wowwww, ten chapters. this is the first story i've stuck this far with :) so reviews are appreciated!
Smoke filled the air, making it hazy and a little bit harder to breathe.
It smelt like dirty soccer cleats and shinguards, mixed with the stench of cognac.
Despite the open windows, the air was thick and stagnant.
The light grey carpets were spotted with darker grey areas, some little driblets of spills, and in one room the entire carpet was now basically black.
Posters of barely-clothed women plastered the walls surrounding the boys as they traded off blunts for juuls and vapes, slices of greasy pineapple and pepperoni pizza from A Slice Of Heaven, and pints of beer or shots of whiskey.
Kemp's place was a fucking disaster.
And Cam loved it.
Josh and Derrick were at it on the leather couches, playing Fortnite and continuously yelling at each other. This was the norm, for all of them. Derrick is a sore loser and Josh is a video game freak, even though Alicia doesn't let him play when she's home because the screaming 'throws off her balance' or some shit. The mere thought made Cam roll his eyes. It was like once Josh got married, he wasn't allowed to do anything he wanted anymore. Alicia could have a dance studio, but Josh couldn't practice soccer on their field outside. What the point of having a field was when he couldn't even use it was beyond the raven haired boy.
"Hey what the FUCK dude!"
"I told you to cover me!"
"I did! It wasn't me!"
"Oh, bullshit! Just meet me on the green roof."
"Who would honestly paint their roof green?"
"How realistic even is this game?"
"It's not a game!"
Plovert was hanging off of the leather armchair, his feet hovering off of the arm rests and his body horizontal. He seemed to be really into his phone, Cam noted with a curious squint to see if he could make out any of the words, or who he was even texting. He couldn't, but he could guess it was his long time girlfriend, Dylan. What about though? His thumbs were moving at the speed of lightning, and for some reason, his entire body was facing away from Derrick. Cam made a mental note to either ask him or steal his phone at some point during the night. Chris is so open about everything, though, that a few more beers in and Cam won't even have to do it because he'll just spill it all.
"Can I get a hit?" Cam asked, nodding to the juul.
He didn't smoke weed like the rest of them. The juul was his only vice, and even that wasn't too bad. After all his drug campaigns, he needed an outlet and the juul was a rare thing. He only juuled if the guys were smoking, and at that, he'd only take about four or five hits before handing it over for the night. It was more of a fidget kind of thing, not an addiction or a desire.
Kemp was Cam's favorite to study. He was so intriguing with his mannerisms, and how hard he would try to hide his feelings. It worked on everyone else, but Cam was always able to call bullshit on Kemp like no other.
They grew closer as their families reconcile their differences back a few years ago. Kemp's mom hated Cam's mom because Cam's mom spread the news that Kemp's family was having money troubles, and in retaliation Kemp's mom spread a rumor saying that the Fisher's were new money. None of this is relevant, of course, because women are catty yet manage to blow over their drama almost as quickly as they happened.
Currently, though, Kemp was laying on the floor with a head filled with stars and a stomach full of pizza. He burped loudly, taking his sleeve and wiping at his mouth before stretching his arms out in front of him. He felt content, for the first time in a while. Who would've thought that this was all he needed?
"So when are we going back to BOCD for that Alumni soccer game?" Josh asked, over the loud noises coming from the television.
"Whenever they invite us," Kemp snickered before turning over to face all of the boys. "We ran that team, why didn't they invite us?"
He was met with blank stares as Derrick ended their game.
"Dude, we're literally the only ones invited." Hotz deadpanned.
"What the fuck Kemp?" Derrick stuttered.
"Do you not get your mail?" Chris pondered.
"We are the reason there is an Alumni game…" Cam pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
That's the thing with Kemp. Sometimes, his head is so far up everyone else's asses and drama that he is so unaware of reality. Or, maybe he's just really troubled and can't concentrate on his own issues so he chooses to focus on theirs.
"So, Derrick. Now we're all together, let's share with the class." Kemp Hurley prodded, running an empty hand through his hair before filling his pint glass back up.
"What do you mean?" For once, the boy in question actually looked confused.
"Do you love her?" Chris asked softly, but the room without Fortnite was silent enough that everyone heard.
"You told everyone?!" Derrick accused Kemp, staring daggers at him.
"Welllllllll….maybe? Does it really matter?"
"Yes it does!"
"So you do love her!" Plovert grinned.
"YES I do! Okay? I do! But who cares! She's getting married to another man, not me."
"Wow, you have become docile in your old age," Cam whistled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Derrick's shoulders were rising and falling, a key hint that he was beginning to get frustrated.
"It means the old Derrick would fight for her, not just take it and lie down."
Diptyque Tuberose and Jasmine candles casted a sweet smell in the air, as the girls all laid on the large bed Alicia and Josh had settled on using for their new entertainment room.
It was set up with a huge television screen and the room was used for showing movies, but instead of couches, there was an enormous sized bed for viewers to lay or lounge on.
There was a bowl of lightly coconut oiled popcorn between each girl, courtesy of Alicia and Josh's cooks. No, it wasn't hard to make, but Alicia could burn water, so.
Or, at least, she burned enough of their meals when they lived together that Josh had enough and hired a personal chef for their home. A win win, pretty much.
Bridesmaids was playing on the huge screen that hung down from the wall, but the girls weren't paying attention to the movie.
They were more focused on the fact that their alpha was distraught, and felt like her life was falling apart.
Kristen was listening to Massie's rant thoughtfully, letting her get it all out before responding because she knows how annoying it is to keep repeating yourself because someone won't stop talking over you. She picked at her cuticles, wrapping one of the Barefoot Dreams plush cheetah print blankets around her slim frame. The blonde missed having that companionship with someone, it had been so long for her since she had been with anyone. She let her job take over her life, and loved every minute of it, but what's the point of hard work if she doesn't have anyone to celebrate it with?
Alicia tightened the robe she was wearing around her abdomen, feeling very bloated and quite nauseous. She wasn't sure why, but blamed it on a mix of all the sake and the sushi. She really could never hold down any raw fish and alcohol combo, but she was feeling it last night. Her and Josh, since getting married, hadn't really gone out with friends. Barely any of their friends had significant others, so Massie and Tristan were their go-to's, but seeing how things are rocky with them, Alicia didn't know what to take it as. She was also waiting for Massie to tell her the truth, when all the girls leave in the morning, of course.
Dylan was laying on her side, eyes glued to her iphone's messages screen. Kristen, who was sitting beside her, just assumed she was on the phone with one of the clients that she life-coaches, or Plovert. Dyl knew she had to confide in someone about Massie's secret, but wasn't sure how she wanted to go about it. Who would she tell? Surely, William needs to know the kind of mess he's signing his business off to, and letting his daughter marry. Which, that also needed to change, or the redhead wouldn't have a problem objecting at the ceremony in her champagne Louboutins.
"It's just...like, can I get any freedom?" The alpha complained, crossing her arms over her chest and huffing which brought everyone out of their own thoughts.
Massie had made Dylan swear to secrecy that she wouldn't tell a soul what she witnessed. Dylan, being the good friend, agreed. Dylan, being the not-so-good friend, knew she needed to tell a soul in order to fix this mistake Massie was making with her future.
"We had so much fun, too." Alicia drawled before taking a small sip of her Perrier.
"I just can't believe he thinks he can control you like that," Kristen murmured as she munched on a handful of popcorn. "Like, you're Massie-fucking-Block."
"You made him!" Dylan yelled, after remembering how her father is the only reason why he's even in Westchester.
Massie sighed deeply, letting her eyes travel all around the room while her head was swarmed with thoughts of everything. What was she supposed to do? She has this party this weekend her parents are throwing, she can't just go up to them and say 'Oh hey, mom and dad, i'm actually marrying a psychopath who tried hitting me earlier this week. Kisses!'
She also couldn't marry him, but she couldn't not. He was such a sweet man before, and he is still to this day, but his anger is just out of hand. Plus, William was ready to sign over half the company to him. Like, his contract is already drawn and sitting in the desk drawer Massie snooped through last week looking for a lighter. It's done, she's done.
If she told her parents what happened, if she told her father what happened, he'd think she's weak and a liability. She couldn't have that, not when she worked this hard. She was soon shaken out of her thoughts, deciding she didn't want to waste their first sleepover in the past six years talking about her shitty situation. That could wait until at least the third.
"So, Kris, how's Wall Street?" The amber eyed beauty asked the girl that was in the middle of the big bed.
"It's amazing! I'm one of the like, eight girls, so I'm sure you can guess how that is, but I love the rush. It's so exciting, plus I feel like I actually did something with my life. Imagine if I tried collecting art?"
"Hey, art collectors have talent! They are visionaries," Dylan purred before throwing her long silky red hair over her right shoulder and bringing giggles out of all the girls.
Alicia might've been sitting on the sidelines for the night, but she was totally fine with that. Seeing all of them interact so positively brought so much hope into her system, tears in her eyes and her voice deep in her throat.
She had never imagined it would be this fun, this easy, this simple.
They were all having an amazing time, and it felt like they never walked down the exit steps of BOCD.
Then, she threw up.
Dylan had been mid-conversation, talking about how Massie came to visit the studio and right away criticized the rugs ("Who puts white rugs down in a commercial area, Dyl?") when the wave of nausea currently hitting Alicia grew to be too heavy.
She crawled her way out of the low mattress, snagged her phone off of the coffee table and sprinted to the bathroom.
"Wow, I've never seen her run that fast," Kristen pointed out in confusion.
"Not even for the Prada semi-annual exclusive…." Dylan trailed off, sensing something was wrong. Alicia refused to break a sweat going to the gym, where you're supposed to do that.
Massie quickly tied her chestnut brown locks into a messy bun with the hair tie on her wrist, and followed the direction Alicia ran in, growing more and more suspicious. Alicia had told Massie earlier this week her pregnancy test ended up negative, and that she swore she wasn't upset. Clearly, though, she had been trying.
Padding up the stairs, Massie could hear Alicia a mile away. Swallowing the vomit growing in her throat, she knocked on the white bathroom door and waited for an answer. When she didn't get one, Massie groaned and began playing with the door knob.
"Come on, Leesh. Let me in!"
"It's unlocked," The small voice rang out loud and clear, and Massie wasted no time running in.
"So….are you?" The brunette was not known for patience or tact, thank you very much. She kneeled down beside Alicia, who was currently slumped over the toilet because she knew if she moved too quickly, she might throw up again.
"I think I am now," Alicia muttered, gesturing to her stomach and to the toilet she was currently flushing. "Only one way to find out, though."
"Well, until we know, let's chill out on the wine coolers."
"I didn't have one today!"
"Good, but you shouldn't be having one at all. The sugar levels in them is disgusting!" Massie huffed, shaking her head at the thought. She rested her hand on her best friend's back, and began rubbing in soothing circles. "When do you tell him?"
"When I find out for sure." Mrs. Hotz's tone was strong and thorough, making it clear this wasn't up for debate.
Massie stood and helped Alicia up, then watched as she brushed her teeth and washed her face in an attempt to clean herself up. When she finally felt okay, Alicia opened the bathroom door and was about to step out when she heard a squeal. Looking down, Dylan and Kirsten were both crumpled on the floor, with very guilty looks on their faces.
"YOU'RE PREGNANT!" Kristen yelled out of happiness, clapping her hands before wrapping her arms around her friend.
"WE'RE HAVING A BABY!" Dylan spoke mirroring Kristen's tone of excitement, hugging Alicia and Kristen and pulling Massie into it as well.
Massie took a deep breath, thanking the God above that it wasn't her. That was when she really knew she was in deep shit with this wedding.