Chapter 5: Chapter 3: My Invite

"You are coming, right?"

Donovan was leaning on Syllas' locker, his arms crossed and one leg placed behind him. His eyes judged my silence as if not going would be a crime against humanity. I kept on ignoring him as I organized my locker, rubbing at my aching biceps.

I prayed that he wouldn't notice the smudges of ink that I had done a poor job of wiping off on my locker.

Thankfully, he was too occupied with trying to convince me to attend Cash's lame party to notice.

Spanned out of our conversation field was my locker buddy, Syllas, waiting ever so patiently for Donovan to move out of the way.

It blew my mind that he had time to waste with me at all. I'd have expected him to be at Burn's by now, living it up with The Populars.

I shoved my new read that I had gotten from the library in my backpack along with my fantasy novel that Syllas had played football with a little whiles back, leaving him to deal with my anomaly of a best friend.

Still, not being one to take hints, Donovan followed me out and dragged me to his car, tossing his key fob to me out of nowhere. Being the queen of late reactions, I tussled with it for a hot minute until, as fate had designed, it slipped through my fingers.

He did not look impressed.

I picked it up and handed it out to him but he shook his head and pointed at me.

"You drive." He shrugged his hands into his pockets and went to the passenger side. I would have stood there all day if he hadn't called my name like one would a disobedient dog. I grimaced, the remote in my hand feeling heavier than it was.

"Hurry up, I'm starving."

I rolled my eyes and got in the car, turning to him.

"Nice to meet you, Starving. I'm Harley." I gave him something to cringe at while I studied the dashboard.

Thankfully, the huge button at the key ignition read Start/Stop, or I would have made a fool of myself right then. I could prolong the disgrace for as long as possible.

"You can't drive." Donovan stated after watching me struggle for his entertainment. He was too stunned to tease me about it, but I had already gone ahead and hit my head on the wheel, shaking it in shame. He laughed, hitting the dashboard like a lunatic.

"That's perfect!"I drew back in confusion and glared at him.

"It's perfect that I can't drive?"

"Well, yeah, because now I can teach you." He grinned and nudged me on the shoulder. "You'll be driving us to school from now on."

"In your probably very expensive car?" My reasoning was lost to his excitement.

"So? I trust you." He said, then laid back in his seat, clicking his seatbelt in. "Starting now."

I rolled my eyes at that and put the car in reverse like I had seen Cash do on many occasions, easing out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

Donovan let out a relieved sigh when we reached a red light and I took my hand off the steering to slap the distrust out of him. Instead of flinching, he took my hand and placed it back on the wheel, flicking my head back to the road with his index.

"I trust you but not enough to throw away my life." He teased. "Focus, Harley, focus."

I mocked his words under my breath and he snorted.

"You sound like a chipmunk."

"No, I don't." My voice raised in indignation. His index moved my head again so that I was staring ahead.

"Yes, you do, and the light's green."

"Oh. Right." I jerked the car forward again, not missing the way his hands clung onto the seats like a lifeline. We made it home without running over a person or worse: a mailbox.

The house was empty, as usual. Donovan flicked on the TV while I went up to my room to change into something more comfortable.

My shower was brief and I placed my hair in a ponytail before heading back down to him. Donovan did a double take, seeing me for the first time without my hair in the way but I tried not to let it bother me.

We can't all be Riley's and Catherine's and he'd have to get used to this face if he wanted to hang out with me.

He turned back to the game he was watching as I sat down next to him with a bowl of chips and lemonade.

"You shouldn't cover your face at school." He commented and I gave him a look of confusion.

"I have acne." I pointed at every single one. "They'd tease me to my grave about it."

"It's barely noticeable." He mumbled and I hummed sarcastically. "Seriously, I didn't even notice until you said it."

"Just..." I blinked away my clear embarrassment, cupping my cheeks. Using my index, I turned his head back to the screen as payback for his driving lessons and he chuckled.

"Watch the game, Donovan."

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Donovan's car was parked up front the next day.

I had been browsing through my horror collection at the window when I spotted him walking up the driveway and the blood drained from my face.

His voice drifted up the stairs as I made a beeline for the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. My morning shower was cut in half and it took less than that to get dressed. I just threw on a random hoodie and jeans and hopped my way down the hallway while simultaneously tugging my shoes on, leaving my room as it was.

I'll just clean it up later.

I found him in the kitchen, sitting at the counter while mom doted on him like he wasn't a whole seventeen year-old. So much for keeping our friendship a secret.

From the living room, I watched their interaction in the kitchen with a wave of nostalgia running through my brain.

I made my presence known, noticing the almost cleared plate of pancakes in front of him and the sad expression magic mug in his hand. He sipped on the hot cocoa and looked up at me standing at the doorway.

"Oh good, you're ready." He said as I greeted mom with a kiss on her cheek.My skeptical look went over his head completely. He tugged on my hoodie sleeve and before I knew it, I was in the driver's seat, skimming over the dashboard as he walked on over to the front passenger side.

My hands snapped back to the wheel when he opened the door.

"Do you always wear hoodies or is it just a phase?" He was just teasing but I felt a pang in my chest because the reality of it was that I had stuck to this fit all through high school. Donovan, despite his unwavering efforts to act like an uptight honey badger, was still a guy and, with me being a teenager with little interaction, his opinion was a stamp for what all other guys thought of me, including Hero.

I shrugged and forced a grin.

"You gotta love me for my personality, though, right?"

Donovan offered a blank stare then turned to the back and asked, "Has she always been this weird?" and I went cold with the realization that it wasn't just the two of us in his car.

"Beats me, that's the most I've heard her say in all my years of knowing her." Hero stared at my horror-stricken face for a nanosecond then went back to his phone. "Morning."

I just about died and when I regained focus, I began plotting all the ways I was going to murder Donovan.

We had to switch seats after that. I couldn't risk killing Hero, though I didn't voice that out to Donovan. I just told him my wrist hurt.

The rest of the car ride was spent with me merging with the seat so that no part of me would be seen by Hero while avoiding Donovan's curious side glances. His attempts at conversation were most definitely not received with welcome. I hummed until he gave up talking to me, redirecting his energy on Hero.

By the time we reached the parking lot, my social battery had drained out for the day and I wobbled out of the car unattractively. I blamed Donovan for all of it every step of the way to my locker. My stomps would have held more malice if he wasn't trailing cooly behind me and whistling to himself.

Having had enough, I spun around and met his lazy stare with intent, and, after struggling with a proper enough reaction, I settled for jabbing him in the ribs.

He looked from the spot I had hit to my eyes,tilting his head slightly in... confusion? He had the nerve to look confused?!

"Okay...?" He grabbed me by the shoulder and shook me like a ragdoll before drawing closer to me and speaking in a slow and even voice, "Hope that cleared your brain tumor. Why are you being weird?"

"I'm not being weird. Why didn't you tell me someone else was in the car?"

"You mean Hero?" He asked and I blushed at his name being spoken out loud. His brows knitted at my reaction and I shrugged him off, walking away before he figured out what I had already made as clear as day.

"You totally like Hero, don't you?" He shouted at my retreating figure and I speed-blitzed back to him, covering his big mouth before he outed me to the entire school.

Is he trying to have these people kill me or something?

"I don't like him, you jerk, so stop announcing that nonsense before I rip out your pretty little jugular." I pushed off of him but willed him to keep his trap shut with the wrath in my eyes. "I was just surprised, okay?"

"You think my jugular is pretty?" He grinned, running his tongue along his lower lip, his teeth tugging at his lip ring. I rolled my eyes. Sure, that's the important part. "So you don't like him?"

"No."

"Oh, okay." He smacked his lips, waving at Syllas, who was at the other end of the hallway. "Because, that would have made him riding with us to school every day way too awkward."

"What?" My voice sounded faint to my own ears. Like a dying sheep. I didn't have enough time to grill him about it. Syllas had already slicked his arm around Donovan's neck and pulled him away from me. Donovan actually had the nerve to wave in my direction, grinning widely just before they bent the corner.

Well, there goes my sanity.

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The basketball court was big enough for a few thousands of people, making game day almost as celebrated as any other holiday.

Except Easter.

Pfft, obviously.

It was a sport loved by our town which meant that every player was well-known and highly respected. They even got stuff for free just because they were ballers and the mascot... well, the mascot was me so...kind of a letdown.

Still, despite not getting free stuff like the others, I held my head up proudly from within the smelly hedgehog costume as I dragged my feet to the bleachers, waiting for practice to be over. As our school's mascot, it was my job to represent with humor and keep the crowd entertained at games, announcements —everywhere, really.

My head of honor was taken off the second my butt hit the bench and I could finally inhale the less nauseating smell of gym socks and sweaty teenage boys. My hair was clammy— stuck to my face because of it—and my actual face was flushed from the microwave of a costume. I glared at the hedgehog head, unaware of the two girls that were next to me.

"You're Harley, right?" My soul almost ascended at Catherine's voice, the hairs at the back of my neck standing once I noticed Riley next to her, her face not betraying any of the emotions that I had imagined she'd wear when she finally caught me.

I held my breath.

"Well?" Catherine pushed, her irritation clear and I blinked some  sense back into myself.

If Riley had already figured out my identity, she wouldn't be acting so calm. She'd have pulled my hair out by now, strand by strand.

My sigh of relief was audible.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm...I'm Harley." I sat up straighter, feeling self-conscious under their intense stares. "Did you need something?"

"Not from you, no." Riley scrunched her face after assessing my costume. "The bonfire next Saturday, come."

"Huh?"

"We're inviting you." Catherine blocked my view of an already pissed-off Riley and I focused on her instead. Her beauty was unmatched. It was like looking at one of those social media, makeup influencers. Riley too, except the permanent scowl on her face, mixed with her hatred for everything that breathed, ruined it. "You're the school's mascot so I'm counting on you to bring the cheer."

"Isn't that your job, though?" I reasoned, not buying their act of kindness.

"You sound familiar." Riley said and I paled instantly. "Have we met before?"

I opened the door to my imagination and rubbed at my excuse lightbulb again, this time with a particularly rough towel.

"I'm Cash's sister."

Her eyebrows flew up in shock and she quickly reverted back to our original topic, avoiding Catherine's questioning gaze. I lowered my head to hide my satisfaction.

"You'll come, though, right?" Catherine pressed and my brows knitted. Why are they pushing this so much?

"You've had three of these now and never invited me. I'm okay with sitting this one out too." I shrugged. "It's not my scene, anyway."

"How would you know if you've never gone?" Catherine tried again. "Come on just—"

"Donovan won't come if you don't." Riley stated. "I don't care what your scene is. We'll be expecting you."

And I won't be coming

My inner voices raged at Riley's audacity as I watched their retreating backs. I groaned into my palms, catching Donovan's gaze from across the room.

I'm so going to kill him.

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I flinched, shoving the sanitary wipe in my pocket as a huge weight was placed around my shoulders. I shrugged Donovan's hand off with a grunt, the sweet scent of his cologne hitting me full force.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing that should concern you." I flipped around, resting on my locker with my hands tucked behind my back. "You're attracting every demon spawn nowadays. What's up with you turning the hottest girls at school down?"

"I want you there. Is that a crime?"

"When Riley's involved, probably."

He placed his hand back in the same position and yanked me off the locker effortlessly, pulling me along to his car. Hero was already there, waiting for us. Donovan sent a nasty smirk my way and I fell back behind him as we approached.

"I got 2k. Wanna run?" Hero asked the minute we got in the car and I perked up.

"And take a break from packing? You had me at 2k." Donovan tapped the wheel cheerily, turning to me, he asked,

"You coming?"

Just as Hero muttered,

"You haven't even touched a single thing in your room."

My brain short-circuited.

"Um, if he doesn't mind..."

I grimaced at my obvious desperation.

"I don't." Hero mumbled, too distracted by whatever had him down to notice. "The more the merrier."

His dry mumble put me at ease. I glanced at Donovan only to catch him smiling teasingly at me. Jerk. He wiggled his brows and I faked an eye roll, trying to suppress my excitement.

Hero's game room was built on the other side of the mayor's massive garden. It was mostly flowers and bushes shaped like animals and words like STRONG and KIND. My eyes were spinning all over as I trailed behind Hero and Donovan, my astonishment of this place quieting the disappointment of not seeing Hero's room.

I was kind of hoping that a little insight on where he slept would broaden my understanding of him so it was a major letdown for me.

The cobblestone path led us to a rectangular wooden architecture that was designed with several graffiti art on the walls and about four potted plants aligned at the entrance in even spacing of each other.

I stared in awe at the art on the wall, not wanting to go inside just yet.

"Somebody's been practicing." Donovan spoke from the sliding doors. "Last I checked, you could only do a lousy stickman that looked like he was coming down with a bad case of diarrhea and needed to hide his junk. Did you ever once draw on some pants for the poor guy?"

"Ha ha...ever the funny one." Hero replied from inside. The sound of the console turning on drew me from the wall and to the door. "But, yeah, it's...it's productive and all that."

"The graffiti?" Donovan plopped down next to him and grabbed a controller. I watched their dynamic in play from the entry. "Your dad doesn't mind?"

"He only minds what he knows." Hero shrugged as he pulled out a seat, revealing a hidden cooler of alcohol. I looked from the cooler to Hero, unable to just hold my tongue.

"And that would be...?"

Hero met my gaze and walked on over to me, cracking open a can.

"Not much, Harley." He handed the can to me. "I'm pretty good at keeping secrets."

Oh, don't I know it.

I held up the can in appreciation, my stare replacing the verbal part of it. Although my gratitude was stuck somewhere in my throat, I gave myself a star for keeping eye contact in place of it and went over to Donovan, sipping my drink to distract myself from thinking too deeply about Hero's statement.

"Not you guys flirting right in front of me." Donovan felt the need to vocalize and I smacked his arm.

That was not flirting.

Hero didn't bother with a response either. I sat listening to their ceaseless yet entertaining boy talk throughout almost the entire evening and I would have been fine with that but Donovan had other plans.

He handed me the controller and leaned back in his seat, revealing Hero's expressionless gaze on me before I could get the chance to mean-mug him. Trying not to strangle Donovan, I turned towards the game.

After a few beers and even more wins, mixed in with a bit of small talk with Hero, I started to loosen up a bit. He seemed to be enjoying my company too, laughing whenever I won and, every time our eyes met, I could tell that his interest in me was growing.

I never thought that I'd ever get to spend my evening doing something I love with the boy almost everyone admired but this was really happening.

Donovan made it happen.

Speaking of, he had moved to the cabinets in search of a snack. He cracked open a bag of chips and held out the pack for me to see, checking that I liked the flavor. I nodded, wondering how he had caught on that I had been watching him.

Instead of taking his place beside me, he went on over to Hero's side, getting him to move closer to me. Hero didn't notice at first, too busy being angry at Donovan to care about our elbows touching. I was having a mini heart attack and it worsened when he snatched the chips from Donovan, muttering something about getting three bags next time before handing it over to me.

He noticed then. It would be weird if he hadn't since our noses almost touched. His eyes glazed over and I thought he was going to close the distance for a split second but he drew back from me, facing Donovan.

"We need to talk." He got up, pulling an unwilling Donovan into a separate room and shutting the door.

My heart was running a marathon that I didn't know how to stop. I looked from the door to the cooler to the screen and my face lit up.

I don't know when they decided to come back but I was having a blast on my own. Ten beer cans down and the sweet headset covering my ears from the outside world was pulled off my head by Donovan.

I blinked up at him, my eyelids feeling heavy.

"Time to go?" He asked and I shook my head, pointing at Hero who was at the counter, his arms holding him up as he leaned on it, watching me.

"Just..." I held a finger up at him. I squinted at it, trying to understand why it resembled the middle one. "One more game. I promise I'll let you win this time."

I jolted at his laughter. They were like heavenly bells to my ears.

"Are you drunk, Harley?"

I looked at Donovan—his head was in his hands, shaking in disappointment— then back to Hero. He looked amused.

I felt like the right answer would probably be...

"Yes."

"Wow, an honest drunk." He nodded, applauding my feat and I clapped with him. "Good for you, Harley. First time?"

I nodded and he turned to Donovan.

"Cash is going to murder you. You know that, right?"

"Have you seen me?" Donovan flexed his muscles. "You should worry more for Cash than me. Also, Harley's not a doll in a box. She can handle herself just fine."

"You're an idiot."

"And a jerk." I added for good measure.

Hero sighed, taking out three water bottles from the fridge and lining up a few, slightly crushed beer cans up on the counter.

"We'll kill some time here until she sobers up." He said. "Donovan, please try to avoid running into Cash. For Harley's sake, at least."

"Okay, daddy." Donovan fluttered his eyelashes and Hero almost threw a beer can at him.

"You're an idiot."

"And a jerk." I mumbled once more.

He ripped the chip bag out of Donovan's hand and came to sit beside me.

"Harley and I will share. You go and be more considerate by bringing two more." He muttered, handing me one of the slightly crushed cans. It didn't taste like anything even though he had assured me it was really beer.

I didn't know how to regulate my emotions after that. He had called my name about a gazillion times now and he wanted to share food with me. Food. This was a big deal to me and I showed it by always pushing the bag to him whenever I noticed his hand move towards it.

Hero handed me about three more cans of beer. I was starting to regain my composure when Donovan pulled me up with him and helped me to his car.

Hero asked me for my hand, pulling up the sleeves and writing something down. I got a glimpse of the random numbers on my skin just as he pulled my sleeves back down.

I think I heard Donovan laugh from the driver's seat and I sat up, laughing along. Hero sighed again, telling us to drive safe before heading inside.

Donovan could not shut up on the way home. He called himself the King of Hearts and I nodded energetically, agreeing with everything he said.

"Do you even know what we're celebrating?" He asked and I shook my head.

"It's fun to shout!" I screamed. I scrambled over to the front passenger seat. Donovan helped somewhat, steadying me.

"Pull up your sleeves, Harley."

I did as he said, seeing numbers and Hero's name at the end.

"He gave you his phone number." He explained and I gasped, happily. My smile dropped when I remembered my forgotten phone laying in Principal Hemsher's office desk. I have to get it by tomorrow.

"You can thank me later."

"I can't believe I got his number!" I beamed, my heart swelling with joy while Donovan pretended to be one of those nonchalant drivers in a car movie. I hit him on the arm and he joined me in my giggles. He's totally the King of Hearts.

"You are the bestest best friend in the whole wide world, Donovan."

"Handsome, smart, athletic, ladies man, golden boy..." I rolled my eyes at that and turned away, letting the cool breeze hit my face. "You're so lucky to have me, Harley."

I really am.

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