Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Ren

Dinner party with his parents. Is he crazy? I can't believe I'm going to have dinner with his parents tonight.

I pull the covers over my knees and continue studying for finals. I glance at Austin and see him with his earphones on, bobbing his head with his eyes close.

I hear a knock on the door and Austin's eyes open. I wait for him to stand and open the door but he doesn't move. A knock comes again and I groan as I lazily get out of bed.

I open the door and meet a man in a suit. He's tall and knows how to carry himself. I look up at his green eyes, they're exactly like Austin's. He looks like Austin.

"I'm guessing you're Ren Harper?" the man asks.

"What are you doing here?" I look to my side and see Austin wrapping an arm around my waist protectively. In one quick move, he moves me behind him.

"It's good to see you too, son." The man extends a hand for Austin to shake but he doesn't move. Son? This man is Austin's father? Whoa. His father looks like a photo copied version of Austin.

"I asked you a question," Austin says bluntly. I lightly slap his back. How can he be so rude to his own father?

His father sighs and tilts his head to the side to look at me. "You failed to introduce me to your roommate, son." He steps inside and extends a hand to me. "I'm Lucas Lancer, but call me Lucas."

I reach out and Austin grabs my hand. I look up at him. "It's okay," I tell him and he releases his grip. I shake his father's hand, "I'm Ren Harper, but I guess you already knew that."

Lucas steps back outside and fixes his tie. He nods at me while looking at his son. "Great girl, you should bring her tonight."

"Tonight?" I look up at Austin. He did not tell me anything about going out tonight.

"I'm not going," Austin says.

"Your mother is arriving and you're not coming to see her?" he shakes his head in disappointment. "You are coming to the party tonight and you're bringing her. That is final."

Lucas clears his throat, "I'll be seeing you two tonight."

I pace around the dorm. "I don't even anything to wear," I mutter.

Austin sighs and walks over to me. He grabs my shoulders and stops me from pacing. He brings his hands up to my face and he rests his forehead against mine.

"You're not the only who doesn't want to go, alright?" he says softly. "We'll get through it together."

I pull away from him. "What do I have to wear? Because if it's something fancy-"

"Something fancy."

I groan in frustration and drop to the ground. I lean against my bed and hug my legs to my chest. Where do I get a fancy dress? And where can I find one before seven? Austin sits down on the ground beside me and I feel him staring at me.

"Stop staring, Austin."

He hands something to me and I look down to see a credit card. I push it away. "I can't accept that."

"Do it for me."

"No."

"Ren."

"No, Austin."

He sighs and grabs my hand and shoving the card on my hand. "Take it," he says. "Please."

I turn to look at him, meeting his green eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

He smiles slightly. "Because we have to," he says. "And also because I want to."

"Go and call Megan," he stands up and offers a hand. He pulls me up to my feet. "Go annoy someone else."

I smile at him and stand on my tiptoes and peck him on the cheek. He looks taken aback but quickly recovers. "Thank you," I tell him before grabbing my purse and heading out.

"I'm looking for something fancy," Megan tells the clerk. Megan nods to my direction, "Something that'll compliment her curves and structure."

The clerk smiles, "I have a couple of choices that are perfect."

I head to the fitting room as Megan hands me a blue strapless dress that hugs my torso but flows from my hip to the ground. I open the curtains and Megan is sitting on the couch in front of my fitting room, shaking her head. The clerk comes back with a white dress. I go back inside and put the dress on. The white dress is just like the blue one instead it was lace as long sleeves.

I head out of the fitting room once more and Megan's face wrinkles in disgust. "I don't like it," she gestures me to walk back and I follow.

The clerk hands me one more dress and it catches my attention. I put it on and stare at myself in the mirror. The dress is blood red, it's a halter that clings to my body, showing off my figure. I walk out of the curtains and Megan gasps in awe.

"That's the one," Megan says.

I smile, "Really?"

"Heck yeah,"

I pay for the dress with Austin's card before heading back to the dorm. I get ready in Megan's room. Megan does my makeup and finishes it off with red lipstick. She curls my hair and hairsprays before helping me with my dress. She lends me her black heels and once I'm finished, she stares at me in admiration.

"I'm so proud to call you my best friend," she smiles at me.

I smile back at her and give her a hug. "Thank you so much," I tell her and as if on cue, someone knocks on the door.

Megan opens the door to reveal Austin in a tuxedo. He was fixing his bow tie when he looks straight at me. His mouth parts and I blush at his reaction. He clears his throat and snaps back to reality. He enters the room, keeping his eyes on me.

"You look..." he trails off. "Breathtaking."

"I know right!" Our gaze turns to Megan and she quickly shuts her mouth. Megan hands me a black clutch. "Have fun."

We take the elevator to the ground floor. "Mind slowing down with your motorbike? You know, with my dress and all..."

"Oh, would I love to see what's underneath that-"

I smack him with my clutch and he winces, chuckling softly. "Don't worry, princess. We're taking the limo."

We head outside and I turn to him. "The what?"

He grabs my chin and turns my head to the direction of the limo. "The limo, he says.

Austin opens the door for me and I get in. Austin stays quiet the entire ride. He keeps tapping his foot against the floor and his tapping makes me more nervous than I should be.

"Stop with the tapping," I tell him and the tapping stops. "It's making me nervous."

The limo stops in front of the familiar house. Lancer's residence. The last time I was here, it was my first party. Now, it's my first fancy party. A butler opens the door and Austin gets out. He holds hand out for me and I take it. We get to the front door and I look at Austin before looking down at his chest as it goes up then down furiously. I put a hand on his chest and he looks down at me.

"We'll do it together, alright?" I says softly.

He lets out a breath before nodding, "Together."

The door opens and we see people walking around with champagne in their hands. I take a step inside and my legs wobble. Austin wraps an arm around my waist, keeping steady. We start walking around and Austin's arm doesn't leave my waist.

A waiter comes and offers us some champagne but we refuse. A butler approaches us and leads us to the dining hall. As we walk, I look around the house. I wasn't able to take a good look at the place the last time I was here, but now that I'm seeing the place, I can't take my eyes off it.

We get to the dining hall and see a couple people already seated. Austin says hello to some of the people before we sit down by the end. We sit down and a few seconds later, Lucas comes in with a lady who looks no older than thirty-five.

He shakes hands with the other people in the dining hall before reaching us. Austin stands and I do the same. Lucas shakes my hand, "Pleasure seeing you, Ren."

"Pleasure is all mine, Lucas."

He moves to greet Austin but Austin ignores him. Mrs. Lancer looks at me and I smile at her. "I believe we haven't met," she says. "I'm Elizabeth, but call me Liz."

"I'm Ren Harper," I extend my hand but she laughs and pulls me closer as she does this cheek-to-cheek thing.

She kisses Austin on the cheek and he smiles widely. I guess he's fonder of his own mother rather than his father. We all sit down and start eating.

"Austin, darling, how did you two meet?" Liz points her fork at me before taking a bite from her dinner.

"Oh, we're not-"

"We're roommates," Austin cuts me off. I look at Austin and kicks my leg, making me jump.

"So I was right?" Lucas looks at me then at Austin.

Liz brings her hands up to her face. "My boy's finally got himself a girlfriend," she says in awe.

"Finally, you decided to let all that fooling around attitude go and now you're becoming a man," Lucas says without looking at Austin. His phone rings and he quickly stands. "Excuse me." He disappears outside and Liz calls my attention.

"Do you know how to bake, Ren?" Liz asks.

"I can bake a mean banana cake," I say and she laughs.

"And she makes the best pancakes," Austin adds.

"We should bake together some time," Liz tells me and I smile.

"I would love that, Liz."

A butler comes inside and quietly tells something to Liz. She wipes her mouth with her napkin and stands up. "Excuse me but I have a video conference with your father to control," she says before leaving. "Austin, why don't you show your girlfriend around?"

He nods and wipes his mouth before standing up. "Will you, mom."

I get up and follow Austin out of the dining hall. He leads me to the game room, the gym and its mini sauna, the entertainment room, and the rooms just go on and on. He brings me upstairs and shows me to the balcony. On the way back down, I pass a door with a big pink letter A with gray polka dots.

"Please, tell me this is your room," I purse my lips to a tight line. I sniffle out a laugh but when Austin doesn't answer I decide to go inside. He grabs my hand and yanks it out of the way.

"What the heck?" I turn to look at Austin.

"That room is off limits," he growls before down the stairs.

I follow him out to the backyard and I can't believe I missed the bridge over the pool. Lights hang around the trees and I stare at them in awe.

"Whose idea was this?" I turn to Austin and I see him staring at the lights, too.

"It doesn't matter," he says bluntly.

I bite my lip. "What happened to us getting along and talking to each other?" I turn to look at him but he looks everywhere but at me.

"When there was nothing to talk about," he simply answers.

"Bullshit."

He turns to me with his eyes wide. "You cursed," he says in surprise. I don't blame him. I don't normally curse, but for some reason I had to then.

"I know there's something else bothering you, so why don't you tell-" Then it clicks. "Does this have something to do with your fight with Adam?"

His expression is full of worry and anger. He turns his gaze to the pool and I grab his arm. "Austin..."

He pulls his arm away. "Leave me alone, Ren." He walks away and I try to follow him as fast as I can, but these four inch heels aren't helping. Austin walks faster as gets up the stairs.

"Austin-" he slams the door shut in front of my face.

"Fine!" I yell at the door. "I'll walk home."

I kick his door, "Jerk."

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