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5
Noah was not joking about throwing Aiden a huge party at his house. Even though people are mostly intimidated by Aiden, there are a lot of people here.
Noah somehow convinced his parents to go on a romantic three-day stay at some fancy hotel a few hours away, so he transformed his house into the ultimate place to be on a Friday night. Earlier today, Annalisa, Charlotte, and I threw streamers and balloons all over the place to make it more festive, and the guys were in charge of setting up the keg. Chase got one of the guys from school to bring his equipment and DJ the party for us, and now the music is so loud the walls are practically vibrating. Everyone here is someone that we (or at least the Boys) know; we’re all talking, hanging out, drinking, and dancing, and there has been a total of zero party crashers. So much more fun than the last party we all attended.
Aiden’s not really a drinker but he’s having fun hanging out and talking to people. The moment he catches me staring from the other side of the room, he shoots me an arrogant wink. I roll my eyes even though the sight of him having fun sparks the butterflies. Look at us at a house party, making eyes at each other from across the room like regular teenagers.
Turning my attention back to Charlotte, I throw my hands up in front of my face. “Oh my God! Char!”
“Sorry. Forgot you’re all camera shy.” She puts down her phone and stops recording. “There’s just this new app, S-Live Time, that lets you live stream videos to your followers and save all the videos to your feed! I’m so obsessed with it.”
“Maybe just don’t get me in any videos, okay?”
“Fine.” She exaggerates her sigh. “But you know you’re, like, the weirdest teenage girl ever, right? You’re going to need to get on social media sooner or later.”
“Maybe later,” I reply absentmindedly as my eyes wander over to Aiden, who’s talking animatedly to some guys I don’t recognize.
“Things are really good between the two of you, huh?” Charlotte states more than asks, almost wistfully.
“I can honestly say I haven’t been this happy in a long time.” I hope it lasts when I move.
“I’m so happy for you. You guys are perfect for each other,” she says.
“Thanks. What about you? What’s going on with the whole Noah and Chase situation?” Also known as the time Chase walked in on the two of them in bed together at the beach house and got into a fistfight with Noah, revealing to everyone who already didn’t know that he’s in love with Charlotte.
She swirls the cup in her hand to mix up the drink. “Nothing, really. Noah doesn’t like me like that. It was just a heat of the moment thing. And it’s not like we slept together . . . I mean, we would have, but either way it’s not a big deal. I like having him as my friend.”
Noah is talking to Mason and a couple of pretty girls I recognize from history class. I know what she means. I like having him as my friend, too, as well as Mason.
I miss Mason. It’s so weird now. Our friendship used to be fun and free and playful, but now it feels strained. I want nothing more than for us to go back to normal, but every time I look at him I’m reminded of his father’s affair with my mother, and I don’t even know what he’s thinking every time he looks at me.
I want to tell him about his dad but don’t want to be the person who destroys his family, who ruins his image of his father. If I tell Mason, it might ruin my relationship with him forever. But not telling him might do an equal amount of damage. Either way, I lose. Brian needs to do the right thing and tell him, and hopefully Mason won’t hate me too much for knowing and not saying anything. Aiden is strongly on team Mason needs to know. We got into a heated debate about it the day after Mom and Brian walked in on us. If I were Mason, I’d want to know too. But how can I tell him that my mom is the other woman? I don’t care what anyone says, people always shoot the messenger, and I’d like to stay bullet-free for now. If it comes to it, I’ll tell him, but I just need some time to fix our relationship first.
“What about Chase?” I ask Charlotte, bringing my own red Solo cup to my lips for a drink. The cranberry juice with a light splash of vodka is refreshing.
“I don’t know how I should feel about Chase. He’s my best friend and I love him, but it’s not the kind of love he wants me to feel.”
“Hey, no one can tell you how to feel,” I say.
And it’s true. Coming into this I wasn’t supposed to make friends, never mind fall in love. And despite everything, I fell in love with Aiden.
Hard.
No one can tell Charlotte that she should fall in love with her friend, just like no one can tell me not to fall in love with Aiden.
“I just . . . I don’t get it.” Charlotte finishes the rest of her drink. “He told me he loves me, but all through high school he’s been out with other girls, sleeping around. Not that I’m judging him or the girls, but if he was in love with me the whole time, why didn’t he just tell me? If he really cared about me like that wouldn’t his actions reflect that? Wouldn’t he tell the person he was closest to instead of sleeping around? How could he possibly love me if he’s always with other girls?”
I know why Chase didn’t tell her but that doesn’t mean I agree with his reasoning. “What if he was scared you didn’t feel the same way and that would ruin your friendship?”
“That’s stupid. I’m not a mind reader. What if I did like him back?”
“Do you?”
She studies her empty drink. “I need a refill. Kitchen?”
I follow her through the hallway to grab another drink. We pass a couple of rooms on the way, and in one of them is Chase, making out with Aliyah from our chemistry class.
Charlotte looks at me and raises an eyebrow, as if to say See?
The kitchen isn’t as packed as the rest of the house, which is odd, because this is where to find the booze. Charlotte and I put our cups on the counter and fill them with our preferred liquors and juices, making small talk with the people already in the kitchen.
As we’re about to leave, two girls come into the room, and they catch my attention because they’re talking about Annalisa. I stop Charlotte and we stand in the corner of the kitchen, casually eavesdropping.
“Did you see how hot Julian looks tonight?”
“He always looks hot, Becki. I’m going to go talk to him later; work my magic.” She winks at her friend and they both giggle.
“Oh wait.” The excitement drains off Becki’s face. “He’s still with that girl. Anna.”
“Ugh.” The friend sighs. “I’ll probably still talk to him anyway. Maybe change his mind.”
“No, Sara. He’s dating the Anna. You know? The one everyone’s talking about,” Becki emphasizes.
