CHAPTER 40: I'm a real chick magnet here

Undeniably, unchangeably, and unfortunately, my dumb ass could not get itself out of this situation today considering there are 5 very determined people currently taking turns watching and gawking at me like I was a mental patient on the verge of losing my damn mind. Technically, I am. I barely make it to the beer crates before Blake drags my arm and gets me one himself.

"Get me out of here and I will do anything you like. Anything." I purr and snuggle in Blake's current hold on me. He snickers and holds me even closer.

"I know you are not the slightest bit interested in me. Stop playing flirt! Enjoy a party for once." He commands and I roll my eyes, sighing as I take my beer out of his hand and take a huge swig.

"Woah, easy there, honey. At that rate, you'll end up in my arms by the end of the night." Shawn grins and I fake gag, pushing him out of the way to take a seat on some of the chairs near the beer crates. Caleb pulls one out for me and I nod at him.

"I will gladly stay until this party ends. Just make sure I do not get drunk to the point where Shawn becomes my favorite person." I say while Noel stands behind me and puts his arms around my shoulders.

"Shawn never becomes anyone's favorite person. Even when drunk." Noel says and sticks his tongue out at Shawn who flips him the bird.

"I need to find a better group who appreciates me." Shawn dramatically sniffs and pouts, earning a hit from Blake.

"Trust me, Shawn. The only way you will find that is when you're the last guy on earth." Caleb shoots.

"Oh, fuck off, Anderson. I'm a real chick magnet here."

"Wanna bet? You or Anderson?" Blake asks, quickly standing up and hopping on both feet simultaneously.

"No...I mean, yes, I don't mind. But he doesn't want to stand up." We chuckle and let him continue his stammering. "Tell you what. Me and you. Let's go. Last one to get a girl will have to willingly turn her down."

"Damn. You guys are players. Is this what you usually bet on?" I ask and take another full swig of my beer, suddenly aware of the amount I've already consumed.

"We don't usually bet on girls. But well, everyone here is wasted. The poor girls will barely remember their faces in the morning." Noel pipes up and I nod.

"We'll see about that," Shawn says and quickly gulps down his beer, dragging Blake off towards the crowd.

The bonfire party is definitely a big deal around here as Maddie mentioned. Everyone from school is present, partying and getting wasted, not caring about the consequences. A pick up stood in the far right end, blasting loud music from the enormous speakers it holds. A big beer keg feeds a few girls and boys as they loudly cheer for the person chugging from it. I spot a few people playing beer ping pong near the bonfire while the rest stroll around in shorts and bikinis, some swimming, making out and doing god knows what.

My hands slide down to the hem of my dress, tugging at it as if it would gradually increase by a centimeter. I would gladly celebrate at that but the pesky little thing stayed right on my mid-thigh. I considered slapping myself hard for even agreeing to wear this dress just in order to piss off Jason which, by the way, I did manage to do unless him glaring at me and then randomly pulling a girl to dance is not considered enough pissed off.

"Fancy seeing you in a dress, tomboy." I roll my eyes and look to my right, seeing Caleb taking a sip of his second bottle already and grinning at me. Something flutters in my chest at the sight of that lopsided grin and I find myself smiling back at him. A feeling of relief settles in my chest once I notice that there is nothing awkward between us from the fight between Jason, him and I the other night.

"Make fun of me all you want, Caleb."

"Really?

"No." I deadpan and hit him on his arm. "I will literally dump your dead ass in the ocean. No kidding." I say and finish my beer, picking up another bottle from the cooler.

"You're not built enough to carry my 'dead ass'." He chortles and I crack open my beer bottle, tossing the cork on his head.

"Oh, I'll show you how built I am. Too bad you will not be alive to witness that."

"So show me now." I furrow my eyebrows at him and he winks at me before standing up and holding out his hand at me. I look to my left and notice Maddie and Noel having disappeared. Before I could respond to Caleb, he helps me up to my feet and I gulp at the contact between our bare legs. Luckily, Caleb is not shirtless but that did not mean I could not see his biceps and toned muscles from the white singlet he has on. I divert my eyes from his upper body and look down to my feet, following him as he walked off to I-don't-even-know-where.

Caleb leads us slowly to the opposite side of the bonfire party, away from the loud music and the equally louder people. Seeing as it is probably past 10, the beach is empty and after a few minutes of silently walking, I could not have even guessed that a party was going on a few feet away. I swish my beer around in my bottle, staring down at the foam gathering on my legs at the same time. The peaceful sound of waves enveloped my ears and I sighed at the sight of the black waves swishing back and forth at the very far end. Without even realizing, I swallow hard as I see a pair of feet in sync with mine.

"This beach is beautiful." He breaks the silence, looking at me and then the crashing waves.

"You don't come here often?"

"Not really."

"Why?"

He sighs and his shoulders tense, his hands automatically finding their way at his back.

"I don't go out often. Maybe with Noel and the guys yeah. But most of the time...not really." He says with his face wrapped in a hurt expression, his mouth pressed in a thin line.

"And why is that? Hate the outdoors?" I speak after finishing my beer, swinging it back and forth as we continue walking down the beach.

"Not at all." He darkly chuckles and I frown. "Remember when I told you my Rome sucks?" He looks at me and I halt in my tracks, the distant memories of the lakeside returning to my mind, especially when I emotionally opened up to him.

"Uh yeah..."

"Well, that's one reason. When I was a kid, my parents never took me out anywhere. I was in fact handled and raised by my grandmother. So you can imagine the excitement that rushed through me whenever I got to go out." He lightly smiles and looks behind me.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to have fun. I've grown up in a very serious environment where hard work and all that shit is admired. So, no. I do not hate the outdoors. I just never got the chance to go out because of my parents." A visible scowl forms on his lips by now and if I didn't know better, I would have definitely considered running away. But instead, I did something I would never, in my wildest dreams, have imagined. I bring my arms around his torso and rest my head on his chest, his loud heartbeat registering itself in my mind and soothing my own.

His arms stay limp at his side for a few seconds but he quickly wraps them around my back and holds me tightly. I breathe in and out and rub my hands slowly over his back.

"I'm sorry about that. No kid is supposed to face that." I mutter and close my eyes, inhaling his aftershave cologne and relaxing at his touch.

"You don't have to apologize. Childhoods sometimes suck, don't they?" His chest vibrates and I smile against him. Warmth flows through my body from where his arms touch my back and bare arms and I feel like meting further into his arms. I ignore the pounding of my heart and my senses losing all control, leaning towards Caleb even more as his chin rests on my forehead.

"They do. Big time." I say and sigh in relief, slightly pulling apart but he still holds me at an arm's length. His eyes sweep over my face and he blinks.

"Come to my dad's party."

Of all the things that Caleb Anderson randomly used to throw on my head, that was definitely never on the possibility list.

"What?" I blink and push back my flying hair. The wind slightly picks up its pace and it does not help that ugly goosebumps are slowly appearing on my arms and legs.

"You heard me. My dad always throws these monthly lavish parties at our house and they absolutely bore me to death. Noel is there to keep my company on mostly all of them but I still have to be my dad's son at the party." He rolls his eyes and huffs, his dark locks attractively flying, unlike my hair which probably looks like a bird's nest by now.

"But, Caleb...me? That is just..."

"Random?" I nod and he sighs before running a hand through his hair. "I'll have some good company. Come on, please say yes. Besides, there is plenty of wine there. So much that you will feel like never ever taking a glance at another bottle even." He smirks at me, his warm hands still holding my shoulders.

Wine?

Food?

Good music?

Caleb?

"I'm in." I softly chuckle and he pulls me into another warm bear hug. Before I could even react to that, he pulls back and shakes my shoulders vigorously.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me." He grins at me and I slap his hand away playfully.

"No need to get all corny on me. When is this party anyway?"

"Actually...tomorrow." I widen my eyes at his answer and he shrugs, pocketing his hands.

"And you expect me to just find a presentable outfit in a day?"

"You leave that to me. I at least owe you that much."

"Leave that to you? What the hell are you even planning on getting me?"

"A formal dress."

"WHAT?!"

"A formal dress!"

"I heard you the first time, you idiot! I hate dresses and you know that."

"Relax, you drama queen. Parties back at my place are quite elegant. You need to dress like it, blondie. Don't worry, I will make sure it is 100 percent comfortable. I have good taste." He smirks and tweaks my cheek with his forefinger and thumb.

"I highly doubt that but oh well, I'm just coming there for the wine and good food." I rub my hands together and grin at him.

"You wound me."

"I wound a lot of people."

"You should be in a zoo."

"Oh yeah? Don't worry. That will happen once I hang your body in my cage and if you don't want that, shut your mouth."

"Tiger toes." He mutters and pouts.

I stick my tongue out at him and we continue walking back to the gathering near the bonfire. By now, I could see most people walking to their cars and only a few hanging around with beers in their hands. Maddie, Noel and Aaron converse near the bonfire while Blake and Shawn are nowhere in sight. I notice most seniors already left since Jason and his friends are also missing.

"You heading home?" I ask Caleb as we both dump our bottles in one of the trash cans.

"Yeah. You want a ride?"

"Uh, I came with Maddie. So..." He nods in understanding and I walk to the group, hitting Noel upside his head.

"Ow! I'm always nice to you, woman. What was that for?"

"I felt like it."

"Yeah, one day she'll feel like it and will end up killing you." Aaron sniggers.

"I believe that will be you."

"You love me, sis."

"You're wrong there, asshole. Anyway, Maddie? Shall we leave?" She looks behind me and is about to answer but purses her lips in confusion.

"No."

"What?"

"Uh...Noel, Aaron and I want to hang around a little more. Don't we, guys?" She grins and looks towards both startled faces who nod slowly.

"I thought you wanted to go home," Aaron asks and he scratches his head.

"Now I don't. I want to have one more beer. You should head home, Summer. Caleb! What a live saver. Ah! You can drop her home, can't you?"

"Yeah, I don't mind."

"Well, there you go." She concludes and runs off towards the almost empty crates of beer.

I shake my head and bid goodbye to Noel while Aaron simply gave me a look that said 'you're stuck with me, bitch'.

Caleb and I head towards his car and I almost faint at the sight of the Mercedes parked there. Lush leather seats comfort my tired body and the fresh scent of the car mixed with cupcake icing flood my senses.

"Celebrated the latest addition to the Anderson car collection by having vanilla cupcakes?" I stifle my laughter and put on my seatbelt.

"Ugh. That is sadly Noel and my sister's work. They craved sugar all of a sudden and went off on a cupcake hunting spree. Good thing my stern personality made sure they didn't mess up the seats." He smirks and drives the car into reverse and we soon hit the road.

"You sure do know how to ruin the fun."

"Hey, you get a new car and then I'll see how possessive you are not about it. It's too good to be taken away from me by my father." He chuckles and speeds up, making me clutch the armrest tightly.

"Scared, little tiger?"

"Screw you. Bring it on." I open the window and the biting, cold wind immediately hits my face, making me close my eyes and smile as the air escapes my teeth and soothes my body. I did not bother with how cold it is but, all in all, I could only focus on how good and free it felt.

After a few minutes of me hollering like a madwoman on the loose, Caleb finally slows down as we near the town side. The familiar shops pass by and we soon pull up to my apartment. I take off my seatbelt and fidget with my fingers nervously, suddenly aware of the amicable silence that falls between us.

"I had a good time tonight. Thanks for everything." His soft voice calms me down by a tad and I smile at him.

"Me too. Goodnight, Caleb."

"Goodnight."

I get out of the car and wave at him before running up the flight of stairs to get home. I don't register the wide grin on my face until I place my keys on the counter and my phone dings with a message. I smack my head and open it, seeing a text from Caleb.

CALEB:

I'll have your dress dropped in the morning

SUMMER:

Alright. Hopefully, I don't regret this

CALEB:

Tsk, tsk. Too negative, blondie. Don't worry, I won't pick out a skimpy dress 😜 maybe

SUMMER:

Pervert. Go to bed

CALEB:

Why are you so eager? Wanna join?

SUMMER:

Fuck off, Anderson

CALEB:

Night, tiger toes

SUMMER:

Night, jerk

A blush creeps up on my cheeks and I cover my face with my hands as I control my squeal. Being with Caleb is...exhilarating, to say the least. With each passing day, I feel closer-

A loud groan catches my attention and I suddenly stiffen at the noise. No one's home so...

My eyes dart for any weapon at hand and all I see is a screwdriver on the counter. I quickly snatch it and tiptoe towards the corridor where I heard the sound first.

Well, the least the robber or serial killer would say is that 'She screwed my eyes!'. I snicker at my bad joke and continue walking until I heard more groans coming from the last bedroom.

Draven's room.

I shoot open the door and drop my screwdriver as soon as the nasty sight comes into view. My hands tremble and dizziness suddenly takes over my mind. I feel my knees hitting the floor and everything goes black after that.