Hey guys! I tried to update quickly! I'd like to give a shout out to
Infatuated Chik, thanks for supporting me from the beginning of all this!
Hope everyone enjoys.
* * * *
Lux didn't talk to Sean for the next two days. She hadn't called him, thinking he would approach her when he was ready, if he ever was.
Lux had been invited to a New Year's Eve party thrown by Jimmy, but she didn't plan on going. She felt like she needed a break from parties for a little while considering what happened at the last two she had been to. She had kissed Sean during one and Craig during the other, both when she knew she shouldn't have.
It felt like she had a lot of time on her hands, and Lux decided to spend the afternoon shopping with Paige, taking advantage of the Boxing Day sales. So now she was currently going through tons of clothes at Zara in Eaton Center. She was trying everything to take her mind off Sean. They headed to the food court next for lunch. Lux was sitting at the table with her bags while Paige was getting her food from a booth. Lux looked around her at the crowd. Suddenly, she felt her throat go dry. Sitting at a table close to her was Craig and Jimmy. They spotted her and headed her way. Lux hadn't spoken to Craig since the incident.
"Hey Lux," Jimmy said greeting her brightly.
"Hi," Lux said avoiding Craig's gaze. Paige returned and greeted the boys.
"Why don't you sit with us?" Paige asked pushing some bags off a seat. Jimmy sat down next to Paige. Craig paused for a moment before taking the seat next to Lux.
"So what are you boys up to?" Paige asked.
"Just looking around," Jimmy said shrugging his shoulders. Paige nodded her head in agreement.
"Where's Spin?" Paige asked. Lux heard Jimmy get into an in-depth report on Spinner's plans for the day.
"Did you talk to Sean?" Lux heard Craig ask her quietly from next to her. Lux turned to face him.
"Yeah," she said simply. Craig looked searchingly in her eyes. "It didn't go very well," Lux added. "He walked away from me and I haven't spoken to him since. And that was about 4 days ago," Lux said. Craig nodded his head. Lux couldn't read his expression.
"Hey Craig, let's go, my dad needs my car again in like..15 minutes," Jimmy said. Craig nodded and got up.
"Are you coming to my party?" Jimmy asked.
"For sure," Paige said immediately.
"I don't think so," Lux said.
"Why not?!" Jimmy asked shocked, Craig looked surprised himself. Lux shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know, maybe I will," she added.
"You should," Jimmy insisted. Lux smiled.
"Maybe, I'll see." This seemed to be enough to satisfy Jimmy for the moment, and he and Craig left.
* * * *
Lux had made a decision. She needed to talk to Sean, had to in fact. She wouldn't let this linger on like all their other fights had. And it was that thought process that had led her to Sean's driveway, where she was currently parked on. She glanced wearily up at his house, wondering whether or not she was being foolish for even expecting him to talk to her. She had to give it a try, she wasn't going to let their relationship go that easily. Before she got the chance to go to the door, Lux saw Sean emerge from the door. Lux didn't waste a second in opening the door of her car and getting out.
"Sean," she said as she closed her car door behind her. Sean didn't hide a glare from her. Lux continued apprehensively, "I know you're really mad at me. You have every right to be, but you have to understand, I didn't have any intention of that happening beforehand." Lux stopped to see if her words were having any affect on Sean. His look had softened. "I would do anything to take back what happened," Lux continued, "but I can't. And now I just really hope you can forgive me." Sean watched Lux as she quieted after she made her last statement. He cleared his throat slightly.
"I have to tell you something too," he said quietly. Lux's eyes moved quickly to his, noticing the tone of his voice. She was so sure he was going to break up with her. "It's about that night that before I left for Christmas." Now he really had Lux's attention. All she remembered about that night that she thought Sean would mention was their fight over Craig. "Before I came to your house, I had a run-in with Emma," Sean said. Lux remained quiet. "She came to my house, we talked for a little bit, and then she kissed me. I didn't tell you because I didn't think it was significant, but taking into account recent experiences I felt it would only be fair." He watched Lux's eyes widen. She had an urge to yell at Sean. To drill into his head the obviousness that Emma still liked him, but she knew she didn't have any right to.
"It's ok," she said biting her tongue from adding any other invectives she felt.
"That's it?" Sean said.
"Well I'm guessing she kissed you?" Sean nodded his head. "Can we just forget this entire break happened?" Lux asked quietly. Sean once again nodded his head and cautiously walked over to Lux.
"I really want to forget all this," he said as he gently pulled her into his arms. Lux allowed herself to be drawn into him but couldn't help thinking to herself if she really wanted what she had just proposed.
* * * *
Because of the recent events, Lux and Sean decided to attend Jimmy's New Year's Eve Party. The day was fast approaching, and before Lux knew it, she was at Paige's getting ready with Hazel and Terri. Lux pulled on her pink off the shoulder sweater. For some reason, she was feeling very nervous.
When they got to Jimmy's, Lux was astounded by the amount of people there. The apartment was packed to the hilt and Lux vaguely thought about the possibility of the cops crashing it.
"Happy New Year girls," Spinner said as they entered the apartment. He was wearing a ridiculous "New Years" party hat and immediately pulled one on Paige and handed one to Lux, Terri, and Hazel. "Don't forget to get in spirit," he said grinning as Paige adjusted the strap.
"Hey you," Lux jumped as she felt someone poke her in the side. "Nice hat." It was Sean. Lux smiled.
"Thanks, where's yours?" she asked.
"I decided to pass," he said as he grinned at her.
"No no, I think you need to get in spirit," Lux said as she grabbed an extra one and proceeded to strap it under Sean's chin. He resisted, but Lux managed to hold his hands down.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Sean whined. Lux laughed as she straightened the hat on his head.
"I'm not doing anything to do, besides, you look cute," she said grinning. Something behind Sean caught her eye and she missed what he said to her. Standing on the other side of the room was Craig, and he was talking to Manny over the bowl of punch. At some point during their conversation Manny reached over and caressed Craig's cheek. Lux tried to pull her eyes away, but she couldn't.
"Hello, Lux." Lux snapped her eyes back to Sean. "Are you ok? You zoned out on me there," Sean said trying to regain her attention.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Lux said trying to act normal, not wanting Sean to realize what had taken her attention away.
"I wear this stupid hat for you and all I get is you zoning out?" Sean asked in mock disbelief. Lux playfully punched him lightly in the arm.
"You don't have to wear it if you really don't want to," she said. Sean looked relieved and pulled it off. Lux rolled her eyes as Jimmy approached the two of them.
"Hey guys, Sean, some of us guys are starting a pool game, wanna come?" Jimmy asked Sean. Sean nodded his head and quickly kissed Lux on the cheek goodbye. Lux watched his retreating back. Sighing, she leaned against the counter looking for someone she knew. As her eyes grazed the crowd, she tried not to scowl as she saw Craig still talking to Manny. She knew she wasn't being fair. It wasn't like she could expect Craig to be hung up on her while she had a boyfriend. Quickly she shifted her gaze to where Hazel and Terri were sitting on the couch talking. Lux decided to make her way over and see if the party was actually worth coming too.
* * * *
Emma was pissed. She was quite often these days. She thought she had a foolproof plan. She had watched Sean since he entered the party and was sure tonight would be a good night for her. He hadn't come with Lux. But here she was watching Sean laugh as Lux forced that stupid hat on him. Emma was sure Sean would never forgive Lux for what she did to their relationship when she decided to kiss Craig. She knew that if she could just get Sean alone and convince him of how much Lux had screwed up, she would have a chance at getting him back. But now he was playing pool with Jimmy, and Emma knew from prior experiences that there was no way to break up a horde of boys at a pool table. And now on top of Sean forgiving Lux, Emma had no one to kiss for the New Year. She glared at Manny. Her friend had ditched her to spend the evening flirting with Craig. She obviously had no problems with the kiss that Craig and Lux shared just a week ago. Emma knew she had to get used to Manny ditching her for Craig by now though. She had been doing it since they were both freshman, and obviously nothing was different. It looked like Manny would have someone to kiss for the New Year and Emma couldn't help but feel a little jealous, if not desperate. Well I guess there's always J.T. Emma thought unhappily to herself as she looked across the room to where J.T. was talking to Toby and Kendra. Life is so unfair. Emma thought to herself unhappily and she looked around the room to see virtually everyone paired off.
* * * *
It had been two hours, and it was 10 minutes until the New Year. Lux was sitting on the couch looking around. In her mind, this had been a relatively unsuccessful night. She had spent most of it sitting on the couch with Hazel and Terri talking about Terri's ex boyfriend. Terri was afraid he was going to show up to the party for reasons that Lux wasn't aware of.
So two hours later Lux sat twisting her hair around her fingers half listening to Hazel tell a story about last year's New Year's Party. Paige and Spinner had disappeared along with Craig and Manny. Lux swallowed hard, trying to flush out the thoughts of what Craig and Manny might be doing at that very moment. She also noticed Emma had been lurking around throwing her dirty looks every now and then. Lux was too tired and confused to let this really bother her.
"Hey, long time no see," Sean said as he plopped down on the couch next to Lux.
"How was pool?" Lux asked as Jimmy walked in the room and sat down next to Ashley on the opposite couch. Sean scowled.
"Well if Jimmy hadn't missed that last shot I wouldn't be out 20 bucks," Sean said loud enough for Jimmy to hear. His only response was giving Sean the finger. Jimmy flipped on the television to MTV. Since his family had digital cable, he got all the American music channels as well as the Canadian ones.
"One minute until the New Year!" Lux heard Paige yell into the crowd. When Lux turned around she saw Paige walking down the stairs into the room clutching onto Spinner's hand.
"Aww, does Jimmy have no one to kiss?" Paige asked half sarcastically. Jimmy looked wearily around the room until his eyes landed on Ashley, who was sitting next to him. He cocked his eyebrow in a questioning look. Ashley noticed and rolled her eyes.
"What?" she asked.
"Care to kiss me this fine evening?" Jimmy asked changing his attitude to the "suave smooth Mr. Brooks". He knew few girls could resist him when he was in this mode, and Ashley was no exception. After a moment she answered,
"Alright." Lux noticed that the room was becoming more and more crowded by the moment.
"Do I get to kiss the most beautiful girl in the room for the New Year?" she heard Sean whisper in her ear. Lux smiled softly and turned to him,
"What do you think?" she asked. "There's no one else I would rather kiss," she added. Sean returned her smile.
"10, 9, 8,." Lux heard the countdown coming from the tv. She turned to face Sean. Craig was standing behind him. Lux saw him glance at her, letting his eyes linger on hers for only a second.
"6, 5, 4." Lux couldn't pull her eyes away from here. There he stood, standing across from Manny. Lux knew they were going to kiss, and she felt sick.
"3, 2, 1!" Lux saw Sean move in closer, and before she closed her eyes to receive her New Year kiss, she saw Craig draw Manny into him.
* * * *
Emma quickly pulled away from J.T. and wiped her lips not-so-subtly. She was a little bitter because she knew she would be stuck kissing J.T. Quickly her eyes darted around the room and rested on Sean and Lux. Sean was just pulling away from her. Emma felt her eyes narrow. Then she noticed Craig pull away from Manny. Emma shook her head at her best friend. She watched as Manny tried to push closer to Craig, but he had already taken a step back. Meanwhile, Jimmy had approached Sean, and from what Emma could see, Sean was getting ready to go play another round of pool. Emma would never understand boy's fascination with pool.
Lux was annoyed. Sean had decided to go play another round of pool with Jimmy and company to see if he could win his twenty dollars back. Lux never understood the whole fascination with pool. She looked around to see if anything was worth staying for. Paige and Spinner were proceeding to make out on the couch next to her and Terri and Hazel had resumed a conversation about New Year's Resolutions. Ashely and Ellie were talking about something else. Lux's felt herself glaring at Craig as she saw him sit next to Manny at the kitchen table to engage in another conversation. She couldn't understand what they had so much to talk about.
Lux yawned loudly. This party really wasn't great. After contemplating the plus sides of staying, Lux was convinced that she should leave when she saw Manny gently place her hand on top of Craig's. In order to avoid being a bitter bitch, Lux made her way to the room where the boys were playing pool,
"Sean, I think I'm going to leave," Lux said as Sean watched carefully as a boy Lux never saw before take a shot.
"Why?" Sean asked, his eyes never leaving the table.
"I'm tired." Lux answered simply. Sean nodded his head,
"Alright, see you later," he said as he quickly hugged her and proceeded to lecture Jimmy. "You better not miss that shot Brooks," he barked at his friend. Lux rolled her eyes and headed toward the exit.
"Lux!" Lux turned around to see Craig emerge from the apartment building himself, pulling on his jacket as he walked. "You're leaving?" he asked as he zipped up the coat. Lux nodded her head, not being able to find her voice. "Why?" he asked.
"I'm pretty tired," she said simply.
"Oh," Craig said simply as he started to walk with her.
"Where are you going?" Lux asked suspiciously. Craig looked confused.
"Umm, home. I live this way too," he said as though explaining something to a young child. Lux let out a breath, she couldn't believe she forgot Craig lived down the street from her.
"Oh right. Sorry. Why are you going home this early anyways?" Lux asked.
"I was feeling tired myself," Craig said. Lux nodded his head. "Did you have fun?" he asked her trying to make conversation. Lux pulled her scarf tighter around her as she watched her breath in the coldness.
"Not really," she said simply. "Did you?"
"Not so much, no," Craig answered. Lux looked surprised.
"You didn't?" she asked again.
"Nope," he answered again. "Why?"
"Well you looked like you were having a pretty good time. You know, with Manny," Lux spat. She couldn't help it. She really really didn't want to come off as possessive of someone she had no claim to, but she couldn't help it. Craig looked slightly amused.
"Me and Manny? Naw, we're just friends," Craig said. Lux nodded her head.
"Right," she said trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum.
"If I didn't know any better, I would say you sound jealous," Craig said. Lux stopped walking, and turned to Craig. They had reached her house.
"I'm not jealous," she said not sounding very convincing.
"Really?" Craig asked quietly. Lux swallowed again, not being able to answer or meet his eye. "Because I was jealous when I saw you with Sean," Craig added. Lux's eyes widened as she looked up at him. Before she knew what was happening, she felt Craig's lips against hers. The thought of pushing him away didn't even occur to her. Nothing felt as good as his warm lips against hers, heating her from the cold air. The kiss the deep but brief. As Craig pulled away, he muttered quietly,
"Happy New Year Lux." With that, Craig continued on his way home. Lux watched his retreating back, his hands jammed in his pockets for warmth. After a few moments she turned to enter her house, confused at what had just happened.
* * * *
"And he's back in the game!" Jimmy exclaimed as he shot 3 pool balls into their respective pockets.
"That's what I'm talking about," Sean said ready to collect his money from their recent winnings. Jimmy handed him a 20 dollar bill and Sean stuffed it in his pocket.
"So Lux left already?" Jimmy asked as they headed out into the main hall.
"Yeah, not sure why," Sean said looking around the room. "But maybe it's because she didn't know anyone here," Sean added not recognizing most of the people in the room.
"I'm not entirely sure who everyone is either. Apparently everyone heard about this party and they just randomly brought their friends," Jimmy said looking around himself. "Man this party blows. Look at everyone, they look half dead." Sean looked around once again and had to agree. Out of the people he recognized, Manny looked extremely pissed about something and Emma looked equally pissed. Both were perched on the couch next to each other not talking. Paige was sitting next to Spinner, both of their eyes glued to the television screen. Ashley and Ellie were laughing at something while Hazel and Terri sipped their drinks.
"I have something that can make this party a lot more fun," Sean muttered more to himself, but Jimmy heard.
"What are you talking about?" Jimmy asked.
"What do you think I'm talking about?" Sean replied.
"Weed?" Jimmy asked quietly.
"Only if you want," Sean said. Jimmy thought about it for a moment.
"How much?" he asked.
"It's on me, consider it your Christmas present," Sean said smoothly. Jimmy nodded and then approached Spinner and Marco.
"Hey Spin, Marco, wanna go upstairs with us?" Jimmy asked.
"And do what? Make out?" Spinner asked sarcastically giving Marco a don't-even-think-about-it look.
"No you idiot," Sean said as he held out a plastic bag.
"Ahh I see," Spinner said spotting the pot. He began to follow Marco up the stairs.
"Don't even think about it," Paige's voice cut through the air.
"Come on Paige. Why don't you come with us?" Spinner asked pouting at his girlfriend.
"I absolutely refuse to spend my night in a cloud of pot smoke," Paige replied back. "AND I don't think you should either Spinner." Spinner looked pained.
"But Paige-"
"There is so much else we could be doing," Paige said changing her tone from bossy to seductive. Spinner closed his mouth but moved back towards the couch.
"Whipped," Jimmy coughed obviously into this hands.
"Pussy whipped," Sean added.
"Shut up you morons," Paige replied as she wrapped her arms around Spinner. "Jimmy's just jealous because he has no one to be whipped by," she said loud enough for Jimmy to hear. Jimmy just rolled his eyes and headed upstairs after Sean.
Meanwhile Emma had not lost her gaze on Sean and caught him showing off the pot to his friends. Emma was never a fan of the stuff. True, she had only tried it once, but she never was into the whole drug scene. Tonight, however, Emma had a different feeling towards the drugs. Quietly, she got up off the couch and headed up the same stairs that Jimmy, Marco, and Sean had ascended just a few moments ago.
Sean was laughing very hard at something Jimmy had said about Spinner and Paige. His eyes were watering as he tried to see through the already smoky air. Taking another drag on his joint, he watched the smoke curly into the air. Sean vaguely thought about how much Lux would kill him if she were here right now. But she's not here, he reminded himself. AND he was not whipped. Sean remembered unclearly seeing the door open and the next thing he knew Emma was sitting beside him on the bed and taking a drag from his joint.
"I never knew you to be a fan of weed," he said watching her breath out smoke.
"There's a lot about me you don't know," Emma answered. Sean nodded and took the joint from her.
"So what don't I know?" he asked feeling the weed getting to him.
"Well you don't know that I've been watching you all night," Emma said quietly looking at Sean. Sean leaned in closer to Emma.
"I knew that," he said. Emma didn't look surprised; she was used to these cocky answers from Sean, especially when he was high.
"You don't seem surprised," he answered. Sean watched her. He couldn't deny she really was beautiful. Her blonde hair hung down past her shoulders and her eyes were glittering.
"How was your vacation?" Emma asked.
"Alright," Sean said evenly.
"You saw your parents?" Emma said that more as a statement than a question. Sean nodded inhaling the smoke deep into his lungs. Both Emma and Sean were momentarily distracted from the beginnings of their conversation when Jimmy caused a raucous by proceeding to fall off the bed laughing so hard at something Marco had said. Emma took this opportunity to lean over to Sean,
"Why don't we go somewhere else a little quieter to talk?" Emma asked. Sean hesitated.
"Talk about what?" he asked.
"Things that you don't know about me yet for one," Emma said as she stood up. Sean glanced at her once more before discarding his joint and heading out the door while Emma followed. She quickly pushed open a door to the nearest bedroom which was empty. Sean watched her walk in and thought to himself briefly what he was doing. Quickly he pushed that thought out of his head. He wasn't doing anything wrong. They were just going to talk. But somewhere in the back of his head, he knew he was lying to himself.
* * * *
Please review!! Next chapter will be up soon, promise!
* * * *
Lux didn't talk to Sean for the next two days. She hadn't called him, thinking he would approach her when he was ready, if he ever was.
Lux had been invited to a New Year's Eve party thrown by Jimmy, but she didn't plan on going. She felt like she needed a break from parties for a little while considering what happened at the last two she had been to. She had kissed Sean during one and Craig during the other, both when she knew she shouldn't have.
It felt like she had a lot of time on her hands, and Lux decided to spend the afternoon shopping with Paige, taking advantage of the Boxing Day sales. So now she was currently going through tons of clothes at Zara in Eaton Center. She was trying everything to take her mind off Sean. They headed to the food court next for lunch. Lux was sitting at the table with her bags while Paige was getting her food from a booth. Lux looked around her at the crowd. Suddenly, she felt her throat go dry. Sitting at a table close to her was Craig and Jimmy. They spotted her and headed her way. Lux hadn't spoken to Craig since the incident.
"Hey Lux," Jimmy said greeting her brightly.
"Hi," Lux said avoiding Craig's gaze. Paige returned and greeted the boys.
"Why don't you sit with us?" Paige asked pushing some bags off a seat. Jimmy sat down next to Paige. Craig paused for a moment before taking the seat next to Lux.
"So what are you boys up to?" Paige asked.
"Just looking around," Jimmy said shrugging his shoulders. Paige nodded her head in agreement.
"Where's Spin?" Paige asked. Lux heard Jimmy get into an in-depth report on Spinner's plans for the day.
"Did you talk to Sean?" Lux heard Craig ask her quietly from next to her. Lux turned to face him.
"Yeah," she said simply. Craig looked searchingly in her eyes. "It didn't go very well," Lux added. "He walked away from me and I haven't spoken to him since. And that was about 4 days ago," Lux said. Craig nodded his head. Lux couldn't read his expression.
"Hey Craig, let's go, my dad needs my car again in like..15 minutes," Jimmy said. Craig nodded and got up.
"Are you coming to my party?" Jimmy asked.
"For sure," Paige said immediately.
"I don't think so," Lux said.
"Why not?!" Jimmy asked shocked, Craig looked surprised himself. Lux shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know, maybe I will," she added.
"You should," Jimmy insisted. Lux smiled.
"Maybe, I'll see." This seemed to be enough to satisfy Jimmy for the moment, and he and Craig left.
* * * *
Lux had made a decision. She needed to talk to Sean, had to in fact. She wouldn't let this linger on like all their other fights had. And it was that thought process that had led her to Sean's driveway, where she was currently parked on. She glanced wearily up at his house, wondering whether or not she was being foolish for even expecting him to talk to her. She had to give it a try, she wasn't going to let their relationship go that easily. Before she got the chance to go to the door, Lux saw Sean emerge from the door. Lux didn't waste a second in opening the door of her car and getting out.
"Sean," she said as she closed her car door behind her. Sean didn't hide a glare from her. Lux continued apprehensively, "I know you're really mad at me. You have every right to be, but you have to understand, I didn't have any intention of that happening beforehand." Lux stopped to see if her words were having any affect on Sean. His look had softened. "I would do anything to take back what happened," Lux continued, "but I can't. And now I just really hope you can forgive me." Sean watched Lux as she quieted after she made her last statement. He cleared his throat slightly.
"I have to tell you something too," he said quietly. Lux's eyes moved quickly to his, noticing the tone of his voice. She was so sure he was going to break up with her. "It's about that night that before I left for Christmas." Now he really had Lux's attention. All she remembered about that night that she thought Sean would mention was their fight over Craig. "Before I came to your house, I had a run-in with Emma," Sean said. Lux remained quiet. "She came to my house, we talked for a little bit, and then she kissed me. I didn't tell you because I didn't think it was significant, but taking into account recent experiences I felt it would only be fair." He watched Lux's eyes widen. She had an urge to yell at Sean. To drill into his head the obviousness that Emma still liked him, but she knew she didn't have any right to.
"It's ok," she said biting her tongue from adding any other invectives she felt.
"That's it?" Sean said.
"Well I'm guessing she kissed you?" Sean nodded his head. "Can we just forget this entire break happened?" Lux asked quietly. Sean once again nodded his head and cautiously walked over to Lux.
"I really want to forget all this," he said as he gently pulled her into his arms. Lux allowed herself to be drawn into him but couldn't help thinking to herself if she really wanted what she had just proposed.
* * * *
Because of the recent events, Lux and Sean decided to attend Jimmy's New Year's Eve Party. The day was fast approaching, and before Lux knew it, she was at Paige's getting ready with Hazel and Terri. Lux pulled on her pink off the shoulder sweater. For some reason, she was feeling very nervous.
When they got to Jimmy's, Lux was astounded by the amount of people there. The apartment was packed to the hilt and Lux vaguely thought about the possibility of the cops crashing it.
"Happy New Year girls," Spinner said as they entered the apartment. He was wearing a ridiculous "New Years" party hat and immediately pulled one on Paige and handed one to Lux, Terri, and Hazel. "Don't forget to get in spirit," he said grinning as Paige adjusted the strap.
"Hey you," Lux jumped as she felt someone poke her in the side. "Nice hat." It was Sean. Lux smiled.
"Thanks, where's yours?" she asked.
"I decided to pass," he said as he grinned at her.
"No no, I think you need to get in spirit," Lux said as she grabbed an extra one and proceeded to strap it under Sean's chin. He resisted, but Lux managed to hold his hands down.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Sean whined. Lux laughed as she straightened the hat on his head.
"I'm not doing anything to do, besides, you look cute," she said grinning. Something behind Sean caught her eye and she missed what he said to her. Standing on the other side of the room was Craig, and he was talking to Manny over the bowl of punch. At some point during their conversation Manny reached over and caressed Craig's cheek. Lux tried to pull her eyes away, but she couldn't.
"Hello, Lux." Lux snapped her eyes back to Sean. "Are you ok? You zoned out on me there," Sean said trying to regain her attention.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Lux said trying to act normal, not wanting Sean to realize what had taken her attention away.
"I wear this stupid hat for you and all I get is you zoning out?" Sean asked in mock disbelief. Lux playfully punched him lightly in the arm.
"You don't have to wear it if you really don't want to," she said. Sean looked relieved and pulled it off. Lux rolled her eyes as Jimmy approached the two of them.
"Hey guys, Sean, some of us guys are starting a pool game, wanna come?" Jimmy asked Sean. Sean nodded his head and quickly kissed Lux on the cheek goodbye. Lux watched his retreating back. Sighing, she leaned against the counter looking for someone she knew. As her eyes grazed the crowd, she tried not to scowl as she saw Craig still talking to Manny. She knew she wasn't being fair. It wasn't like she could expect Craig to be hung up on her while she had a boyfriend. Quickly she shifted her gaze to where Hazel and Terri were sitting on the couch talking. Lux decided to make her way over and see if the party was actually worth coming too.
* * * *
Emma was pissed. She was quite often these days. She thought she had a foolproof plan. She had watched Sean since he entered the party and was sure tonight would be a good night for her. He hadn't come with Lux. But here she was watching Sean laugh as Lux forced that stupid hat on him. Emma was sure Sean would never forgive Lux for what she did to their relationship when she decided to kiss Craig. She knew that if she could just get Sean alone and convince him of how much Lux had screwed up, she would have a chance at getting him back. But now he was playing pool with Jimmy, and Emma knew from prior experiences that there was no way to break up a horde of boys at a pool table. And now on top of Sean forgiving Lux, Emma had no one to kiss for the New Year. She glared at Manny. Her friend had ditched her to spend the evening flirting with Craig. She obviously had no problems with the kiss that Craig and Lux shared just a week ago. Emma knew she had to get used to Manny ditching her for Craig by now though. She had been doing it since they were both freshman, and obviously nothing was different. It looked like Manny would have someone to kiss for the New Year and Emma couldn't help but feel a little jealous, if not desperate. Well I guess there's always J.T. Emma thought unhappily to herself as she looked across the room to where J.T. was talking to Toby and Kendra. Life is so unfair. Emma thought to herself unhappily and she looked around the room to see virtually everyone paired off.
* * * *
It had been two hours, and it was 10 minutes until the New Year. Lux was sitting on the couch looking around. In her mind, this had been a relatively unsuccessful night. She had spent most of it sitting on the couch with Hazel and Terri talking about Terri's ex boyfriend. Terri was afraid he was going to show up to the party for reasons that Lux wasn't aware of.
So two hours later Lux sat twisting her hair around her fingers half listening to Hazel tell a story about last year's New Year's Party. Paige and Spinner had disappeared along with Craig and Manny. Lux swallowed hard, trying to flush out the thoughts of what Craig and Manny might be doing at that very moment. She also noticed Emma had been lurking around throwing her dirty looks every now and then. Lux was too tired and confused to let this really bother her.
"Hey, long time no see," Sean said as he plopped down on the couch next to Lux.
"How was pool?" Lux asked as Jimmy walked in the room and sat down next to Ashley on the opposite couch. Sean scowled.
"Well if Jimmy hadn't missed that last shot I wouldn't be out 20 bucks," Sean said loud enough for Jimmy to hear. His only response was giving Sean the finger. Jimmy flipped on the television to MTV. Since his family had digital cable, he got all the American music channels as well as the Canadian ones.
"One minute until the New Year!" Lux heard Paige yell into the crowd. When Lux turned around she saw Paige walking down the stairs into the room clutching onto Spinner's hand.
"Aww, does Jimmy have no one to kiss?" Paige asked half sarcastically. Jimmy looked wearily around the room until his eyes landed on Ashley, who was sitting next to him. He cocked his eyebrow in a questioning look. Ashley noticed and rolled her eyes.
"What?" she asked.
"Care to kiss me this fine evening?" Jimmy asked changing his attitude to the "suave smooth Mr. Brooks". He knew few girls could resist him when he was in this mode, and Ashley was no exception. After a moment she answered,
"Alright." Lux noticed that the room was becoming more and more crowded by the moment.
"Do I get to kiss the most beautiful girl in the room for the New Year?" she heard Sean whisper in her ear. Lux smiled softly and turned to him,
"What do you think?" she asked. "There's no one else I would rather kiss," she added. Sean returned her smile.
"10, 9, 8,." Lux heard the countdown coming from the tv. She turned to face Sean. Craig was standing behind him. Lux saw him glance at her, letting his eyes linger on hers for only a second.
"6, 5, 4." Lux couldn't pull her eyes away from here. There he stood, standing across from Manny. Lux knew they were going to kiss, and she felt sick.
"3, 2, 1!" Lux saw Sean move in closer, and before she closed her eyes to receive her New Year kiss, she saw Craig draw Manny into him.
* * * *
Emma quickly pulled away from J.T. and wiped her lips not-so-subtly. She was a little bitter because she knew she would be stuck kissing J.T. Quickly her eyes darted around the room and rested on Sean and Lux. Sean was just pulling away from her. Emma felt her eyes narrow. Then she noticed Craig pull away from Manny. Emma shook her head at her best friend. She watched as Manny tried to push closer to Craig, but he had already taken a step back. Meanwhile, Jimmy had approached Sean, and from what Emma could see, Sean was getting ready to go play another round of pool. Emma would never understand boy's fascination with pool.
Lux was annoyed. Sean had decided to go play another round of pool with Jimmy and company to see if he could win his twenty dollars back. Lux never understood the whole fascination with pool. She looked around to see if anything was worth staying for. Paige and Spinner were proceeding to make out on the couch next to her and Terri and Hazel had resumed a conversation about New Year's Resolutions. Ashely and Ellie were talking about something else. Lux's felt herself glaring at Craig as she saw him sit next to Manny at the kitchen table to engage in another conversation. She couldn't understand what they had so much to talk about.
Lux yawned loudly. This party really wasn't great. After contemplating the plus sides of staying, Lux was convinced that she should leave when she saw Manny gently place her hand on top of Craig's. In order to avoid being a bitter bitch, Lux made her way to the room where the boys were playing pool,
"Sean, I think I'm going to leave," Lux said as Sean watched carefully as a boy Lux never saw before take a shot.
"Why?" Sean asked, his eyes never leaving the table.
"I'm tired." Lux answered simply. Sean nodded his head,
"Alright, see you later," he said as he quickly hugged her and proceeded to lecture Jimmy. "You better not miss that shot Brooks," he barked at his friend. Lux rolled her eyes and headed toward the exit.
"Lux!" Lux turned around to see Craig emerge from the apartment building himself, pulling on his jacket as he walked. "You're leaving?" he asked as he zipped up the coat. Lux nodded her head, not being able to find her voice. "Why?" he asked.
"I'm pretty tired," she said simply.
"Oh," Craig said simply as he started to walk with her.
"Where are you going?" Lux asked suspiciously. Craig looked confused.
"Umm, home. I live this way too," he said as though explaining something to a young child. Lux let out a breath, she couldn't believe she forgot Craig lived down the street from her.
"Oh right. Sorry. Why are you going home this early anyways?" Lux asked.
"I was feeling tired myself," Craig said. Lux nodded his head. "Did you have fun?" he asked her trying to make conversation. Lux pulled her scarf tighter around her as she watched her breath in the coldness.
"Not really," she said simply. "Did you?"
"Not so much, no," Craig answered. Lux looked surprised.
"You didn't?" she asked again.
"Nope," he answered again. "Why?"
"Well you looked like you were having a pretty good time. You know, with Manny," Lux spat. She couldn't help it. She really really didn't want to come off as possessive of someone she had no claim to, but she couldn't help it. Craig looked slightly amused.
"Me and Manny? Naw, we're just friends," Craig said. Lux nodded her head.
"Right," she said trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum.
"If I didn't know any better, I would say you sound jealous," Craig said. Lux stopped walking, and turned to Craig. They had reached her house.
"I'm not jealous," she said not sounding very convincing.
"Really?" Craig asked quietly. Lux swallowed again, not being able to answer or meet his eye. "Because I was jealous when I saw you with Sean," Craig added. Lux's eyes widened as she looked up at him. Before she knew what was happening, she felt Craig's lips against hers. The thought of pushing him away didn't even occur to her. Nothing felt as good as his warm lips against hers, heating her from the cold air. The kiss the deep but brief. As Craig pulled away, he muttered quietly,
"Happy New Year Lux." With that, Craig continued on his way home. Lux watched his retreating back, his hands jammed in his pockets for warmth. After a few moments she turned to enter her house, confused at what had just happened.
* * * *
"And he's back in the game!" Jimmy exclaimed as he shot 3 pool balls into their respective pockets.
"That's what I'm talking about," Sean said ready to collect his money from their recent winnings. Jimmy handed him a 20 dollar bill and Sean stuffed it in his pocket.
"So Lux left already?" Jimmy asked as they headed out into the main hall.
"Yeah, not sure why," Sean said looking around the room. "But maybe it's because she didn't know anyone here," Sean added not recognizing most of the people in the room.
"I'm not entirely sure who everyone is either. Apparently everyone heard about this party and they just randomly brought their friends," Jimmy said looking around himself. "Man this party blows. Look at everyone, they look half dead." Sean looked around once again and had to agree. Out of the people he recognized, Manny looked extremely pissed about something and Emma looked equally pissed. Both were perched on the couch next to each other not talking. Paige was sitting next to Spinner, both of their eyes glued to the television screen. Ashley and Ellie were laughing at something while Hazel and Terri sipped their drinks.
"I have something that can make this party a lot more fun," Sean muttered more to himself, but Jimmy heard.
"What are you talking about?" Jimmy asked.
"What do you think I'm talking about?" Sean replied.
"Weed?" Jimmy asked quietly.
"Only if you want," Sean said. Jimmy thought about it for a moment.
"How much?" he asked.
"It's on me, consider it your Christmas present," Sean said smoothly. Jimmy nodded and then approached Spinner and Marco.
"Hey Spin, Marco, wanna go upstairs with us?" Jimmy asked.
"And do what? Make out?" Spinner asked sarcastically giving Marco a don't-even-think-about-it look.
"No you idiot," Sean said as he held out a plastic bag.
"Ahh I see," Spinner said spotting the pot. He began to follow Marco up the stairs.
"Don't even think about it," Paige's voice cut through the air.
"Come on Paige. Why don't you come with us?" Spinner asked pouting at his girlfriend.
"I absolutely refuse to spend my night in a cloud of pot smoke," Paige replied back. "AND I don't think you should either Spinner." Spinner looked pained.
"But Paige-"
"There is so much else we could be doing," Paige said changing her tone from bossy to seductive. Spinner closed his mouth but moved back towards the couch.
"Whipped," Jimmy coughed obviously into this hands.
"Pussy whipped," Sean added.
"Shut up you morons," Paige replied as she wrapped her arms around Spinner. "Jimmy's just jealous because he has no one to be whipped by," she said loud enough for Jimmy to hear. Jimmy just rolled his eyes and headed upstairs after Sean.
Meanwhile Emma had not lost her gaze on Sean and caught him showing off the pot to his friends. Emma was never a fan of the stuff. True, she had only tried it once, but she never was into the whole drug scene. Tonight, however, Emma had a different feeling towards the drugs. Quietly, she got up off the couch and headed up the same stairs that Jimmy, Marco, and Sean had ascended just a few moments ago.
Sean was laughing very hard at something Jimmy had said about Spinner and Paige. His eyes were watering as he tried to see through the already smoky air. Taking another drag on his joint, he watched the smoke curly into the air. Sean vaguely thought about how much Lux would kill him if she were here right now. But she's not here, he reminded himself. AND he was not whipped. Sean remembered unclearly seeing the door open and the next thing he knew Emma was sitting beside him on the bed and taking a drag from his joint.
"I never knew you to be a fan of weed," he said watching her breath out smoke.
"There's a lot about me you don't know," Emma answered. Sean nodded and took the joint from her.
"So what don't I know?" he asked feeling the weed getting to him.
"Well you don't know that I've been watching you all night," Emma said quietly looking at Sean. Sean leaned in closer to Emma.
"I knew that," he said. Emma didn't look surprised; she was used to these cocky answers from Sean, especially when he was high.
"You don't seem surprised," he answered. Sean watched her. He couldn't deny she really was beautiful. Her blonde hair hung down past her shoulders and her eyes were glittering.
"How was your vacation?" Emma asked.
"Alright," Sean said evenly.
"You saw your parents?" Emma said that more as a statement than a question. Sean nodded inhaling the smoke deep into his lungs. Both Emma and Sean were momentarily distracted from the beginnings of their conversation when Jimmy caused a raucous by proceeding to fall off the bed laughing so hard at something Marco had said. Emma took this opportunity to lean over to Sean,
"Why don't we go somewhere else a little quieter to talk?" Emma asked. Sean hesitated.
"Talk about what?" he asked.
"Things that you don't know about me yet for one," Emma said as she stood up. Sean glanced at her once more before discarding his joint and heading out the door while Emma followed. She quickly pushed open a door to the nearest bedroom which was empty. Sean watched her walk in and thought to himself briefly what he was doing. Quickly he pushed that thought out of his head. He wasn't doing anything wrong. They were just going to talk. But somewhere in the back of his head, he knew he was lying to himself.
* * * *
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