A New Kind of House Party

Damn, I have no life, I thought as I lounged on my bed. It was Friday night and I literally didn't have anything to do. For once, I didn't have any homework or any tests to study for. I didn't have a football game until Sunday so that meant I was free on the physical side too. I mean, I could go downstairs in work out in our little fitness center but that didn't sound like much fun to me. I was a little bit pissed off at the fact that I was realizing how boring I really was while another part was just tired of being bored. Then again, I couldn't exactly blame myself for that. I did get invited to a party tonight but I just didn't feel like going. I wasn't in the mood to get drunk. If I did then I'd probably just end up spilling my guts about how awful I was feeling about the whole situation with Melanie. I missed that girl like crazy. I mean, it's only been two days that she hasn't been speaking to me but yet, it feels as if it'd been months. I felt so empty without her by side. It's like I lost a vital part of me. Yea, I may not romantically feel anything towards her but she did complete me in a way. We'd always been inseparable so now it just felt plain weird not being together all the time.

I wished things were different. I wished that I didn't do whatever it was that I'd done to make her fall in love with me. I wished I didn't compliment her so much. I wished I didn't hold her hand half the time. I wished I didn't hold her and make her feel as if she was my girlfriend. I wished that I wasn't so stupid. I wished that I could have my best friend back.

Suddenly, my phone began to vibrate rapidly on my nightstand. I shot up quickly, looking to my iPhone with wide eyes. I silently prayed that it was Melanie. I hoped that she was feeling the same emptiness that I was feeling. Maybe she was calling to patch things up. Maybe we could finally get things back to normal. I grabbed my phone and answered quickly.

"Hey Danny," I heard Mia's sweet voice say from the other end. Damn. While a part of me was happy to hear her voice, another part of me felt disappointed that it wasn't the girl I really wanted to hear from.

"Hey Mia," I said as a small smile came upon my face. "What's up?"

"Nothing really. Just casually laying around in my sweats," she said with a soft laugh. "Are you busy by any chance?"

"No. I'm doing the same actually," I said with a chuckle. "Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out or something. We could stay in if you want. Maybe a watch a movie or something."

"Yea, sounds good. How about you come over here?"

"Okay! I'll be over in...say a half hour?"

"Perfect. See you then," I said before hanging up. I stared down at my phone for a moment as I checked to make sure that I didn't have any new messages from Melanie. Sadly, I didn't. Then again, I shouldn't expect anything from her too soon. That girl was pretty stubborn when she wanted to be. Plus, it seemed like I really hurt her. I doubted that she would want to talk to me for a long time. It's a sad fact but it's better to face the truth to be fooled by a lie.

I got up out my bed and hurried around the room to change my clothes. I doubted Mia would want to spend time with a guy who was wearing his father's college sweats and a ratty old tee shirt. So, I changed into a pair of jeans and a clean, blue Yale shirt. I stepped into my sneakers before spraying on a bit of cologne. I also threw a comb through my hair. Then, I hurried on downstairs to get some snacks and drinks together. Since all that we had was chips and dip, I just laid that out in the den. I also got some soda bottles and some other little pastries I thought Mia might like. After I had the food set up, I resorted to trying to pick out some movies to watch. Our family owned a whole bunch of them so at first, I thought it wouldn't be hard. Boy, was I wrong. I had no idea what kind of movies Mia liked so I was basically stumped on the whole thing. I had kind of been through the routine a lot so I tried to think of some of the movies other girls had liked and took those out. A lot of girls actually appreciated a guy who set up a comfortable stay-in date for them. Whenever I would do this kind of thing, the girl would end up making out with me by the end of the night. I didn't expect that with Mia but I still wanted to do something nice for her.

Just as I was about to phone for some pizza, I heard a knock at the front door. I glanced at the clock as I made my way up the short set of steps from the den. It had only been about twenty minutes since Mia had called and she said to expect her in a half hour. Either she got done quick or it wasn't her at the door. But then who would it be? I was the only one home. My parents were out at a dinner party, Zac was at my aunt's house with my little cousins, and hell knows where Ashley went. She just told me that she would be back before our parents got home. She ran out the door too quickly for me to actually question her about where she was heading.

The knock rang again as I walked cautiously to the door. "I'm coming," I yelled as I began to jog up to it. I opened the door to see Jayden standing there. Immediately, I felt my eyes crinkle in confusion at the sight of him. "What are you doing here," I asked automatically. From the look of his attire, I didn't know what exactly he was here to do. I mean, he was dressed in black cargo pants with a black jacket and black shoes. He looked like an assassin in his all black. Maybe he came to kill me. Or maybe he came to kick my ass. One of the two could be possible answers. I noticed that his bright emerald eyes were staring at me intently, their color standing out more against his dark clothes. I could feel my body beginning to freeze up as I looked into them. Quickly, I looked away to the foreign red motorcycle parked next to our curb. I didn't even know that he drove a motorcycle – or if he drove at all.

"What do you think I'm here for," Jayden asked, his deep, strongly accented voice holding a challenge. I shrugged.

"I can think of a couple reasons." He rolled his eyes at me.

"Don't flatter yourself if you think I'm here for you. I'm here because Ashley told me to come here to tutor her. Is she here?"

"No, actually, and I don't know where she went either. You sure, you didn't see her around your side of town." Jayden's mouth twisted up into a scowl as his eyes hardened at my statement. Before he could either punch me or threaten me, my phone buzzed lightly in my pocket. I pulled it out to see that I had gotten a text from Ashley.

Hey big brother! I forgot to tell you that Jayden was going to be coming over. He should be there soon so can you let him in and keep him busy for a couple minutes? I'll be home soon. Thank you! You're the best!

This girl better be glad I love her. With a sigh, I took a step back from the doorway. "Come on in. She'll be home anytime soon," I told Jayden. He seemed surprised at my gesture, his scowl vanishing from his face. He hesitated for a moment but slowly walked into the house. I closed the door behind him. "You can put your coat on the coat rack if you want," I told him as I motioned towards the rack in the near corner. He didn't seem to hear me at first. His eyes were too busy looking around our house. While I will admit that we lived in a big house, I will say that I didn't think it was anything spectacular. But then again, I had lived in it for my entire life so I looked at it a lot differently than he did. I was used to it while this was probably a huge step up for him. I doubted there was a lot of houses like mine down where he lived. He turned around to face me as he slowly took off his jacket. I immediately noticed how broad his chest was since his shirt hugged it tightly. I also realized that he was a bit thinner in the torso than I thought he would be. I mean, everyone in school always expected him to be some super buff. He was still muscular but he wasn't all that big. His torso was lean with his muscles weaved into his figure. His arms were pretty muscular though but not too big that they looked weird on their body. He was perfectly...proportionate.

"So, you gonna stare at me all night or...," Jayden said, a small smirk coming upon his face. Oh shit, was I really staring at him? Did he really notice that? Fuck. That probably looked so strange. I blushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry. Um, come on, the kitchen is this way," I said before hurrying off. If I wasn't mistaken, before I passed him, I could have sworn that I saw his smirk grow in amusement. His footsteps followed me into the kitchen. "Uh, can I get you something to drink or anything?"

"Someone's playing nice," Jayden said as he leaned against the doorway. A teasing smirk played on his lips. "Trying to get yourself out of the hole you dug yourself in?"

"No," I replied quickly. "I'm just trying to be a good host since my sister isn't here to do it. Is it always a crime to try to be nice to you?" Jayden raised an eyebrow.

"Watch yourself, white boy. I might be in your house but I won't hesitate to punch you in your throat if you try me." I scoffed.

"Yea, you keep threatening to beat me up. I'm starting to think that you're really not going to do anything." Suddenly, all amusement that once laid on Jayden's face was gone. He straightened himself up and began to take slow steps toward me. Oh shit. I was about to get murdered in my own house. Isn't that just wonderful?

"Keep talking and I'll stop promising and start doing instead. Is that really what you want?"

"You don't scare me Jayden," I said quickly. He raised an eyebrow again as he got closer. He was less than a foot away now, slowly cornering me against the counter. It wasn't long before he was standing right in front of me, his emerald eyes boring down into my blue topaz ones. He moved his hands to grip the counter on either side of me so that his arms were practically caging me in. I didn't notice before but he was actually a little bit taller than me. It wasn't by much but it was enough that I had to tilt my head slightly to make eye contact.

"I don't...scare you," Jayden said, his voice low. His accent was dangerously strong and the sound of it made my stomach clench in a strange way. "Then tell me, white boy, what exactly do you make of me?"

"Intimidating," I said quickly. "You're intimidating but you're not scary. Not to me." Again, I began to smell the soft cinnamon scent that wafted off of his body. Damn he was too close for my liking. But then again, that was part of his little show wasn't it? To intimidate me.

"Interesting," Jayden murmured. His eyes analyzed my face, his long eyelashes moving along with his eyelids. I began to feel nervous. It was like I was naked and he was inspecting every flaw on my body. For once, I felt a bit vulnerable and...strange. A part of me buzzed at his closeness but in what sense and why?

I didn't have time to find the answer to that question since another knock rang at the door. Jayden's head practically snapped towards the direction of the door in a micro-second, his eyes automatically hardening. I saw the muscles in his jaw clench as he slowly looked back over at me. I saw in his eyes that he was frustrated but...over what? What the hell was going on with him? He was so...strange. "That's Mia," I told him.

"I see you don't listen very well," he muttered as he backed off. As his cinnamon scent drifted away from my nose, I felt my body unfreeze itself. Did he really just manage to make me freeze again just by the look in his eyes? Dammit, what the hell was this shit? I ignored his comment and continued on to the door. I opened it to see Mia standing there in a pair of skinny jeans, Uggs, and a big UCLA hoodie on. She smiled widely at me.

"Hey Danny," she said happily. I returned the smile before I pulled her in for a hug.

"Hey Mia," I said into her hair. I tugged her inside of the house. "I'm glad you came over," I told her. She began to pull off her hoodie, revealing her fitted long sleeved red tee shirt.

"Me too," she said as she got the oversized thing over her head.

"I can't say I'm particularly pleased," I heard Jayden say from behind me. Mia's eyes widened at the sound of his voice and she peeked around me to look at him. He was leaning the doorway with his arms crossed and a death glare placed on his face.

"Jayden," Mia said weakly. "What are you doing here?"

"Personal reasons," he replied, his eyes flicking to me for a split second as if he was motioning to me. I began to raise an eyebrow before I felt Mia grab my hand and pull me close to her. "What are you doing here?"

"Daniel and I are dating," Mia said as her hand tightened its grasp on mine. I looked down to see she was shooting him a faux smile. Obviously, I was missing something here. I felt awkward standing between them. I could feel the tension between them and it made me nervous. I didn't know either of them very well and hell knows what had transpired between them. I just hoped they wouldn't get blood on the new carpets.

"I'm home," Ashley said as she burst through the front door. She stopped in the doorway and looked between the three of us. "Whoa, what did I miss?" I shrugged. Mia shot Jayden a glare before turning to my sister.

"Nothing. Hi, I'm Mia. I don't think we've met," Mia said as she smiled genuinely at my sister. Ashley stared at her before looking down to our intertwined hands. Her eyebrows crinkled together.

"Oh, you're the reason Melanie hates Daniel's guts right now," Ashley said.

"Ashley," I yelled. Mia looked up at me with a confused look. "Melanie's my best friend. She likes me or whatever but I don't feel the same way," I explained quickly to Mia. The small girl nodded in understanding. "We'll be downstairs if you need anything," I told Ashley. "And keep in mind that I have big brother ears and I can hear anything you think I can't." Ashley rolled her eyes at me.

"Yea, yea. Whatever." She nodded towards the stairwell. "Come on, Jayden, my room's upstairs." I turned and began to lead Mia down the hallway. Jayden passed us halfway and I felt him pluck my hip. It may have been small but it actually did hurt. I met his eyes after he did so to see his eyes were telling me the same message he had given me before. Stay away from Mia. I only slightly shook my head at him. Obviously, somewhere in his head, he had things twisted about Mia. Maybe she did do something bad in the past but that didn't mean that she was a bad person. Or maybe I give people too much benefit of the doubt. Either way, Mia had a clean slate with me and I didn't want her to think that she didn't.

"Someone is a major Columbia University fan," Mia mused as we got down into the den. I had heard that response from almost everyone who came down here. My parents had literally decorated the place with all types of Columbia stuff. From blankets to the little flag things to little knick-knacks. They were crazy in love with that school.

"Yea, my parents are alumni." Mia raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Really," she asked.

"Yea. They went there together. They were high school sweethearts before that."

"Aww," Mia gushed as she took a seat down on the sectional couch. "Sounds like it was the perfect love story." I shrugged.

"I guess," I said simply as I sat down beside her. She shook her head at me. "I know: I'm such a guy."

"You are," she chirped before looking towards the food and movie décor that I had set out on the coffee table in front of us. "Oh wow. Did Jayden help you do this?"

"Nah. I had just got done when he got here." Mia nodded once before she dropped to her knees on the floor. She grabbed a chip out of the bowl and proceeded to open the small container of onion dip. "What was all that about earlier anyway," I asked cautiously.

"It's a long story," Mia murmured before she plucked the chip into her mouth. I got down on the floor next to her and reached for some chips.

"We've got all night." Mia smiled as she looked over at me.

"Well, we all used to be best friends when we were younger. Jayden and Bethany had scholarships for the private school I went to and I found a bit of closure with them. A lot of other kids thought I was weird but they accepted me. So, we all started hanging out together. I remember we used to make fun of all the popular kids. Jayden used to say that they only isolated us because we made them feel inferior when all they knew how to be was superior. He gave Bethany and I a lot of inner self confidence. I can give him credit for that." Her smile started to fall as she continued to go on. "But as high school hit and we all started truly finding out who we were, it didn't...our friendships didn't last. Bethany and I started having huge fights over the stupidest of things and Jayden just started changing. He wasn't the Jayden I knew anymore." She shook her head. "I'm not sure why they resent me so much now but I do know that our separation is my fault." She shrugged. "A word of advice for whatever you're going through with that Melanie girl: fight hard for your friendship. It may seem hard but it'll be worth it." I smiled down at her.

"Okay. I will." Mia smiled.

"You're such a good guy, Danny." Her hand came up to caress my cheek softly. Her hands were smooth, warm, and so tiny against my skin. "Whoever your future wife is will be one lucky girl."

"Yea, I guess." She tilted her head.

"You're always so humble." I blushed.

"Well, I've never been one to brag. I've kind of let my parents do that sort of thing for me. Besides, I never really thought much of myself anyway. I'm just Daniel and I'm perfectly fine with being just that."

"Would you still be perfectly fine being Daniel if I wanted you to kiss me?" I smiled.

"I'd be more than perfectly fine." Without warning, I grabbed her thin waist and pulled her into my lap. She squealed in surprise but I silenced her when I crushed my lips onto hers. The first thing I tasted on her lips was a cherry flavor. It was a good taste. I liked cherries. I also got a stronger whiff of her sweet perfume. Her lips were also really soft and dangerously delicate. I kissed her softly, slowly in an attempt not to break them. She was a good kisser and her small tongue was so delicious on mine. Despite all that, though, I realized that I wasn't emotionally feeling anything. I was kind of just kissing her. My heart didn't skip a beat nor did my stomach erupt with butterflies. It was strange. Usually, I always got those feelings when I first kissed a girl. So why now was it different? Why now did I have to feel so...empty?