Six

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Please VOTE!

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Two weeks. Two long, boring weeks it's been since Maverick had interrupted me by the pool and I met Justin. Since then, I've tried to keep him from my mind. Not that I've necessarily succeeded. I've spent my time tanning, watching more netflix and FaceTiming the girls. Thankfully, I haven't brought Justin up to them again, so they've probably figured I've forgotten about him... I wish. Majority of the time I find myself using a lot of energy just to try to not think about him. Which always results in me thinking about him more. He hasn't made his way to my room again and the only time I see him is when Maverick is home for dinner and brings him along. By this point I don't care enough to not eat but I do find his eyes on me quite often. That is when I pay any attention at all.

Currently, I sit on my bed with my chin in my palm, my phone in my right hand as I scroll through my nearly dead Instagram feed. If it weren't for Paislee's everyday selfie challenge, it would be bone dry.

A soft knock on my door turns my attention away from the phone and I tell them to come in, assuming it's my father or Annabell as usual.

"Hey honey." my father says, opening the door and sending me the regularly scheduled smile.

"Hi." I answer shortly, licking my lips and turning my attention to him. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to talk to you for a minute." he grins. "I wanted to let you know myself, because I know you and Maverick haven't been getting along. But um, he's having some kind of barbeque pool party thing tonight. I don't know how late it'll go but I figured you might wanna join him and friends for a while. And if it gets too late and you wanna go to bed, let me know and I'll take care of it."

I nod. "Thank you."

He smiles, nodding once. "You're welcome. And hey, try to have some fun tonight. You never go out. Try to make a few friends." he shrugs.

I grin, nodding once again. "I will dad. Thanks."

After an awkward moment in silence, my father nods once more, leaving the room and closing the door behind him as my phone starts to vibrate wildly. My eyes narrow downward, letting the ID show Camila is FaceTiming me. A grin immediately finds its way to my lips and I accept the call, showing my face fully and smiling cheesily.

"Hey babe!" she exclaims almost immediately.

"Hey Cam." I grin. "What's up?"

She shrugs. "Bored. I was thinking about going bowling tonight with the girls."

I nod. "Good idea. You can kick their asses again." I laugh.

She giggles, shrugging. "Yeah, well y'know. The champ is always the champ."

I roll my eyes, smiling. "Yeah, Maverick's throwing some party tonight here at the house so I'm gonna check it out for a while."

She gasps lightly. "Do you think Justin will be there?"

I laugh lightly, nodding. "Probably. I mean, he is Mav's best friend."

She nods, taking my statement into consideration. "True. So, have you decided what you're gonna do?"

I nod. "I've kinda just decided to avoid him as much as possible. I mean, he's cute but I don't wanna get hurt and something tells me he's not a relationship type of guy."

She sighs. "That sucks. I mean, for once you're interested in someone and he turns out to most likely be a jerk."

I snort in her choice of words. "I suppose so, yeah."

"Alright, I'll let you go so you can get yourself ready for this party." she says, grinning cheesily.

"Okay, bye Cam." I tell her, hanging up and letting out a long breath and trying to figure out an outfit in my head.

Hopping off the bed soon enough, I enter my bathroom, starting the water and stripping from my clothes. I then yank the tangles out of my hair with a brush and hop in the shower, scrubbing the dirt off my body and massaging my scalp with shampoo and conditioner. I then turn the water off and get out, drying myself and wrapping a towel around my hair. Once putting on a pair of clean shorts and a tank, unwrapping my hair and blow drying it before adding light, natural looking curls. Adding my foundation to my now clean face, I then apply my concealer and contour a little but not enough to make me look disgusting. Once that's done, I do my eyes, applying a natural looking color to the lid and a slightly darker one to the crease. After blending everything together, I add my eyeliner and mascara, finishing the look with simple lip balm, some highlight and skipping over to the closet.

Grabbing a grey crop top, ripped shorts and a blue red and white flannel, I take off my clothes and put the new outfit on before slipping on some white vans and jogging down the stairs with my phone in my hand.

"Hadlee, hey, I was just about to come upstairs to you." Maverick says as I enter the living room. "I'm having a party-"

"I know, dad told me." I cut him off, adding a grin to seem nicer. "Thanks for telling me though."

He nods. "Okay, cool."

I leave the living room, going into the kitchen to find Justin standing at the bar, drinking a glass of water.

"Hi Hadlee." he says, a smirk immediately playing on his lips as I come into his path of vision.

"Hi Justin." I smile, moving over to the fridge and opening it to grab a bottle of water for myself.

Before long, some of Maverick's friends arrive and everyone makes their way to the backyard, making me do the same. Walking over to the drinks table after a while, I let my eyes scan over the alcohol, rolling my eyes at the options and pouring some dr. pepper into a cup. I then stand straight, turning around and looking at the small crowd of around fifteen people.

I'd be lying if I said I expected it to be this small. I expected it to much bigger. Louder. All around just, more.

Glancing around, I notice most guys with girls while only three of the guys didn't have anyone. Justin being one of them. I sigh, taking another sip of my drink before getting interrupted.

"You're Hadlee. Maverick's sister, right?"

I look over, raising my brows at a girl with long brown hair, perfect makeup and a sweet smile. I then nod, noticing how stupid I must look. "Yeah, that's me."

"I'm Rylee." she says, offering her hand.

I take it. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too." she smiles.

"Ryles!" someone yells towards us, making her glance over her shoulder.

"I've gotta go. It was really nice meeting you." she says, smiling and walking away.

I let out a breath, taking another sip of my drink before throwing it away. I then look down at the clock on my phone, noticing it to be almost ten already. Giving up on the party, I walk into the house, jogging up the stairs and looking at myself in the mirror before stripping and putting on some sweats and a tank. I then remove the makeup from my face and wash it with the cleanser, putting on moisturizer directly afterwards.

I then plop onto the bed, grabbing my phone and sending a text to Cami. No single cuties:(

A light knock on the door causes my voice to shakily send a 'come in' to the direction as I continue looking at my phone, waiting for the anticipated text.

"I like you better this way."

Jumping slightly, my head immediately turns to the side, noticing Justin leaning casually against the wall next to the bedroom door.

"W-what?" I stutter, letting my nervousness get the best of me.

"Pajamas, no makeup... it suits you better than before." he shrugs.

"What's the supposed to mean?" I snap, disliking his attitude towards my attempt to be pretty.

"Whoa tiger." he starts, putting his hands up in a surrender type of way. "Don't get me wrong, you're beautiful with the makeup and cute outfits and all... it's just I personally prefer you specifically like this. Natural beauty."

I lick my lips, considering my next sentence carefully before letting it slip from my lips. "Stop flirting with me."

He chuckles, a smile playing at his lips. "I wasn't trying to."

"That's kind of the problem." I reply immediately, shaking my head and looking down at my phone again.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

I glance up, seeing his brows laced into one in confusion causing me to sigh. "You don't realize you're flirting with me." I tell him, causing him to nod slowly. "Which means you flirt with other girls without realizing. If you flirt with multiple girls at once without realizing it's basically just saying that you can't commit to one person."

His brows raise immediately after my statement and he stays silent a moment, most likely realizing my accurate response to his action. "You've got me all figured out, huh?"

"Basically." I say, nodding.

He licks his lips, taking three quick strides and placing his face only an inch away from my own in less than a second. "Let's get one thing straight, princess. You know absolutely nothing about me." he tells me, an emphasis being put on the word 'nothing'.

I gulp, once again letting my nervousness get to me as my teeth attack my bottom lip as they always do.

His infamous smirk returns to his lips. "Goodnight Hadlee." he says, turning on his heel and swiftly leaving my room before I could respond.

I clear my throat, feeling the lump I hadn't felt while he was present. My bottom lip is attacked yet again as I lay back on my bed, hearing the music pulse through the backyard in the back of my mind.

How did he know I had left that party? Why did he come looking for me? Was it because Maverick wouldn't have noticed? But why would he care? Probably because he's the exact type of person I suspected and now I have proof of it. He admitted that he didn't know he was flirting with me although he obviously was and if he can flirt with me and not know it than why wouldn't he do it with other girls? I'm sure he's probably one of those guys that sweeps girls off their feet, gets them to fall for him, have sex with him and then he kicks them to the curb. It's the only explanation. They probably throw themselves at him which is why he doesn't realize he's flirting because he never has to try. I shouldn't feel bad for anyone though. They put themselves in the situation and he allows it to happen without thinking of the consequences. Or maybe he does think about it but doesn't give enough of a fuck to care. That sounds about right. Why am I even thinking about him anymore? He left like five minutes ago. I should be going to sleep like I planned to. Yeah. Why didn't Cami ever answer? She always answers and is never asleep at this time. I guess she's at a party or something. She'll text me by the time I get up tomorrow. I should go to sleep. Yes. Sleep.

Turning off the lights, I curl up under the blankets and make sure my phone is plugged in for the night before closing my eyes and trying to fall asleep, blocking the music out to the best of my ability.

But why did he care enough to come looking for me?

***

thank you so much for reading the new chapter!

much love, 

shan:)

QUESTIONS:

1. what was your favorite / least favorite part of the chapter?

2. what do you think will happen next? 

3. why do you think Justin went looking for Hadlee?