Ana woke with a start, her phone ringing from the nightstand beside her and blinking a few times to let her pupils adjust to the sudden brightness seeping through the blinds. Making the reach lazily and knocking the actual alarm to the floor, she laid back down, hitting the answer button.
"Hello?" She groggily spoke, rubbing her tired eyes with a yawn.
"Oh, sorry honey! I didn't think you'd still be asleep." Her father apologized, hearing in the background him fumbling with papers.
"It's fine, dad. Um, what-" The crinkling sound became louder and incidentally more annoying, thinking to herself that she couldn't take much more.
"What on earth are you doing?"
"Getting a head start on unpacking. The more diligent I am, the less time it'll take." He informed, "And then you can start spending weekends." Slipping that in, she smiled, stretching her tight limbs.
"Sounds great."
"You can go back to bed, I'm really sorry, sweetie." He insisted, still shifting papers.
"No, too late for that, I'm awake now. I'll stop by the house when I can. Love you!"
With that, she quickly set off for the general store as she had been unaware that it was already ten o'clock, delighted that it was no longer raining considering it had completely slipped her mind to grab an umbrella. Everything was damp, droplets coming from the door frame of the entrance dripping lightly atop her golden strands and as she walked, carefully dodging puddles from the night before, she pauses at finding a soaked newspaper floating just at the surface of one of them. The overwhelming feeling to crouch down and look at it eats at her, usually ignoring these things yet the headline brings her eyes to the size of saucers. A student was found dead, a suspected overdose.
The inked words were bleeding somewhat, making the information blurry as she strained her sights to read it properly before knowing in her right mind that she could find a dry newspaper anywhere else. Shaking her head at herself, she stood, trying her hardest to get the imagine of the boy from her head but it seemed that every time she blinked, there he was. The thought of someone losing their life the night that everyone else was completely ignorant just ten feet away was enough to make her sick to her stomach.
It crossed her mind that a walk would most definitely calm the stirring in her gut, taking a scenic route and watching as the autumn leaves shed effortlessly from above, floating downward directly onto her path. There was no denying she had missed this, taking a deep, crisp breath in.
Bell dinging from her opening the door, she hadn't taken but a few steps into the rather empty store before Kate had emerged from an aisle, almost like she'd sensed it and had been waiting impatiently for her to do so. She approached lightly, a question surely on her lips and judging by the look in her eyes Ana felt it was most likely something she knew she wouldn't like. Kate opened her mouth to speak, a shy smile peeking from the corners and Ana held up her hand as the other grabbed a basket.
"No."
Kate frowned. "No? I haven't even asked!" She pleaded, crossing her arms.
"I know that look, Kate." Rounding the corner, she began strolling the sections to stock up her room, Kate following suit. "No."
She rolled her eyes, taking it upon herself to ask anyway.
"Listen, you should get a boyfriend-" Ana cut her off with a groan, Kate continuing as if nothing happened, "Why not Chase?"
"Who even is that." She muttered into a sigh, unamused with her friend being interested in playing match maker.
"The new guy at the party last night, you know, the one who broke up the fight before it started?"
Ana's brows furrowed, abruptly stopping with a tissue box in hand and twisting to face her. "You can't be serious."
She briefly remembers being younger and Kate pulling these same shenanigans, trying to get her to 'date' someone in their grade. They were twelve and she had no interest then, knowing it wouldn't be anything of substance anyway and had almost the same exact feeling now.
"Come on, please?"
"You're by no means setting me up with someone I know nothing about." She finalized, tossing the box into her basket.
A frown distorting her features once again, she sighed, putting her hands up. "Fine. But we're all thinking of going to Nicky's later. You in?"
Ana smiled then. "Now that I'll do."
"Good. I guess I'll just have to find someone for you there." Kate finished defiantly, a wicked smile stretching along her face.
Ana turned for the exit, decided purchases in her bags and happily replied with her middle finger.
At hearing the gravel crunching beneath her footsteps as she walked closer to the worn wooden door of the bar, Ana found herself praying that everyone was already inside and with a leap of faith, she pushed it open. The previously distant and muffled music filled her ears, beer and liquor a dime a dozen among tables and the dim lighting making spotting a familiar face just slightly more difficult. She could sense the hungry eyes of drunken men staring her down, honing in on new prey but absolutely refused to let it take hold, hearing Sarah's laugh and looking to her right before she released a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding.
Kate and Sarah began waving her over, a smile just starting to appear when Kira stepped out in front of her from the shadows, preventing her to walk past and Ana let out a frustrated sigh, her smile gone in an millisecond.
"Got back not long ago and already have them wrapped around your little finger," Kira began, shifty eyes scanning her over and looking most unimpressed. "You must be making it worth their while." She claimed, a faux, venomous smile twisting her features.
"Always a pleasure to see you too, Kira." Ana deadpanned, beginning to side-step past her and when it became apparent that she wouldn't allow her to, she was left with no choice but to bump her shoulder, pushing by roughly and getting swallowed up by the crowd of bodies.
Walking slowly through the slew of people as it was more packed than a sardine can, she turned back just once, the mousy brown curls fuming in the same spot where she'd left her before reaching their table.
"We saw Kira come up to you, are you okay?" Sarah questioned immediately, the concern evident across her face.
"Nothing I can't handle." She assured, leaning over the table. "So, what are we doing?"
She gestured toward the boys at the Foosball table, then back toward them, Kate taking a sip of her Coke.
"Don't tell me you just sit here and watch them have fun."
"No, we were all talking before you got here but-" Kate started.
"But now they're doing their thing?" Ana finished for her, pursing her lips in thought and taking the opportunity to take a look around the building.
She saw Aaron and his little buddies at the bar, quickly losing interest, then scoping out some drunks trying to get a girl to go home with them and laughing softly at their feeble attempt. From somewhere to her left she heard a bet gone wrong, looking over to see a man breaking a pool cue over his knee. Finally her eyes landed on Reid and Tyler chuckling at the other end of the bar, excusing herself and advancing toward them at the pool tables setting up a new rack, it appearing as though they had just finished up a game and were preparing a new one.
"Mind if I sub?" Ana proposed in Reid's ear, pulling the boys out of their previous conversation.
"You play?" He asks, obviously perplexed.
"Not in a while, but what could it hurt?" Tossing the words over her shoulder, she chose her cue stick, turning back to face them. "I'll break."
Tyler stepped back with a slow smile, motioning for her to pass and allowing her to position herself. Lowering her gaze to the center of the rack and all the while feeling their eyes follow her every movement, she judged the amount of force needed and hit, looking back up as the green six ball flew into the upper left corner pocket and grinning to herself lightly. Solids.
A bundle of emotions crossed Reid's features, wide eyes showing surprise at first then changing into a bit of confusion, settling to him almost seeming impressed. Ana walked around the table, deciding which solid to go after next and idly letting her thin digits glide down his bicep before focusing in and sinking the red three ball into the right side pocket. She moved to the orange five but it bounced off of the bank, sitting just right outside the edge of the pocket, causing her to glower down at the ball.
Reid swiftly chose the yellow nine ball then, it racing into the right lower pocket with force and moving onto the next without hesitation as he clearly played quite often, the red eleven gone in an instant into the same pocket. He sank the green fourteen into the lower left pocket and she began to think it was already over, yet his aim was off for the purple twelve ball, the cue barely grazing it. This dance continued until it was down to Ana, the eight ball waiting for her to legally sink and end the game when his voice broke her concentration.
"You a little hustler, A?" She watched as he leaned an arm against the pool table, the corner of his lips just barely twitching upward and only then realizing that Tyler was nowhere in sight.
"What? No, I- I guess I just haven't lost my touch."
Ana's words were clumsy and strangled, tripping over the simple sentence and she cursed under her breath, casting her sights to the floor. This wasn't like her and it left her astonished how he had the ability to throw her off so easily, not even having to look up to know that he was certainly smirking at her. He knew what he was doing as his hands were on her hips not a second later, pulling her against him, the seductive scent of cologne and spearmint toothpaste intoxicating her senses with every breath she took. He had her dissolved to warm sugar at his fingertips.
Taking a beat and managing to find her confidence buried underneath an unwanted wash of nerves, her teeth dug into her lower lip softly.
"You know, you really shouldn't look at me like that."
Shaking her head at the ground, the corners of her mouth upturned ever so slightly, tone holding the tinge of a challenge and eyes slowly gazing upward towards his own.
"Like what?" He swallowed, that smirk playing at his lips.
"Like you want to kiss me, Reid."
Her statement caused him to look intently at the utterly forthright woman stood before him, eyes locked onto hers, hoping they would give him some clue in trying to figure out what was going through her mind. He leaned forward, painfully taking his time before his breath fluttered along her lower lip for just a moment; the fleeting promise of a kiss.
Feeling a smile grow, she pulled back swiftly, lining up her cue and letting her green irises glance back at him briefly before they landed back to the table.
"Left, side pocket." Calling the winning shot, she took it, successfully sinking the eight ball.
That's a wrap on chapter two! I'm having tremendous fun writing this story and I hope y'all are having a good time reading it! Again, please be sure to follow and favorite if you enjoyed reading and leave me a review down below. I'd love to know what you think! xx