Hello hello! It's summer time so I officically have time to write more! :) I'm not going to write about Josh and Kristen until the next chapter, which also includes Dylan! :D I hope you guys likey! :D
Chapter 5: Set Fire To The Rain
CL
"What?" Claire's jaw dropped.
Derrick had avoided making eye contact with her and ran his hand through his shaggy locks. He really had nothing to say after that.
"How? What? But? You never…Huh?" Claire demanded. She always managed to stay sharp.
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Come to think of it, Claire did like those jeans on him.
Snap out of it Lyons, this has got to be a joke.
"You can't be serious." She folding her arms across her chest.
He met her clear blue eyes with his gleaming brown ones and narrowed them. "Why do you say that?"
"Because," Claire mustered, "Because it's you, Derrick!"
He was taken aback and folded his arms, mimicking her. "Care to specify what that means?"
She thought about it for a second and sighed. Derrick was one of those guys that wouldn't be tied down. Anything with a skirt could get his attention. And Westchester was 53% female and 47% male so it was safe to assume that most guys around Claire's age were pigs anyway.
But, Derrick didn't exactly qualify as a pig, either.
"Derrick, you hook up with girls every weekend."
He scoffed. "I do not."
She raised an eyebrow at him.
He didn't argue again. "Is it so hard to believe that I like you?"
She nodded. "Yes, it is."
He groaned slightly and then looked at her. Truly gazed at her. She thought he was going to undress her with his eyes the way he usually did when he looked at other girls.
But he didn't. He looked at her, confused and with this newfound sincerity that left her speechless and the hairs on the back of her neck standing.
"Will you give me a chance?" He asked, his voice already in defeat. He thought that she would reject him because she knew of his player ways. But what seventeen year old boy wouldn't act like him?
Well, yeah, there was his pussy of a best friend, Cam.
She grabbed Derrick's hand to make sure he'd follow her lead. "You want to walk?"
Claire had been surprised at her very own reaction. She felt her insides get all warm from embarrassment of her boldness. She would hate to admit it but her smaller hand felt fit for his own bigger one. He held onto it tight.
He grinned at her, his dazzling Harrington smile used at full force.
She grinned, a blonde eyebrow raised. "Don't get any ideas, Derrick."
MB
"Massie." Cam spoke to her as they sat down on the park bench that sat at the top of the hill overlooking almost the entire park area. Massie had noticed Claire walking side by side with Derrick. She prayed that everything…
Wait a second…DERRICK?
"Massie!" Cam repeated, tugging at her All Time Low wristband.
"Whoa, what?" She shook her head, trying to make sure she wasn't just hallucinating.
"What's going on?" Her ex's face had grown into one full of concern. Classic Cam: always the one to worry about people who mean something to him.
"Nothing." She managed to say with honesty. She then asked because there was no point in keeping her curiosity bottled up. "Derrick likes Claire?"
He let out a chuckle. "Who knew, huh?"
"Him of all people? I was expecting it to be Danny or Landon or somebody…But Derrick? Derrick Harrington? The notorious playboy of Westchester?"
"So that's his nickname from the girl's bathroom stall…" Cam realized.
Massie punched him in the arm. "No you idiot. Everyone calls him that. As of last week, he has no nickname up on the bathroom stalls…Leah Hampton told me the nickname a few weeks ago…But it slipped my mind."
"Owww." Cam joked, his humor-filled eyes wide. "I'll ask Leah on Monday, then."
"So if that's the reason why you got me to come here tonight…To ask me about your best friend's reputation because of a bathroom stall…I'll be leaving," She tried to weasel her way out of confronting him.
She swiftly got out of her seat beside Cam but he had been too fast.
His hand was wrapped around her wrist, his eyes pleading that she wouldn't go just yet. And how could she refuse when she wanted to be here as much as he had? She wanted to come here to tell him how stupid she was. But so far, he hasn't said anything suggesting that he wanted to be with her again.
Cam's face had sobered, all jokes removed from his face. The silence was maddening. "We need to talk about what happened."
She sat back down and he still didn't let go of her wrist. His grip had loosened but he held it so tenderly it made Massie try to catch her breath.
She whispered but not coldly, "You can let go now…"
He nodded as he let go. "Now, why Mass? Why did you break up with me?"
It had been more than a month since Massie ended things with Cam without explanation. He had been close to perfect because of who he was. His flaws were something that she always embraced. He was easy going but a little insecure. He didn't accept criticism all too well and at times he obsessed over trying to surpass his older brother. He came to terms with the fact that he had to be the best that he could be for himself. He was stubborn like she was but he got her. The way she was…She felt that he was from another universe sometimes but in a good way.
"I've never been to space before but I've never seen a face like yours."
His multi-colored eyes would glisten in her dreams. His smile, dimples plain to see. His dark hair swaying to the breeze. When he embraced her and wiped away the tears that would fall…
What made her throw something so good away?
It wasn't until she was about to meet up with Cam after a big soccer game in February at a rival school that she overheard something that made her change her mind.
She was walking towards the boys' locker room to wait for him outside when she heard the guys starting to leave. She stopped walking and listened.
"So what are you going to do, oh buddy of mine?" She recognized that it was Derrick.
Cam laughed, giddy with the team's latest victory. Massie smiled in spite of herself. "About what?"
"About that acceptance letter. It'll change everything if you decide to go through with it."
Acceptance letter? What are they talking about?
"Don't mention it now." Cam's voice had hardened. "What if someone hears us and then tells the world, including Massie?"
If Massie had been watching them talk, she would've expected to see Derrick suppress an eye roll.
"As if that'll happen but come on Cam, what am I going to do without you here? Who will put up with me next year in Columbia?"
Massie gulped. Her hands started shaking and she decided to walk away, feeling like she invaded too much of Cam's privacy that it ended up stabbing her in the back.
"Mass!" Claire shouted from the bleachers when Massie walked over to her where people were sticking back to talk and some were leaving after the huge win by the Tomahawks. Her smile had faded when she saw the look on her best friend's face.
"What happened?" She demanded, her fists clenching. She was ready to punch the person who had hurt Massie.
Massie laughed as the first tear slid out. "Can we just go home now?"
The blonde frowned in confusion, taking her only five seconds to realize what could have possible caused Massie to shed a waterfall of tears. Massie rarely cried. Claire hugged her best friend tightly.
She couldn't hold up this strong, stubborn façade for much longer. A tear had betrayed her and had fallen down her porcelain face. "Because…"
When she said what she had to say, Cam's eyes widened.
AR
"Okay." Kristen sighed as she was about to finish talking to her dad on the phone. "I promise."
"What was that all about?" Alicia came up to her dirty blonde friend, who was leaning on a tree as she was putting her phone back into her purse.
"He's on a business trip in Toronto. So he's been checking up on me." She said it plain and simple.
"So you have the apartment all to yourself?" Alicia asked.
"You better not be insisting on a party, Leesh…You remember how that worked out the last time at Dylan's."
Alicia scratched her head, trying to recall the last party she and the girls had planned. "Becca Wilder got preggers. And Chris Plovert couldn't hold down his liquor…And the fire department showed up because stupid Dempsey wanted to flaunt the cigars he got his hands on."
Kristen raised an eyebrow at Alicia. Her dad had grounded her for a month after that fiasco. "Let's leave the party planning to the professionals, shall we?"
Alicia huffed. "Fine. But mark my words, our partying days aren't over, Miss Princeton."
Kristen blushed at the title. "Okay."
"I just have to use the magic word to convince you to do anything, huh?" Alicia grinned sinisterly.
Kristen rolled her eyes as Alicia tossed her head back and laughed hard. Alicia looked toward the soccer field where Westchester High's finest guys were playing one of the sexiest sports on the planet. She then noticed Josh looking over at them. Her laughter began to subside.
He gave her his trademark smirk and waved. He smiled the way Alicia did when she had a dirty little secret. And you could count on her to know the school's latest scandals.
Kristen broke the silence. "Enough about that. What's going on with you and that new guy?"
Dylan approached the girls. Their redheaded best friend was awfully quiet tonight but when she spoke, they knew that nothing was wrong with her. "Yeah, Leesh. What's up with you and that delicious new guy?"
Alicia's lips were set into a grimace, her face didn't reveal anything. "Oh, him? He's no one special to me. He just moved into my neighborhood. We just went out for pizza before we came here."
The girls' eyes widened, expecting Alicia to continue.
She rolled her eyes and bit her lip. "Apparently, he went to summer camp with Derrick and Cam for like 10 years and they're just picking things up where they left off…So I won't have to play babysitter for much longer…" A smile tugged at her lips. He just frustrated her and they've only known each other for less than 24 hours.
Dylan and Kristen's jaws dropped.
Dylan spoke first. "How could you…How could you not-?"
Alicia and Dylan had engaged into one of their legendary creative discussions.
"How could you not realize that the new guy is a certified hunk?" Dylan began.
"What are you talking about?" Alicia grew stubborn.
"Call it a feeling in my gut but I've got a feeling that there is something going on between the two of you. Have you seen the way he looks at you?" Dylan practically whisper-shouted because she didn't want to attract the guys' attention.
Kristen's phone rang. She'd just received a text, indicating that she had to bolt.
"Hey guys, I've gotta get going. My ride's here." She said, her voice a little shaky.
"Um, okay." Alicia caught on to Kristen's jumpiness.
Dylan noticed it, too but nodded and waved to her best friend. "Later, Kris!"
The girls' argument stopped. Alicia spoke first.
She sat down on the picnic table beside the trees. "Dylan, I'll admit that he's cute…Slightly…But nothing's gonna happen."
The redhead shot her a skeptical look.
She rolled her eyes as she spoke. "He just moved here and well, he hates it. And aside from the fact he's getting all happy with his old camp buddies…He's got a lot on his mind now so he's probably not even thinking about chasing a girl, especially the snobby brunette that lives up the street. Simple as that."
It took a moment for Dylan to process what the pensive brunette had confessed. She sat beside her. "…So you like him?" She smiled wide and squealed.
"Did you not just listen to all the crap I just said?" Alicia demanded.
"Yeah and it's super sweet of you to consider what he's going through…" Dylan smiled. "That's why you should help him…I don't know…Adjust to his settings." She giggled after that.
"You really have to make your advice sound perverted when it's not supposed to." Alicia muttered in frustration.
Dylan hugged her best friend. "I know. And I don't even have to try!"
They both laughed. Some of the guys were staring and whispering menacing things, no doubt. Alicia felt so happy at that moment. She didn't like Josh but she couldn't convince Dylan. Even she had too much on her mind to be dating a guy. She just seized the moment and enjoyed time with her best friend, even if she was a psycho who assumed that she was crushing on Josh.
LA
"While everyone's hanging out together tonight, I have to be stuck at home. Grounded for something I didn't even do. It's ridiculous, Chris!" Layne practically shouted over the phone with her brother, who was currently in London.
"I'm sure that mom and dad were just freaking out because Eli was trying to sneak up into your room. He definitely qualifies as the psychotic ex-boyfriend…" Her older brother laughed.
"Shut up." Layne whined. "I was so scared that I was going to seriously get hurt…And what's worse is that Mom and Dad don't believe that I had absolutely nothing to do with him!"
"Relax, Layney…Our old folks just need time…They'll realize they're being ridiculous soon enough."
"Hopefully all is forgiven by Sunday. I can't believe you're coming home!" Layne jumped excitedly on top of the carpet of the living room.
"Me neither." Chris laughed. "The year abroad did me good."
Layne placed the phone on the coffee table as she took her scrunchie off her wrist and wrapped her hair into a messy bun. "I bet it has. Are you sure you really want to come back?"
"What? It's not like you revamped my room into a yoga room…"
"Well…" Layne suppressed a smile.
"Layne!" He didn't mask his shock over the phone.
She laughed. "Nothing gets by you, Chris."
"Very funny." He realized she was joking.
"Well, I better go." She said in a sing-song voice.
"All right. I'll let you know when I'm on the plane over there. My flight leaves at 6 tomorrow night…Good morning Layne!"
She laughed because of the extreme time difference. "Good night Chris."
She sighed as she stopped pacing back and forth across her house. The fact that she was alone didn't really hit her so hard. Her parents were on their second honeymoon in Hawaii so they just had to ground Layne before leaving. But there's a rule in parenting that her parents must have forgotten to consider.
You don't leave your kid home alone and not expect her to do whatever the hell she wants.
But Layne was letting her rebel side take a break for today. She was tired after having to baby-sit twice today. She's been on the move nonstop since she left school. She took out her sketch book from her backpack and grabbed some of her colored pencils.
She began to draw the outlines of a face. She grabbed some warm colors to capture his mane of blond hair…She took out different shades of green to make sure she'd get his army green eyes just right. Then she realized what she was doing.
She ripped it up and crumpled it into pieces.
"Stupid!" She whisper-shouted as she threw the scraps into the recycling bin.
To get herself tired, she started sketching some landscapes from her trip to Canada last December and the boy that was on Layne's mind soon began to fade.
At least for that night, anyway.
Chapter Title: based on Set Fire To The Rain by Adele
Next Chapter: Teenage Love Affair
Introducing: Kristen Gregory and Josh Hotz (featuring Dylan Marvil XD)
STAY TUNED ;D
-Ariana