The girls sat on Selene's bed, their pints dripping as the ice cream melted and balanced precariously on the edge of her nightstand.
"How are we going to do this?" Zoë asked her.
A notepad was balanced on Selene's knee as she sat with her legs crossed, pen in her left hand. The only words on it being the title 'DOWN WITH DECLAN'. The notebook wasn't left-handed and she could already feel the strain the rungs would put on her wrist. It was one of Zoë's notebooks, the cover pink with the words 'PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION' printed in a gold serif font on the front cover.
"I have no idea," she said.
Zoë sighed. "This is useless."
Seeing her best friend lose hope, she put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "We'll figure it out. All we need is a girl who is willing to eff him up."
"You could do it," Zoë suggested.
She raised an eyebrow. "Declan knows who I am," she said.
"Yeah barely," Zoë responded. "You pretend like we had a falling out or something. Plus he has terrible memory, he might not even recognize you."
She had only met Declan once or twice but briefly. The fact that she never liked him combined with the fact that she hated being a third wheel meant that she was never near him when he was with Zoë.
"Breaking his heart involves making him fall for me," she said, "that means spending time with him, flirting with him."
"Come on Sel," Zoë begged.
"I'm not exactly his type."
Zoë snorted. "Anything that breaths is Declan's type."
"You're Chinese, Nyx is black. He obviously has a type and a hundred percent White isn't it."
"Do you have anyone else who could do it?" Zoë asked with a raise of an eyebrow.
"Your cousin!" she exclaimed. "She's only a year younger than us."
Zoë blinked at her. "Sel," she said slowly, "my cousin is a lesbian."
She sighed.
"It's fine," Zoë said. "We don't have to do this."
"We're doing this," she insisted and let out another sigh. "I'll do it."
"Really?"
She nodded and was almost knocked off the bed when Zoë threw her arms around her neck. "Thank you."
"Anything for you," she responded, wrapping her arms around her best friend's waist.
Zoë pulled away. "Okay, we need a plan." She took the notepad from her and underlined the all-caps title twice.
Zoë had always loved lists. She wrote one before doing almost everything. The corkboard in her room at home was filled with lists, some of them with everything crossed off and others written in ways only she could understand, small holes in them from where she would pin and unpin them.
"What's the first step?" Zoë asked, tapping the pen again the rings of the notebook. She had a habit of fidgeting without noticing it. Often tapping her feet or fingers or twirling a writing utensil in her hands.
Selene shrugged. "Get him interested?"
"That's going to get you a one-night-stand or a hookup, not heartbreaking territory."
She scrunched up her nose in disgust.
"You have to leave him wanting more," Zoë explained then wrote.
She made out the upside down letters of 1.) Play hard to getâbecause he's a player so why not make him play his own game?
She didn't need to offer any help as her friend continued the list, knowing exactly what intrigued Declan.
After a couple sips of her melted ice cream, the notebook was passed to her.
2.) Pull him inâmake him think he's got you in the palm of his hand. 3.) Pull away a littleâgive him all of you and he'll get bored quickly. 4.) Gain his trustâyou have his trust and you're an inch away from his heart. 5.) Make him fall â higher they are, harder they fall. 6.) Break his fucking heartâshatter it like an old phone.
"He wasn't like this with you was he?" she asked.
Zoë shook her head. "I was an exception, but I don't think there will be many exceptions."
She nodded. "Okay, cool. When do we start?"
Zoë pulled out her phone. She jumped from app to app, scrolling and pausing and tapping away before she found what she was looking for. "Party at some seniors tonight. Their parents are out of town, and its five bucks admission. We start tonight."
"Really?" she asked. "Already?"
"We have to strike quickly," she joked. "And we have to turn you into Declan's dream girl."
"And here I was thinking we were past the times of dressing for guys," she said dryly.
Her best friend laughed. "Pull out that little red dress I got you for Christmas, and every item of makeup you own."
»
Her feet already hurt.
Selene had just walked into the party, having been granted free admission due to the guy at the door not being able to move his eyes from her chest.
She had told the uber in a sleek black Subaru to drop her off a block away knowing that parties like this tended to be broken up before midnight and since her driver was a woman in her mid-forties who had given Selene a look of distaste when she had seen her attire and gave up the general vibe of being someone who would break up a party that wasn't even in her own neighbourhood, she decided not to take any chances.
Zoë had dressed her up in a red dress made of silk. It was more revealing than what she usually wore, the neckline dipping into a low v and the skirt just brushing her ass. It had been paired with black suede heeled ankle boots and silver hoops that felt heavy in her ears. A black choker was wrapped around her neck, elongating it.
Her makeup was done but she had a full face of it something she never did unless attending a wedding or huge event. Her lips painted a nude colour, her eyelashes coated in mascara and a dark colour blended on her lids. Her hair had been straightened, her brown hair and the honey gold highlights flowing down her back.
Much to Zoë's chagrin, she wore a leather jacket on top as the dress was sleeveless and it felt too weird for her to have her arms bare.
Music blared through the speakers a Drake song playing at the max volume.
She reminded herself of Zoë's advice. Find Declan, make an impression, and leave. She rolled her shoulders as she headed for the kitchen to grab a drink.
Draw less attention to yourself, she told herself as she picked up a clean looking red cup from the bottom of the stack and filled it a quarter of the way and filled the rest of the cup with lemonade she found in the fridge to minimize the awful taste.
She wandered aimlessly around the party, her eyes searching for Declan while sipping her concoction, slipping between groups she somewhat recognized as she navigated through the living room of the large house.
Hearing some commotion downstairs as the DJ was changing songs, she headed for the glass staircase.
Though she was sure it was pretty in daylight, at the party it was covered in crushed solo cups and vague stains of bodily fluids.
Following the cheering, she entered what looked to be a game room. Though there was a crowd there was still enough room for her to squeeze to the second row and see what was happening.
Declan stood at the far side of the ping pong table, completely unaware of her presence. Four red solo cups were positioned into a diamond in front of him.
His opponent had two red cups in front of him and a frown on his face as he tried to concentrate. But based on the way he swayed, it would be far too hard.
He landed the white ping pong ball in Declan's cup and Declan shrugged and chugged the drink back before his opponent aimed again, and missed.
One side of Declan's lips lifted slightly as he caught the ball that was too far left to hit any cups before he aimed and landed the ball in his opponent cup. Barely giving him time to put the cup down after chugging it, he aimed again and landed it into the final cup.
His friends quickly surrounded him with screams of laughter and yelled at the opponent to drink up.
After all the celebration was over, one of his friends addressed the crowd. "Who wants to go against the beer pong king?"
Declan stood behind him, smiling slightly at the nickname.
"I'll go," she said and immediately scolded herself.
Eyes turned to her.
She cleared her throat and straightened her back. "I'll go," she said louder.
His friend smirked, a disgusted shiver ran down her back. "A'ight shorty, step up."
She left her drink at her spot almost positive it would tip over by the time she got back and headed towards the table.
Though Declan's face showed no emotion, his eyes were confused as he regarded her.
He gave her a quick once over, glancing at her outfit and stopping at the exposed patches of skin.
Someone re-racked the cups, filling them with green liquid and after reading the label she found it was Sour Puss Apple, her favourite. It was too bad she wouldn't be the one drinking it.
In the dim light of the game room, she could see his face. His skin was only a shade or two darker than her pale tone, and he was much taller than her even from the other side of the table. Though she knew his eyes were an icy blue-green, in the light they looked almost brown, his jaw was sharp and lips pink with a bit of hair on above it. He wore a black t-shirt, showing off the black ink on his forearm and a pair of light washed jeans. He had two necklaces on, one of them being a cross, which she found ironic given the sinful rumours that followed him around. Some gold bracelets decorated his wrists along with a couple of rings on his fingers. A nose ring shined in his left nostril and identical small silver diamond earrings pierced his ears. His dark hair was pushed back, styled with the sides almost all shaved off but the middle thick and long.
The t-shirt showed off the muscles in his arms and the few tattoos he had that decorated his arms.
"Ladies first," he said and tossed the ball to her.
He tried to mask his surprise as she caught it.
She didn't bother with saying thank you as she aimed and landed it in one of his cups.
He took the cup and quickly chugged it.
Aiming again she landed in the cup right next to the empty space.
"That means I go again right?" she asked innocently.
He nodded, a muscle in his jaw ticking as he picked up the cup.
Once he had put the empty cup off to the side, she aimed again getting it in a cup closer to the front.
With a slight sigh after he had drunk the green liquid, he put it off to the side.
"I hear you're a player," she asked.
He lifted an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes as he shrugged.
"Nice to meet you," she said, taking her aim. "I'm the coach." She threw the ball and watched as it landed in another one of his cups.
The crowd went wild behind her and she smirked as Declan regarded her not touching his cup.
She could practically hear what he was asking. "Who the fuck is she?"
Everything was going according to plan.
»
They were down to the last cups, well at least Declan was.
Selene's three were organized in a neat triangle while his two sat side by side.
His ball landed in her cup and she took her time drinking it.
Once she had placed the cup down, she watched as Declan aimed for another one of her cups.
She leaned forward, the v neckline of her dress pulling down and exposing her strapless Victoria Secret red and black lace bra.
Declan missed.
She laughed a bit as she straightened up and aimed for his cups.
The first one landed easily and before Declan could even fully place the cup down, a second one landed as well.
She had won.
The crowd went insane around them, everyone screaming and laughing.
Declan stared at her, not bothering to touch the cup. Behind him, his friends were doubled over laughing.
"Drink up!" she shouted to be heard above the ruckus.
He slowly reached for his cup and lifted it to his pink lips. Once she could see his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed, she grabbed her jacket from where she left it on a nearby chair and left the game room.
The glass stairs were much messier now and she navigated up them, trying not to ruin her shoes.
She headed for the kitchen, stealing a bottle of smart water and calling an uber before heading outside.
The night was complete. She screwed off the lid of the clear bottle and lifted it to her lips.
Once she had taken a couple of gulps she lowered the bottle and screwed the lid back on. It was almost April but the air was chilled as it brushed over her bare legs.
"Hey," a voice called.
She pretended not to hear, occupied by something on her phone.
Declan following her was so not part of the plan.
He stepped around her so they were face to face.
She raised her eyes from her phone to survey him. She started at his feet, glancing at his shoes which were black with a red, white and black snake on the side and looked over his body before meeting his eyes. She could see his icy blue-green eyes better outside, the absence of light outside making them brighter. "May I help you?" she asked.
"Aren't you Zoë's friend?"
She shrugged, not confirming and not denying.
"What's your name?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Guess," she responded.
He ran his tongue over his lips. "Leaving so soon?"
"Not much that's interesting here," she commented.
He pretended to wince. "Or," he started, "are you scared of losing a second round?"
She snorted. "I'm not scared of anything, Grey."
"It's completely unfair that you know my name and I don't know yours."
She shrugged as a white car pulled up. "Figure it out," she said and stepped around him to the uber. "I'll see you around," she promised as she closed the door behind her.
As the car pulled away, she watched as Declan starred at her in the car, the blackout windows making her invisible. She finally let her mask drop.
With her head laid against the headrest of the seat, she texted Zoë. Mission accomplished. Be home in fifteen.
A/N:
Hey crazy butterflies.
Sorry for the lack of updates. My laptop has been broken for the past month and I still haven't fixed it so enjoy this chapter until I can post regularly again.
MWAH. LUV YA. BUH-BYE.