4

I climbed the stairs two at a time, eager to reach my room to tell Nora that her sweetheart was coming, and of course, Jax too. The wide hallway on the second floor was completely silent, except for some footsteps echoing on the parquet floor as a girl emerged from the bathroom. She looked at me, and I almost challenged her to say something to me, I wouldn't hesitate to scare her a little if she annoyed me.

"I don't expect you to love me, Andra, but I really like your sister," she said, using the same tone of voice Samay used when she got nervous.

I shrugged and walked past her to the last door in the wide hallway. Right in front of the guest room was mine; it was the only door different from any other in the house. I had made sure to make myself noticed in that house, claiming my room as uniquely mine. I didn't even let the housekeepers enter to clean it. It was my corner of solitude and the place where I could drown peacefully in my own thoughts. That or the attic where I had set up with instruments and soundproofing. They were my places. No one else's.

Nora was already inside the small room where she kept her clothes and shoes, wearing one of my black bikinis and looking for something to wear over it.

"Do you think if I wear a beach dress, I'll stand out too much at the drive-in?" she asked me.

I examined my beach dresses, all hanging on hangers in a closet filled only with dresses. I didn't think so; I knew it would stand out too much.

"If I were you, I'd wear a black dress to cover the bikini, and make it damn sexy for Trent, babe," I said, turning and grabbing a white swimsuit with a backless neckline and a simple pair of shorts. "Don't thank me for getting them to come."

I saw through a mirror how she looked at me with her mouth slightly open. It seemed strange to me that she didn't scream, but her enthusiasm for going downstairs was evident. Although mine too. It was my night to discover something more about Jax Jones.

Nora and I had known each other since we were three years old, so I didn't mind undressing in front of her and putting on the swimsuit and shorts next to her. Was there anything more intimate than our friendship? Because I didn't think so. After having seen each other's butts, our friendship was forever.

"If t any point during the night you don't see me, it's because I'll be with Trent getting my orgasm. Damn, girl, can you imagine what it's like for a guy like him to want you?" she said, slipping into platform sandals, while I settled for Vans. I listened to her ramble as I tied my laces, and it amused me.

"What if instead of making you give him a blowjob while you're in bed, he tells you he loves you?" she continued.

"It seems like the dye is affecting you. It's Trent, not Mike from philosophy class," I replied.

She wrinkled her nose, getting up from the fabric bench she had in the dressing room, and when we left it and she flopped onto the bed sighing, she kept talking.

"Mike is a geek and a hopeless romantic obsessed with losing his virginity; Trent is..."

"You don't know what Trent is like because you don't know him, Nora," I interrupted, grabbing a small bag hanging behind the door, mentally kicking myself for leaving the pack of cigarettes in the pocket of the other pants on the floor. "First wait until you know him, and if you see that you do, that you like him and all... I'll support you and be there for you no matter what," I continued, shrugging and going back into the dressing room to grab the pants I had taken off. When I found my tobacco, I returned to the room. Nora was already waiting for me with a small backpack on her back and retouching her almost purple lipstick. "But don't insinuate too much, you'll seem more of a slut than you already are."

She let her pink hair down, shaking it out over her shoulders, and glanced at me, and as we were ready with our wallets and everything, we began to leave my room. As I locked the door, she continued, "I haven't told you, but I love you." We left my room, and as I locked the door, she continued, "I haven't told you, but I love you." With that said and done, we began to leave my room. While I stored the key in my bag, she added, "Now you call Bryce, it's my turn to talk to those two bad boys."

I rolled my eyes, tucking the key into my bag, but I didn't object. It was either argue with Jax or talk to my best friend; the choice was clear.

"Don't harass him too much, he'll get scared," I joked, pulling out my phone and searching for my best friend's face among the photos in my contacts.

As strange as it seemed, Bryce wasn't a rich kid, but neither Nora nor I liked people with money, and many thought we hung out with our friends out of "charitable" motives. No way was it like that. We didn't choose to be born into those rich families, and despite all the luxuries our parents gave us, I never accepted my parents' bullshit. They wanted a perfect daughter? Well, they already had Samay. I wanted to live and be free, earn my own money, and work at something normal: waitress, babysitter, or even a dancer in a roadside bar would do for me. I didn't expect to run my parents' hotel commune or inherit their legacy; I hoped more to escape from home and live without luxuries.

"You guys coming to my place, huh, ugly?" was what I heard Bryce say as he descended the stairs behind Nora.

"When aren't we going to keep you company, idiot? But first, we hope to see you at the drive-in," Nora replied.

Samay wasn't on the couch anymore, but I did see her sitting on the pool table with her legs crossed while her "friend" talked to her animatedly. Both had books in their hands, and between Bryce's voice in one ear and Nora's introduction to Trent in particular, I could hardly hear what they were saying.

"Alright, let's go!" Nora ignored me after winking at me, focusing more on Trent.

"I'm already at Paramount, Andra, hurry up because I've already got you guys spots for the car. We're all here!" exclaimed Bryce, with the shouts of the rest of our friends in the background.

"We're coming," I said, noticing how withdrawn Jax was, and how he let me leave the house before him. "I'll hang up now, see you in half an hour, idiot, and do me a favor and buy your best friend a cold Coca-Cola."

When I put my phone away in my bag, I tossed my hair over my back. I already had enough feeling like a chicken on the grill.

"You're definitely immersed in my world by drinking Coca-Cola," he said, seeming very close, and my mouth didn't hesitate to show it.

"If you get any closer, I'll kiss you, although you wouldn't have anything to complain about," I surprised even myself by saying, but I did, and smiled at him afterward as we walked through the front garden of the chalet. Nora knew what usually came out of my mouth, so if she heard me, she didn't care.

"I'm going with Trent," Nora announced.

"Dude, take her, Paramount isn't that far," Trent encouraged Jax.

I looked directly at the tattooed guy beside me and smiled, crossing my arms and letting my friend and Trent go. Jax's dark eyes locked onto me, knowing that either he took me or... he took me.

"If you do that, your tits will go up," he said, passing by me and getting on the beautiful motorcycle parked in front of the curb. "Are you coming or should I leave you, blondie?"

Before I knew it, my legs were pressing against his sides, and my arms wrapped around his waist as I enjoyed touching his muscles under the thin T-shirt he was wearing.

---

There was a rumor that said Jax was a cold and quiet guy, pfff, I didn't deny it. Since we arrived and settled in with the rest of the group, he hadn't even spoken. I saw him through the rearview mirror of Bryce's van; he was sitting on his bike, smoking and staring at the screen while he must have been listening to the movie through the speakers. No doubt Trent and he were almost polar opposites; at least his friend was laughing along with Nora in the back of the van.

We had positioned ourselves in the last rows so those sitting in the back of the van could stand up and get a better view of the movie, but I felt partly guilty for seeing Jax self-isolate. Well, my friends also had a part to play for freaking out as soon as they saw him.

"I'll be right back."

I got out of the van, and I don't think anyone noticed because they were so focused on the movie. My steps echoed on the gravel, hurried and relentless until I was a few steps away from Jax. Some people recognized him as soon as they entered the venue, and some girls from school seemed to want to jump on him.

"Brat, go away with your boyfriend and stop touching my dick," he grunted, taking another drag of his cigarette. "Are you deaf or something?"

I shook my head. He could be as bad as he wanted, but he shouldn't mess with me. I wasn't one of his sluts he could treat like trash just because I let him fuck me.

"Shut up, will you?" I leaned on the wooden fence separating the Diner's from the vehicle area. "Don't think you're so important. It's hot in the car, and you're not the only one who can enjoy being outside."

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, exhaling smoke again, and then turned back to the screen, completely ignoring me. I liked the silence in those moments, only the sound of the movie and some laughter.

"Andra!"

My heart skipped a beat, and I jumped away from the fence, colliding with Jax's hard and tense body. I trembled, and despite the heat, it was as if a cold blast swept over me completely. I looked at his tattooed hands around my waist, and I pressed my lips together, enjoying the contrast of his fingers against my white swimsuit.

I noticed the guy on the other side of the fence, vaguely remembering his red hair and freckles on his cheeks.

"Isaac?" I prayed that was his name, otherwise, what a shame.

"Yeah, do you remember me?"

I shook my head directly, and the weight of my shoulders disappeared when I stopped feeling Jax's body close to mine. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him return to his bike, and I knew there wasn't much else to do there.

"I'm sorry," I said to the guy. "I have to go."