Hey guys. It took me a while but here is chapter 2. It is much longer than chapter one so hopefully that will make up for it. There is a quote from that 70s show in this chapter because I feel like it suits them. I hope you like it :)
-Jordan
When Duncan parked at the end of my unnecessarily long driveway, it was 6:17. Not that I'm surprised. I'd figured he'd be late. But I have a habit of dreading being late. I was ready half an hour ago. I got it from my mother, I suppose. I mean, I guess I don't know enough about my dad. I'd never met him. I shook the bad thoughts about him away. It always made me sad to think about.
I was dressed in an oversized black and blue sweater that shrugged a bit off my shoulder, exposing the smallest bit of my right shoulder, and jeans. I tucked my phone into my black leather purse and put on black toms. My chestnut-colored hair was slightly curled and fell about an inch past my shoulders.
I heard the doorbell ring from downstairs. I lived in a two-story suburban house that I inherited after I finished my second year of college. It used to belong to my grandparents before they had passed away the summer before.
I opened the pearly white front door to Duncan in his usual skull tee shirt, jeans, and red chucks. I rolled my eyes at the sight. At least I attempted to look nice for this stupid party. This was all his idea, by the way. Ugh, he is just so irritating sometimes.
"Damn, Princess," He looked me up and down, and winked.
I clenched my fists at my side and took a deep breath. "Duncan, how many times have I told you not to call me that, you pernicious barbarian," I was starting to give up on protesting his pet names.
He simply stared at me with a blank look. "I am not completely sure what you said, but I am almost positive that it was an insult." He raised an eyebrow in question, and I nodded. "So, are you ready to go, or not?" He asked, running his left hand through the hair on the back of his neck nervously.
"I have been ready for half an hour. You, however, were late," I huffed, blowing a tiny hair out of my face."
"Well, okay then, let's go." Duncan stepped out of the way and held his arm out for me to grab on to. I gave him an apprehensive look, but ultimately took his offer, against my better judgment.
The car ride to the party was not very long, but the awkwardness made the ride seem to drag on and on. Duncan put on a rock station that I'd rolled my eyes at, and we sat in silence, other than the wretched music that, I guess, he thought was cool.
When we got there, I swear there were cars all the way down the street. Duncan parked in the grass for some reason. He's so lucky I didn't wear heels.
The house was tan and had a cute little wooden porch and stairs in front. It looked kind of charming.
"Who did you say lived here?" I inquired while tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
"My friend Geoff. And also me. We were roommates in college, and then we got a place together." He cut the engine and stuffed the keys in his pocket.
I eyed Duncan up and down suspiciously as I got out of the car. "You went to college? What was your major?"
He scoffed at me. "Yes, I went to college. I majored in engineering if you must know."
"Aren't engineers supposed to be smart?" I retorted as he held his hand out for me. I was nervous about taking his hand, but he was the only person at this party that I knew. I intertwined my fingers with his decisively. But he better not leave me alone with any of these people.
Duncan shot me a smirk. "I can tell you all of the parts of a car's engine, but not what pernicious means," he joked.
When we got up to the front door, I took a deep breath. Duncan opened the door in front of us to reveal a sea of people, the strong smell of alcohol, mixed with weed. I was definitely out of my element here.
"Come on, babe. We have to find Geoff or find you a drink. Whichever comes first," he winked.
I shuddered. "Don't call me babe."
Duncan handed me a red plastic cup with, what I assumed, beer. I smelled the liquid, and cringed.
"This smells like stale bread." I addressed and shot him a skeptical look.
"Just drink it," Duncan pushed. "You'll get used to it."
I eventually obliged, and nearly gagged on the bitter liquid. "This tastes awful. How do you drink this?" I scrunched my nose up.
"I've had lots of practice. Now, are you ready to have some fun?" He smirked at me.
"First of all, you sound like my abuela. Second, I'm not sure if I am ready for what you consider fun." I stared at my feet.
Duncan grabbed my shoulders, and I lifted my gaze up to his. "Don't worry about it. I'll be right here the whole time. And if anyone so much as looks at you the wrong way, I will not hesitate to drop kick someone for you. I promised, remember? I may be a criminal, but I keep promises. You just have to trust me."
I am not sure why, but I did.
Duncan continued to guide me through the sea of people while I sipped out of the plastic cup he had handed me, if nothing else but out of politeness. We stopped suddenly as we approached a blonde couple. Both were tall and seemed to have the same goofy smiles.
"Hey man," he said to the taller of the two. "This is Princess, the girl I told you about."
My eyes widened a bit. He had talked about me? I didn't know there was anything to talk about. I mean, we just met. Before getting too caught up in my thoughts I cut in with a nervous laugh, "I prefer Courtney actually."
He laughed as he introduced himself, "I'm Geoff, and this is my girl, Bridge." He motioned to the blonde girl that was attached to his arm. She looked about my age and had long blonde hair that was styled half up in a small bun on the top of her head and half flowing down her shoulders. I noticed she had a small tattoo on her shoulder of a wave and a palm tree.
"Hi Courtney, I'm Bridgette," she smiled. Her smile seemed so genuine. I might not mind this party after all.
I took a swig of my beer and grimaced. Bridgette took my hand and said with a giggle, "Let me make you a drink that tastes a little bit better." She led me into the kitchen where a makeshift bar had been set up on the island. I saw her mix together cheap vodka and cranberry juice effortlessly.
"So," she started as she handed the drink to me, "what's the story with you and Duncan? I won't tell, I promise." She looked at me hopefully.
Honestly, I didn't know what to say. I didn't think there really was a story to tell. He bugged me at my job and now here I am. "Um, I don't know. I met him at my job; I work at the library. He would come in and basically bug me until I agreed to come here with him," I offered nervously.
Bridgette nodded. "That sounds like him," she explained with a smile. "He is a hard person to get to know, but he is worth knowing. He really is a good guy as much as he wants everyone to think he isn't." I looked back in Duncan's direction. Maybe I judged him too fast. He was telling Geoff a story and his blue eyes lit up across the room. I don't know if it was the alcohol settling in or the lighting, but Duncan had a different energy about him. His eyes locked with mine and I could feel my face flush and Duncan made his way over to us at the makeshift bar.
"Hey Princess," he beamed at me. I could feel my stomach flip at the nickname that I had found so annoying just this morning. I couldn't help but look down at my shoes nervously as I took another sip of my drink. "Do you want to get some air?" Duncan motioned to the glass sliding door that led out to the back yard. I looked up at him and I nodded as a smile creeped onto my lips. I took his hand and he led me out under the stars.
The backyard looked like something out of a magazine, no doubt Bridgette's doing, save for some cans and bottles strewn on the ground from the party. There were fairy lights gleaming around the deck and fence and a soft rock song playing on the radio.
I took a seat in the grass and admired the night sky. Duncan sat next to me in the grass and took a swig of his beer. As I brought my gaze back down to Earth, I noticed Duncan was looking at me and I wondered how long he was watching me admire the stars.
"So," Duncan started. "How's the Malibu special?" He smirked at me, but his eyes were hiding something that he wasn't saying.
I looked down at the drink I had been absentmindedly sipping. "It's alright," I answered. "Bridgette is so sweet." I looked up at Duncan and his eyes caught mine. I wondered if there was a real reason that he asked me here. I wasn't sure what to say to him. I was grateful when Duncan broke the silence between us.
"You know, when I first saw you in the library for the first time, I was running from the cops," Duncan admitted. He seemed almost nervous to tell me that.
"I know," I answered flatly. "I didn't know that was a secret." I giggled, remembering the first time I saw Duncan rush in through the doors of the library. "You know? You're only half as bad as I thought. Okay, maybe a quarter," I chirped with a smile. "You're actually kind of nice."
Duncan scoffed at my comment. "I'm not nice. What made you think that?"
"Well," I started, "You could be in there hanging out with your friends, but you're out here with me instead. Plus, Bridgette had nice things to say about you, and she seems like a genuine person and had no reason to lie to me." I looked into Duncan's blue eyes and leaned my head against my knees.
"You know what your problem is," Duncan teased, "You're really cute so no one's ever told you to shut up."
"You think I'm cute?" I beamed at him. The alcohol was definitely taking over now because I, Courtney, would never care so much about what a delinquent thinks. But I did care.
"Shut up" he jeered as he gave me a gentle push with his shoulder. He took a cigarette out of his jacket pocket and lit it.
I scooted away from him on the grass to get out of the range of smoke and screwed up my nose at the smell. "You smoke?" I groaned.
"Yeah. I'll stop smoking when life stops being stressful," Duncan grumbled.
With a big sigh I explained, "It's not really you, its just that my father smoked Newports so it just reminds me of him. He died when I was younger." I looked at the sky again.
"I'm so sorry Courtney," he whispered. His soft words caught me off guard.
I blinked at him. "I think that is the first time you have actually called me by my name," I gave him a weak smile.
"Yeah, well don't get used to it Princess," he teased.
We spent the rest of the night talking about anything and everything under the stars. From his trips to juvey to his parents being police officers to my school and my dreams of being a lawyer. Despite my reservations about Duncan, Bridgette was right. He was someone worth knowing.