Finally, I managed to get this chapter out. I know I say this a lot but I really would've had it uploaded sooner I'm sure. I've been slightly stressed with the semester almost over, allergy season kicking into high gear (kill meh ples) and the computer I normally use to write at work is having technical difficulties. I promise I've been thinking of your wonderful faces so please don't hate me. ;-;
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Chapter Nine
"I wasn't invited Sakura, stop asking."
"Rin…"
"Sakura, enough," Rin silenced me with a soft hand placed carefully over my mouth. Her eyes were as stern as her words as she released a sigh. Lowering her hand from my lips slowly, she took a second to weave her fingers through her hair, mumbling, she said, "I get this is a little nerve wracking but I can't go. It'd be rude to crash a party I wasn't invited to. I'm sure you'll do just fine without me there to bother you."
I frowned, following her from her room as I shut her door behind me.
I had to admit, after finally agreeing to go to Paige's party, I was getting terribly nervous.
It had dawned on me that aside from Paige, I wouldn't know anyone there. While that wasn't a bad thing considering she was great company, I didn't exactly want to follow her around like some lost kid the whole night. My solution? Asking Rin to tag along considering she was the only other person whose company I thoroughly enjoyed.
Unfortunately for me, she wasn't a willing participant in my plan.
"Let me at least text her and ask if it's alright if I bring one person," I suggested, following her into the elevator as we descended until we reached the first floor. I followed each step as we made our way to her car. She had offered to drive me and pick me up so that way she didn't have to worry about me being behind the wheel drunk, not like I had planned to drink anyways. Or rather, not very much.
"No," she abruptly stated, adding the address to her GPS before taking off. So I suppose that was the end of it. She wouldn't go with me no matter what excuse I tried and now we were heading to Paige's place and I was getting anxious. Literally, I'd be trapped for hours surrounded by people I didn't know. Forced to make small talk as to not come off as rude to her other guests. Honestly, just thinking about it was exhausting.
Before I knew it, we were here.
Even with me just sitting outside in the car, I could see from here just how lively it was.
The house was huge enough, at least compared to my old home. There were a group of guys hanging out on the front porch, beers clutched in hand and cigarettes dangling from their lips. I could hear the loud bass from the music all the way out here and with it, the sounds of screaming, cheering and laughter.
If I had to describe it with one word? I'd have to say overwhelming.
I gave Rin a nervous look to which she replied with a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine Sakura, I'm sure," she soothed, giving my hair a quick fix before shoving me out the door. "Stay for at least an hour and if you're still having a shitty time, call me and I'll come back to get you. Alright?" I nodded, still not completely happy with my circumstances.
Literally, the second I exited her car, she was pulling off, literally leaving me stranded.
Feeling extremely nervous, I shoved my hands in my pockets and made my way to the front door. The guys hanging around paid me little attention other than acknowledging my presence enough to move from the door. Stepping inside, it took everything in me to not snatch my phone out and call Rin back right away.
The place was literally crawling with people, some dancing, some drinking, others simply chatting away with other guests.
Scowl on my lips, I pushed my way through the crowd, looking for a space anywhere that would give me enough breathing room. Spotting a vacancy near the back wall, I pushed my way through bodies, pressing my back firmly against the wall the second I made it there. Relieved, I pulled out my phone, texting Paige that I was here just in case she happened to be looking for me.
Nearly a minute after I sent the text, she was messaging me back.
.:Omg! I'm outside in the backyard, come find me!
I scowled, spotting the backdoor instantly. Reluctantly, I pushed my way through the crowd, muttering apologies until I managed to slip my way outside.
Immediately, I was greeted with the sight of girls and guys alike hanging around in the spacious yard. A few of the guys were posted up against the fence talking to girls while a few of them were playing some sort of game involving a small ball and red plastic cups on a table. People were spread everywhere but I didn't have to wait long before I was being tackled into a hug.
I relaxed, slipping my arm around Paige's slim waist.
"There you are! You made it," she squealed, squeezing me tighter. She pulled away and I could make out the flush of her cheeks and the faintest trace of what I knew to be beer on her breath. Tugging her hair behind her ear, she grinned excitedly, "Did you find your way here okay? I know our house is kinda out the way in these sketch ass woods."
I shook my head, offering her a small smile, "It was fine. Nothing too crazy."
"Good. Want a drink; hungry?" She asked, already tugging my arm to follow her down the back steps and further into the yard. "I ate before I left," I told her, eyeing the other activities taking place in the yard as we approached a table. It was huge and round and in the middle sat a small fire pit. Also at the table, unfortunately for me, were a group of kids, obviously none of whom I recognized. As we drew closer, their eyes shifted from each other to me, making me feel incredibly self conscious. Being the amazing host she was, Paige took it upon herself to introduce me.
"Guys! This is Sakura. We're in our Anatomy class together and she's super chill so I invited her out to our party," she beamed, still holding onto my arm tightly. "Sakura, these are my friends. The guy and girl at the end are twins, Raiden and Ryu. They're on the track team here and Ryu is in my sorority. Lucas is the guy there with the red hair, plays for our football team. Then there's Darius there with the curly black hair and his girlfriend Kristina there, obviously the girl in his lap. Then the other two girls are Haley and Lera, also in my sorority. The guys are all in the same frat so you can see why we all hang out together."
I gave a nervous wave, introducing myself and much to my relief, the others waved back with relaxed expressions.
"You drink Sakura?" Lucas asked, pulling a beer from the cooler beside his feet. I eyed it warily, unsure if I should take it when the girl Kristina shoved him with a scowl. "Dude, peer pressure isn't cool," giving me a grin, she assured, "Don't worry, we're not gonna hound you for not drinking if you don't want."
Feeling slightly relieved, I shook my head, "I'll take one. I don't mind."
"See! I knew she was a trooper," Lucas grinned, cracking open the beer for me before shoving it in my hands. I took a quick swig, feeling it quench my dry throat before nodding. "Good stuff," Lucas added before clearing his throat. "Well, since you're here Sakura, maybe you can help us settle a debate." I arched my brow, eyeing Paige warily but she only gave me a playful grin. Nervous, I asked, "What's up?"
"Okay so listen to this. Our boy Darius here has this dope ass lake house that his parents have as a timeshare. We're trying to convince him that it'd be sick as hell if we could all go up there one weekend and throw a dope ass party. The dilemma? He's not on good terms with his dad so he thinks he'll say no and doesn't want to bother asking," Lucas finished, downing the rest of his beer as he slammed it on the table.
"I told you idiot, there's no fucking point. We can just have it at your place since your parents will already be out of town that weekend for business," Darius mumbled, sipping his beer lazily while squeezing his arm around Kristina's waist. "Yeah but the lake is sooo much better than my parents' place. More room and definitely more to do!" Lucas chimed in.
All eyes were on me as they expectantly awaited my answer.
A scowl pulled onto my lips as a thought raced through my mind.
Of all the things in the world, their biggest concern was figuring out where to have a party? It said a lot about what kind of homes people grew up in. Obviously they grew up probably in a home a lot similar to Ino's. While probably not nearly as wealthy as she was, it was obvious that they came from upper class homes, parents probably doting on them hand and foot for the most part and showering them with money and expensive items they didn't necessarily need.
I suppose it was truly none of my concern. So, pushing the thoughts to the back of my mind, I sighed, "It's probably worth a shot. The least you can do is ask and if not, then you have Lucas' place to fall back on."
"See!"
The others erupted into laughter, minus Darius who only rolled his eyes and drank more of his beer. Lucas reached out his fist, bumping it with mine with a loose grin, "Hey man, you're cool with me!" I couldn't help but grin, eyeing Paige who beamed excitedly and whispered that her friends seemed to like me.
That came as a huge relief. I wasn't too fond of meeting new people and despite our obvious differences, they didn't seem like bad people.
Swirling my beer around, I pulled it to my lips as I half listened to the rest of their conversation. As their words eventually faded to the background, I found my eyes trailing over to the table with the kids playing their game involving the plastic cups. Out of nowhere, a hand slipped into my free one and I turned to see Paige offering me a small smile, "Wanna check it out?"
I blushed, taking another sip of my beer to avoid answering her.
Instead, she laughed and simply tugged me along over to the group of kids at the table.
We stood off to the side my eyes intently following every move of the game. After a while, I think Paige began to notice my frustration. Leaning into my ear, she whispered, "It's called rage cage. Pretty fun drinking game for nights like this. Essentially, you play like this. You fill up about ten or more with a third of beer and then one in the middle with a full beer. Two people start off with ping pong balls and drink from one of the cups. They have to try and bounce the ball into the cup and then pass it around. If you get yours into the cup before the next person gets their's in, you can stack it and they have to drink. Then you just keep it up until someone has to drink the full cup in the middle. Got it?"
Taking it all in, I nodded slowly, "I think so…"
"Well then...go ahead and give it a shot," Paige grinned, shoving me towards the table.
I gave her a pleading look but she only grinned and wiggled her fingers as one of the guys patted my shoulder. "No worries, it's a pretty easy game to pick up. I'll start of along with Liam at the other end down there and it'll make sense," the kid reassured me with a loose smile. I nodded and watched as they set up the next round. They started the countdown and then the game began. I watched as they drank a respective cup and proceeded to bounce the ball in before passing it around.
Slowly, it all began to make sense and by the time it got around to me, I had it figured out. I quickly made my shot on the first try and passed it around.
The cheers hyped me up and I had to admit, I was feeling pretty good.
The game rolled on and I drank my share of cups meanwhile getting others to do the same. In the end, I ended up getting the last guy to drink and taking a win for the night. The guys told me I played well and asked me to play another round but Paige told them otherwise and managed to drag me away again.
Her fingers remained locked with my own as she pulled me back towards the house, "I'm really glad you decided to come. I know it's probably a lot to take in but most of our parties aren't so wild." I laughed and shook my head, "It's alright, I'm glad I came too." She smiled and tugged me inside. She made sure to hold on tight as we weaved in and out of the crowd until we were heading upstairs.
I didn't think much of it, nearing the end of my beer as she pulled me into what I presumed to be her room.
Shutting the door behind me, she walked over to her window and opened it before crawling through onto the rough. I scowled walking over as I eyed her nervously, "Is this safe? You've been drinking a bit haven't you?" Rolling her eyes, she reached for my hand, "Come on, don't worry. I do this all the time. There's a nice little breeze going up here and plenty of room."
I'm sure it had a lot to do with the beer rushing through my system but regardless, I followed her out onto the roof.
There was plenty of room to sit on so I wasn't exactly concerned about falling. I made sure to sit as close to the window as possible and without wasting a second, Paige crawled to sit between my legs. I began to feel incredibly aware of how close she was, feeling her shift to get closer only made me that much more anxious.
I liked Paige. I thought she was well rounded, funny and undeniably attractive. Still, my job didn't allow me the luxury of indulging in such activities. Sure, it was my weekend off but getting mixed up this early on would only cause problems later on down the line. But damn… she wasn't making things easy for me. She tugged my free hand to wrap around her waist and as I downed the rest of my beer, I found myself in desperate need of another.
We sat in silence for a while, me simply holding her as the light breeze tousled our hair and nipped at our skin.
Finally, she decided to speak, "Can I ask you something? Promise you won't get mad at me?"
"Go ahead," I nudged, closing my eyes as I leaned against the wall by the window, "I won't get mad." She shifted nervously, her hand squeezing mine as she finally asked, "The other day I asked you about that girl, Ino. You said, you guys weren't a thing. You weren't...lying were you?" My hands unintentionally squeezed at her waist as I pulled her against me, "No...I wasn't lying."
"What is she to you then?"
"Where are these questions coming from Paige," I mumbled tiredly.
She was quiet again but I wasn't exactly fond of having this silence anymore. Taking her hand, I turned her around so she was straddling my waist. Her eyes cast off to the side but I wasn't having it, " Look at me," I ordered, taking her chin lightly as I forced her eyes to follow. She bit her lip, eyes slightly unfocused as she voiced softly, "Just tell me. I don't want to overstep my bounds."
Adorable. It was nice that she was being so considerate even though there was no need to be. I wasn't tied down yet and I doubt that would change anytime soon.
"You've got nothing to worry about Paige. You've got all my attention right now," I assured her with a weak smile.
"Prove it…"
I blinked slowly, frown slipping onto my lips. The challenge came as a surprise and yet oddly enough, I felt as if I had almost hoped for it. I could feel my chest pounding as her hands slipped over my shoulders. I squeezed my hands at her waist, pulling her close as I narrowed my eyes. It took little time for me to pull her down and tease her lips before pulling away with a nervous smirk. As I expected, she scratched my neck and pressed her lips against me again with a small whine.
I waited for her to pull away, feeling myself if just a little when she bit her lip and flushed her cheeks.
"I want to go inside," she whispered softly.
"Lead the way," I motioned to the window with a nod.
She climbed through first, waiting for me to follow suit. I watched her with dark eyes as she crept over to her door before locking it shut. I felt my pocket vibrate, pulling out my phone I saw a text from Rin.
.:Haven't heard from you yet. Having a good time?
"Awfully popular aren't you?"
I glanced up to see Paige closing the gap between us. I gave a sheepish smile, responding to Rin's text before placing my phone down on her dresser. "Jealous?" I teased. She hummed softly, moving her fingers to shrug off my jacket. I helped her, tossing it to the floor before she worked my shirt off next. Biting her lip, she scratched slowly at my toned stomach resulting from years of unnecessary yet appreciated training at the academy.
When her hands began to wander lower, I caught them.
"You next sweetheart," I teased.
Sitting on her bed, I nodded for her to go. Slowly but surely, she began peeling of each article of clothing. Perhaps the alcohol was wearing off because I could see the shift in her demeanor. She suddenly wasn't so bold but we were far past the point of being shy. "All of it Paige," I ordered. Carefully, she began to obey.
I had to say, the end result was definitely impressive.
Before I could make my move, however, another text came through. Then another.
Frowning, I started to go check my phone only for Paige to press me back onto the bed. With a tired sigh, I mumbled, "It might be important." She shook her head, sitting on top of my waist as she pressed her lips against mine in a teasingly slow kiss before moving them to my neck. A weak spot I hadn't quite gotten used to yet.
"Paige," I warned when she started to suck on my throat, "It'll take two seconds."
Voice dripping with a tone that chilled my very core, she whispered, "Baby...I don't think I can wait that long."
My eyes were hard as I had her pinned beneath me in seconds. Like clockwork, she was at my ear again, telling me everything I wanted to hear. How wet she was. How badly she wanted me to touch her. How from day one she'd had these outrageous fantasies about the two of us brewing in her mind. Fantasies of me making her scream my name over and over again. And the longer her words continued to spill out, the more eager I was to make it all her fantasies come true.
I was never known to disappoint after all.
I surely didn't plan on starting now.
"You're loud. Just hold on a second and I'll be down," I managed to say through a large yawn.
Rin had called and I had rushed up to grab my phone so that I could silence it before it woke Paige because while I was nothing short of savage in my pursuit last night, I was a firm believer in having some sort of manners. After all, it was my fault she was so exhausted in the first place. Not that either of us were complaining.
Slipping my jeans back on and shrugging my shirt over my head, I snatched the remainder of my things and made a reach for the door, only to be stopped by the most seductively exhausted voice I'd ever heard. "Just going to leave without a goodbye?" Paige called softly, eyelids peeling to reveal her olive green eyes revealing a faint golden tint from the sun beginning to peek through her window.
"Goodbye?" I grinned, watching the scowl slip onto her lips.
"You know what I mean Sakura…"
Funny how after just one night, she was already making it clear that she held some sort of hold over me. Sitting my stuff down for just a moment, I strode over slowly, resting one knee on the bed, feeling it dip beneath my weight. Glancing over her shoulder, she grinned and bit her lip as she was so accustomed to doing in front of me, attracting my attention to them instantly.
My phone began to ring again but the feel of her soft lips against mine had me far more occupied.
She smirked against my lips, gasping when I slipped my fingers between her legs.
It was short but effective and instantly I felt the desire to relive last night all over again. "I gotta go," I mumbled against her neck before pulling away altogether, "Rin only has so much patience when it comes to me." Her irritated huff only forced me to laugh before I finally managed to slip out completely.
Making my way downstairs, I was almost disgusted by the amount of trash left over. Bottles and cans, boxes of pizza and things of the like were strewn about everywhere. Guess Paige and her roommates would spend the rest of the day returning the place to its normal state, a task I didn't envy one bit.
Shutting the front door behind me, I spotted Rin looking none too happy with me, as expected.
I climbed in, offering her an apologetic half smile as compensation but she only rolled her eyes and pulled off.
"Fun night I'm assuming?" She finally asked, halfway through the ride home. "Obvious?" I curiously asked, brow raised slightly at the suggestion. Not even including the more intimate moments of last night, overall, I had a pretty good time. It was nice, to experience a college party, and though slightly overwhelming, once I found a group to hang with, things ran pretty smoothly.
"Yeah, it was pretty good," I admitted.
She nodded, saying nothing further but the frown on her face left room for belief that there was something I was missing.
"You good?"
"Fine," she answered curtly, bringing us into the parking lot of our base before getting out without another word. Seriously? I had to be onto something here because obviously she was a little upset about something. What? I had no clue and if she was just going to continue to be like this, then figuring out what, was essentially a lost cause.
So we rode up the elevator, exchanging no words to each other. We took the same route, ignoring the onlooking stares from the few people fooling around in the kitchen as we headed to our rooms. Mine was first and before she could storm off, I snatched her arm and asked, "What's your problem?"
"I don't have a problem. Let go," she hissed coldly.
Of all the people here, she was the number one I wanted to keep on my good side. Reluctantly, I let her go.
She stared at me for a while, frown deep as she shook her head with a sigh. Finally, she mumbled, "What are your intentions with that girl?" Eyes narrowing, I parted my lips to ask her what she meant but she gave me a look that challenged me to try and play dumb. Voice low, I replied, "Nothing you need to concern yourself with. I didn't force her to do anything and I'm not using her if that's what you're hinting at."
She was quiet once more, our eyes locked in a silent debate before she pulled away first.
"Training is at 1200, if you didn't get any sleep, I advise you to do it now," she added, turning on her heel and disappearing around the corner.
I let my eyes linger for just a moment, rolling them at her childish behavior. Something completely out of character for her. Once in my room, I glanced over at the clock, noting the bright green neon colored numbers reading 07:38. Feeling a tad bit tired, I collapsed on my back, checking my phone for messages. I responded to one from Paige, feeling my ego inflate more than it already was.
In the process, I noticed a missed text from last night.
It was from Ino.
Opening it with a frown, I read it feeling my heart picking up speed at the same time.
.:Hey, are you busy? I have a favor to ask…
.:Nevermind, pretend I didn't say anything.
I could only have one guess as to what she could have possibly needed me for that no one else was capable of doing. The thought alone made my stomach churn anxiously as I texted her to ask if she was okay. As I continued to lay there, hours passing by until I was getting whisked away for training, I could only hope that she hadn't allowed herself to spend the night alone.
I needed to get back, fast.
Hopefully, that was sufficient enough for the time being. Please forgive me once again because I'm clearly a lost cause. I clearly don't deserve them but feeding me reviews might help me become a better person for you all. ;D Or not lol but you should do it anyway! Kat loves all of your faces and I'll see you in the next chapter! (Also, any of you guys check out the new Boruto anime yet? Thoughts? I personally like it so far, even though it's just one episode right now. Feel like it has potential!)
