No matter how much she runs, Laura is stuck in an endless loop of her past. With a transfer of school and a curly-haired boy who seems to be wherever she goes, it's a matter of time she realizes that her universe ceases at the sight of him-and runni...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
XAVIER HENDERSON WORE A RED SHIRT over a pair of black jeans, and his usual bed-hair was pushed back in attempts to be seen put-together. He greeted us with a smile lit up like a firework, but that wasn't something which caught my attention immediately.
The colour coordination between Stella and him did.
"Was this planned?" I grinned at Xavier first, because his eyebrows scrunched up when he realized what I was talking about. "The whole 'we'll not match but kinda will because nobody else would know'?"
He coughed.
Stella rolled her eyes, giving me a glare. "No. Get in, we're probably late."
"Fashionably late, as always," Xavier had managed to say before we had hopped into the car, and I already knew how much I was going to be exhausted for the rest of the night. I just hoped that seeing the rest of the guys made up for it. The ground reverberated when I stepped outside, a chilly wind breaking my trance. Cold pricked through my senses a little harsher than I would've imagined, but Stella had grabbed my arm as if I were trying to run away. Xavier waved at us, and then shouted something along the lines of have fun, but his voice got lost in the plethora of people at the entrance.
The house didn't seem too full of people, something Raymond deserved points for. The whole school was definitely not invited, but I could see people not from school scattered along the vast living room as well. I sighed, running a hand down my dress in attempts to distract myself from the overwhelming amount of people and how it bothered my peace. It's okay, I had to remind myself, breathe. None of this was fun to me, but having company helped in more ways than I could count.
Stella was waving a hand in front of me for a couple seconds now, and my cheeks were a shade darker. "Earth to Laura," she grinned bashfully, eyeing the kitchen. "I'll get you something to drink, if you want?"
Perhaps I did need a drink. Or two. Maybe I just to prove something to my mother dearest—I wasn't all too sure. And when I saw Jayden from the corner of my eye, I nodded.
She was gone in haste, and my gaze dropped in a millisecond. I hoped he didn't see me. Yet. I wasn't too sure if I was ready to face him and how he had lied. What was he doing here anyway? From what I knew and could tell, he didn't seem friends with any of the guys.
Did he not want me to know it was him? He offered me coffee, but for what? I tried to not drive myself over the edge on something not in my hands, and spotted Ciara standing across the room. She was talking to a few girl friends of hers, laughing whilst she sipped her drink. Before I could wave at her, Raymond barged in front of me, on his mouth a wide grin. "You're actually here."
"You told me to," I smiled back. "Did I really have an option?"
"I mean, nobody takes me that seriously, but I'm glad you did." While he scratched the back of his neck, Leo and Chloe had spotted us a feet away, the latter waving like it was the first time she'd seen me in months.
