A/N: HI LOVES! THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS. HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!! I didn't spell check or do any grammar checks either so I might have a few errors throughout the chapter, but I will fix that. BUT ANYWAYS this was a fun chapter to write. I hope you like AND REVIEW! I love you all.
3 MORE DAYS 'TIL OTH IS BACK ON!! YAAAYYY!
Chapter 11// Stupid Boy
Nathan and I talked a little bit more about our past relationships and almost everything we could come up with, before we walked back to Olivia's. The whole time I was thinking about how much closer I felt to him. I was able to open up my deepest darkest secrets to him and I was never able to do that with anyone else except Olivia. Olivia was my rock, the only person I depended on when life got hard. But now I felt like I had two of them. Nathan had become such an inspiration to me. He had a way with words to make my worries disappear. And he had no idea how much I had fallen for him.
"So what song are you going to choose?" he asked, swinging slowly beside me.
I quickly turned away shyly. I wasn't ready to sing anything to him right now. Although I was in glee club, it didn't mean that I had the ability to just sing to anybody. A whole crowd was easy to sing to, but singing in front of one person and looking directly at them while you sing is intimidating.
"Do I have to?"
"Yeah and don't forget, I have to sing too," he laughed.
"That's right!" I smiled. That made me a little less nervous.
"So come on," he said, lightly patting my knee. "I want to hear this voice that Olivia's been raving about."
"Oh gosh. First of all, I blame her for this little favor you're making me do. And second of all, I hate you, you know that?"
"That's totally fine with me as long as you sing," he smirked.
I rolled my eyes at him, and lightly punched him on the shoulder before I thought of what song I wanted to do. It had to be something that was based only on vocals, so I chose a Beatles song. I sang to their songs all the time and the one that I loved to sing in particular was Hey Jude. It had such a beautiful story and lesson in it. So I decided to sing that to him.
Hey Jude, don't make it bad.
Take a sad song and make it better.
Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.
Hey Jude, don't be afraid.
You were made to go out and get her.
The minute you let her under your skin,
Then you begin to make it better.
"And that's all you're getting from me," I finished.
He started to lightly clap as I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. "I'm impressed. You have a beautiful voice."
"Thanks," I said, softly.
"I think you should be a singer," he advised.
I laughed. "I don't think so. I'd like to stick with my college plan ."
"Who knows, you might hate Stanford and quit. If that ever happens, singing could be your back up."
I looked at him strangely. "I'll let you know if that ever happens."
"I better hope so," he said. "Include me in your speech when you win a Grammy."
I couldn't help but think how cute he looked persuading me to be a musician. It was sweet of him. Being a musician was never what I thought my future job would be, but it was something that I loved to do. He kind of opened a new door for me.
"I'll think about it," I said. "Now it's your turn, Mr. Big Shot. Sing me song," I laughed, lifting an eyebrow at him.
"Don't be jealous if I sing better than you."
"Oh, I won't."
"Okay here it goes." I had a feeling this was going to be something I would never forget. "I . . . like BIG BUTTS AND I CAN NOT LIE." Oh God! "You other brothers can't deny . . ." Facepalm! "That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face, you get SPRUNG!"
"Stop! Don't continue!" I halted him as I laughed hysterically at the way he was rapping and moving his hand like he was scratching a record. "You did not just do Baby Got Back," I smiled.
"Jealous, huh?" he smiled.
"Oh yeah I'm very jealous." No not really.
"I think I should win a Grammy for that performance," he joked.
"Truthfully," I began. "That was terrible."
He started to chuckle and stood up from the swing. "Thanks for being honest."
"No problem."
-----------------
"You have to be careful when you decorate around the edge," Eliza stated as showed me how to ice the vanilla cake we were working on.
I nodded, and then continued to ice where she had left off. She stepped back and started working on the candied flowers beside me. Right next to her stood Peyton wearing one of her vintage band t-shirts and a cupcake in her hand. It was a busy day at the bakery. People were ordering things like crazy.
"So my mom is hosting the Summer Fest Ball this weekend and she's been nagging me about what dress I should wear and who I should go with. I'm really getting sick of it," Peyton stated.
"River Fest Ball? Gag!" Eliza complained."I'd hate to be you right now."
"Tell me about it," Peyton said, biting into her cupcake. "That's all she's been talking about this week. I'm going to cringe if I hear one Miley Cyrus song on her playlist."
I laughed at that as I pushed my bangs away from my eyes. "What's the River Fest Ball?" I asked, still focused on the cake.
"It's a stupid event where you have to dress up and bring a date to," Eliza answered. "It's like prom except with older people," she added, almost grossed out.
"Yeah, it's basically like prom except you don't have to wear a fancy gown just something cute, but you have to bring a date. It's kind of mandatory. Nobody goes to the ball stag, it's like social suicide. They sell tickets today and everyone's already asking each other out. If no one goes to the ball, they are either snacking it out at the River Festival or sitting at home being a loner," Peyton explained a little further. "The whole town gets involved."
"And I would be that loner," Eliza stated.
If these two weren't so excited about this ball, I don't think I should be excited either. It does sound like fun, but then again my prom night wasn't as magical as I hoped.
"And I'll be the one snacking it out at the festival," I stated. I finished the last of the cake and placed the icing tube to the side of it.
"Come on, girls," I heard Peyton say. She put the cupcake she was eating down on the counter and looked at both of us. "I have to go to this thing. My mother is hosting the fucking event. I want you two to go. It would make my life so much easier."
Eliza and I glanced at each other. I could tell that she really didn't want to go. I couldn't even picture her in a sundress since she only wore black and gray every day to work. She was definitely a unique person compared to everyone else in this town. But knowing that fact, I felt like we should go just so I could see her dress up in something colorful for once.
"We don't even have dates," I said. "Besides, isn't Brooke going to this?"
"I am not going," Eliza stated. "The last time I went to this pointless event was when I was thirteen years old."
"Well, it's a start and Brooke and I aren't really talking right now. After I heard about what happened, I decided to show her what its like to be mistreated."
"I am not going," Eliza repeated as she started handing me the candied flowers that she was making. "Start making a little circle in the middle of it," she ordered me softly. I nodded and began gently adding the pieces on top.
"I don't think you should stop being friends with Brooke because of me," I said. "You two were friends way before I came along."
"We're still friends. I do this to her sometimes so she could get her mind straightened up. Plus her reasons for hating you were dim," Peyton replied. "She'll get over it soon."
"Yeah," I said.
"I'm still not going," I heard Eliza say beside me as she handed me a flower. I laughed at her.
"You're going," Peyton stated, pointing at Eliza. "Both of you are," she said, wiggling her finger at both of us. "I'll find ya'll dates. I'm sure it won't be that hard."
"I'd rather dance in a crack house than go to this Pleasantville ball," Eliza complained. "Do I really look like the kind of girl who would go to these events? I mean really?" She was wearing a black v-neck blouse and dark jeans with converse. Her style looked almost like Peyton's style except darker and less punky.
"We could give you a makeover, so you'd look like the kind of girl who goes to these events," Peyton smiled as she picked up her cupcake and bit it. "After I find you a date."
"Oh gosh, kill me now!" Eliza complained, finishing the cake and grabbing a white box to put it in.
Peyton and I started to giggle as she gently packed up the cake and set it on the cold shelf. After that, it was our lunch break so we headed off to Williams Steak House. Nathan wasn't at work today. He had something to do over at the fire department. It kind of made me sad when I noticed that he wasn't around.
I was happy that I found girlfriends like Peyton and Eliza around here. I could talk to them like my friends back home. We all had a lot in common like music, movies, and books. I love talking to Olivia about everything, but it's different when I talk to girls my age about things because they are my peers and we can really relate to each other.
When Helen served our food, I noticed a couple people looking at us like we were freaks. Maybe it was because we were a random group. Peyton was popular, Eliza was not, and I was the new girl who really didn't have any position in any clique at all. It didn't bother me though. The only thing that bothered me was the fact that they kept whispering and looking at us. We weren't famous, so why stare? But I ignored them anyways.
"So I was thinking," Peyton began, adding a French fry in her mouth. "That Chris Keller would be your perfect date, Eliza."
Eliza suddenly stopped chewing on her food and shot Peyton a dark look. I smiled when I noticed her mouth was covered in barbecue sauce. "I am not going with him. He is the epitome of all arrogance in this whole town. You can not make me go to this event - which in fact I don't even want to go to- with that slob!"
I cut a piece of my steak when I noticed Peyton pull out her handy dandy cell phone. "I think I have his number somewhere in here," she smirked, scrolling down her address book in hope to find his name.
"Don't you dare!" Eliza cried out. "Give me that phone!" She reached over to grab it but Peyton scooted in her seat to keep it away.
"AH HA!" she cried out. "I found it. I think I'm going to call him!"
"I'm going to kill you!"
Peyton pressed a button on her phone and placed it against her ear. I couldn't believe that Peyton was actually going to call this Chris guy. It was pretty funny seeing Eliza all worked up about this.
"Hello?" I heard Peyton say. Eliza finally stopped trying and settled back down in her seat next to me. I glanced at her and noticed the anger in her face. "Hi, this is Peyton Sawyer, and I was wondering if you knew Eliza Evans? . . . Yeah, mm hmm. . ." Peyton glanced at Eliza and then to me and nodded. "Yes, she's the cute pale girl . . . Oh, really?"
Eliza turned to me and said, "Is she really doing this?"
I smiled at her and shrugged. "I guess."
"I am going to strangle her with my purse," she said through her teeth. I laughed at that and returned to my food.
"Okay, well I was wondering if you'd like to be her date to the River Fest Ball this weekend," Peyton continued, winking and smiling at us. ". . . AW! . . . Terrific!"
"No," Eliza snapped.
"She's super excited," Peyton laughed. "Buy the tickets at the boardwalk! I'll give you more details. . . Okay, thanks bye." She closed her phone and stuffed it back into her purse.
"So he said yes?" I asked.
"Yep and he sounded pretty thrilled to go with you Eliza," she smiled, adding another French fry into her mouth. "I think he has a thing for you."
"I can't believe you just did that!" Eliza pouted. She poked her pork chop with her fork and glanced up.
"You can say 'thank you' now that you have a date. You're not going to be a loner during the ball. And I forbid it." I couldn't help but laugh at these two. It almost seemed like they were friends before. They clicked instantly and they didn't clash at all, except maybe right now. But other than that, they were able to hang out and talk to each other without thinking about their social status.
"Who are you going with, match maker?" I asked.
"I don't know. I'm sure my mother has someone already picked out for me like she has already picked out the colors of my wedding," Peyton replied. "That's what is so annoying about having a mother who lives off of my dad's money. She doesn't have to work. She plans and aggravates me."
After Peyton finished complaining about her mother, we started to discuss potential guys that could be our dates for the ball. Immediately, Peyton and Eliza mentioned Nathan. They both knew something was going on between us and it was pretty obvious that I wanted him to be my date. They said they had a feeling that Nathan might ask me, but I wasn't sure yet. Then Peyton started naming a few other guys that I had no idea who they were. And as were discussing possible dates, I noticed a familiar figure walking up to us along the aisle.
"Hey ladies," Jake greeted.
"Hey Jagielski," Peyton stated patting him on the arm.
"So have you all gotten your dates for the ball this weekend?" he asked.
"I'm not going," Eliza said. I looked at her and laughed.
"Oh she's such a kidder, she's going with Chris Keller," Peyton smiled.
"Mr. Keller, he's cool."
"Vom!" Eliza cried out, looking down at her plate and ignoring Jake. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking pretty nervous right now. I had a feeling he came here for a reason. And it was either for Peyton or for me. I was hoping it wasn't for me.
"So Haley," he began, leaning down to rest his elbows on the table. It was for me. "I was wondering if you'd like to go with me to the ball." Peyton and I immediately exchanged looks and she looked stunned. Her eyes were wide and I could tell that she didn't see this coming. Jake was a nice guy and I just couldn't deny his request. We were friends and it was just a ball, right? It was nothing more.
"Yeah, sure," I answered. I could hear the uncertainty in my tone.
"Great! I'll buy the tickets today and I'll call you later," he said.
We exchanged phone numbers and he hugged me before he walked out. Then I glanced at Eliza and she gave me this look that said 'what did you just do?" I was thinking the same exact thing.
"Well that was quick. You two got dates in like an hour. And half of it was my work," Peyton smiled. "But why the hell did you tell Jakey boy that you were going to go with him? I thought you wanted Nathan to be your date?"
"I know, I know, but Jake is a sweetheart. I couldn't say no," I replied.
"You know you're going to regret that, right?" Eliza asked.
I looked at her and my heart just sunk. I couldn't already be feeling like I did something completely wrong. It wasn't so bad. Was it?
"Let's just hope that it's fine with Nathan," Peyton stated.
"I don't think he would mind," I said.
----------
After Peyton left, Merriam put me in charge of the register since Nathan was nowhere in sight. The whole time I was thinking about what Eliza and Peyton said. They were right. I was going to regret going with Jake. All I wanted to do was run around town to find Jake and tell him I couldn't go. But I was too nice to do that to him. Jake is a cool guy. I bet he'd be a good date anyways. One thing that I'm only worried about is leading him on. I don't want to lead him on. He doesn't deserve that from me.
"What's it like being behind the register?" I looked up and saw Nathan walking through the door with a jacket hanging over his arm. My face lit up and glanced back down to continue organizing the tray of money.
"Wonderful," I answered. He walked closer and gently leaned against the counter across from me. "I feel so powerful holding all this money." I held a handful of green in my hand and started waving it in the air.
"That's exactly how I feel when I'm behind there. It's like you're touching gold."
"Definitely gold," I smiled, placing the bundle of money back into its rightful place.
"So did you hear about the ball that's happening this weekend?" he asked.
I paused for a moment before I closed the tray. "Yeah," I said. "Everyone's been talking about it all day."
"I know. It's always crazy around this time of the year. It's worse the prom."
"That's what I heard," I replied, sitting on to the stool behind me. "Are you going?"
As I waited, I watched him grab a handful of the newly filled candy basket. "Yeah, I was going to talk to you about that," he answered as he unwrapped the piece of chocolate in his hands.
Suddenly I felt my stomach churn at the thoughts that were flooding my mind. I was afraid of what he was going to say next. Before he continued, a few customers walked in and started browsing the place.
"I always bring a date to this thing, so I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?" he asked. He pulled out two tickets from his pocket and my heart literally sunk. I could feel myself getting sick when I saw the tickets right there in hands. He had already bought them like he knew I was going to say yes. He knew. I couldn't say or do anything at that very moment. I was speechless.
"Are you okay?" he asked, noticing that I hadn't said a word. "I know it's kind of weird of me asking you since we're just friends, but I thought it would be cool to go together."
"You-you already bought tickets for us?" I questioned, nervously.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "I figured you'd say yes."
I opened my mouth, but nothing could come out. Then Jake's name kept repeating itself inside my brain. I wasn't good at this stuff. I mean, it was easy to tell someone no, but this was Nathan. How could I say no to him? I didn't want to, but I had to. Plus breaking the news to him about me going with Jake made my heart ache. Nathan seemed pretty confident that I was going to go with him. He looked really happy, but I had to drop the bomb.
"I c-can't go with you," I stuttered.
His face fell and furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?" he asked.
"Because," I sighed deeply. My nerves were now taking over and I couldn't control myself. "Jake already asked me."
"Oh," he said. At that moment I noticed the way his expression changed from curious to upset. I've never seen him this way before. It was new to me. I usually like to see new things, but I didn't like this one. "When did he ask you?"
"During my lunch break," I answered, trying my hardest to be soft spoken.
"I never expected that he was going to ask you," he said, pulling the tickets away from the counter and shoving them back into his pocket. "I would've known if he had told me."
Jake and Nathan were buddies. I'm surprised that he didn't even mention anything about me to Nathan. I guess Jake knew Nathan was going to ask me, so he beat him to it.
"I'm sorry, Nathan," I said, giving him an apologetic look.
He shook his head, and didn't even look me in the eye. "No, it's fine," he said. He started to scratch the back of his neck and stepped back."Um, I'm going to go out for a bit," he said, finally looking up at me.
"Nathan," I repeated. "You just got here."
"Look, I have an extra ticket that I bought with my own money, so I'm going to go find someone else who's willing to go with me," he said in a offensive tone before he started for the door.
"Nathan! "I called out. "He asked me first, don't get mad at me."
He stopped on his tracks and turned on his heel. "I'm not mad at you," he said, softening his voice. "I'm just . . . a little annoyed that I bought these tickets for us and you're not even going with me. Really? You said yes to Jake and not me?" he asked.
"Don't blame me on this. Jake is a nice guy and I couldn't say no to him, plus I didn't know you were going to ask me. Why are you so upset about it?" I asked, growing a little angry by his attitude.
He scoffed and began to chuckle. "Forget it," he said, shaking his head. "I'm going to find a date."
My mouth opened to say something, but he was already gone. I felt like all four walls in that room were falling down on me. What did I just do? Maybe this was my fault. I said yes to Jake, but does that make me the bad guy? I couldn't be the bad guy. Jake was a nice person and I said yes to him because of that reason. I didn't know that Nathan was planning on buying tickets for us ahead of time. If I had known that was going to happen, I would've rejected Jake's request. Eliza and Peyton did tell me that Nathan would be a potential date, but they never said he was actually going to do it. Jake came first. He beat him to it.
But deep down, I felt like I was torturing myself. After all this time of wanting him and developing feelings for him, I made a huge mistake. This whole time I wanted so much to hate him and dislike him because I didn't want to get hurt. But now all I want to do is like him even more. I want him around me all the time. And I had the slightest feeling that he felt the same way. I've never seen him so upset before. If we were just friends, he wouldn't have acted that way if we weren't. He would've just let it go. Yet he acted like a jealous boyfriend.
--------
"Would you like some perfume, Hales?" Olivia asked as she walked into my room.
We were getting ready for the River Fest ball and I had the worst feeling in the last few days. I was getting cold feet. I really wanted to back out of this whole thing and stay in my room. But I really wanted to know who Nathan chose to bring to the dance.
I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled at Olivia as she handed me in the perfume bottle. I sprayed it once around my neck and then onto my wrists. I picked out a strapless lacey white cocktail dress that stopped above my knees for the event and wore my hair down in curls. Olivia bought me a new pair of heels to match with my outfit and gave me a pearl necklace to accentuate my neck.
Olivia finally recovered from her illness and was ready to go out into town. Jim had asked her to go to the River Fest Ball too so she was dressed up in a beautiful floral outfit and heels. She had lost a little bit of weight, but she looked gorgeous anyways. Her health still worried me though. She was fragile now, so hopefully the ball wasn't too harsh on her. Luckily Jim was a former doctor; he could help her with her pains.
"Just because Jake is your date doesn't mean you have to be attached to this hip the entire time," Olivia stated, as she adjusted my dress for me. "You can dance with other people too." When she meant other people, she was referring to Nathan.
As I was applying pink lipstick on in front of the vanity mirror, I let out a huge sigh. "I'm not sure if I want to go through with this," I said, looking away from the mirror. "I feel kind of sick," I pouted.
"This is one of the few events of the summer that everyone goes to, sweetie pie," she said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You're going because I want you to enjoy simple things like this."
"I don't think simple is the right word," I said.
We both stared at each other for a moment, knowing what was going on in the other's mind. We didn't even have to speak to get anything out. During that, I heard the door bell ring. My stomach suddenly flipped at the sound and I glanced away and back to the mirror.
"That must be Jake," Olivia stated.
"Or Jim."
"Whichever, but I'm going to go down and answer it. Finish getting ready and we'll head out." She gently pinched my cheek and walked away. I looked at myself in the mirror and all I could see was a scared little girl. Someone who was afraid of getting hurt and getting too close. A girl who was afraid of regret, guilt, and lies. I was a mess. And here I was, dressed up for a little ball with the wrong guy because I was afraid of the real thing.
Jim had arrived first, but Olivia refused to leave before me so they waited until Jake came. He drove into the driveway with his truck and it wasn't the same thing as Nathan's vintage car. It was the opposite. The car ride to the River Fest Ball was pretty awkward. I could tell that Jake was trying to impress me. It was sweet of him to do that, but something inside of me felt uncomfortable. Like this wasn't where I was supposed to be right now. None of it felt right. But Jake looked nice in his clean cut suit.
Olivia and Jim were cute. He gave her a little rose and a kiss on the cheek and Olivia looked so happy. Even though Jim wasn't Grandpa, like Jake wasn't Nathan, Olivia didn't seem to be in the wrong place like I was. It made sense. Jake and I didn't make sense.
When we finally arrived, I noticed that we were inside a large white tent area. There were little white lamps decorating the place like it was sparkling. It was really beautiful. The festival was just a few yards away. It was lit up in lights and I could see the Ferris wheel above the tip of the tent. The people there were like little ant figures roaming around, but there wasn't a lot. There were more people here than over there.
People were walking in pairs towards the entrance. Someone was standing near it, taking in their tickets and wrapping something around their wrists. Jake gave me his elbow to hold onto and began walking towards the tent. The whole time, I was searching high and low for Nathan, Peyton and Eliza. I wanted to see Nathan's date and Peyton's too. I just wanted to see Eliza's face standing next to her date for entertainment. But no one was in sight. Maybe they were inside already.
Jake gave the person at the entrance our tickets and she wrapped a clear bracelet around our wrists. She said it was for proof just in case we wanted get out and then decide to go back in.
It was pretty huge inside the place. I didn't think a tent could be so beautiful, but since this was hosted by Peyton's mother, I wasn't so surprised. She seemed like the perfectionist. There were tables for us to sit in and a dance floor in the middle of it. I looked farther away and noticed a stage and close by it was the food table. It almost looked like it was set for a wedding. But it fit well for the event.
"You want me to get you a drink?" Jake asked.
I looked away from the crowd of people and nodded at him. "Yeah sure."
"What do you want?"
"It doesn't really matter," I smiled. He nodded and turned away to find the drinks.
I stood there, browsing the place when I finally saw Eliza enter with her date. She looked gorgeous in her black halter dress. Her hair was up in an elegant ponytail and she actually looked pretty normal. She didn't seem like the type of girl who liked to do researches on the local ghosts. Standing beside her was a tall guy with feathery hair, similar to Elvis's but blonde. He didn't look so bad. He was pretty cute. And Eliza looked like she agreed with me by the way she was smiling constantly at him.
I waved at her to get her attention and she excused herself from her date to approach me.
"He's cute!"
"I know, right?" she smiled. "You look good!" she said looking at my outfit.
"What changed your mind about him? I thought he was a slob."
She shrugged and took a quick glance to stare at him by the entrance. He nodded at her and she turned back to me.
"I don't know. Something came over me when he finally called me yesterday. He wanted to hang out before we came to this and we instantly clicked," she replied. "Did you know that he aspires to be a ghost hunter too?" she asked excitedly.
"No way!" I exclaimed. "That's too perfect."
"I should thank Peyton for this," she smiled. "Have you seen her anywhere?"
"No. I've been trying to look for her, but there's no sight." I looked around us and I found Brooke and Lucas entering the tent arm in arm. "But I see her best friend from hell," I said, staring at the couple.
Eliza turned around to see them, and then we both continued to stare when I noticed Nathan outside the entrance. He looked really handsome in his outfit. He wore gray slacks with a white button up shirt. I couldn't see who he was with, but I saw a hand wrapped around his arm. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I was nervous to see his mystery girl. When Nathan and his date got his bracelets, they both finally entered the tent. The moment they walked in my jaw dropped.
"You have got to be kidding me," I said when I noticed Zoey linked to his arm.
"Of all people, he asked the slut to be his date." Eliza and I turned around at the sound of Peyton's voice and noticed that she was wearing a pretty green dress that stopped above the knees like mine.
"Where were you and where the hell is your date?" I asked her, confused to see that she had no one beside her.
"Oh, he's somewhere around here," she replied, looking around the crowd like she didn't care. "My mother set me on a date with some football player who graduated a year before me. The first few minutes of small talk contained nothing but the word football. I think my brain shrunk." We both laughed at that before I turned away to see Zoey and Nathan again. They sat the table with Lucas and Brooke, and that was surprising to me since Brooke hated Zoey. It was an odd group.
"Hurts doesn't it?" Peyton asked, leaning close to me. I zoned out from staring at them and glanced at Peyton. "You're regretting it, aren't you?"
"I told you why I said yes," I answered.
"That's a sweet reason, Haley, but you're only torturing yourself," Eliza said as she lightly patted me on the shoulder.
"Speaking of your date, where is he?" Peyton asked.
"He went to get me a drink."
"Yeah, well I can't keep my date waiting, so I'm going to go meet up with him," Eliza stated as she started walk off. "Oh!" She turned around and faced us again. "Thank you, Peyton!" Then she returned to Chris.
"I'm so good," she smiled.
"Here you go." Jake walked up to us with two champagne glasses in his hands. Obviously there wasn't champagne in them since we were underage, but it wasn't like we couldn't find alcohol anywhere here. Instead it was Sprite.
"Hey Jake," Peyton smiled.
"Hey Peyton," he replied. He handed me the glass and I thanked him.
While Jake and Peyton continued to stare at each other in front of me, I quickly glanced at Nathan and Zoey. The first thing that I noticed when my eyes turned their way was Nathan's stare. He was looking at us, watching me, but then he quickly turned away.
Jealousy raged through the veins in my body at the site of those two being together. How could he bring her to this event when he told me that she wasn't his type? Was he trying to make me angry? If he was, he's doing a good job at it.
Peyton's mother walked by us and ordered her to find her date, before he lost his way around here, so Peyton lazily left us, and said she'd meet with me later. A few moments passed and the DJ started playing a good song.
"Do you want to dance?" Jake asked as he reached out his hand.
Again, I glanced at Nathan and noticed Zoey snaking her arms around his muscles. I cringed and quickly turned to Jake. "Sure." And he guided me towards the dance floor with the rest of the crowd and we began dancing.
Jake held my hand as we started to move our feet and hips to the sound of the Black Eyed Peas. I wasn't sure about everyone else, but I was having a good time. Everyone was now dancing around us. I even saw Eliza and Chris dancing almost about two inches from each other. Peyton and her date were like five feet apart. He was moving side to side while she looked like she was doing the Macarena. A few people down from her were Lucas and Brooke, doing the dirty again. I wasn't surprised. Then near them, I noticed Zoey sliding her hands across Nathan's chest as he had his hands against her waist. I couldn't even stomach the sight.
I didn't like how he was dancing with her. She was moving her arms across his body like she was about to have sex with him. I couldn't even fathom the right emotions at that moment. It was disgusting. I was hurting so much. I couldn't even catch my breath because it seemed like someone had knocked all the air out of me.
First I was dancing like no one was watching me, then I slowly stopped moving and found myself standing there in the middle of a crowd feeling empty. If someone was recording a video from above, you could pin point me in a snap. I was like a chicken in a crowd of ducks.
"Haley, are you okay?" Jake asked me, leaning closer to me.
I was emotionless and I really didn't care about anything in that moment.
"I'm fine," I said. Then I thought that I wasn't going to go through this night on a clear head because watching them groping each other was the last thing I wanted to see. I needed something to blur my vision. I wanted something to drown myself in to keep all the pain away. So I slowly stared at Jake and asked, "Do you have any alcohol? I really need some right now."
R&R
The next chapter will be a mixture of Haley's POV and Nathan's and maybe Olivia's
It's going to be a fun chapter to write. Tell me what you think? REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!