Heartbreak High

FOUR | CHLOE

I raid my closet for something nice to wear at the party when a click on the window startles me. For a brief second, I decide not to pay attention, but when a second one sounds, I stroll toward my balcony and look around to find out what's going on.

What I find shocks me.

Whom I find makes my soul leave my body.

Aiden waves with a smile and gestures something I don't completely understand.

Oh my God, he's coming up.

He's climbing up on my balcony.

I'm going to faint, so I return to the safety of my room and my carpet.

I wouldn't want to hit my head more than I already have. I must've hit my head today because there's no way in hell Aiden O'Connor just climbed into my room.

When he lands swiftly on my balcony and strolls inside my room, I take a deep breath. “You are out of your damn mind!” I whisper and push him into a dark corner of my room. If my parents are in the living room, which is right below us, and hear me I'm absolutely f*****g dead.

“Easy princess, or I'll believe you want to be unholy in this dark corner,” he laughs and says in a huffed whisper.

I slap my palms on his chest as quietly as possible and he grabs both my wrists to stop me. What surprises me though, is that he doesn't remove them, he just keeps them there, on his hard and warm chest, where his heart beats wildly, as if trying to match the rhythm of my own heart.

I swallow the lump in my throat. “You really shouldn't be here Aiden!”

Mainly because of my parents, but also because seeing him all tall and dark in my room makes things happen in my head. It does things to my brain and my breath catches in my throat.

“Don't worry, we'll be gone before they know it. Now hurry up and get ready. I'll help you get down the balcony.”

Oh, he came to help me sneak out.

I shake my head incredulously and put on a pair of black jeans and a white T-shirt from my closet. I throw on a black suede jacket and a pair of sneakers and I'm ready to go. Good thing I've done my hair and makeup before he got here.

“Wow, you look hot,” he breathes and runs a hand through his hair.

“I know,” I reply and smile sweetly.

He clears his throat. “Okay, I didn't see any lights on downstairs, so maybe your parents are in their room going at it.”

“Eww, Aiden. Too graphic,” I close my eyes in disgust. s**t, it's worse because I almost have a picture of it.

“You know how you came into existence, right, Chloe baby?” he laughs at me and walks onto the balcony.

“f**k off,” I snarl quietly when I make it out, I close the door and check the drive for their cars. “They're not home, and 100 bucks say they'll check on me when they get home, so I'll text them now and let them know that I'm sleeping at Olivia’s.”

“I take it they don't know you're not on speaking terms?”

“Of course not. I'm not giving away my only ticket to freedom. We should just use the front door,” I suggest, and he shakes his head.

“They could come around any second and plus, it's a good way for you to learn for when you actually need to sneak off.”

Makes sense.

I could break my neck if I did this on my own, but okay.

The good thing is, it's not a huge jump to the ground and I would sprain a wrist or ankle at most. But the way Aiden does it, makes me believe I can do it too.

He grabs the pillar of my balcony and uses it to step on an ornament and then on the downstairs terrace balustrade. It's a pretty genius idea but I'm not 6'2 like him, I'm barely 5'5'.

“Don't worry, I've got you,” he says when he makes to land, and I have to follow suit.

I try to copy his exact moves and when my feet make it to the ground, I jump up and down like an excited 5-year-old.

Meh, I can't help it.

But when I jump in Aiden's arms and he spins me, I suddenly become self-aware and ask him to put me down.

“Let's go,” he says and leads me towards his car.

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but this is quite exciting.

When we make it inside the comfort of his car, he drives off like our lives depend on it and a wave of laughter bursts out of me.

Even funnier is that he joins me without asking any questions.

Why do I suddenly have the urge to scream?

“You have a wild side, don't you?” he asks a couple of minutes into the drive.

“Don't we all?” I reply with a genuine smile.

“I'm not worried anymore, you're going to fit right in with my friends,” he speaks just as he parks on the side of the street.

Why did that make me feel better?

When we enter the house, what I thought would be a small gathering it's a full-blown party with a DJ station and a lot of people. I don't recognize any of them as Aiden leads towards the living room where his group lounges deep in conversation.

“O'Connor, come, bro, join us for some beer pong?” one teammate of his shouts from our left and Aiden turns his attention on me.

“Wanna team up?” he asks with a smile and that gives me the courage to try it.

“Okay. I'm not very good though,” I reply, suddenly aware that I'm not really in my own element here.

He grabs my hand.

“It's more a game of luck if you ask me.”

I laugh.

“Are you trying to get me drunk, O'Connor?”

He shakes his head as we take our places at one end of the table. “These are Noah and Aria,” he introduces the people we're going against, and they both reply with a wave.

“I'm Chloe.”

Aria is a petite brunette, with a smile that could light up the whole world. I think I'm going to like her.

“Ready to get your ass kicked, Chloe?” Noah asks with an arrogant smirk and a naughty wink.

Their welcoming demeanour makes me relax and not dread this as much as I have for the past few hours.

“Show me what you've got, boy,” I say with a grin of my own and he takes the first throw and hits a cup, so I have to drink it.

I take the red cup between my fingers and take a huge sip out of it. I'm not a fan of beer but at least this one is ice cold, so it doesn't taste as bad as I remember.

Aiden cheers me on as I finish the cup and throw it over my shoulder like a pro.

Now it's my turn so I pick up a ping pong white ball and throw it on the table, completely losing my mind when it lands in a cup. Aiden is ecstatic and high-fives me cheerfully.

Aria picks up a ball and misses, but Aiden lands perfectly in a cup and she drinks it.

We go on like this through most of the cups, until the score is a whopping 10 to 6, us taking the lead and being less drunk than our friends.

On Noah’s last throw, he lands perfectly on the last cup, and I take it to drink, when Aiden grabs it from me and drinks it like a champ.

“Hey, that's against the rules,” Noah complains, and Aiden shows him the finger in reply.

“I'm making new rules,” the guy next to me replies and I find myself smiling and mouthing a thank you. A grin brightens up his face.

I've only had three cups and I can already feel the room spinning a little, so a fourth would have made things worse and I've just gotten here.

“I gotta return to my duty,” Aria says when she joins us on the sofa, and I frown. “I'm the DJ,” she explains, and my eyes widen.

“Oh my God, no way. I love the music you've got on, but I'm sure you have something better on that thing,” I say as we walk toward her station.

“Do you know how to work this thing?” she asks with a smirk.

“You've got a nice Pioneer, but I've worked better and fancier.”

“Then be my guest, show me what you've got, girl,” she replies, and I look at her as if she'd gone crazy. She hasn't and she's serious, so I get behind the station and connect my phone to it. Aiden comes closer and watches me intently as I look for the song I need to drive these people mad, but more importantly, a song that fills me up with joy and nostalgia

I've always been fascinated by music and the euphoria that comes with it, so I learned a thing or two about enhancing the sound.

When I find what I need I press play and David Guetta & Kim Petras’s – When We Were Young (inqple Remix) fills the room and people break into cheerful shouts, bringing a huge smile to my face. I knew they’d like this tune. It’s absolutely addictive. I play a bit with the station and make the most out of it, but when the song ends, I give the reins back to Aria.

“I have to admit, I could learn a thing or two from you,” she says as I hand the headphones to her with a euphoric smile.

“Anytime.”

I step down from her spot and Aiden greets me with a proud stunning smile that gives me a weird feeling in my heart and grabs me in a hug.

“That was beyond awesome and hot. You looked like a pro up there,” he whispers close to my ear. “And you know who else was watching you? Justine.”

I’m shocked but I don’t let it show and I hug Aiden like he’s my best friend. “Thank you for bringing me. I had fun.”

He watches me intently, and I’m not sure if he is waiting for me to say something about what he said about Justin or he just likes to stare.

He does stare quite a lot.

“Anytime, Chloe baby,” he replies, and I punch his arm playfully. “Let’s go to the sitting room. The rest are there.”

We make our way toward the indicated area, and I find at least two faces I know, Noah and Devon, both football players and 2 girls. I introduce myself to both of them and learn that they’re named Sarah and Zo.

“Let's play a game,” Sarah chirps with a beaming smile and something close to unease stirs deep inside my belly. I don't like this but when everyone agrees, I see no way out.

Coming here was a huge f*****g mistake that I'll soon regret.

“Chloe, you in?” she adds, and I nod silently. What else can I say?

How bad can it be?

I'm in, b***h!