Dylan and I walked into the hospital mom was brought into, the nauseating smell of disinfectant that I had always hated filled the lobby. Dylan told me to wait while he went to speak with the receptionist, after filling out a form, he came back to meet me."She's in room 107." He told me."Let's go." I said with a shaky breath.We went up the flight of stairs and then we got to another hallway, we began to search for the room with that number."Ugh! Why is the room so hard to find?" I groaned as I stared at room 115."I think it's that one." Dylan said as he pointed at a room at the far end of the hall.Just as we neared the room, I saw my dad coming out of there. He looked tired and he had dark circles around his eyes. He looked up and as soon as he saw me, his face lit up with a wide smile. I ran towards him and threw my shaky hands around him."Dad... How is she?" I asked as tears started to well up in my eyes again."She'll be fine, she'll be fine, Shea." Dad assured me, as he kis
"So, how is it going with you and Lucy?" I asked Dylan as I stuffed my mouth with the pizza we bought at the hospital cafeteria.A smile appeared on Dylan's face as he rested his arms on the table that was between us."Well, I asked her out on a date this coming Saturday and she agreed. I hope it goes well.""Hmm, I hope it goes well too. I'm so glad you've finally moved on from Rebecca." I told him with a smile. Rebecca was his ex-girlfriend and she broke up with him after highschool because she couldn't deal with long distance relationships. We all knew that was a lie, she was just hungry for college boys and she probably thought that Dylan's level was too low for her."What about you?" He asked with a smirk.I knew what he was asking but I decided to play dumb, "what about me?" I asked and I took a sip from my pineapple juice."You know what I am talking about. Your guy, Ryker." He said as he rested his back on the chair and folded his arms across his chest."He is not my guy-""Ye
I walked into the designated class the next morning and sat in the middle row. The lecture had not started yet, so only a few people were in class. I plugged in my earphones and listened to some music, bobbing my head to the beat.People filtered into the lecture hall as it was almost time for the lecturer to arrive. Then I froze because wearing blue jeans and a solid black crew neck, Ryker walked confidently into the class.Shit! He was taking this class?"Oh my God! No fucking way." I muttered to myself in disbelief.Before I could look away, Ryker's gaze locked with mine from the bottom of the auditorium. A surge of emotions coursed through me as he started to make his way towards me. My heart thundered in my chest as I quickly averted my gaze and started to lipsync to the song that was currently playing to distract myself, but then it ended and the next one refused to play. I nervously grabbed my phone and tried to unlock it as Ryker neared me but I realized that it was dead.Fuck
Dylan came to meet me at the library and he took me to the ice cream shop near my hostel. A friendly chime welcomed us as we made our way inside. A few people from school dotted the area. A girl greeted us and we moved closer to her to place our order."One scoop of chocolate and one scoop of peanut butter ice cream for her and one scoop of blueberry cheesecake and another of berry blast ice cream for me." Dylan ordered for the both of us as he placed his hand over my shoulder.The girl grabbed a bowl and scoop, she plopped a big scoop of blueberry cheesecake ice cream into the bowl before scooping the berry blast."Thank you," I muttered to Dylan."Anything for you, cry baby." He said with a smile.I gave him a playful glare as the girl placed our order in front of us. We took them, paid and walked back to the car."So, tell me what happened?" Dylan asked as he dug into his ice cream."I met Ryker." I told him as I ate a spoonful of ice cream."And?""I told him to leave me alone be
Ryker's POVFuck!I blew it. I blew it all up. I felt like shit when she asked if she was one of those girls I fuck around with. She was a lot more than that. And she was right, she needed to stay away from me, because I always hurt everyone around me, I don't want her to be part of that. She deserved a better person. She deserved more, there was no way I could show her that I was capable of loving someone, because this was just a fucking bet. Damnit! It is too late to back down from the bet now. Brandon would proudly brand me as a loser and I wasn't a loser. Fuck! I wish I hadn't agreed to that bet, maybe things might have been a little different between us. I opened the door of my apartment to see Felix playing with Bruno. He had informed me that he would be coming over today."Hey, man." I greeted him as Bruno circled around me , wagging his tail happily, I smiled at him a little and pat his head before he went back to Felix."Hey..." Felix said as he observed me. This guy was
The sun filtered into the room and across my face as I slowly peeled my eyes open. I raised my hand and blocked the rat of the sun that was affecting my eyes.As I sat on the bed, I saw Sam, she stood beside my bed and stared at me worriedly."Good morning, Sam. Why are you looking at me like that? Have I grown two heads?" I asked her as I touched my head."Are you okay, roomie? You slept for so long that I started to get worried. It's unusual for you to wake up late, I thought you might be sick." Sam explained as she quickly sat on my bed and placed her hand on my forehead to feel my temperature."I'm fine, Sam. I don't have any classes today, that's why I decided to wake up late."I told her."Oh! That's a relief. Well, good news, I don't have any classes today either." Sam said as she grinned at me."You barely go to class, Sam. So, I am not surprised if you don't have any classes today." I said as I stood from the bed and made my way to the bathroom, flanked by Sam who obviously do
The cab stopped in front of a spa, Sam and I paid for the ride and got out of the vehicle. I looked around and noticed that this place was a spa for Elites. I was damn sure their charge would be pretty expensive."Sam? Have you ever come here before?" I asked her."Yeah, so many times and I promise you, you're gonna love their services, they are literally the best." Sam said with a wide smile."Okay, but umm- I think their charges will be too expensive, why don't we go to a much cheaper one?" I told her, unsure if I really wanted to go into this spa and waste my money on what would barely last for two hours. This was not how I planned to spend my one hundred and fifty dollars. I would be left with just my savings if I spent the money Seth gave me. And I don't want to spend my savings, yet."You don't have to worry about the money, roomie. My sister's dad owns the spa and I get free services whenever I come." Sam explained, but it didn't make me relax."But what about me? It's you they
I woke up early on Saturday morning and went to the bathroom for a shower. Sam was still asleep.It was my birthday today and even though I didn't want to do anything, Sam had insisted that we go to a party tonight. She said birthdays without parties are incomplete. I told her I didn't want to go because I was avoiding Ryker's group, she didn't ask why even though she suspected something, but she told me Ryker's group doesn't go to the party we were going to. Apparently, it was too low for their level.Back at home, I used to celebrate my birthdays but my parents don't throw parties. My birthdays always consisted of Dylan and my family singing a birthday song for me and then I would make a wish and blow off the candle on the small cake my mom used to bake for me. Then we'll take pictures and eat. It was always a happy moment.This was my first birthday without my parents present and I was a little sad about it. I heard someone knock on the door while I was still in the shower, then s
I closed the door quietly so I wouldn't wake Sam, who was still sleeping inside. I made my way down the stairs and sighted the cab that I had ordered. I got in and gave the driver my location.I rested my back on the seat and sighed as I shut my eyes. It's been twelve days since Dylan and I had that talk and I had been seriously thinking about it because I didn't want to regret my actions.With Ryker's connection and all, Cassie got arrested. Olivia and Jasmine too, since they were accomplices. I was called to the station to give a statement of what happened. I didn't want to go at first but Sam and Dylan convinced me to go.Jasmine and Olivia had been released on bail but Cassie's case was more deeper than that. I knew her parents wouldn't allow her to go to prison. She even lied that I fell into the pool myself but the CCTV footage showed otherwise.Jasmine also came to apologize to me, I had forgiven her but it didn't mean we were going to continue being friends. I don't need frien
"Where are you taking me?" I asked when he guided me through the dance floor and started walking towards the entrance of the clubhouse. My vision was still blurry and I was still drunk."Somewhere I can talk to you." He answered. "But I don't wanna talk to you, remember?" I told him "I'm not going with you, Sam is still inside." I tried to free myself from his grip."She can go home by herself. I'm not letting you go until I talk to you." "And you think I'm just gonna follow you and listen to whatever you wanna say. I'm not Bruno. I don't wanna listen to anything you have to say. You are just going to lie to me again." I said. We were already outside the club house and I saw that his car was parked on the other side of the road.Ryker opened the door for me and made me enter the car. Then he buckled me up before shutting the door and walking to the other side of the car.He entered the car and started to drive. He took off his cap and mask and that was when I saw that Dylan did a re
The clubhouse was crowded as usual, loud music, sweaty bodies and people making out in dark corners. Sam and I made our way through the crowd and found a spot to sit in front of the bar, drinks weren’t free today. I guess someone paid for all the drinks the last time we came here. I had a shot of tequila but Sam didn’t drink anything, she said she was going to watch over me so I could drink as much as I liked.“Hey, let’s dance.” I told her as I pulled her to the dance floor, the alcohol was starting to kick in. I swung my body to the beat while Sam did the same.“Shea?” I heard someone call my name, I looked back and saw that it was Felix. Why the heck did he call me? Did Ryker send him to beg me?“Hey.” I said nonchalantly and continued to dance.“Look, Ryker didn’t mean what he did, he already called off the bet when he realized how he feels about you.” He shouted over the music.“Do you mind? I don’t wanna talk about that.” I said as I rolled my eyes at him.“Back off!” Sam said a
As I stepped into the bathtub filled with warm water, I sat down and let the water soothe my skin, I closed my eyes so I could relax but then it suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe, like something was blocking my nose, like I was drowning. The memory of myself, struggling in the pool flashed through my mind. It was traumatizing.I opened my eyes and gasped for breath. I got down from the bathtub. I couldn't do it. Cassie had scarred me for life, I would never be able to have baths again, or even learn how to swim.I grabbed a towel, wrapped it around myself and walked out of the bathroom. I went straight to my closet and grabbed a shirt and shorts to wear."Shea, you didn't stay long in the bathroom this time." I heard Sam say. I turned to her and saw that she looked excited. She was excited that I didn't stay long and cry in the bathroom this time. If she knew what happened to me there, she wouldn't smile like that.But I smiled at her and covered my fears up. "Yeah." I said as I w
“Holy shit! I can’t believe it.” Sam exclaimed as sat on my bed and rubbed my back. I had told her everything I encountered in school today and she regretted telling me to go out with Ryker.“I was just a bet, a stupid bet.” I sniffed. I wanted to cry but the tears wouldn’t come out no matter how hard I squeezed my eyes. I guessed I had emptied my tear sac. I was tired, physically, emotionally and mentally tired.“And- and Jasmine, I don’t blame you for hating her. She was just a snitch for her psycho sister.” I said in a low voice.“I never liked that bitch. I knew there was something shady going on around her. And we should throw those people in jail.” Sam said as she rose from the bed and stood in front of me. I liked how she was taking this more seriously than I was.“I’ve actually thought about that on the way here. But Laurel told me her dad could easily bail her out, so it would be a waste of time.” I told her. Laurel also said that she had a huge fight with Cassie because of J
Ryker’s POVShit!I had been screwed by Cassie. She told Shea about the bet before I had the chance to tell her myself. I never wanted to hurt Shea. I just wanted to give her more time to heal from what she was going through. I had plans to take her out on another date, to tell her how much I loved and cherished her and then eventually tell her about the bet. But Cassie ruined everything.I ran out of the pool area to go after Shea, but she was already getting into a car. I knew it was Laurel’s car.I didn’t know what to do. Should I go after Laurel’s car so I could talk to Shea? Or should I give her some time? I honestly don’t know which is better.I slowly walked back to my car and got in. I hit my hands on the steering wheel multiple times and yelled my lungs out.“Fuck!” I yelled again. I groaned as pain soothed through my hands, but it was nothing compared to the pain Shea was going through right now. She called me a monster. She was right, I was a monster. I should have never ag
*Third person POV*Jasmine took out her phone as she ran out of the pool side. Her heart thrummed fast in her chest and her fingers trembled as she dialed Laurel’s number and placed the phone close to her ear.“Hey, baby girl.” Laurel’s voice rang through the phone.“Laurel, Cassie is going to do something terrible to Shea, I shouldn’t have led her there. I should have just ignored Cassie’s texts.” Jasmine ranted to Laurel.“Wait, slow down. What did you do to Shea?” Laurel asked calmly, unaware of the chaos in Jasmine’s mind.“Cassie told me she wanted to talk to Shea, she told me to bring her to the pool side and I did because I thought she was going to talk to her like a civil human being. But she started to talk about a bet, I thought she told me to become friends with Shea to give her updates because she didn’t want her near Ryker. I don’t know anything about a bet!” Jasmine explained.“And then- I- I think Cassie is going to push Shea into the pool.”“What?” Laurel yelled.“Oliv
“Shea, are you alright in there? Do you need any help?” Sam asked as she knocked on the door of the bathroom. I had been sitting in the bathtub for an hour now, thinking about my mom and how life had been completely unfair to her. It has been a few days since my mom’s memorial service. I haven’t been going to any class because I knew it would be a complete waste of time.Jasmine told me we had an important lecture today but I told her I wouldn't be coming. She kept insisting that I should come but I eventually ignored her messages when they were getting too much. A part of me wanted to go to school, but then, I knew I wouldn't be able to focus.“Hey, Shea!” Sam called out again when I didn’t answer her. She tried to open the door but discovered that I had locked it from behind.“Oh God! Please open the door, Shea. I just wanna make sure you are okay.” She pleaded.“Go away.” I muttered.“What?”“Leave me alone!” I said a little louder for her to hear. I didn’t mean to be harsh to her
Shea's POVIt's been three weeks since I heard the news about my mom's condition getting worse. I hadn't been focusing on classes and at work. I wasn't able to read very well for my tests, I always zoned out while reading on my own. The only time I would gain something from reading was when I read with Jasmine. She had a reading technique and it really helped me a lot.I burnt six cakes on different occasions at the café. When Brooks noticed that I wasn't myself, he told me that he would handle everything.Ryker had also been there for me. The best boyfriend I could ever ask for. He always called every hour to check on me and sometimes he would stay at café until my shift was over. I made sure to speak with my mom every single day, I would tell her how my day went and we would talk about different things. Her voice keeps getting weaker and weaker everyday and it really breaks my heart.I got down from Ryker's car and waved at him until his car was out of sight, then I went up the sta