When it's dark out, Alice and Ang drop me off and I rush inside, peeling my clothes off, searching for a more comfortable choice. I throw on a hoodie, some soft shorts, my high tops, and I quickly slide out through the back.
Hopes of seeing Briggs tonight send flutters through my belly as I walk through the backyard.
Touching the velvet irises as I pass, I come to the pine fence. The redwoods and sycamores tower above me as I push open the creaking gate. I follow the stepping stones through the mulch and pad down the trail that leads me to the familiar home so similar to my own.
This has become my normal routine. I hate sleeping at my house alone, so lately I've been making the trek to hers instead.
I don't knock, I walk right in, and Jess is already there, expecting me.
Excited to see me, she jumps up, pulling me into a hug and drags me by my wrist into the living room. She's talking fast, making excited hand gestures and she goes through animated faces while telling me how Seth came over with Briggs earlier.
Her light brown hair looks pretty tonight, it's styled and shiny and her smoky blue eyes dance with wonder as she talks.
"Bella. Have you seen how hot he is? How did I never notice him?" Her eyes are big and her smile is wide.
She's amped on him... major.
And Seth is cute, I'll give her that. He looks a lot like Jake, except younger. Tall and lean, with a sweet face, a polarizing smile and dresses like a modern day greaser from the fifties- like he's cooler than anyone else on the block.
"When they came in, Seth just stood there, staring at me with a smile on his face, while Briggs went upstairs. I didn't even know what to do with myself!" She bounces up and down in her seat as she finishes.
I laugh at her, "So what did you do?"
"I said hi to him and smiled. I didn't know what to say."
"Okay, then what?"
"Then he walked over to where I was sitting and sat beside me, calling up to Briggs, asking him where he'd been hiding this beauty."
"Reminds me of someone."
"Who?"
"Jake." I say to her, smirking at her with a look that says, I told ya so. "They all seem to have that easy confidence about them."
"I don't think Seth is anything like Jake."
"How do you know, Jess? Do you even actually know him? Or just the stories you've heard of him? Sometimes, I feel like he gets a bad wrap. The only Jake I know is a sweet, kind hearted guy."
"I don't know. I mean, yeah. I've heard stories, and I guess you're right. That's all I know. But back to Seth, we're talking about Seth."
She's electric right now. But this is how Jess gets about any guy she likes. She's one of those that falls fast and hard, which always makes me skeptical, but I don't let on that I feel that way. Why spoil someone's fun with a shitty attitude.
She continues on, how Seth took her hand and rubbed his fingers over hers when he introduced himself. I listen on as I think about how shocked I am that she's stooping to my level of interests. She's been on some next-level judgery towards me lately, so this new attraction comes as quite the surprise.
Sometimes, I can tell by her tone, that it bothers her when I hang with Alice and Angela so much. And Rose? I think Jess hates her. She's never liked how close Briggs is to his inked crew either.
She's always been more of the preppy, straight-laced type. Never takes risks, only likes the monotone types… no ink, no bad-boys, just the basic bitches in the realm of guy world.
Jess's type thus far has been the serious, boring, college graduate. The type that falls fast just like she does. Basically, Jess's type is the exact opposite of mine. I like a good chase, someone to keep me interested and on my toes.
So this news is surprising, but it's good. She needs some spice in her life. I guess I must be rubbing off on her, which makes me equally as excited about that as I am scared. Jess is kind of my rock right now... my only friend that I know will give it to me straight and keep me in line.
As she goes on about how Seth smiled at her and reached for her hand before he left, I wonder to myself what Briggs has to say about this. And just when she squeezes my arm with excitement and squeals, we hear a rumble, quickly moving closer. She grabs my hand pulling me up…"Come on. Let's go upstairs before he gets here."
"Okay, but we have to come back down in two hours, the meteor shower is tonight, remember? This is the best one of the year." I've been looking forward to this one for awhile.
"Kay." She isn't even listening to me. Seth is all she hears.
We go up to her room, shutting the door, and though I'm happy to be here, listening to her fantasizing over Seth, my mind won't quit sending interruptive signals that Briggs has just come into the house. So it's hard to concentrate on Jess's lust rant.
She falls back onto the bed still dreamy-eyed, "You should've seen the way he looked at me Bella," she grabs her chest and stares up at the ceiling.
I know that love stoned feeling. Because I have it when I think of Briggs. And how he looks at me. How I look at him. How he sounds, smells, looks, walks, talks.
I also have that feeling when I think about Jake's dimples and pretty eyes, and how he calls me Angel.
But not the same way everything becomes static when I think about Briggs, or when I'm with him even.
As far as Jake goes, everything was great when we started.
I had this girlish, child-like infatuation with him. The danger and bad-boy persona he carried just added to that appeal, which ultimately left me enamored with him.
But after these last few weeks, he's becoming more elusive. Spending less time with me, more time doing what he does— which I have zero clue what those things are, because he tells me nothing about club stuff. Briggs doesn't really ever tell Jess or me any details either... nothing that would ever compromise their club anyway, so I'm not only left in the dark, but I'm beginning to feel like I might be more into him than he is me.
Which, oddly makes me like him more.
Even though I equally like two other boys—the boy that wears black and white and ignores me when I'm with Jake, and the boy with wild hair and a speed fetish.
I pick myself up off of the carpet and climb onto the bed next to Jess, telling her to tell me again how Seth looked at her.
.
.
.
Two hours later, when I hear Jess's breathing turn to light snores, I turn the tv down and search the floor for my shoes. I wonder if Briggs will be on the couch when I get down the stairs.
He doesn't come home every night… but when he does, I happen to be here. And we always end up on his bike.
Midnight bike rides have become our thing.
We don't talk, we just ride. And when he parks, I get off and go home.
But with each ride, I hug him a little tighter, lay more of myself against him and I might've let my head lay on his shoulder for about three minutes last night— tucking my nose and lips into the side of his neck, where his inked black patterns weave their way to his jaw line and stop there... where he's most beautiful. He just holds on, standing still, breathing deep, pretending like a hug is supposed to last this long. We both know it isn't. It's just hard letting go.
It's been weird between us lately.
If we see each other out, like at The Clubhouse, it's different.
And though it hasn't been discussed by either of us since that day in the kitchen, there's something in the air when he ignores me that sends signals that I should do the same.
So I do.
We just have this unspoken thing, where we're associates by day, friends by night. And so far, that's working.
I get the feeling that both of us know without having to say it, that this is the only way it can be between us for now, so we take it.
I also feel that with every bike ride I take during the night, it gets harder to ignore him during the day.
.
.
.
I pull the covers over Jess and quietly slide out of her room, stopping into the bathroom quickly to check my appearance. My hair is tucked into a bun on top of my head and my oversized hoodie hangs low. I have pajama shorts on, and I don't even care if they're revealing. Serves him right for being shirtless most of the time.
When I reach the dark stairs a little spark of nerves flare up as I take each step down.
When I round the corner, he's there, on the couch— his long legs stretched out in front of him, one boot on the floor, one on the coffee table.
He looks up from his phone, to me and smiles. "Hey, pretty girl."
"Hey."
"What's up?" He tucks his phone in his pocket. Giving me all of his attention.
"On my way out. Might hang in my backyard for a bit, check out the meteor shower. They're supposed to peak in about thirty minutes."
"Is that an invitation?"
I just smile wide at him, like come on.
There's no tension here, no more nerves and there's nothing wrong. Everything is right. This night time friendship we've formed is warm. And it's good.
He stands up, digging in his pocket and with his keys in hand, he comes for me. "If I'm coming, your backyard is out. Let's ride... I know the perfect place."
"Where we going?" I ask him as I follow, closing the front door behind us.
He doesn't turn around as he answers, "Does it matter?"
I follow wordlessly, because he's right.
A/N: See you in a few minutes with the next update :0) I review reply to all and I love every word you guys leave me. Thank you. And to yayitsme, I can't reply to you because your inbox is blocked, so thank you for all of your sweet words.