The Secrets We Hide
"Holy crap it's loud in here!" Avery yelled as she set foot into Nicky's, a bar downtown that let teenagers in merely for the business. Kate and Sarah had kidnapped her right after their last class of the day, dragging her out to the cars and driving her down to the bar. "So this is Nicky's?"
"It's not much, but it's the local hotspot." Sarah fell into a chair comfortably, greeting Tyler with a kiss on the cheek. Avery saw Caleb flinch from the corner of her eye as Sarah's lips made contact with the younger boy's skin. "You any good at pool, Ave?"
"Decent."
"I'll be the judge of that." Reid drawled as he sat down, his eyes focused solely on Avery. "Play much, Jacobs?"
"Depends."
"On?"
"You like asking questions, don't you?" Avery countered quickly, grabbing a handful of fries from Pogue's plate as he returned from the bar.
"You gonna answer it?" Reid pushed. Avery shrugged, shedding her jacket and tossing it over the back of her chair. She stood up, walking towards the pool tables. She paused halfway there, looking over her shoulder at Reid and allowing herself the smallest, most flirtatious smile she could build up to flash over her shoulder at the blond boy. He was up in a flash, weaving through the crowd to get to the pool table, where Avery had just finished racking up the balls.
"All right hotshot, show me what you can do."
"Oooh, I think you might be-"
"Shut up!" Reid was sweating bullets, his hands steadying the pool stick as his eyes darted back and forth from the striped ball to the end of the stick. Avery was standing off to the side, her smile stuck on her face as she watched the boy focus. He sent the cue ball flying into the last striped ball, cursing wildly when the ball bounced harmlessly off the edge. Avery let her eyes fade back out to hazel before she lined up her next shot, pointing across the table.
"Eight ball, left corner pocket." She called out. Reid swore again and wiped his face, angry at himself and the girl for losing. Avery was so intent on making the shot that she missed Reid's eyes flash black as she moved, her face turning in confusion as the solid black ball stopped centimeters short of the pocket. "Huh. That sucks."
"Not so lucky after all, eh Jacobs?"
"Shut up and shoot, asshole." Avery snapped, leaning on her pool stick as she waited for Reid to make his next to shot. She heard the rumbling of the ball as it sank into the hole, inwardly cursing herself. Now he would definitely win.
"Eight ball, right pocket." Reid said shortly, leaning back over the table and lining up his last shot. Avery couldn't stop herself and allowed her eyes to turn black again for the third time that night. "Damnit!"
"Left pocket." Avery quickly took the shot and smiled in triumph as it disappeared into the hole. "I believe you owe me a drink, hotshot."
"Whatever." Reid shrugged and walked over to the bar, returning with a Coke in one hand and a Sprite in the other. Avery gave him a weird look and he rolled his eyes, taking his Sprite back over to the table and sitting down in between Tyler and Pogue.
"Someone looks unhappy." Tyler commented playfully as Reid gave him a sour glare. "What, finally found someone to lose money to?"
"Shut up."
"Looks like someone's unhappy." Kate said to Avery as Avery walked back over to the table, both pairs of eyes glancing over to see a fuming Reid swearing into his glass of something that was most definitely not just straight Sprite. Avery could tell that much by simply watching him take a few sips of the drink, scrunch his face up from dislike, and swallow difficultly.
"Looks like someone's trying to get smashed." Avery corrected as Reid continued to drink. "Idiot probably snuck some alcohol in."
"He always does. Caleb stopped giving him shit about it a few months ago. It helps him..." Sarah supplied as she and Caleb returned from the dance floor. Kate shared a small nod with Sarah and Avery frowned. Something was up.
"If you say so." Avery shrugged and vacated her seat, walking over to Reid and snatching the cup from his hand.
"Hey!" He leaned back in his chair, staring with wide eyes as Avery quickly downed the last half of the mixed liquid. "That was mine!" She slammed the now empty cup on the counter and gasped.
"What in the hell was in the bottom of that?" Avery choked as the bitter taste of vodka and Reid chuckled.
"Sprite, vodka, and one blue raspberry Jolly Rancher." He dug around in the cup with his fingers, withdrawing a shrunken piece of blue candy that he popped in his mouth before Avery could grab it from him. "You're a surprise, Jacobs. Didn't know you drank."
"And you didn't know I could whoop your ass at pool either. Guess there's not a whole lot you actually know about me, is there?" She was shamelessly flirting now, leaning heavily on the table as Reid looked up at her with those mischievous eyes. He shrugged.
"So she drinks and she plays, but does she dance?" Reid's invitation hung in the air for a second or two as Avery considered it, looking over to see Kate and Sarah smiling and nodding. She grabbed his wrist and all but dragged him out to the middle of the dance floor, hooking her arms around his neck while his hands became comfortable on her waist.
"Oh yes I do." Her smirk was mirrored on his face and she found herself suddenly pulled full against his body, aware of every single place their bodies were touching.
"Good answer."
Avery tried to make her hands stay on Reid's shoulders as another song started up in the background. She hated the way he had been staring at her for the last four and a half minutes, as if daring her to move any more than she already was. It was difficult for Avery to keep looking back at him since he was much taller than her, and those blue eyes started to hurt after a little while. It was taking most of her energy to keep up with the beat now, since the tempo of the song had probably doubled since the last song had ended. Reid, however, seemed to have no trouble whatsoever making the transition. In fact, Avery swore there was the beginning of another smirk crawling onto his face. She felt her right leg slowly going numb and she barely winced.
"You okay?"
"Fine." She lied, giving him a confused look as he tried to push her away. "What?"
"Turn around, it's easier." He almost had to yell over the music and some of the couples dancing close to them shot very weird looks at the two. Avery did as he told her to and yelped when his hands reappeared on her waist, very close to the top of her jeans. She was forcefully pulled into him again and her eyes widened in shock as he brought his chin to rest on her shoulder. "Relax Jacobs, Christ."
"Well I, you, don't, I..." She stumbled over a few words as she settled into the music, the feeling of swaying back and forth to the thumping bass becoming extremely natural to Avery as Reid helped guide her. Within seconds she was on her own, her hips rocking side to side and occasionally brushing against Reid's. Whenever this occurred she took notice of the way his hands tightened on her sides, almost as if he was trying to pull her even closer. After about six times of this she covered his hands with hers, hooking their fingers very subtly. As soon as she did so Reid turned his face into her neck, nuzzling the soft skin there with his nose and earning himself a small gasp. There was a more audible intake of breath from her when he slowly brought his lips to rest on the warm flesh and suddenly Reid found himself alone in the middle of the dance floor, a very confused expression marring his features.
Avery pushed her way out of the crowd, one hand scrubbing at the spot on her neck that Reid had attacked and the other over her mouth. She hadn't felt that way in ages and it was so wrong. She couldn't. Not with him. There was some kind of attraction but there was also another vibe, a deeper and much weirder one that had Avery on edge. She found her way back to the table and grabbed her jacket.
"What's up?" Kate asked as Avery ran from the table. Less than five seconds after Avery had disappeared Reid walked back over to the table.
"What did you do?" Sarah accused him as Reid took a seat. He scoffed and narrowed his eyes at Avery's retreating form. "Reid! You didn't! She's new! You can't go scaring-"
"Shut the fuck up Sarah! I didn't do a damn thing!"
"Guys calm down." Tyler interjected quickly, one arm wrapping around Sarah's shoulders comfortingly. Caleb rolled his eyes and got up from the table.
"I'm gonna make sure she gets home okay." His excuse was believable enough and everyone nodded their goodbyes. Caleb made his way out of the bar as quickly as possible, running across the parking lot after Avery. "Avery! Wait up!"
"I'm fine." She replied sullenly, her jacket thrown over her shoulders carelessly.
"Come on, I'll drive you back to the dorms." Caleb offered, unlocking his Mustang to show he was being sincere. Avery shrugged and followed him over to the car. He opened the door for her and she smiled weakly.
"At least one of you is a gentleman, thank goodness." She murmured as she slid into the passenger seat, missing the look of anger that flew over Caleb's face. Caleb jogged around to the driver's seat and climbed in, starting up the convertible and tearing out of the parking lot as fast as possible.
"So-"
"I don't want to talk about it." Avery mumbled as she stared out of the window.
"Okay." Caleb frowned and kept driving, the silence covering the car once again. Impatient, Caleb broke it. "If he did anything-"
"Caleb." Avery turned to face him and he got quiet. "No more."
"Okay." The same silence fell over them again and Avery shifted uncomfortably.
"Does he think he can get every single girl he comes across into his bed within five days or something?" She finally blurted, her anger getting the best of her. "What, is everyone around him just a game, a simple little game that can easily be played and then dropped the very next day for a new player?"
"Apparently."
"It's such bullshit! He's so immature! He thinks he's a gift to women or something and he's not!" Avery fumed, twisting her fingers in the fabric of her jacket. "I mean, sure, he knows that he looks good and he uses that to his advantage, but really, does he have to be such an asshole?"
"That's Reid for you."
"God. I can't believe...And I wanted...Damnit." Avery slammed her fist into the seat and sighed as Caleb turned into the school parking lot. "Thanks." She got out of the car, shutting the door before Caleb could reply.
"No problem." He grumbled to himself as she started driving back to his house. It wasn't until he was halfway there that he remembered something weird from the car ride with Avery.
When she had gone to get out of the car, she hadn't unlocked the door and neither had he. His car immediately locked itself when he started it, and neither one of them pressed the unlock button before she got out. Caleb frowned. His foot slammed on the brakes as another thought hit him. Her eyes had been abnormally dark when she was climbing out of the car. "Holy shit."
And there it is the second chapter! Review please!
Much Luv,
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