“Abbey, it’s Lex.”
I hear Abbey curse right before the line goes dead.
“What the fuck?” I look up at the boys.
Simon’s hazel eyes are round and playful like he is in some faraway land, rather than here with us. Garrett’s grey eyes are shooting daggers into the side of Simon's head. Jared’s eyes are wide, staring at me with god damn pity. Shaun’s slick dark brown hair falls out of its well-styled place as he darts his head around the room, looking anywhere but at me, and Marcus is fascinated with his own feet.
What the actual fuck?
“What’s going on?” No one answers me.
Standing quickly from the beanbag, I sway a little as the alcohol pulsing through my veins messes with my balance. Jared reaches for me, but I right myself and shoot him a dagger.
“Someone better start talking right the fuck now!”
No one does.
“Right, so I’ll call Abbey back then.” I lift the phone to press call again, and the five boys yell “NO” simultaneously.
Their response causes me to stumble back a little. Something is going on that they clearly know about, yet are keeping me in the dark. I thought I could trust them. I thought they were my friends. Apparently, I thought fucking wrong!
I drop Simon’s phone to the floor, not caring if I damage it, and storm out of the room. Cursing and whispering quickly fades behind me as I put distance between us, heading for the front of Simon’s big house. Just as I reach the foyer—yes, he has a fucking foyer, this house is so big—five sets of heavy feet rush towards me, and I abruptly skid to stop when Marcus and Jared block my path to leave the house.
“Move!” My yell echoes off the walls, and the guys flinch back a little.
“No, Lex. Don’t leave.” Jared is the one that dares to speak.
Tears threaten, and I fight them back by letting my anger come to the surface.
“Why the fuck would I stay here with a bunch of arseholes who are lying to me? Who are keeping fucking secrets from me? Fuck that! MOVE!” My scream, although louder this time, doesn’t have the same effect, and instead, Jared steps forward.
“We aren’t trying to lie. Just trying to save your feelings, Lexi.”
The sincerity on Jared’s face stuns me, and I turn in a circle to take in the same sincerity on all of their faces.
“Tell me why my best friend just hung up on me?” My voice is soft, and my bottom lip wobbles as I speak.
“We aren’t exactly sure what’s happened, Lex, but Tasha has some sort of vendetta against you, and the girls have jumped on board… even Abbey.” Jared offers, reluctance evident in his tone.
“Abbey?” I barely whisper it, but the boy’s nod, so they must have heard me.
“W-what did I do?” The fact that Tasha is running the show isn’t surprising. Having me out of the way is something I think she’s always wanted. She has some sort of Queen Bee mentality going on, and it looks like she’s just amped it up. But why would Abbey side with her?
Jared steps forward and takes my hand in his, “You haven’t done anything, Lex. You know what Tasha’s like; she finds people’s weaknesses and uses it against them to make herself feel better.”
“B-but Abbey?” The tears fall. I hate them as much as I hate my dad and Mike.
“We don’t know why Abbey is going along with it.” Marcus takes my other hand, and I now have two very caring friends standing before me, showing me how sorry they are. “We have asked her, but she won’t tell us anything. We’ve stopped hanging around them at school and noticeably shut them out. We hoped that would be enough to get Abbey to see sense, but it hasn’t. I’m sorry.”
Their closeness makes me uncomfortable, so I step back, pulling my hands from their grip and turn to Simon.
“That’s why you wouldn’t answer their calls? Because of what they are doing?”
“Yep,” he nods, “We only accepted those bitches into our circle because of you. They fuck with you, then they fuck with us, Lex. They are out!”
Well, damn, who needs those bitches when I have these guys? Right?
“I’m going to need more alcohol.”
The boy's chuckle, although it’s strained, and we make our way back to the rumpus room. They think I’m joking, but I’m deadly serious. I need a good stiff drink. I don’t care anymore. I’m sick of trying to do the right thing all the time, only to be shit on.
Simon pours me a vodka and lemonade, but I grab the bottle and take a swig, trying not to gag on the burn as it goes down. I pass the bottle to Jared, who takes a couple of gulps and then hands it to Garrett. We share it around, and it vanishes quickly. It’s not long before I’m stupidly drunk, and with that stupidity is the thought that drinking even more Vodka is a good idea.
There’s a lot of yahooing and handstand comps, and after they act out some sort of dance battle, they eventually stop jumping around with me and fall back onto the couches framing the rumpus room. I don’t stop dancing, though. I close my eyes and let myself feel the music and sway my hips, allowing myself to enjoy the lightness that I haven’t felt in so long.
Any time thoughts of Abbey creep their way in, I visualise a stop sign and slam her out of my thoughts. I can’t stop the thoughts about Ayden, though. His intense blue eyes, his smile, those soft lips, and let’s not forget those adorable dimples. Any time I close my eyes, it’s like he’s here with me. I wish he was here.
“You wish who was here?” Simon asks, and my eyes snap open.
Did I say that out loud?
I look over at the three couches that seat my friends and regret it instantly. They are all watching me. Their
