Under The Influence ll Book One

Part Two→Chapter Eighteen

The next day

     Raidon is at his locker, thoughts flooding through his brain. He looks at the KitKat he has, then puts it back into his backpack. He turns to his left, realizing that someone is there. Adriana had been sitting next to him, her thoughts a mess. She should've never agreed to kiss Evelyn, let alone make out with her. She looks at Raidon. "I fucked up... bad," she tells him, sighing.

     He looks at her, confused. He sits down so he's right beside her. "What happened?" he asks softly.

     Adriana sighs, hugging her legs and resting her head on her knees. "Me and Evelyn... we got drunk and hooked up," he says, though her voice cracks slightly as she speaks, a tear running down her cheek. "I'm pretty sure I fucked their relationship."

     Raidon wraps an arm loosely around her. "Oh Ari, it isn't your fault," he says in a calming voice. "One thing can't mess things up in a relationship. Things started to get unstable in Evelyn's and Alex's relationship way before that happened. Don't blame yourself, please."

     She sniffles softly, looking over at him. "B... but what if I just made things worse...? Alex seemed so upset yesterday-" Adriana rambles, seeming to have a mini panic attack. Her breathing quickens a bit as she hugs her legs tighter.

     "You wasn't upset at you. He was upset at the whole situation himself. If it was anyone there, he would've had a similar reaction. But look at this through his eyes: he feels guilty for blaming his friend for lying; he finds out they're telling the truth, his girlfriend is lying to him by not telling him shit, he admits that he's wrong to his drunk friend, and comes back in to see his girlfriend drunk and cheating on him. He's mad at Evelyn, Adri. Not at you."

       Adriana nods slightly, trying to cycle the words in her head. She inhales a shaky breath, looking at him. "O...okay," she mutters, wiping her eyes quickly

     Raidon hugs her a bit tightly, trying to be comforting. "You'll be okay, Adri."

     Her anxiety seemed to be calming down a bit as she accepted the embrace, thankful he was there, although she didn't say anything. Raidon leans his head on her shoulder lightly, continuing to comfort her.

     "Thank you, Raidon..." Adriana mutters softly.

     "You're welcome," he smiles lightly.

     Adriana wipes her eyes again. "God, I hate crying..." she says, laughing softly.

     "I do too," Raidon says softly. "But sometimes it feels relieving."

     "Yeah... I guess it does," she agrees, looking at him one last time before letting her legs slide to the floor. Raidon continues to hug her. "Do you want to skip today...?" he asks, whispering.

     "Yeah... probably. No point to being here anyways... as long as I do well on tests or pop quizzes, I'm good."

     "Where do you wanna go?" Raidon asks.

     "Anywhere, honestly-" Adriana tells him, laughing a bit.

     "We can go to my house?" he offers. "My parent's aren't home- thank fucking god."

     She nods. "Sounds good to me."

     "I can drive," Raidon smiles.

     "Alright, sweet," Adriana smiles.

     Raidon stands up, reaching his hand out to help Adriana up. She takes his hand and stands up. "Thanks."

     "Of course," he smiles shyly.