The Golden Boy

Third Text

"I'm going on a date!" Bree shouted at the top of her lungs as soon as I stepped into my room.

"What the f**k?! Why are you so loud?!"

"I'm not loud! You're loud!"

I pursed my lips, throwing my school bag on the study table and went into the closet to change. "What date? And with who?" I asked, picking some comfortable sweats.

"A dinner date," she sighed outside. "And what do you mean with who? With Ashton, of course."

"He asked you so soon?" I scoffed.

"—I, for one, think it's too late."

"And when did he even ask?" I asked getting out, effectively ignoring her nasty glares.

"Earlier, when he was dropping me home. He told me about this recently opened restaurant and asked if we could go together." She said throwing herself flat on the bed and I joined her.

"So, what's the issue? I don't see any emergency here. Pull a sexy dree on, curl your hair and go wherever the f**k it is." I rolled my eyes at her.

"That is an emergency. That restaurant is apparently too 'fancy' and I don't have a dress to wear for that. I'm gonna borrow one of your dresses." She simplified and I scowled.

"You are such a shitty friend, did you know that? You are my only my friend for my gorgeous dresses and shoes, you selfish hoe." That, folks, was all just for dramatics. No one could bear to be my friend with all the additional baggage I drag with me but Bree has always been the best friend I would ever need.

She can have my f*****g life, what is a designer dress?

My slice of pizza would be a little too much, though.

Bree picked out a maroon off the shoulder dress with a low scooped back that showed off her smooth caramel skin and silver heels to go with them. A little styling to her curls and the perfect shade of lipstick and she was ready to go.

Seeing her all giggling and hopping like an annoying brat, I honestly felt happy for her now that I—to some extent—knew that Ashton had good intentions for her. But, alongside that feeling I felt something else.

Maybe hope.

That Chase f*****g Hartford asks me out on a date too, so I could dress up like that for him, too.

All of this is vomit inducing but I can't really disown my own thoughts, can I?

Will he show up in a dress shirt and take me to a restaurant, too? Will he kiss me on our first date?

Oh, shut the f**k up my silly subconscious. I have already kissed him.

Two times. No, three times.

I literally had to bite my lip hard to suppress my smile. But in vain, Bree of course saw that.

She raised a singular eyebrow. "Smiling and blushing at the same time. That's a first. Is there something you wanna tell me?"

I remembered that I had yet to tell my best friend about my first kiss. And second and third. Reluctantly, I nodded and cleared my throat, preparing for the ground breaking s**t I was going to drop.

Hope her heart is healthy enough. Fingers crossed.

"Well, promise me you won't freak out—"

"I can do it on your behalf, though, right?"

" No." I glared. "No, you can't. Now don't disturb me again. So the thing is, there's a boy that I kissed at the party you dragged me to while I was drunk and I even spent the night with him but the next day I freaked out and ran. After that I ignored him and all but then we talked it out and I kissed him again. And then, again." I rambled it out in one breath and turned to where the door was in case I wanted to flee.

But before my hand could reach the knob, Bree grabbed my shoulder and whirled me around, giving me a massive whiplash. "Who's he?" She asked, calmly.

And honestly, I expected her to either scream like crazy or start crying like a little b***h. I was conflicted as to how to respond because my subconscious had already planned what to do if she had reacted one of those ways.

"He's…ummm…he's—his name is…Chase."

Her arms gingerly wrapped around me and I squirmed in her grasp. "I know I always say this same thing but really, I am so happy you are opening up to this idea of boys." She pulled back and smiled at me. "And I'm really glad it's Chase because even a blind could see the way he looks at you since you came to St. George."

Was it really since the first time he saw me? It has been this long since he started to like me? My oblivious ass only realised it after that party.

"Well, there weren't any other options, you know? Everyone else is always a bit too much of something." I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant.

"You said at the party right? That was weeks ago! You didn't tell me till now?!" She accused me, pointing a finger at me, making me feel more guilty than I already was. "I want every detail. Now." She commanded.

And to my luck, I was saved by her phone ringing. It was her 'soon-to-be-boyfriend' as she liked to call. She fixed me with a glare before picking it up and telling me he was here. Before walking out my door, she informed me that I should better write it all down and prepare a Netflix night afterwards for the two of us.

And I guess, I really should. I broke the f*****g best friend code, after all.

××××××

Rest of the week went smoothly. Well, if you'll call it that.

Chase made it very difficult to hide my apparent frequent blushes with his occasional winks at the lunch table.

We even traded places to sit together in our two classes. He would inconspicuously lean into my ear and whisper useless facts that I would replay over in my mind all day, just because he told me that.

Sometimes his thigh would brush against mine first—as if testing the waters—before letting it rest there. And my personal favorite; when we would complete each other's doodle in the back of our notebooks.

A couple or two times, he even pulled me in an empty class for a quick—and cute—make out session. And this time I didn't turn him down, instead I locked the door behind me and got us both late for class.

And just to be honest, I stole kisses from him when he would walk me to the parking lot before running for practice.

And maybe it was just my imagination but I think I saw someone watching us from behind a car. I feared that maybe it was someone from our group but, of course, if they were them, then they would have obviously come and demanded an explanation notifying the whole school with how loud they could be.

So, clearly it was someone else. Someone I might know. The creepy vibes it gave made me remember Jayden but I saw him run off to practice for football when I was at the lockers.

But all of that was forgotten, courtesy of my late night texting with a certain someone.

I can't believe I was beginning to become like that one character in teen dramas I generally used to get annoyed with. But, being like this for someone like Chase, I guess it is compensated well.

The next day, I woke up and a couple of texts were waiting for me on my phone.

Chase: good morning, gorgeous ?.

Chase: I'm getting coffee for us both on my way. Wanna get me anything else?

The third and last one was from someone I hadn't heard from in weeks.

Ry?: Hellhound has been unleashed?