My eyes narrow as I watch Mario's hand slowly slip under the table probably reaching for Mia's leg or something.
"Mario, can you pass me the bread?" I ask with a tight smile, he jumps, looking at me with frightened eyes. He sure is scared of me, ever since I beat him up for looking at someone else at Mia's graduation.
"Um, why can't you get someone else to do it?" He asks a little nervously and I see Mia flustered.
"Maybe because no one else is shoving their hands under the table and probably into their girlfriend, now would you please pass me the bread? With the hand that's under the table." I say with a sweet smile just as Austin chokes beside me.
I look at him to ask why he's coughing so violently and I see that everyone else is looking at me with wide eyes. I ignore them and gladly accept the plate of bread from him, biting into one.
"Now if you don't mind, keep your hands on the table or to yourself, I don't want the devil to use the both of us this night." I see Macy trying to hold in her laughter as her cheeks turn red.
Mia looks like she's about to pass out from all the attention and I almost snicker. Fayette bites her lip and bends her head so she won't be caught silently laughing and Chase holds his hand in a fist to his mouth. But the sputtering comes from Adam and Austin looks like he's about to explode if he doesn't laugh.
"I suggest we take this dinner seriously, this is the first time that Mario is here at my house and I'm trying my very best not to... subtly use my frying pan to correct his manners." I say as serious as ever and that's all it takes for Adam to burst out, falling out of his chair and rolling on the ground. And his accomplice, Austin starts laughing too and soon, everyone at the table start laughing hysterically except me, Mia and Mario.
I roll my eyes and go back to my gazpacho, silently eating. "You're something else April." I hear Austin's voice and I smile teasingly at him. Adam successfully gets back to his chair without cracking up again and Macy shakes her head at him.
I look over to Chase and see him smirking at Fayette. Sigh, young love.
Mario goes quiet throughout dinner and it feels good to not have anyone laugh and choke again, although Mia's cheeks remain red until dinner was done with.
I put the dishes in the sink and turn on the faucet, pouring some dishwashing liquid into the sponge.
"Hey." Austin appears beside me, rinsing the dishes I'd washed.
"Hey." I say and smile lightly. The silence is awkward and I can feel the tension building until he breaks it with a nervous laugh.
"Things have never been this awkward with us and it's killing me." I laugh at him and he smiles.
"Look, I'm sorry about how I reacted yesterday, I shouldn't have been that mad at you, and I definitely shouldn't have walked away. It's just, I get really sensitive over some topics of what I write and all." He explains and I furrow my brows.
"I understand that, and I'm also sorry for not thinking of it that way but what can I say, you have always see the bigger image. But I really don't like it when you get mad, and I'm going to be honest, that did scare me. But if you're mad, talk to me, okay?" I ask and he nods, looking concentrated on what he's doing.
I narrow my eyes and splash him with some water. He freezes and turns to look at me with a surprised expression, then it turns into a wicked smirk. He grabs the spray head and showers me from head to toe. If my scream could get any louder, I'm sure they'd hear me from Dubai.
"What is going on here? No, no, no! Both of you, out! And into dry clothes!" Macy screams and Austin turns of the spray, smirking at me since it's only a small part of his chest that I'd gotten wet.
"Come on, I'll get you a shirt." Adam says with a small chuckle and walks out with Austin. I'm left looking like a drenched raccoon in the middle of winter.
Macy's glare has me moving up the stairs and I can't ignore the squishy sound that comes from my feet everytime I take a step because of my soggy slippers.
With my dress clinging to my skin, I rush into my room and turn on the heater. Then I go into the bathroom and peel of the dress, grabbing my sweatpants and a sweatshirt and tossing it on.
I dump my clothes in the sink and make a mental note to get it to the laundry tomorrow. My room is already warm when I get out of the bathroom and I smile gratefully, drying my hair with my towel. When it's dry enough for it to not drip, I walk out of the room with my hair still down, there's no energy in me to put it up.
"So, what are we doing now?" I ask as I reach the bottom of the stairs, staring at the humans in my living room.
"We could always play hangman," Macy says and I shake my head.
"Nah, we did that last time." I say and walk to the couch, flopping down beside Adam.
"Truth or dare?" Chase says and I raise a brow.
"What are we in, highschool?"
"Seven minutes in heaven!" Someone cheers and I roll my eyes.
"Only you would suggest that Mario." I say and the smile on his face drops. Mia looks like she's about to explode with laughter and I turn to Fayette.
The smile on her face tells me that she's about to say something weird.
And that's how we end up playing, a miserable game of Musical chairs, and now I have a broken butt.
°•°•°|°•°•°
My alarm buzzes and I open my eyes, glaring at the clock on my bedside table wishing it would go off already. When it finally does, I close my eyes and feel myself drifting back into sleep when it starts screaming again.
It takes me all of my early morning strength not to smash this thing against the wall every morning. I stand up lazily and walk into the bathroom, blinking slowly at the person in the mirror.
I hate the fact that anytime I sleep, I always wake up even more tired than I was before I sleep. It's not funny.
I turn on that faucet and splash some water on my face, which does nothing to drive the sleep away so I end up brushing my teeth like a zombie.
I walk out of my room with my head a little cleared from staring at the person in the mirror to realizing that the person in the mirror is me.
I walk to the kitchen to get some water when I see Chase smiling widely at his phone.
"Fayette send any love message to you?" I ask and he looks up and shakes his head, still smiling.
"Nah, Ethan just told me I'm going to be an uncle!" He squeals and I laugh, nodding.
"Yep, I bet mom would give a dance show to the dishes on the cruise when she hears the news." I say and grab a bottle of water.
"She already has, and it seems the fishes are going to be scarred for life." He says and tilts his phone for me to see my mom publicly dancing in front of everyone and the fish. Only mom, only mom.
I shake my head with a smile on my face and sit on one of the stools.
"Where's Macy?" I question at how quiet the house is.
"They went to the doctor for their appointment." he replies and I furrow my brows.
"I thought it wasn't until this afternoon." He looks up at me like I'm from another planet.
"April, it's three forty-five, you've been asleep almost the whole day."
Oh, wow!
°•°•°|°•°•°
The bell above my head jingles as I push open the door to the café, the so good smell of coffee wafting around and up my nostrils. I walk up to the counter table and smile at the person behind.
"Hi, can I have a cappuccino and three muffins?" I ask the woman and she smiles, nodding and turning to the person behind her.
"What's your name?" She asks and my brows raise in surprise.
"April." I say and she nods, ordering the person behind her. I walk to a table and look around me, watching the people eating or silently sipping coffee and using the café's WiFi. I should have brought my laptop.
"April?" someone asks and I raise my hand, waving at the waitress looking for me.
"Here you go." I smile at her but when I look down, it's plain black coffee.
"Um, waitress!" I call for her just as someone else calls her, I look at the guy, blonde hair with black roots and sharp green eyes. The waitress looks torn between who to answer first and it looks like she's going to answer the cute boy, mostly because of his piercings.
She smiles apologetically at me and calls someone else to take care of my problem and I nearly roll my eyes but let it go since she was polite enough to look apologetic.
The other waitress walks up to me, looking as bored as ever.
"Um, I got my order mixed up, I ordered a cappuccino but I got plain black coffee instead." I say and she sighs.
"Alright, I'll get-"
"It's fine, I just mixer your order with that guy's own, I'll take this and make a new one for you since he's already sipped out of your latte." She says and I shrug.
"No problem." I say and she takes the mug from my table and I bite into my muffin while I wait for my cappuccino.
"Hey." I hear a deep voice from beside me and I look up, watching as the guy stands awkwardly by the table.
"Hey, um sit." I say awkwardly and he slips into the chair opposite me.
"Um, I know you, but do you know me?" I ask and he looks at me like he's trying to figure me out, blinking before he answers.
"Yes, you were at the finals with Storm Perkins." He says and I raise my brows.
"Yeah, you were there?" It takes him some time before he answers with a simple yes.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm seated across star basketball player, Devin Rodriguez.
°•°|°•°
I finish one of the muffins and grab a new one and I furrow my brows.
"Why did you order black coffee? It's already five in the evening." I say and he looks up at me from under those lashes. He just merely shrugs and continues sipping his coffee.
He doesn't talk a lot.
The door opens and I look up at the person who just walked in. Normal boring stranger. Looking past.
I finish my dessert and cappuccino and look up to see Devin watching me with calculating eyes. My brows furrow and I look behind me to make sure he isn't looking at someone else. When I don't find anyone, I turn back to him and see that the corner of his lips are tugged up in amusement and I glare at him.
"Oh haha, laugh all you want." I say and stand up but his lips just pull into a bigger smile and I can't help but smile with him, although it's nothing more than just a tug.
I put the money on the table with a tip and walk out of the café, noticing that Devin is following me.
"Are you a stalker?" I ask and he looks at me with a raised brow.
"Don't flatter yourself." He scoffs and goes in the opposite direction. I laugh silently to myself, pulling out my phone as it vibrates in my pants pocket.
I roll my eyes when I read the text and call Chase to come pick me up.
"What do you mean you can't pick me? My car is with you." I complain and he sighs.
"I'm with Fayette, and I'm out of town, get Adam or Luke to get you or something, I gotta go." he says in a rush and my eyes widen.
"No, don't you dare click, don't you-"
"Click!" And the line goes dead. I growl and glare at the phone like it's the reason why I don't have a ride back home.
I took a cab here and spent my money on the food, plus the extra tip and now I'm stranded.
I grunt and dial Austin's number, pressing the phone against my ear.
"Yellow!" He cheers and I roll my eyes.
"Hey, um, can you pick me up?" I ask in a tiny voice and I hear shuffling.
"Sure, where are you?"
"Cookies and Coffees." I reply and sit on the bench that just so happened to be there.
"Great, I'll be there in a second, you won't even know that I was never there." He says and I laugh, cutting the call. I start playing Candy Crush, level two thousand and five when I hear a honk. I turn around to make sure it's not Austin but shake my head when I see him waving at me.
"He's going to kill himself one day." I mutter and stand up, walking to the car.
"Hey favourite April." he laughs and I smile at him.
"The other April's are getting more and more jealous by the day." I tease and he smiles, driving off.
°•°•°|°•°•°
"Oh yes!" Macy yells and starts doing her victory dance with the controller in her hand. I roll my eyes and drop my controller, sipping from my glass of apple juice. Adam chuckles and grabs her hips, slamming her into his chest and peppering kisses all over her face.
"Too much PDA, I'm too young." Mia says and I laugh, nudging her with my elbow at the look on Fayette's face. Chase notices and and grabs her chin, kissing her smack on the lips.
Aw.
"Alright everyone, Mario's having a party tomorrow and you're all invited, April, try not to terrify the guests and make sure to bring Mr Handsome Writer with you too." She winks and I fake gag.
The doorbell rings and Mia stands up. "Well, that's my cue, gotta blast, see y'all tomorrow evening, girls, wear something hot." She blows a kiss at us and leaves the living room.
Macy places her head in my lap, making weird faces at her phone camera and I shake my head.
"I have to take Fayette home, I'll see you guys later." Chase says as he stands up.
"Bye Fay-Fay." Adam chirps and she smiles at him, waving a little.
"Alright babe, let's go shower." Adam says and tugs on Macy's hand. She groans but let's him help her stand before jumping on his back which almost causes him to tumble to the floor.
She kicks his side and he groans, walking up the stairs and cursing under his breath about how violent his wife is.
I laugh at them and check to make sure the door is locked before following them up the stairs. My phone pings and I see a message from Austin.
Dorko: Come to the patio.
My brows furrow in concern for what stupid thing he's going to do now. I walk towards the patio and immediately, I'm smacked in the face by whatever he's thinking. No, I mean it literally, a pebble just hit my forehead.
"Austin, what the heck?" I ask when I see him about to throw another pebble.
"Hehe, sorry, just thought it'd be a great idea in my head, now that I think of it I realize how stupid it is, but uh, yes." He clears his throat. He pauses, like he's thinking of something before looking up at me with a dazzling smile.
"I was supposed to say a cheesy line but I forgot what I was going to say," he laughs and I shake my head at him.
"So, since that plan is ruined, may I come in?" he asks and I roll my eyes.
"You know you could have just rung the bell right?" He smiles sheepishly at me, his blue eyes shining brightly even though it's dark.
"Come on then, the door will be open." I say and he smiles widely, walking out of my sight. I walk down the stairs and to he door where he's patiently waiting, unlock it and open the door.
"Hey, my favourite April." He says and I roll my eyes.
"Come in, my dorko." I say but my eyes widen when I realize I called him what I just called him.
Mine.
He looks at me with a weird look in his eyes. He steps in, closing the door behind him. I awkwardly clear my throat and turn around, "I'll be right back." I say and walk quickly up the stairs but trying my best to make sure that it's not obvious.
I hear his slow steps fading and it takes all of my strength not to turn around. I walk into my room, breathing out once I get to my bed. I close my eyes and clutch the pillow tight.
"So this is your room huh?" A voice asks and I scream, throwing the pillow I'd been holding at the person.
He catches the pillow tight before it smacks his face and pulls it away, looking at me in amusement.
I narrow my eyes at him, moving my back until I'm resting against the headboard. "It's not like you haven't been in here before." I say and he shrugs, walking over to me.
He flops down on the bed, somehow getting the pillow under his head as he stares up at the ceiling.
"So, this is weird." I say after a while of deafening silence. It's never been this quiet in the condo, what's happening between Macy and Adam?
"It's always weird between us no matter how much we try to ignore it." He says quietly and I find myself looking at him. I think about what he said and I realize that he's more than right.
"Want to watch a movie?" I ask him and he looks at me with a raised brow.
"Did you really just ask me that?" He questions and I shrug.
"I don't know, I guess there's nothing to do." I say and he sits up, resting on his elbows.
"How about we play Would you rather?" he suggests and I smile.
"Okay, I'll go first. Would you rather have a million dollars but be living in a desert or would you have a hundred dollars and be living in the city?" I ask and he raises his brows.
"A hundred dollars and living in the city, obviously, now, Would you rather find your soul mate but have him die three years after and never be able to love again or live with someone you can tolerate for the rest of your life without finding your soulmate at all?"
Wow, that is deep.
"I'll find my soulmate and love him as much as I can for those three years, even though it might kill me once those few years are gone, I'd know that I'd lived, and I'd lived with someone that made loving worth it." I say and stare into his eyes.
Those striking bluer than the sky blue eyes stare right into mine, his warm minty breath fans my face and my lips part. His lashes flutter as he slowly blinks. My hand reaches across his face, gently running my fingertips over his stubble.
His skin is warm and it causes tingles to flow through my arm, my breath hitches as his fingers find their way to my hair, softly tugging.
I feel goosebumps covering my skin and I lick my lips, watching as his eyes travel from mine to the action.
My heart races, my lungs clenching for air and I can't help the fact that I'm loving how he deprives me of breathing. I hate it, but deep down I know that I want more of it.
I slowly place my head on his shoulder, my hand across his chest as I try to even my breathing. His hand still in my hair lulls me and I find myself succumbing to sleep.
"Hey April?" he calls and I murmur a yes.
"I'm not leaving you." I smile at that, clenching his shirt.
"I know." I answer and let myself go.
Just before I totally pass out, I feel a warm skin press against my forehead and a soft goodnight.
And I know it's Austin.