Chapter 25: 25.

(Picture of Carson Gray)

• • •

His phone is ringing.

"Zac, your phone's ringing." I shout from his bedroom, hoping he can hear me in his ensuite. He's taking a bath and has been in there for twenty minutes or so, probably watching a football game in the TV inside. Right. Rich people really hangs TV in their bathrooms.

"Then get it for me." He faintly shouts back. I look down at his iPhone and notice the caller ID. Bex, again. There's even her selfie saved as contact photo now and it makes me feel sour seeing how gorgeous she is. She's the mature, slim and tall lady while I am the exact opposite of her. Most days I still refer to myself as a 'girl'.

No. I'm absolutely not taking that.

I let it continue to ring, although I did press on the volume button to cease the vibration. She continues calling two more times before leaving a text. I decide that I'm not going to be nosey and look into things that will possibly make me upset. Then again, what can be so urgent for her?

Technically, I haven't actually asked Zac if he has plans for the day. Oh shit. What if he was supposed to meet her but I held him back instead? But then again, if he really had somewhere to go, he wouldn't be taking such a long bath now, would he?

Recently, Zac has also been leaving his phone around me a lot, not that I notice it too often. Never once have I tried to peek into his phone even while he's using it. Knowing from past experiences, when you try to find something, you always ends up finding something. I might as well don't. Besides, we're not even dating. What am I going to do if I were to really find something in his phone? Nothing, other than feeling like shit.

———

One Saturday night, the girls and I are all bored to death. Normally I'll suggest playing video games, but the girls aren't at all into CS:GO as much as I am, nor do they want to stay in anymore seeing as that's what we've been doing for most weekends. Ally rarely gets weekend offs too, so we've decided to use this chance and do things we haven't done together.

"Shopping?" Cass suggests. Both of us quirk a brow at her.

"You're kidding me." Although we've never exactly been to the mall together as trios, but the amount of online shopping we do with our phones on Tuesdays is more than enough to buy all that we need.

"Bungee jumping?" Ally suggests. Both of us shake our heads. I have a slight fear of adventurous things and more importantly, I'm not exactly an outdoor-sy person. Neither is Cass. Which explains why we're the only two who actually takes P.E lessons instead of taking up an actual sport.

"Fine. You suggest something, Owens."

I rack my head to think of ideas. We clearly haven't done a lot of things together, although most of the list we probably wouldn't even attempt to. I mean, who even goes paintballing or laser-tagging anymore? Not that I'm even keen. I considered going to the cinema but there isn't anything nice showing.

"Shall we go clubbing?" I perk up. Sure, we've been to house parties but that's completely different from the real clubbing experience. Having a real dancefloor, real DJs and a real bar will make everything more fun and exciting.

"For real? I mean, I'm okay. I haven't been to a club in ages." Cass seems thrilled, already scrolling through her phone for places to go to.

I glance at Ally, watching her daze off in a random wall in my room. "I don't mind. I haven't been to one before."

Her answer makes both Cass and I sit up straight, wondering what's gotten into her. Usually, it takes a lot more effort for us to persuade her to do something she's uncomfortable with. We definitely know nightlife isn't so much her thing.

"Are you okay?" She nods. I can't really tell what's wrong with her since I don't see her as much as I see Cass. We do have English together but most of the time, we end up actually listening to the lecturer instead of talking.

"Hey," I call out to them two. They both look up at me. "Why don't we ask Paige along too? Girls night? The guys will completely be out of this one." I assure them. Paige is Cass' roommate, in case anyone forgets. I've only met her once when I brought food for Cass and she happened to be the one to get the door.

"I'll try, but no promises." Cass goes on to make the call while Ally and I plans whatever we're going to do for the night.

———

We arrive at Night after picking up Paige from the dorm. Yes, the name of the club is called Night. Don't ask me, Cass was the one who chose it. The two girls had to borrow my clothes since they were all too lazy to go back to change anyway. I've plenty of new and unworn ones too, so I didn't mind as much.

Bear in mind that it's winter now and it's absolutely crazy for us to go out late in the night dressed this way. Cass is wearing a mesh long sleeve top, revealing her black bra underneath, matched with a baby pink high waisted skirt. She, of us all, is always the most daring with her outfits and we applaud her for the courage and confidence she has.

Ally, weirdly didn't come up with any objections when we brought up a suitable outfit for her out of my closet. I own way too much long sleeves, and this is one of the more conversative one anyway. She decided on a plain black bodycon dress that ended right below her bum, considering she's a good two inches taller than I am. We gave her a fishnet knee-high stocking to wear so it doesn't look too boring.

As for me, I go with my usual favourite baby blue cropped sweater. It's in wool and fur material that's so soft to touch, and will definitely keep me comfy in this weather. I match it with a leather high waisted skirt and Dr. Martens boots.

Wayne, being nosey as hell, tried to get information of where we were planning to go but we managed to dodge out of the way and speed off, ignoring him and the rest of the guys. They were also planning to stay in and have their own bro night anyway, so they mustn't be too upset about us having our own fun tonight.

Paige is a beautiful, dark-skinned girl with long jet black curls. She's a little anti-social, which explains why she and Cass don't exactly have a close roommate relationship. It surprised us when she agreed to come tonight, but regardless, we try not to make a big deal about it in case she gets uncomfortable. Cass sort of overheard her quarrelling with her boyfriend over the phone recently, maybe that's why she needed somewhere to relax from all the stress and unhappiness.

I still decide to drive us tonight although we all clearly plan to drink and let loose. In any case if we were to get too drunk, we can easily get a valet or a taxi.

We have to wait in line too, seeing as we aren't royalty nor do we have guestlists to skip the queue. It isn't as bad as we thought although it is slightly cold since we have to stand out in the open. In about thirty minutes, we finally manage to enter the club premises and all of us cheer, heading straight for the bar.

"Four Martinis please," I call out to the bartender. The club is pretty packed. We have to practically weave through crowds of people. Most people are at the dancefloor, some at the bar, some loitering at the walkways for god knows what reason.

To my surprise, Paige pulls out a bill from in between her boobs and passes it to the bartender after he gets us our drink. I smirk at her. Women are women. All of us be hiding things in our bra.

Paige is a lot more spontaneous that I thought. She initiated for us to drink, to dance and to mingle. She isn't afraid to simply squeeze into the dancefloor and grind with strangers although some of them shoots us stink-eyes. Ally slowly opens up too, perhaps with the alcohol courage, and goes on to dance together with us.

The DJ starts to play classic Cascada club music and everyone goes wild, jumping on the ball of their foot and waving their hands up in the air. Nobody seems to care how ridiculous it looks. I join in too, sweating slightly from the the heat inside even though the air-conditioner is obviously turned on.

The four of us begin to spread out and mingle on our own now. We make sure not to leave anyone out though, so we keep a safe distance from each other. Cass obviously already has a guy with her, while Ally and Paige are dancing and mostly having fun on their own. I don't try to encourage them to hook up seeing as one has a boyfriend and the other is a virgin. What kind of a friend will I be if I were to encourage her to give her first time to a one-night-stand?

I down my vodka shot and return back to the dancefloor. I try to steer clear of the middle though, not wanting too much attention as I'm not that good of a dancer. All I do is really shake my ass and move my arms like everybody does. Not long later, I feel a pair of warm encircle my waist from the back. I try not to overthink it, allowing him to hold me as I sway my body to the rhythm of the music.

Who knows, Zac could also be making out with some other girl right now at the house? We're not dating. We're not dating. I keep reminding myself. It's not cheating if we aren't exclusive. Then the name Becca comes to my mind and I think, 'fuck it, just one night.'

The guy behind suddenly leans his head closer to the back of my ear and I feel his warm breath fan my neck. Weird. This guy feels familiar. Being in his arms like that makes me feel like I know this man. The music is a little too loud and he's whispering to me, which I don't understand why. The least he can do is raise his voice. I turn around to see what he wants when my breath hitched in my throat.

"J-," I almost call out the nickname I used to call him. "Javier."

"Kelsey," he looks down at me and smirks. I haven't seen him in more than a year, yet he only manages to look even more handsome. He has grown out his moustache now, which only makes him look even more manly.

I must have been too shocked to see him here that I am rendered speechless. I didn't say a word. I just stare up at him, observing his each and every facial feature that I used to adore so much. He wasn't my first boyfriend, but he was my first love. He was the first guy to make me feel wanted, chased and in love. He taught me way too many things. From pool, to games, to drinking, sex and basically making myself the version that he likes best.

"You're still so hot," he moves a strand of hair off my face and I almost lean into his touch. I didn't know what I was doing. Maybe it's the alcohol. I clearly forgotten this is the same guy who cheated on me. This is the same guy that kicked me when I was pregnant.

"Wh-why are you here?" I breathe, his hands still holding me close to his chest.

"Why are you?" He asks me back. I almost wanted to tell him I live here now but decided not to. He shouldn't know.

I shrug, still not taking my eyes off him. He didn't seem too drunk. His eyes and arms don't leave me as he looks down at me. I feel as if I'm locked in his intense gaze. I don't know what I was trying to achieve by this. I should be leaving, running! What am I even doing?

"I miss you," he confesses. "I miss you so much, Kelsey."

My voice quivers. "You slept with my best friend." I remind him.

"I know." His arms tightened around me. "I'm sorry. I was an idiot. I can't believe I hurt you like that. But she was nothing compared to you."

I close my eyes, willing tears not to form. He had never apologized, yet here he is, one year later, apologizing to me in a club. I'm stupid. He's only saying this because he wants me now. Do you really think he means it? If he really was sorry, he would've tried to apologize long ago. Not now, where he just so happens to find me alone in a goddamn club.

"Kelsey..." he whispers, feeling his breath close to my face. I flick my eyes open, startled that his lips is almost touching mine.

"Javier?" A voice calls out from the side and we both turn to face the source. It's a female that I've never met before, and she looks enraged.

She storms over to us and Javier loosens his hold on me. That's when I finally get it. He's still the same cheating bastard he is. I can't believe for a second I almost fell for it. My hands clench into fists at my sides. When I return my eyes to his, he seems worried and anxious. My eyes begin to get blurry when I lift my hand up to slap him on his cheeks.

He gasps, clearly not expecting it. The slap's so loud and tight that it attracted attention from people nearby. His girlfriend comes over and almost wanted to pull my hair but I dash out of the crowd, heading straight for the exit.

Fuck this shit.

My mind is in a mess. I don't know what I'm doing. I take large strides to my car, hearing him call my name from behind. I quickly grab my keys and jump into my car, starting it up. Javier appears and tries to block me in front, his hands raised up by his sides. He thinks I wouldn't run him over. Well, of course I wouldn't. It's not at all worth it to go to jail for a jerk like him. Instead, I honk. I keep slamming it and making the most obnoxious noise in the world. He keeps trying to mouth something to me but I can't be bothered. I just want him out of the way.

He eventually runs to the passenger side of my car and I take that as my chance to speed off, not caring that he may have just fell from the sudden movement. I didn't care how fast I'm going. I just want to get the hell away from him.

What was I even thinking? He's the reason behind the scars on my wrists! He's banged my head against the wall so much and threw countless punches in my face! He's the reason I picked up smoking in order to curb my self-harming habits! I can't believe I was so naive to even let him get so close to me. One moment of weakness. That's enough to prove how much of a dumb fuck I am.

I don't even know where I'm heading to. When I finally get my mind back on the road, I realize I'm travelling 85miles/hour and I'm on a highway. It's dark outside with only street lamps illuminating the road and I almost zone out again.

Before I know it, I start to lose control of my car. I forgot I drank quite a bit. I completely forgot how to operate my car, and keep fiddling with the gear stick doing god knows what. I think I must've been trying to stop the car. Instead, the car starts to spin in rapid circles and I no longer can do anything. It finally stops when I crash into a tree, hearing lots of cars behind me screech to a stop.

Then, the world goes black.

• • •

A/n: Classic 'the world goes black' ending. Hahaha.