Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Ren

Distraction. That's what this party is for me. Honestly, I was never a big fan of parties but since the night Andre cheated on me I hated parties. But tonight, I'm going to need the distraction. Both from studies and Andre.

Austin throws a party by the beach. Some of us hang around the bonfire while we drink beer and talk about random things. "Who wants to go skinny dipping?" Alanna looks around our small circle.

My eyes widen. "Are you crazy?"

Alanna shrugs. "I'm bored," she admits.

"I'm game," Megan raises her hand.

I roll my eyes. "You're game for almost anything."

Alanna looks at Shaia and she shakes her head. She wraps herself around her boyfriend, Ralph's arm. "I think I'll pass and stay with this cutie." She says.

Alanna looks at me. "I'm just going to go ahead and assume that you're also staying?"

I nod firmly. "Yep."

Megan claps her hand and stands up, dusting sand off her butt. Alanna does the same. They go run off to the shoreline and look around to check if the coast is clear before stripping off their clothes and diving into the cold sea water.

"Where's your sister?" I turn to Shaia.

She frowns. "She's with Brad," she points at the big buff dude by the keg stand. I squint my eyes. He doesn't look familiar. Perhaps he's not from the UNI. "They've been dating for a week now."

"Total douche." Ralph scoffs.

Shaia chuckles lightly. "Yeah, he sure is. This one time I asked him to pass the salt and he told me to get it myself!" she gapes.

I fake gasp. "Oh no, he didn't."

"He really did!" she points out. "I had to walk to the other side of the table just to get the salt myself."

The DJ Austin hired starts playing a slow song. Couples start to gather in the middle of the party. They all slow dance to the song. Shaia's eyes widen in excitement. She squeals and jumps out from her seat.

"That's our song, babe!" she pulls Ralph to his feet. "We have to dance."

Ralph glances at me. "We can't-"

I shake my hands. "No, please. I'll be fine. Go dance."

Shaia grins and turns to Ralph. They both run to the crowd. Ralph wraps his arms around her waist while she wraps hers around his neck. They dance forehead-to-forehead. They both sway in sync with the music.

At least I know there are some people who take relationships seriously.

I get up and walk towards the shoreline, kicking tiny pebbles on the way. Although Andre left for Spain a week ago, I still needed the distraction. I liked him. I really did. And it sucked that he didn't feel the same way.

Did he ever like me? Or was it all an act?

Questions flow in my mind and not a single answer for any of them. I sit down on the wet sand and watch the waves. The moon is full and so beautiful.

"Harper," I hear someone call from behind me.

I look over my shoulder and see Austin. He takes a seat beside me. I give him a small smile. "Hi," I say before looking back at the water.

He looks at me with sympathy. "You alright?"

I sigh. Can I talk about this kind of stuff with him? "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" he tells me like he read my mind. "What's on your mind?" he cocks his head at the side.

"A bunch of things."

"First thing on your mind," he tells me.

"Life is unfair." I bring my knees closer to my chest and wrap my arms around them. I rest my head on my knees. "Everyone has someone. Megan has Travis, Alanna has Adam, Shaia has Ralph and Kristen has Brad-"

"Brad? As in brad Braur?"

"-why don't I have anyone, Austin?" I look at him and my eyes start to water but I cease my tears to come down at this moment. "Instead I get led on and to make things worse, also cheated on."

He shrugs, "I'm here. You have me."

"Well. For now," I add. "What happens when you meet this girl someday? You meet her, you like her and ask her out. What happens to me then?" I look down at my hands.

Austin reaches over and takes my hand. He intertwines them and I stare down at them. They fit so perfectly. Or at least I think they do.

"After my breakdown over my father, what do I do when you're not around? I need someone. I don't think I can survive going through what I'm going through alone."

He's quiet. I don't look at him, instead I keep my eyes fixed on our hands. Why isn't he letting go? I like our hands like this. I like holding his hand. They keep my warm. They keep me sane.

"Didn't you just hear me?"

I look up at him. Crap, did he say something? I mentally slap myself across the face. I should stop zoning out and listen. It's dark and I try to see the green in his eyes.

"I said, I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere." He lets go of my hand and wraps his arms around me and kisses my temple. "No one can make me leave. You're going to have to kill me," he chuckles and I smile.