Bad Boy Chemistry

42. It's like a birthday party straight out of hell

Charlie's POV

Guess you could say that my seventeenth birthday party went to absolute hell.

After Ace had punched Camille's dumb brother and knocked him out, Ella managed to get the jump on Camille and dragged her outside by the hair of her head, just as the guy they came here with helped her unconscious brother outside.

Now, I was going around the house picking up trash. Camille's brother managed to split my lip, and I'm positive I'll have a black eye when I wake up tomorrow.

Ella, on the other hand, had a scratch across her right cheek and her hair was a mess. Camille left the house with missing hair and a bleeding nose.

"Are you okay?" Nora asked as I picked up a scrunched up plastic cup and threw it in a trash bag.

I ignored her.

I mean, seriously, did she drop out of college to hook up with my best friend, who was sixteen while she was nineteen!

I didn't know what to make of it. Should I be angry at them? Do I have a right to ignore her? I don't know!

"Char, please. Talk to me."

I handed her the trash bag. "Here, why don't you finish picking up trash."

After she took the trash bag, I made my way upstairs to my bedroom.

Throwing a party was a bad idea, and not only because picking up everyone's trash was a pain in the behind.

I sunk into my bed, letting a big sigh leave my lungs.

Knock, knock.

"Go away, Nora!" I groaned.

The door opened, revealing Ace's head. "It's just me."

"Oh." I sat up.

He entered the room, holding something in his left hand.

A bag of frozen peas?

"What, are you hungry?" I quipped sarcastically.

"They're for you, idiot." He sat down beside me, shifting himself to face me.

"Thanks." I put my hand out to take the peas.

His eyes met mine, and for a moment, the entire world disappeared.

Slowly, he held the peas to my face and pressed it against my skin. A breath I didn't know that I was holding escaped from my mouth.

Damn those green eyes, like two emerald pools, and I'm drowning in them.

After a moment, he averted his gaze. "Crazy night, huh?"

I looked away from him, my eyes looking to the ground. "Yeah."

"Ella sure has hands." He stated. "That Camille girl sure didn't know who she was messing with."

I let out a slight chuckle.

"And I heard that you punched a clown?" Ace removed the frozen peas from my face, with a surprised look on his own face.

"I hate clowns." I stated.

"Same. They're fucking freaks." He laughed, slowly placing the frozen peas back on my face.

"Ow." I winced.

"That loser sure got you good." He stated the bloody obvious.

"Yeah." I scoffed at the memory of Camille's brother beating me up.

After a minute or two of silence, I shifted and looked Ace in the eyes. "Why'd you do that? Punch that guy, I mean."

His eyes fluttered, a slight confused look appearing on his face. "He was beating the shit out of you. Did you not want me to help you?"

"I meant, won't you get in trouble? What if he goes to the police? Will you go to juvie? Or get out under house arrest?" I asked.

"Nah, he won't get the police involved." He moved the frozen peas down to my busted lip, causing a chill to rush through my entire body.

"So, you and Ryan?"

"What about us?" I asked.

"Aren't you dating? Why isn't he here?" His eyes were looking into mine again.

"He, uh. I told him to leave."

"Trouble in paradise?"

Jerk.

"You have a sister, right?"

"A twin sister." He replied.

"Okay, what if you caught your twin sister making out with your best friend, and your.. girlfriend, knew about it but didn't tell you?" I wondered.

His face had stunned written all over it. "Wow, uh. I guess I'd probably be pissed off."

"Exactly."

"This isn't hypothetical speaking, is it?"

I shook my head in answer.

"Damn."

"This entire night sucks! Normally I'd just go to the movies on my birthday. But Ella wanted me to throw a party, I thought it would be a good idea. Turns out it was a really bad idea. My boyfriend dresses up as a clown, I punch him in the face. Then I end up catching my sister and my best friend lip-locked, and my boyfriend knew about them and didn't tell me." I took a breath before continuing my rant. "Never have I ever turned to complete crap, I get beat the hell up by some guy I didn't even know. It's like a birthday party straight out of hell."

I sighed. "The only good thing about this party was the cake, and I didn't even get a slice."

Ace was speechless, leaving the two of us in an awkward silence.

Finally, he broke the silence after a few minutes. He probably just needed time to process the novel-worthy rant I just went on. "The cake didn't taste that great."

I smiled.

"What movie do you want to see?" He asked.

"It doesn't matter now, does it."

"Hey, it's still technically your birthday." He stated.

"It's almost midnight." I frowned.

My birthday was nearly over, and it pretty much sucked, as I've already stated.

"So?"

I gave him a confused look. "So, all the movie theatres are closed, and my birthday is nearly over."

He pulled the iced peas from my face, that familiar smirk spread across his.

"What?"

"The St Griffiths' theatre is opened all night."

"No way!" I practically gasped.

"Yes way. We can go catch a movie, if you wanted to."

"You don't have to do this."

He nudged my shoulder with his. "I know I don't have to, but I want to. Besides, I've been craving some late night popcorn."

I smiled, again.

"Fine. But you're paying."