening to me. It was just the movie I had picked for the big night. The night where everybody else was busy enjoying the homecoming, while I was here at my house.

It wasn't like it was the prom anyway.

I stuffed my mouth with some more popcorn as I watched the hot guy falling down on the ground, dead. Why was it only the hot guys who died at the end? Why not the female counterpart?

"Fucking hell, he can't just die! Isn't this supposed to be a happy movie?" I whined. "God, I should've watched Harry Potter all over again."

Slumping back against the couch, I frowned at the screen as the credits rolled up. Just as I was about to select another movie (one with a happy ending this time), my phone started ringing.

I rolled over to the other side of the couch, huffing loudly, and picked up my phone from the coffee table.

"Hello?" I answered.

The person on the other end was dead silent except for the faint sound of loud music and cheers in the background.

"Kyle!" I heard a voice at last.

Oh no.

Only one person in this world had the guts to call me by that nauseating name.

"Alex!" I hissed. "We agreed on never using that name again, remember?"

When I had started calling him Allie, he had made a name for me too. And it was quite the opposite of endearing.

"Stop whining, Kyle. You're bursting my ears!" He shouted more than he should've. I didn't even know why he was shouting in the first place when I could hear him just fine.

And the fact he was calling me by that name, in a place filled with numerous people, was not welcomed at all.

I rolled my eyes and paused the movie on the TV screen. "What's wrong? Aren't you partying all right?"

Alex had asked out a girl to the dance way before I even got to know about the whole homecoming situation. Benefits of him being in the football team.

"I called you to tell you that I'm finally doing it." He replied, and I didn't fail to notice how the last of his words slurred a bit.

"Doing what, Alex?" I gagged. Was this the moment where my best friend, completely high out of his mind, was going to recite all the details about his recent sexual conquests?

I'd rather flush my head in the toilet, I realised, than let him rupture my mind with those words.

However, what he said next was something entirely different. "I'm telling her." He was trying to muffle a laugh. "I'm confess...confessing to you, and to her, that I love her."

Holy guacamole, I thought. I was more than just surprised that he got drunk at a school party. But then again, it shouldn't have been a surprise. The jocks always had alcohol stashed up their sleeves, without the staff knowing anything about it. As much as I wanted to leave him there with his drunk ass since he was obviously having more fun than me, I knew that wasn't right.

If Alex was really planning to do something as stupid as confessing his undying love to a random girl, he'd regret it the next morning. I'd be a horrible friend if I let him do that, especially when he'd called me first.

"Alex." I sighed, straightening up from my sprawled position. "You're drunk, all right? Don't do whatever you think you want to do right now. Believe me, you'll be doing us all a big favour."

He didn't get my warning though. All I heard was some muffled, incoherent response before he ended the call.

Cursing out loud, I stood up with an annoyed groan and grabbed my yellow hoodie from the couch, shrugging it over my pyjamas. I hated the thought of leaving my house right now. Why now when I was in between my movie marathon, all cosied up on the couch?

With a grumble under my breath, I slipped on my sneakers and trudged over towards the front door. What kind of friend would I be if I let him make a big mess of himself?

Glancing over at Chicken who was already asleep on the couch, I exited my house, locking the front door behind me.

•••••

The last thing I wanted was to end up at the homecoming of Crestmont High in a fucking hoodie and my pyjama shorts. Thankfully, nobody seemed to give me more than a second glance.

The entire building was flooded with music and lights. All of the sounds appeared to be coming from the gymnasium and the hallways were almost clear.

I was taken a little by surprise when no one stopped me from entering, to check whether I had the ticket or not. I was sure I had seen those long lines in the hallways the entire week, everyone impatient to buy those same tickets.

However, I was more than just surprised when I noticed the school gymnasium. It was as if someone had flicked a switch and magically transformed it into a ballroom. The theme. I loved it. Even my disco balls were hung at some places.

If it wasn't for the random girl who nudged me out of the way, I would still have been left looking around the gymnasium in awe. Maybe I had been wrong not coming to this one homecoming. It looked like everyone was having a lot of fun.

Exhaling a sigh, and maybe even feeling a little sorry for myself, I stepped along one corner and started to look around for Alex among the crowd. That's what I was here for.

To find Alex.

It felt odd being the only person who was wearing pyjamas, especially in between girls and guys who wore formal dresses and suits. If Mom was here, she'd have thrown a bitch-fit. Ever since I was a little baby, Mom had engrained it into my head that you never wore such casual monstrosities at formal events--thanks to all those charity events my parents took me to.

That's why standing here in the middle of a perfect ballroom, in my pyjamas, felt a whole lot awkward.

I started squeezing my way through the crowd, praying at the same time that I wouldn't slam into someone from one of my classes. That was one embarrassment I didn't want to face right now.

After what felt like ages, I finally spotted someone familiar. It wasn't Alex, but one of his close football buddies. I walked over towards the group of guys and yelled his name above the noise, "Hey, Sean!"

The guy with perfectly combed blond hair, a shade way lighter than Alex's, turned towards me. And I tried not to cringe when he noticed my attire, giving me a funny look.

"Hey, have you seen Alex?" I asked him, trying my best to ignore the stares I was getting from his other guy friends. I was sure some were even snickering.

Guess my life's sole purpose was to be an amusement for others after all.

"He left an hour ago." He shrugged. "Don't know where he'd be now."

I frowned at that, looking around the crowd once again.

"I think he left for the restroom though. Maybe you should check there." He added, pointing towards the other exit of the gymnasium.

I thanked him quickly and followed the direction he had pointed towards. Once again, I found myself in an empty hallway. There was no staff or anyone else there. Hoping that Alex hadn't done what he had been telling me over the phone, I ran towards the boy's restroom.

But he wasn't there.

Frowning, I started to leave the hallway when I heard a shuffling sound from outside the girl's restroom. Pressing my lips together in annoyance, I went closer and saw him sitting down on the floor, leaning back against the restroom wall.

"Alex!" I hissed and rushed towards him.

He looked up at me and blinked twice, a blond lock of his falling over his eyes. Judging by his state alone, he looked wasted. If any of the staff found him here, in front of the girl's restroom and drunk, he was definitely going to get kicked out. And if they saw me with him, I might just get kicked out too.

"Alex, what the fuck?" I grabbed his arm and tried pulling him up. Unfortunately, that guy had too much muscle with all those football practices he went to, and I was one weakling.

To my relief, he was still sober enough to stand up once my attempt to pull him up failed. "Kyle, you came?"

I gripped his arm again and glared at him. I hoped it was a menacing one. "Not here, Alex. Don't call me that here, okay?"

He blinked again and chuckled softly. "I thought you wouldn't come. I was about to...that girl--"

"Alex, start walking before I kick you somewhere where it'll definitely hurt." I cut him off with another glare.

His expression sobered up at that and he started walking with me towards the end of the hallway, leaning on my side a little as I gripped his arm to keep him steady.

"Give me your car keys."

He shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry, Kyle. I didn't mean to--"

"God, give me the keys, will you?" I asked exasperatedly.

As we exited the hallway to the grounds outside, I made him lean back against the wall as he fumbled in his pant pockets for his keys.

"You shouldn't have gotten this wasted, Alex." I shook my head with a frown. "If any of those volunteering staff saw you before I did--"

"Just don't hate me, all right Kyle?" He asked me, pushing his keys into my hand.

"Why would I hate you?" I looked at him in disbelief. Drunk Alex was someone I hated to be around, but I didn't tell him that.

He seemed to take his time. "Because...I do care about you." He was mumbling now, his eyelids slightly drooping. "I don't wanna hurt you. Was I about to hook up with someone?"

I took the keys and groaned out loud. There was absolutely no one there in the ground besides us and I was glad.

"A school dance, Alex." I shook my head. "Try to tone down your teenage hormones a little." He wasn't listening though. Instead, he leaned his head back against the wall and his eyes fluttered close. Since he looked way too drunk right now, I'd have to drive instead of him, and I wasn't exactly looking forward to that.

I was about to start dragging him by his arm again, to his car this time, when I heard sudden voices. Voices that seemed to be coming from the other end of the school ground. I glanced back at Alex and he didn't look like he cared about anything at the moment.

When I heard the voices once again, I couldn't help but notice the familiarity of them. Stepping away from Alex, I slowly walked adjacent to the wall and came to a halt when I saw two silhouettes standing near the school gates, their faces hidden by the shadows.

I crept a little closer and stopped behind the wall when I could hear the voices more clearly.

"Either you start speaking, or I'll have to rip his head off if he doesn't." One of those two voices spoke up, and the threat underlying the voice was unmistakable.

I frowned a little at the harshness of it. It didn't seem like they were enjoying the homecoming.

I pressed myself against the wall and peeked at them once again. Now that I was closer, I noticed that it was a boy and a girl. The boy had his back towards me but the girl didn't. Instead, she was facing him. Looking at her unfamiliar face, I didn't think I had ever seen her at our school before.

"He's far ahead of you. You can't even get near him." The girl's voice carried a patronizing smirk in it, even though I couldn't really see her face. "You know all that's just bullshit."

My eyes raked across her form and her complete black attire. The boy was almost towering over her, but she held herself like a true badass. I had a feeling this wasn't the first time threats were being directed at her.

And the boy was angry, all right. I was stunned. So much so that when he pulled something out of his back pocket, it took me a whole minute to recognise it as it shone wickedly under the moonlight. I stiffened in response.

It was a gun.

I wasn't the only one with that reaction though. When I looked over at the girl, I didn't fail to notice the way she took a tiny step back.

"Bullshit is what I deal with. He knows better." I heard his voice before he loaded the gun, the clicking sound echoing in the darkness.

My eyes widened and my heart nearly crawled up to my throat. This wasn't nice, I thought. Was this usually how homecoming parties went? Worse, was he actually going to kill her while I watched them both like a fucking statue?

Holy crap.

The girl took another step back but the boy was faster. Within merely a second, she was on the ground as he tripped her. The next thing I knew, he was pointing the gun at her forehead.

I took a step back in horror, only to hear something snap beneath my shoes, loud enough to grab both of their attention.

Crapcrapcrap.

However, that wasn't what made my eyes widen in shock. It was the familiar face of the boy, as he snapped his head around and looked at me, that made me freeze at my spot.

Caden.

_________

Things are about to get excitiiing ;)

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Crystal 🌿