Chapter One
You slip your arm around his torso, snuggling into his chest. He twirls small strands of your hair. You glance up to his face. His lips formed a small smile, while his eyes stared back into yours. You placed your head on to his chest, embarrassed that you had been caught. He places his palm underneath your chin, directing you to look back at him. His palm rests on your cheek as he places a loose hair behind your ear.
"I'm so thankful to have you in my life." He sighs. His eyes search yours.
"I'm the one who's thankful." You tease. He kisses your nose with a smile.
"It's too late for that argument." He chuckles. You roll your eyes in response.
"It's never too late." You protest. You "Pout", trying to make him laugh.
But then you wake up.
You shiver, noticing the warmth of his body is no longer there. It hasn't been for a while now.
You pull the covers over your head, shielding your eyes from the rising sun. You stretch your body out on the mattress, making it seem like there is no room for another companion. But in reality, the only place where there is no room, is your heart.
You sigh as your alarm clock goes off. You'd rather stay in bed, keeping an eye on the golden door handle. This way, you can hope that he will change his mind and turn it, walking through the doorway, but it's been over a year. He's not really coming back. You know this. Yet, you still hope.
"You're going to be late!" Raven bangs on your door. You shove the covers off of your body, causing goosebumps to rise on your arms. You roll your eyes as she continues to bang on the door. You swing open the door, flashing her with your naked body. She screams. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
You laugh and let her inside. She walks in, and sits on your bed. You walk into the closet and shove a hoodie over your head. Correction, his hoodie.
"Why haven't you burned that yet?" She asks, pointing at the scarlet hoodie. You shrug, and slip on underwear. "You need to get over him, hun." She sighs.
You shake your head. This isn't the first time she's said this. "I know, Raven. Okay?" You yell. She shakes her head, keeping her thoughts to herself. You pull on a pair of jeans, and slip on sandals.
You both leave the apartment, heading towards the bookstore right below. We unlock the doors to the store and slip inside. The door chimes, announcing our arrival to the books lining the walls. It was a small store, but it was homely. You stand behind the counter, waiting for a customer. Sometimes it was hours before someone walked through the doors. Why you unlocked the store so early? Well, it wasn't your choice. It was Raven's. She was your partner in crime, also owner of the store. She gave you the job a while back, trying to help you get out of your funk. It didn't work. Not exactly.
The bell chimes, as a customer walks in. His hair is dark, and creates shadows across his face. He sweeps it back, revealing brown eyes. You sigh. It wasn't him. You watch as he caresses the bindings of the books. His eyes searched the shelves, full of wonder. You couldn't help but watch him. Raven tapped your shoulder, causing you to jump.
"He's pretty cute." She mused, shoving your shoulder. You roll your eyes, as you lean on the counter. You both watch as he leans against the shelf, opening up a book. He closes it, and begins to walk towards you. You stand up straight, causing Raven to stifle a laugh. He raises his eyebrows, confused.
He sets the book onto the counter, you're about the ring it up, when he grabs your hand. You stare at him in shock. You tear your hand away, along with the book. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't wanting to buy it just yet, I actually was gonna ask a question about it." He rambles.
You sigh, and hand him back the book. You glance at the cover, "The Lightning Thief? What about it?" you ask him. He chuckles.
"Do you recommend it?" He asks, glancing along your face. You nod.
"Yeah, it was one of my favorites when I was a teen." You recalled. He smiled, blinding you with his charm.
"Great. I'll take it then." He exclaims, handing you back the book. Your hands grazed as you took it back from him. Sizzles filled your stomach. You gulped, and rang up the book. He handed you a 20$ bill. You gave him the change back, and closed the register. He grabbed the book, and smiled at you. Your spine shook slightly.
"My sister should love this, then." He announced, before stepping out of the shop. Before letting the door close, he yelled towards you, "Have a nice day." You smiled and wished him one as well.
Raven approached you from the side, and leaned on the counter. "I don't think I've seen you smile since-" "Don't say his name." You interjected. She raised her hands, surrendering.
The rest of the day was dull. You continued to watch the doors, hoping either of them would enter. Who was that guy? You asked yourself. He was a complete stranger, and yet he affected you. But why? You shook your head, and walked towards the shelves. When the days got boring, you organized. Time seemed to speed by as you rearranged the books into different orders.
"Are you really going to sit there all day?" Raven asked, putting a hand onto her hip. You nodded in response. She grunted and sat down next to you.
"We should go out." She suggests. You shrug. It doesn't sound appetizing. She pouts her lips, pleading. You roll your eyes.
"Fine, but you pay."
"I always do." She mumbles. Your eyebrows scrunch together.
"What?" You ask, confused.
"Nothing. Let's just go get ready." She rushed.
"Now?" You asked. She rolls her eyes.
"No, next year. Yes, now." She sassed.
After getting ready
You stare into the mirror. You hands caressed your face, admiring Raven's work. Your face was lightly contoured, your lips a bright red. You didn't recognize yourself. Raven stood behind you, admiring her own her work.
"Damn, I should go into the business." She mused. You chuckled, and leaned down to grab your converse. She grabs your arm.
"Uh uh. Heels. Those converse will ruin the outfit." She explained, while setting bright red high heels into your arms. You rolled your eyes and slipped on the slick heels. You wobbled as you tried to stand. It had been a while since you've worn heels.
"Now we finally leave." She darts out the bedroom door, heading for the exit of the loft.
You sigh, "And now we leave."
Arriving at the night club
As you stared out the window, you imagined what it was like in the movies. They pull up to the club, and camera lights are flashing. Girls scream as you walk past the security guard. Too bad the movies make it out to be so much greater than it was. You slipped out of the car, landing your foot into a puddle.
"Just great. " You mumbled to yourself. No bright lights were flashing, well, except for the entrance sign. Bright red doesn't count. It doesn't beat camera flash. Three guys stumble out of the doors, holding each other a float.
Raven walks beside you, checking them out. "Hey, guy in the middle isn't too bad." She points out. You glance in his direction, and make eye contact. "ABORT. ABORT. ABORT." Rings out in your head. He continues to stare, but then he suddenly winks. You step back, almost tripping.
"Woah there. Don't pass out just yet. Besides. There are cuter guys in there anyways. He was maybe a 5." She joked, nudging your shoulder. You smirked, and continued walking towards the entrance.
Loud music fills your ears, it's something you've never heard before.
"I'm going to get us some drinks." Raven yells over the beat.
"What?" You yell back. She rolls her eyes and moves closer to your ear.
"I'm going to get us some drinks. Stay here." She yells, causing you to wince.
Every time you've gone to the club, you've only ever swayed in one spot. You were never the one to flirt with the bartender to get free drinks. You were always the one told to stay back. Usually you didn't care, but tonight? You felt off. You followed Raven up to the bar, slightly behind her.
You watched as she smiled brightly at someone. You weren't close enough to see them just yet. As you inched closer, you froze. It was him. You stood back and watched as he leaned in close to her, whispering something in her ear. She laughed and playfully hit his shoulder. Was this why she never wanted you to follow? To see her flirting with him? You clinched your fist, but smirked. You sashayed towards the bar, making eye contact with him. Raven turned, jaw agape.
"Hi. Can I have four shots of Green Apple Smirnoff?" You asked. He stared at you, but you ignored his glances. He wasn't going to have it that easy. You turned away from Raven, fists clinched.
"Clarke," She tried to coax, but you ignored her soothing voice.
"Four shots." He grumbled, setting them down in front of you. You slipped him the cash, and slung back the shots into your throat.
"Clarke, isn't that a little much?" Raven asked.
"Raven, isn't it a little much to flirt with my ex just to get free alcohol? No? Okay then." You sassed. She gasped in reply. You stumbled away from the bar, adrenaline rushing through your veins.
You shimmied into the center of the dance floor, and began to grind against a couple guys. You no longer cared to be the modest one in the background. You wanted to forget.
And forgetting is what you did. You woke up back in your room, head pounding. Raven walks in with a glass of water and says, "You were going pretty hardcore last night."
You take the glass, and sip the water. "I don't remember any of it. " You state, causing her to let out a loud sigh.
"You took four shots of vodka, and went and danced in the center of the floor. The guys were really enjoying it." She joked. Your mouth hung wide. You've never done that before.
"Do you know why I did that?" You asked. She shook her head.
"I have no idea, honestly. All I know is later on you got handed a lot of drinks from those guys, and I think one of them gave you something extra.."
"Oh...wow, I can't believe I did that... What'd you do while this was going on?" You asked.
"The bartender." She smirked, earning a high five from you.
"Now that's my girl." You yell, earning a laugh from her.
The next morning
"It feels like I've had this migraine for years." You complain, setting your head on to the counter. Raven pats your head.
"There. There. Now chin up, we have a customer." She mused. You roll your eyes, but you listen to her anyways.
You sip at your water, glancing towards the teen every now and then. "Do you guys have Harry Potter?" a soft voice piped up. You looked up from your glass.
"I believe we do." You smirked, watching the spunky girl. Her hair was bright red.
You stood, and made your way towards the 'Favorites' section. You were always going out of stock of the famous series, but luckily for the girl, you just had a new shipment in. Your hands traced the spines of the books. You sigh and say, "Here they are."
The girl smiles wide, and tries to hold all of the books into her arms. Somehow, maybe sheer will power, she manages not to drop them. She slams them on the counter, out of breath. "How much?" she asks.
You scan the books, marking them all roughly eight dollars. "That'll be $53.88, hon."
She shuffles through her pocket, glancing nervously back at you a couple times. She sets the cash on the table. A couple twenties, and a ten or two. Plus maybe a five. You couldn't tell. It was all too jumbled. "Sorry." she whispered. You gave a small smile, and untangled the bills.
"$34.68. I'm sorry, you're a little off."
She frowns. "I thought they were cheaper on the website."
"Well, let me check our website and with the owner to see if we can get them any cheaper, okay?" You assured. She nodded and glanced around. Her eyes darted towards the door, when someone walked through it.
"Octavia." He grunted, "I've been looking everywhere for you." His eyes darted towards the pile of books, causing his mouth to form an 'O'.
"Uhm, sorry to interrupt," You muttered, gaining both of their attention. "Are you still wanting the books? They're half off on the website."
The girl-Octavia-lit up like a firework. "That means I can get 'em, Bell!" She screeched, causing you to cover your ears.
He sighed, and rubbed his neck. "Well, I guess if you want them so badly. Did you already finish the book I gave you the other day?" he asked. She nodded, in response.
"Oh, you're the guy who came in yesterday. I knew I recognized you." You remembered. He nodded.
"Yeah, this one here," He chuckled while ruffling her hair, "seems to have found a love for reading."
Octavia rolled her eyes and shoved his hand off her head. "So have you seen the movies or read the books?" she asked you.
Always say yes, kids.
You shook your head. "I haven't read the books since I was a kid, nor have I seen the movies."
Her mouth fell agape, along with the man next to her. "You've never seen the movies?" He marveled. You nodded.
"Yeah...that's what I just said." You chuckled. He gulped and tugged at his collar.
"Right, yeah, sorry. Uh. So are you going to get the books or what, kid?" He asked her. She deadpanned and turned towards him.
"No, I'm going to use the money to win at a casino. Of course I'm going to buy the books." She sassed. You chuckled.
"Well, that'll be $26.94 then." You mused. You counted the cash, and handed her back the change. "Are you going to need any help with the books?" You ask.
She shrugs. "Nah. I have my brother Bellamy. He's strong for a guy that works in a desk job."
You glance over at him-Bellamy-making eye contact. He looks away, blushing. "Alright," You giggled, "Well, enjoy your reading."
She smiles and nudges Bellamy. He coughs, "Uh, thank you for helping my sister."
You give a small smile. "It was no problem, really." He smiled back and nodded.
They both walked out of the store, leaving you all to your lonesome.
Later that night
"I don't deserve love." You cried on to your pillow.
You already forgot what it meant to eat or drink, for you had no appetite.
"It's okay." Raven cooed. She ran her fingers through your hair. You sniffled.
"How could he do this?" You screeched, pounding your hand on the bed. You sobbed into the pillow.
"Oh, sweetie. You don't deserve this." She sighed.
"But he doesn't want you anymore. He wants me. Can't you see it?"
She smiled.
You frowned. You had no idea what she was speaking of.
"Of course. You don't remember. Just be sure to ask the bartender next time what his name was." She purred.
You woke up, drenched in sweat. It was a nightmare, you thought. You leaned back on to your pillows. The same ones from the nightmare. "It was just a dream." You whispered to yourself, quietly. Eventually it turned into mumbles and soon you were back asleep.
Sadly, what you didn't know, was what was going on in the room next door.