Chapter 35

Chloe came over about twenty minutes after I texted her and brought her things with her. She was kind enough not to mention anything about the rude comment Mom made to me before she left for her night out with whoever she was going out with. My head was still spinning from the mean comment. I sat there staring at myself in my vanity mirror, stunned that a mother could be so cruel to their child by saying something so heartless without batting an eye. I blinked, trying to get the insult out of my head, and returned my focus to what Chloe was doing to my hair. I knew she wouldn't make me look hideous or anything like that, so I didn't know why I needed to pay attention to what she was doing.

"Have you heard from Rhys?" She asked, peeking at me over the top of my head.

"Hmm?" My eyes drifted up from my phone. "No. Was he supposed to?"

She shook her head, looking down as she wrapped my hair around the curling iron. "Do you have any idea what you want to wear tonight?" She glanced at my closet as the perfect ringlet fell to my shoulders. "You should wear something cute." Cute? I didn't know whether to take that as an insult to my fashion choices or not. She wrapped another section around the curling iron. While she finished my hair, we discussed what I should wear to the party tonight. She thought I should wear a cute dress with wedge sandals; I tried to tell her I'd feel more comfortable in a pair of cute ripped jeans and a top. She sighed, setting down the curling iron. "Gem, you can't show up to a party looking like you do at school." She walked over to my closet and opened both doors. "Now..." She started shuffling through my clothes and grabbed a few dresses. "Gem, don't give me that look." She placed the dresses on the bed. I sat there sulking like a little kid because they were forced to do something they didn't want.  My arms were crossed, my brows furrowed, and my bottom lip jetted out a little bit. I didn't want to wear a dress to the party, but I knew arguing with Chloe would get me nowhere.

*****

I walked out the front door, tugging on my dress, hoping it would make it longer. I took one step toward the edge of the porch when Ashton walked out his front door, hollering bye to his mom. I hurried down the steps, almost face-planting in the grass.

"Hey, Gem, Chloe." Ashton unlocked his car.

"Hey." We waved back. I tried to avoid eye contact and get in the car before he saw me, but he walked around his car and headed our way. "Wow...Nice." Ashton beamed, motioning to my dress.

"I told you," Chloe whispered, walking past me to the driver's side.

"Thanks." I tugged on my dress again, feeling a little overexposed. "Leaving to pick up your lovely girlfriend?" I raised an eyebrow, tilting my head.

He pressed his lips. "No. She's going to the party with her friends. I'm to meet her there." He glanced down at his watch. "In fact, I need to get going before I'm late."

"Yeah...You don't want to keep the queen waiting." I smiled.

"Funny." He nodded, not impressed by my remark. "You look great, by the way. You dress like this more often; you'll have a date for the dance." He winked, motioning his hand across his chest. I glanced down at my dress and noticed just how low the neckline was. I grabbed it and tried tugging it up. "That's not going to work, but nice try." Ashton laughed. "I've got to get going. See you at the party." He turned and walked to his car.

I stood there in one last final attempt at tugging the neckline. I leaned back, staring at the pinkish-orange sky, wondering why I let her talk me into wearing this dress.

Tap Tap

I peeked down at the passenger window; Chloe was leaning over, motioning me to get in the car. I sighed and opened the door. "What did Ashton have to say?" She backed out of the driveway. I glanced down at the plunging neckline of my dress. Her eyes followed my gaze. "See...I told you." She beamed. I turned and looked out the window as we zipped through Santa Monica traffic on a Friday evening.

We arrived at Levi's house about thirty minutes later. I was surprised it took us so long to get here because he lived down the road from the bitch herself, Claudia. Ashton's car was already parked in the circle ahead of the other vehicles. Which told me Claudia must have had a place saved for him, seeing Ashton and Levi are friends. As Chloe started to inch into the driveway, our bodies lunged forward. She flipped her middle finger, cussing the jerk that cut us off to take the last parking spot close to the house. She drove by and flipped the jerk off again. I grabbed her arm and forced it down. I told her I didn't feel like having our asses kicked by his bitchy-ass girlfriend, who was glaring over at us from the passenger seat. I asked her who the dickhead was that almost ran us over for a stupid-ass parking spot. She pulled out of the driveway and told me it was one of Levi's and Braedon's douchey friends. She said his name was Beau, and he's a major douche. She wrinkled up her nose when she told me she tried to avoid him as much as possible. She parked two houses down from Levi's and apologized that we had to walk. I grabbed my phone and hid my wristlet under my seat.

"Do you see Braedon anywhere?" Chloe asked as we walked up the long sidewalk to Levi's front door, passing kids in and out of the party.

My brows furrowed at the question. "Didn't you two figure out where to find one another?"

Chloe peeked at me. "Don't look at me that way." She snapped, tugging on my arm.

I had no experience in dating, but that would've been one of the first things I'd ask my boyfriend if we didn't go to a party together. She let go of my arm the minute we walked through the front door. She started perusing the entryway, peeking into rooms as we made our way toward the kitchen to get a drink. With each doorway we passed, the crease between her eyes got more profound, and I hoped for Braedon's sake that we would find him soon. I couldn't tell if she was cussing him with each failed attempt at locating him over the loud music. Then again, maybe it was good that I or anyone else could hear her over the thumping music. We reached the kitchen, and I wanted to turn around and run out of the house, even though I wouldn't be able to find my way out. Rhys was leaning against the counter with one hand supporting him while the other held a red party cup.

"Let's go." I pulled Chloe closer to me so I wouldn't have to scream it. She turned her head, motioning her eyes at Rhys, smiling and nodding. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the kitchen. I stayed a few steps behind Chloe, trying to keep myself hidden as much as possible. I didn't want to be here, and I definitely didn't want to be seen in this dress either. His eyes were going to zoom in on my boobs that were about to bust through this dress with one wrong move. I stepped directly behind Chloe, grabbed the neckline, and tried to hoist it up. All I ended up doing was making my boobs bounce, which wasn't what I was going for either.

"Why are you trying to cover up the girls?"

"Ashton...What the fuck do you want?" I dropped my hands.

"Wondering what the hell you were doing." He chuckled, raising his hands like he was innocent. The words innocent and Ashton Hughes didn't go together in the same sentence. He was nowhere close to being innocent. He was the man-whore that lived next door to me. "The dance is coming up, and you still haven't found a date. It's time to take drastic measures. Your dress is a good start." He gave a thumbs up.

"I didn't pick out the dress." My eyes narrowed at his sexist comment.

"Let me guess...Chloe." He eased past me. "At least you've got friends that know what kind of clothes to wear to a party. I'm sure you wanted to wear jeans and a top that guys always see you in at school?" He raised an eyebrow, tilting his head down, smirking. The kind of smirk that screamed he was right even though I wouldn't admit it.

"No." I looked over at Rhys, who was still talking to some girls.

"Really. Then, why can't you look me in the eye?"

"I can." I glanced at him briefly, then went back to eye-stalking Rhys.

"Keep telling yourself that. What..." His voice paused for a brief second. "I see what's got you preoccupied. Go over and talk to him." Ashton nudged me with his elbow unless you're too scared."

I stepped away from Ashton and ran my hands down my dress. "Fine. I will." I marched toward Rhys, praying someone would call my name before I reached him. "Hi!" My voice bellowed in the brief silence as the music stopped. I just wanted to jump in his red party cup and disappear. The two girls standing beside me with their disapproving glares giggled. I glanced over my shoulder at Ashton, who was shaking his head in disbelief, laughing. He motioned his hand for me to turn around. I frowned at Ashton, then quickly turned to face Rhys. "Sorry about screaming in your face." I tucked hair behind my ear.

"It's okay." Rhys laughed, setting his cup down on the counter. The music started back up, making it hard to talk. Rhys moved away from the counter, took my hand, and led me past the two girls who suddenly became invisible to him. They wrinkled up their noses, glaring as I walked in between them. I waved, smiling as I moved closer to Rhys, enjoying the disgust on their faces.

"This is better." He opened the sliding glass door, stepping aside to let me walk through. "It was too loud in there." He closed the door behind me. "I'm glad you made it. I was getting bored in there." He motioned his head to the door.

"Really...Because you didn't look bored a few minutes ago talking to those two girls." I watched his smile fade, and his eyes drifted toward the white fence blocking the rest of the world. "What are you saying?" He asked, looking around at the groups of kids, drinking and dancing; some were kissing on the patio furniture. His gaze finally returned to mine; his expression wasn't as warm and inviting.

"You don't expect me to believe you were bored a few minutes ago. Give me a little credit." I placed my hand on his chest through the thin shirt material; I could've sworn I felt electric tingles pulsing through my fingertips up my arm. I turned to walk away, but Rhys grabbed my hand. "What?" I turned to face him; the warmth returned to his eyes.

"Don't go." He pulled me close.

"Why not?" My body was brushing up against his now.

"Because..." Before he could finish the sentence, his lips were on mine, his tongue teasing. I ran my fingers through his hair, forgetting we were standing in the middle of the yard where everyone could see. "I've been wanting to do that for days." He whispered in my ear, brushing his lips against my skin. "Let's go get you a drink." He laced our fingers and started walking back to the kitchen. I walked through the door to find Ashton by the counter, downing a red cup of alcohol. He lowered the cup and tossed it onto the mountain of other cups in the trash. Ashton glanced at me with such hurt that I'd never seen before, then raced past me out of the room. I watched him push through the crowded hall, wondering why he was so upset.