14: Guilty Pleasures

Avoiding Jason was easier said than done. His smiling face when I passed him at work made me feel guilty about the kiss at the basketball game. All week, he would try to speak to me at the office, but I managed to avoid him. I would feel guilty when he would ask me to lunch and I would blow him off with excuses, saying I had too much work to do. Throughout the week, I had been having lunch at my desk instead.

This whole week had showed me how much I had actually missed spending time with Jason. I shouldn't have felt that way about my best friends' brother. This was why I had to spend as little time with Jason as possible. And it was proving to be harder than I thought it would be.

Liz had also been calling me all week, asking to hang out. Every time I thought of Liz, the guilt would eat me up again. I hated keeping secrets from my best friend and not telling Liz about what happened at the basketball game was painful. I wasn't sure if I felt guilty about kissing her brother, or if I felt guilty because I actually liked it.

I had been avoiding the Agreste household like the plague, worried about what I would say or do or how I would act in front of Liz. I just didn't know what else to do. The only rational thing I could think of was to avoid them both.

But that was all about to change. Tonight, Max wanted to meet all my friends, so we were all meeting at a new club which had opened up in our town.

I was going crazy not seeing Liz, so I had been spending a lot more time with Max. We would go out to cafes, hang out at the park or hang around at my house. I just needed someone else to talk to and a week of not talking to Liz was a long time.

We had arrived at the club just before the rest of the group arrived. The new club was busy. The strobe lights flashed all around us and the music was blaring. From our seats in our booth, I could see the bar tenders expertly whipping up cocktails, serving customers at the bar as fast as lightning.

I smiled as Ethan, Jason, Ian and Liz approached the booth. Liz ran over to me and hugged me tightly. "Where have you been all week Missy?" she squealed in delight.

"I think this is the longest we've gone without seeing each other" I hugged her back.

"For the first time in years, the house was so peaceful and quiet" Jason laughed.

Liz punched him on the shoulder "Shut up"

I noticed that Liz was nowhere near Ian and was keeping her distance. Which was probably for the best, seeing as she wasn't ready to tell Jason yet.

"You already know Liz" I said to Max, introducing him to Liz.

"Hey Max, nice to finally see you again" Liz waved.

"And this is Ian and Ethan, friends of Jason" I introduced, pointing to the boys, who waved back to Max.

"And this is Jason, Liz's brother"

"Oh, so this is Jason" Max nodded.

Jason furrowed his eyebrows "Has Rosie mentioned me?"

"Sort of. I saw the basketball game and- "

"Who's ready for some drinks?" I shouted out, cutting Max of from saying anything else.

I could see the rest of the guys look on with wide eyes as I grabbed Liz's hand and dragged her to the bar.

"What was that all about?" Liz questioned, raising her eyebrow.

"Oh, it's probably just boy talk, talking about sports and such" I waved off "So, tell me, how things with you and Ian?" I said, swiftly changing the subject.

"Great" she smiled, instantly forgetting about the commotion behind us, "It's just a bit awkward tonight with Jason around"

"But you've got a date tomorrow night, right?"

Her smile grew even wider "Yeah, I can't wait. I swear, with each date I'm falling harder and harder for him. I think I might be in love with him"

I bit my lip to stop myself from squealing "Aww Liz. I can't believe this. You've finally found the one. I'm so happy for you" I grinned, hugging Liz. "Have you told him how you feel?"

She sighed "Not yet. I'm waiting for the perfect moment"

I could feel my eyes burn with unshed tears; I was so happy for her I could cry. I was already planning her bachelorette party in my head.

We went back to our booth with a tray of beer in my hand. There was some sort of staring contest going on between Jason and Max by the time we arrived back "What's going on?"

"You don't want to know" Ian whispered back.

I shook my head, thinking it was some guy thing "Drink up, beers are here" I shouted, placing the tray on the table.

That seemed to get their attention, as Max grabbed a bottle and took a swig of beer. Liz and I raised an eyebrow at each other and took our seats at the booth. I looked across to Jason, who sat with his eyebrows furrowed, as he took a drink of his beer. Did I want to know what happened? Looking at Max, who mirrored the same expression, I came to the decision that I didn't want to know.

"So, this is a cool place, huh" Ethan said, doing his best to diffuse the awkward tension between us. The club was loud, thriving, but none of that could slice the tension between our group. At least Ethan was trying.

"Really cool. How did you find out about this place Max?" Liz asked, also sounding clipped.

"I like to be in the know about these things" Max smirked.

Jason just shook his head as he took another swig of his drink. Before I could add my input, the song blaring through the club interrupted my thoughts. I gasped and looked over to Liz who looked at me with the same expression.

"Oh em gee" Liz screeched "I can't believe their playing this song"

"What is this song?" Max asked with furrowed eyebrows, looking completely lost.

Jason groaned, placing his hands in his face "Its Eurovision"

"What's Eurovision?"

"What's Eurovision!" I screeched "What do you mean, what's Eurovision? How dare you ask such a question"

"Eurovision is only the most amazing thing to grace our televisions" Liz explained. Max shook his head, still looking at us as if we had two heads. "Eurovision is a song contest that the majority of Europe-"

"And Australia. Don't forget Australia" I intervened.

"And Australia, participate in and compete each year by singing an original song"

"So, it's just a singing competition?"

"No" I gasped "It's not just a singing competition. It is the greatest singing competition of all time"

"And it's all of Europe that compete? How does that work?"

"And Australia" Liz reminded him.

"Why is Australia in it? They aren't part of Europe?"

"Don't ask"

"Let's go dance, I love this song" Liz exclaimed, taking my hand to go to the dancefloor.

"Why is she clucking like a chicken?" Max asked, and on cue, Liz and I clucked along. Liz and I danced to the song, loving that our favourite Eurovision song was playing in the club. We bumped into each other and other bodies as we bounced up and down to the track, the flashing lights making me feel slightly dizzy. Before I knew it, the song ended, with both Liz and I pouting as we made our way back to the table.

"I don't understand what my ears just heard" Max said, his forehead crinkled.

"Oh, you have so much to learn Max. I'm sure Rosie will tell you all about Eurovision when the time is right" Liz laughed, waggling her eyebrows.

"I don't think I want to know" Max chuckled.

Jason was on his phone, typing away furiously, trying his best to ignore us. I was glad for that. It would make this 'ignoring Jason' thing a whole lot easier. "Uh oh" he said, glaring at his phone wide eyed.

"What is it?" Ethan asked from beside him.

"I just texted the wrong person" his voice laced with worry.

"Who did you text?"

"Aliya"

"As in your ex-girlfriend Aliya?" Jason nodded, still glaring at the phone as if it was some alien. "How did you end up doing that?"

"I don't know. I wasn't concentrating properly and accidently clicked on her name"

"Now what?"

"I don't know, I – oh, she text back" Jason replied, smiling in surprise, his attention now on his phone.

My eyebrows wrinkled as I took a swig of my drink.

"Uugghh, I really didn't like Aliya. I was hoping I'd seen the last of her" Liz grumbled.

Jason didn't respond as he smiled at the phone that was now glued to his hand. Ethan peeked over Jason's shoulder, while Ian gave a small smile at Liz's way, hoping no one would notice; but it caught the attention of Max. Max's eyebrows creased as he looked between Liz and Ian.

Ian managed to snap out of his daydream in time to see Max staring. Before Max could question him about it, Ian interrupted him "So, how long have you two been going out for?"

I chuckled and shook my head, shouting to be heard over the loud music "Oh, we're not together"

"I think that should change" Max smirked. I raised my eyebrow at Max, wondering where he was going with this. "How about it Rosie? Let's make it official. Will you be my girlfriend?"

My eyes widened and I bit my lip. I was about to say what I had told Max before, but I turned to see Liz in the corner of my eye, grinning and nodding her head furiously. Jason had stopped glaring at his phone and was now glaring at me.

I didn't know what to do. Everyone in our group stared as they waited for my answer, my heart beating in time to the music. It felt as if the whole club had stopped to stare at me but in reality, they were too busy enjoying their own night to notice my internal dilemma. Maybe I was thinking too much into this. What was I worried about?

"Hey, isn't that Aliya?" Ethan interrupted my thoughts. We all turned around to see as a gorgeous model walked through the door. Her black knee length dress showed off her gorgeous long tanned legs, her long black hair shining against the strobing lights.

Jason smiled as he saw her, and who wouldn't. Liz rolled her eyes and groaned, nodding to me once again, waiting for my answer. Without thinking anymore on the subject, I shrugged my shoulders "Sure, why not"

"Great" Max smiled, satisfied with my answer.

"I think you should seal the deal with a kiss" Liz clapped excitedly.

"Liz, I-"

Before I could chastise her, Max's warm lips landed on mine, just for a brief second, before I saw his grin. I gave a small smile back, thinking about how I could go for another drink right about now.

Jason coughed, looking anywhere but at me. I wanted to know what he was thinking but couldn't see his face. "I'm going to the bar" he said, not looking at the direction of the bar but looking somewhere else instead. He smiled as he waved at someone. I turned to see Aliya waving back. Why did I want to groan and roll my eyes like Liz did? I could remember vaguely when Jason was dating Aliya but never saw much of her. Liz always said she was stuck up and snobby and hardly spoke to Liz.

Looking at her, I could see why Jason was smiling the way he was. She was absolutely stunning.

"Looks like someone is getting some action tonight" Ethan laughed, as Jason held Aliya's hand and left the club.

There was a pit in my stomach. Was I jealous? Why should I be? We had only kissed twice before, and it wasn't like anything came out of it. It couldn't. Besides, I now had a boyfriend and I was out with my friends. What more could I ask for? What I felt for Jason, I had to bury deep deep down. We had a couple of kisses and that was all they were, just kisses.

I sighed and looked away from where Jason and Aliya had just left. Liz grinned at me, as if giving me her approval of my new boyfriend. I just shook my head, thinking this was not how I thought my night would go.

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Is anyone else a huge Eurovision fan? I love Eurovision and missed it so much this year that I had to dedicate a chapter to it, lol. I actually wrote this chapter out before the Eurovision movie came out on Netflix. If anyone has no clue as to what Eurovision is, I would recommend watching the movie, it kinda explains what Eurovision is about.

I've included the song that Liz and Rosie were talking about below. It's so catchy, I kept listening to this while writing this chapter. There are so many Eurovision songs I could recommend listening to but you would be here all night if I listed them all here, lol.