Aileen
“Sure, thank you. I’m off,” I said, getting up from the chair. I spotted my other classmates and headed towards them with my head held high.
Using my newfound courage, I initiated a conversation with a group of girls and boys, and surprisingly, they began talking with me.
Yes, I could tell they refrained themselves a bit, but that was expected. After chatting with them, I went to talk with some more classmates.
They were eating at the food counter. I had a small snack with them before leaving.
After thanking them, I chatted with some more people and they told me to drink with them. I told them I don’t drink alcohol so they only gave me a soda to drink.
It was fun having a competition with them. And before I realized so much time had passed.
“Aileen, you are so fun to be around you know?” Sofia comments, giggling beside me.
“Really? I don’t know. I’m a bit boring if you ask me,” I laughed, holding the glass in hand. “Luke is the most funny of us all if you ask me.”
“You think so? That’s an honor,” Luke smirked.
“See, he never misses an opportunity to compliment himself,” Hannah remarks.
“True.”
Everyone laughed at Luke.
“What’s so funny happening here? Can I join you for a drink?” a voice draws our attention.
Skylar walked over to our side with his boys.
“Skylar! Yeah, man, come!” the boys were excited to see him.
“What do you want to drink?”
“Hm…. a martini on ice,” he ordered at the counter, looking at me. “What are you having, Aileen?”
“Me? I’m having a lemon soda.”
“Lemon soda? That’s cute,” he chuckled, and the girls went swooning over him.
Is my drink supposed to be funny?
“Skylar, come on. Give us a chance to be looked at by you also,” Hannah complained, walking over to his side. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
“I am looking at you. What else do you want?” he replied, picking up his drink from the counter.
“No, look at me properly. Like how you are looking at Aileen,” she whispered in his ears.
Huh? What does she mean by the way he’s looking at me? He only thinks of me as a friend.
“Stop playing with me,” he grunted, removing her hands away. “Are you guys up for a dance?”
“Dance? Yeah absolutely! If it’s with you,” Sofia moved to his side, holding him by the hand.
“Hey, this isn’t fair. I wanna dance with him as well,” Hannah insisted.
“Alright, one by one ladies,” Skylar replied, “Change the music to something jammy!”
The lights dimmed and a different music started playing. Everyone joined in and started dancing together.
I was feeling like an outcast so I also tried to dance a little even though I was horrible at it.
I’m not embarrassing myself, am I?
Skylar was the source of all attention. All the eyes were on him, but the girls were surely trying to get into his pants.
In the middle of the dance, Skylar came over to my side.
“Hey! Enjoying yourself?” he asked.
I nodded, “Yeah, a lot. I’m not bored anymore.”
“Good to hear that, do you want to dance with me?” he asked, holding out his hand.
“Dance with you?”
“Why? You don’t want to?”
“Uh, no. That’s not it, it’s…. alright then,” I took his hand.
He wrapped his arm around my back and held my hand tightly, showing me the steps while I followed him.
“Uh, forgive me if I stepped on your feet,” I laughed.
“It’s okay, I’ll bear with it,” he smiled, looking at me.
He was so good at dancing that I felt I’d been dancing for ages. My body felt light and it was just moving in rhythm with him.
At the last step, I tripped on my heels but he managed to catch me on time.
“You okay?” he looked quite concerned.
“Uh, I’m fine. Thanks for helping.”
At that moment, he was so close, I could feel his breath on my skin. We both stared into each other’s eyes silently for a few minutes.
The sound of people cheering us on brought us back to reality. I looked around and everyone was just focusing on us only.
Skylar pulled away from me the very second and we stood far away from each other feeling a bit self-conscious.
“Uh, sorry,” he apologized, scratching the back of his head.
“It’s okay. No need to apologize. It’s not your fault,” I replied.
“You two look good together!” one of the boys yells at us.
“Yeah, they look cute.” Another one agreed.
I knew this was coming considering their reaction. Oh well, I need to apologize to Skylar about this later.
“Hey, shut up. She’s here!” I heard one girl whisper audibly.
“Who’s here?”
“Seems you are having fun without me, aren’t you?” another familiar voice draws my attention.
Everyone looks up to see Rosalia heading towards dressed in a black frilly skirt red top and high boots.
With her hair down, she looked really cool.
“You are late to the party,” Skylar comments, fixing his clothes. “Don’t tell me you got stuck in the traffic?”
“Yeah, I got stuck a bit,” she replied, “Sorry for being late. I hope the party isn’t over yet. Is it?”
“Nah, nah, the party only starts when you come,” Hannah yelled, scooting closer to her. “Right, Skylar?”
He nodded, “Yeah.”
“I saw you two dancing. Can I join?” Rosalia asked, turning to me with a smile.
“Uh, sure,” I shook my head lightly. “Go ahead.”
“Thank you,” she walked past me and took Skylar’s hand. Music started playing once again and they began to dance.
Others minded their business and danced as well like crazy. But, my eyes focused on them cause I swear I saw a hickey on her neck when she walked past me.
But, what do I care? Not like she’s telling me anything about it.
I should mind my business.
I went to sit at the food counter cause I was starting to feel a bit hungry. I picked up a plate and took some food and sat down to eat.
I looked around and my eyes again caught hold of Skylar and Rosalia. They were standing in a corner.
But, it became suspicious the next second, he reached out his hand to pull down the collar of her top to reveal her hickey.
He finally managed to see it? What’s she’s gonna do now?
She didn’t show any reaction but he looked a bit pissed off.
He said something to her and walked away with his phone in hand. She stood there on her own, looking a bit sad.
I don’t know what they might be going through, but I hope they manage to solve it soon. It’s hard to see my friends suffering.
Suddenly, two boys came to sit beside me. I looked up to see the boy who harassed me the other day outside the changing room.
I didn’t know the other boy, but he was part of Skylar’s team. I saw him playing.
I tried to be as normal as possible but that rude boy comments, “Hey, eating alone? Don’t you have any friends?”
“That’s none of your business. So back off,” I retorted, eating my food.
“If you’d like I can be your friend,” he added with a smirk, gazing at me.
“No thank you,” I replied, forcing a smile. “I haven’t forgotten the behavior from the other day yet. If you don’t want me to call Skylar, don’t try to act too friendly. Alright?”
“You were right. She’s sure spicy,” the other guy comments, laughing.
“I know right? That’s why I just can’t forget about her,” the rude boy agreed.
“But, I’d like to forget about you and your existence. So, please don’t try to interact with me,” I stated, facing my back at them.
They can’t even let me eat in peace. What have I done to them?
“Hey, don’t turn your back on us. We only want to talk to you,” said the other guy.
“Really? Doesn’t seem that way though. Your friend is dangerous. Please, don’t tell me to talk to you.”
They both didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Then the other boy asked, “Fine, you don’t want to talk alright? But, do you have a boyfriend or something? I wanted to know.”
“Why? Do you want to date him or something?” I asked, looking back at them.
“So, you do have a boyfriend?” the rude one questioned.
“Uh….” If I say yes, they might ask me who it is. I can’t disclose this info yet.
“No……I mean, I do like someone. But, no boyfriend yet. If that’s all, I’m leaving, thank you,” I said before walking away from them with my plate in hand.
I joined my classmates for the second drinking session. Skylar was drinking with us.
His teammates also came to sit with us. Hannah sat on my left while the other boys were on my right, it created an awkward situation for me.
I couldn’t even get up and leave cause it might look weird. I was forced to sit with my drink in hand.
And I swear the redhead across me was surely checking me out. What does he even want from me? I need to be careful around them.
“Skylar, what are your plans for now?” a girl asked, sipping on her drink.
“Hm, me? I’m planning to focus on my career and have fun for now. Who cares about what happens in the future, right?” he joked.
Rosalia was sitting right at the far end of the room from where we sat and she was eyeing Skylar at the moment.
“That’s quite a positive outlook, considering it’s coming from him,” joked his other friend. “He’s the guy with the least concerns on his hands.”
“Well, he’s rich after all. Why does he need to worry?” Hannah replied, “Right, Skylar? By the way, where are your parents?”
The question made him look a bit down out of nowhere. “Uh…. they are out of the country, will be back next month, who knows?”
Does he have a bad relationship with his parents?