She strapped the seat belt around her on the front seat, she studied his face from the side, "What's the occasion?"
He started driving with the roof down and shrugged, "Do we need an occasion? Let's just celebrate ... let's hang out and have fun."
He was a free man, he thought. He was single, he's got nowhere to go, his best friend is out of town and God help him he really tried but his best friend's sister was the only one he could think about.
He thought he would drink himself to sleep that night, but the more he drank, the more he wanted to see her. So he drove himself to her house before he had too much to drink. His glassy eyes were a little droopy but he was sober enough to drive.
"Have you been drinking?" Haz
He opened another can of beer as soon as they got into the car. Hazel took one for herself and started drinking like she was dehydrated. They toasted their cans and he started driving. "Why did you say Max was going to kill you?" she was curious. He hesitated, her question reminded him that he had betrayed his best friend's trust to stay away from his sister. But then his request was vague, he didn't say they couldn't have a friendly night out together. He tilted his shoulder, "Because I just took you out of your house to buy some beers in the middle of the night." He laughed softly, "You wouldn't believe how protective he is of you if I told you." He glanced at her for a second. She was viciously finishing
Mischa had been parading him to her friends from the moment he arrived. Coming out of his dad's Mercedes in his dark blue knee length jacket over his casual oversized white sweater and dance pants. His hair tied sleeked back on the top, his long earring in one ear and his dimples on either side of his cheeks were his best accessories.Most of Mischa's friends were dancers, and her school friends all knew her as a dancer. She'd been boasting to her friends about her new dance partner who was practically a celebrity dancer in their community. She had her arm linked around his all night, she introduced him to everyone as if he was her boyfriend which made Lee uncomfortable.He put a friendly smile on his face even though the only place he wanted to be was with Hazel. They all expected him to perform at the party that night, Mischa had e
Nothing was wrong. Except for the fact Hazel wasn't actually home. She was on the side of an empty street by an empty park in the middle of the night ... with Theo. When she insisted she couldn't leave the house to come with him to Mischa's party. He hung up the phone and threw it on the passenger's seat.He stepped on the gas even deeper and it was not because he wanted to get to her faster.What's worse, when he arrived, they were both drunk. Theo was sitting back in the driver's seat with Hazel on the passenger seat. Their feet were up on the dashboard and he could hear their laughter from where he parked.Hazel was in her pajama pants, her face was flushed like a ripe tomato. Theo's eyes were barely opened, his speech was slurred. They both had beer cans on their hands a
It was a quarter to 7 and Hazel hasn't shown up yet. Mischa on the other hand had been at his house since 5.30 that morning. She got acquainted with Lee's parents and had a lot of good things to share with them about Lee. She spoke a bit of French so Lee could hear her talking to his stepmom in French as he loaded his stuff in the car.He looked around his front yard to see if anyone was coming from the direction of Hazel's house. There was still no sign. He checked his phone, nothing. If she didn't show up that would be the end of it, he thought. She's probably occupied with Theo and couldn't care less about him. After all, Theo is single now, there could be something really going on between them."Are you ready to go?" his dad asked interrupting his thoughts.He nodded, "Y
"So much for having a boyfriend before the Summer," Hazel sighed after she told Jan the drama she had that morning.Jan leaned her back on Hazel's bed as she sat on the floor, "I don't understand ... there's gotta be an explanation ... I'm pretty sure he's into you and not Mischa.""Maybe he changed his mind, I mean you saw how pretty she is ... he hadn't met her yet when he told Kyle he liked me ... anyway, maybe he found things he doesn't like in the course of our friendship ... if you saw how he kissed her ..." Hazel put a pillow on her face, "This sucks!" she screamed into it."What about Theo? What happened to him after you got back?""He was hungover in the morning, he left in a hurry when he remembered his ca
The first thing he did when he arrived in South Korea was to check his phone whether there was anything from Hazel.Nothing. Not even a message on his Whatsapp telling him she was sorry for not coming. He saw she was online just an hour earlier but she didn't bother to leave him a message. It crushed him.It was worse when he saw her IG posts of her and Jan having fun at their sleepover doing make-up and putting masks on their faces. He switched his phone off. After all these times, he thought their friendship had meant something to her.He decided he didn't want to contact her either. It hurt too much what she had done to their friendship for the last couple of days and maybe he needed time to clear his mind. Maybe he expected too much from her and that's what's really hurt
"Are you ready? On three ..." Hazel said holding both Jan's hands facing each other.Jan nodded, they were standing at the edge of the dock protruding above the lake's surface. They were getting ready to jump."Don't let go, ready? One ... two ... three ..."They squealed as they jumped sideways to the water. It was a game they always play since they were little, to jump into the lake holding hands and stayed underwater until one of them was out of breath. Staying underwater is not as easy as it sounds, it took some effort to keep them from floating up.The more they do it, the longer they could stay down. The edge of the lake was not so deep, but holding each other's hands gave them a sense of safety knowing the ot
She stared at her phone contemplating whether or not she should text him first. He was the one kissing a girl, she shouldn't be the one to make the first move, she thought."Yeah ... but you were with Theo the night before he left, and you didn't show up at his house to say goodbye to him," Jan said."I did go to his house ..." Hazel was being defensive."But he didn't know that ... to him, you ditched him and then failed to show up the next day," Jan was laying on the bed beside her playing with her own phone."Look ... look ..." Jan tapped Hazel's arm, "He posted these on Instagram, have you seen them?" she showed Hazel the pictures Lee posted of his vacation in Korea.
Okay ... let me wrap this up for you ... I decided to finish high school at Pinehurst Valley because ... well ... because I wanted to be close to Hazel for another year at least. I've never had a friend like her before and ever since Eli ... she's the one thing that made my life seem livable again. We spent the rest of the summer in Goldstone with my dad's charity program. We worked with under privilege children in the nook and cranny of the city. We volunteered at the nursing home. Hazel loved that one because I had to perform every week for the elderlies, they loved my singing, apparently, they think I was adorable and reminded them of their grandsons. Made me feel less special knowing there are at least 7 kids that looked like me. The whole program went well. She got extra points for her portfolio. So did I. Though it didn't matter to me because I know I'm not going to Uni after this. I'm concentrating on my new channel which Hazel had agreed to help with. She loved that to
She finally came out of her bedroom looking fresh out of the shower. Her mom felt a heavy burden just lifted off her shoulder. Hazel was feeling better. There was still deep sadness on her face but she forced a smile and said 'Hi' and gave her a long hug. The day was getting dark and Claire's relief was short-lived because Hazel was on her way outside to meet the boy in a designer hoodie in his white Lamborghini who looked like he hadn't had a good sleep in days."He's been waiting for an hour," Claire said.She had turned on the light on their porch so the two of them can have a good talk on their new balcony swing. Claire poured a generous amount of red wine into her mug and peeked outside their window and saw the two kids embracing each other warmly."Hey, baby ... how are you doing?" he said and kissed the top of her head.She shook her head and started to cry in his chest."Oh ... I'm so sorry ...""No ... I'm sorry ..." she said and held her tears back. "I'm sorry I missed your
Claire was leaning against the door frame of their entrance with her arms folded in front of her. He waved at Theo as he climbed into his car with all his stuff in the backseat. The boy had been crying, she could clearly see it on his face. She could still remember what it was like to be young and in love and heartbroken. It was the best of times and it was the worst of times. Theo had told her everything. She appreciated his honesty though she was disappointed at the same time. But he was devastated, Claire knew that people sometimes underestimated how deep the emotional scar is for boys. Some men couldn't really recover from the hurt they feel in their younger years. It only goes to show how Theo really felt about Hazel. She wanted to understand the situation though she can see how much it had hurt her daughter too. She let out a sigh as his car drove further away from their house. Theo was going back to Gastonbury after many attempts to apologize to Hazel. She had closed her doo
The party was held at The Silver Tongue, the most exclusive club in Goldstone. As the son of an A-list celebrity, he spared no expense and went all out for the celebration. He booked the whole third floor for the event and invited everyone he knew in the city. Including Mandy and Dennis. As soon as Marlon and his entourage arrived, the party began in full swing. The music was loud and thumping, and the dance floor was packed with guests showing off their best moves. Marlon was the center of attention, surrounded by his friends, who were all dressed in the latest designer clothes and jewelry. The bar was fully stocked with top-shelf liquor, and bartenders were serving up creative cocktails in elaborate glassware. The party-goers were drinking and toasting Marlon's big day, and everyone seemed to be in high spirits. He wasn't in a particularly good mood that day, a big part of it was because he hadn't heard from Hazel since she went back to Chestnut. As if she had disappeared from t
Theo sat on his bed, his head buried in his hands. He couldn't believe the mess he had gotten himself into. He loved Hazel with all his heart, but he had lied to her. He couldn't even remember how it had all started. He left his girlfriend in Gastonbury because he knew he wanted to spend the summer with the girl that got away. The moment he saw her at the dance, he was instantly back to where he left off and his girlfriend just disappeared in the background. Grace ... her name ... his girlfriend. It was never serious with Grace. It was never serious with any of the girls he had been with after Peyton. Subconsciously, he was trying to move on from losing Hazel because he was too much of a coward to fight for her in the first place. He knew it would have to be Hazel. He had taken their relationship for granted for years, but they were just kids. One year apart from her had only made his feelings stronger and he had ruined it for the both of them when he couldn't stop himself from fa
It was a nagging feeling. That's what she had. It was bothering her and she couldn't ignore it any longer. Sure ... she needed to get her stuff to better prepare herself for the summer program. But Theo will only stay for so long and she needed to be with him, at least to explain in person how her summer is going to be.She wanted to stay in Goldstone, it was her initial plan before Theo came along. The nagging feeling told her to go back to Chestnut to see if their new relationship was going to last beyond that summer.She didn't tell him she was coming back, she wanted it to be a surprise. The minute she arrived, she went straight to Theo's house.He was surprised or more like shocked to see her. The look on his face was not what she expected. His eyes bulged wide, his face was drained of colors, and his mouth gaped open."Micky?" his voice was almost inaudible.She laughed, "Yeah ... who do you think it is? I wanted to ask you if you're surprised ... but it's pretty obvious," she r
He had planned to ask Hazel at the end of her stay in Goldstone, but he found himself asking her on the first day she arrived. The thought had been haunting him for weeks since he left Chestnut for his family therapy. The only thing stopping him from executing his original plan was his unexpected friendship with Hazel. He would consider anything not to lose what he had with her. Having her around made him feel excited and energized to do whatever it is he was planning to do. Being with her made it easier for him to forget how fucked up his family situation was. Every day spent with her was joyful. Even Dr. Seymour told him that he made huge progress since the last time he was in therapy. Marlon knew it had a lot to do with Hazel. He introduced her to his YouTube team and let her hang out when they were working on their next project. He wanted her to be interested. He wanted her to want to be involved. He wanted her to change her mind though neither of them had made any decision, Ma
She remembered the first time she arrived in the city of Neon Lights. This time she arrived in style, in a white Lambo with one of the most eligible bachelors in town. He was high, she was laughing, and the music was loud but Goldstone was louder. Hazel had underestimated how famous Marlon really was. It's different in Chestnut where she was used to him being her 'buddy', her celebrity friend from the Big City but Marlon never felt too big for her. In Goldstone, he's a Rock Star. People recognized his car. There were literally fans asking for autographs and pictures with him. She could hear people calling his name while they walk on the sidewalk. Eating out in fast food restaurants was not an option, they would have to go to Hotels or fine dining or have food delivered to his penthouse. "You should try going out in public with my dad," he said and put on his sunglasses at 8 PM. "Worse?" she assumed. He shook his head a little, "You can't," he tilted his brow. "He has bodyguards
Marlon took a drag of his cigarette while leaning on his car. He glanced at the pair after a while and muttered, "For fuck's sake." It's been 15 minutes since they said they were saying goodbye to each other and every time he looked over his shoulder they were kissing passionately on Hazel's porch. They finally stopped when Hazel's mom stepped out of the house. They hugged and her mom said something about not drinking, don't do anything illegal, and calling her once they get there. Things his parents never said to him. He dropped his cigarette on the ground and put it out with his Givenchy sneakers. "Drive safely, young man," Claire said to him when walking Hazel toward his car. "I mean it ... it's a fancy car, and I know what it can do ... but not while you're driving my baby," she tapped on his Lambo. "Yes ma'am," he gave her a two-finger salute. "How about we video call you all the way to Goldstone so you can see how slow I drive?" he teased her. "That's not a bad idea, actua