The Bad Boy's Sleepover

Chapter 29

The feeling of emptiness felt like a storm over Lola's head, always hovering but never consuming her completely. It didn't fully register yet that Julian had run away from her house in the middle of the night. 

She was in a daze as she sat down and had breakfast with her parents, ignoring her phone that was beeping non stop since she updated her friends that he had gone missing. 

Engaging in idle chatter with her happy go lucky parents seemed to be a chore that morning. Even though the sun outside was bright, Lola's world was grey, the waffles on her plate tasteless and no amount of jokes her father made was enough to distract her from that dark cloud over her head. 

If her parents noticed, they didn't pry further which was something she loved about them. They were always ever ready to talk but only when she was. 

"Umm Lola, is that your ride for school?" 

Lola's eyes shot up at her dad's words and all three of them turned to the front door to see a dark jeep hovering outside their driveway. It was Damien's. 

"New friend?" Lola's mom arched an eyebrow, her gaze inquisitive but Lola was in no mood to explain her relationship with Damien. 

Her chest flooded with relief when Nalini stepped out of the passenger seat and all but ran to her front door. Hanna walked out as well, her gait much less frantic than Nalini's but Lola could see the panic on both of their faces. 

The moment Damien stepped out, Lola noticed her parents straighten up in their seats, sizing up the first boy they had ever seen with the girls. 

"Good looking," Lola's mother muttered proudly as he walked to the front door and knocked. "And well mannered. Is he Nalini's boyfriend?"

Lola swallowed hard before replying, the piece of waffle she had eaten had lodged in her throat. "Umm, no he's just a friend." 

Her dad opened the door and the three of them stood at the door. Due to her Asian descent, Lola's mother was very strict about no shoes in the house. Her best friends were well aware of that, so when Damien greeted her parents and proceeded to step inside, both the girls pulled him back by his shirt. 

"We're here to pick up Lola." Hanna smiled, her most innocent smile and both her parents turned to putty. Her parents were inquisitive people but all questions about Damien, and his sudden friendship and his jeep flew out the window. Hanna was skilled like that.

Her parents even scolded her for making her friends wait. 

"Okay, okay. I'm leaving," Lola said as she stuffed her face with another bite of food, grabbed her bag and rushed out of the house. 

Nalini's fingers dug into her arm as they walked to Damien's car. "Lola, are you okay? What happened? Why did he leave?"

"We were making so much progress," Damien sighed wistfully as they sat inside. 

Lola begged to differ because aside from the pictures of Tyler with Fiona and Eva, they really didn't have much to fall back on. But there was a small part of her, deep inside that couldn't help but feel angry and betrayed. 

Julian didn't believe they could help him and that was why he left. 

Lola knew this might not be the main reason. That the person in the car spying on them probably scared him off more than anything but still she felt the disappointment. 

They were trying so hard to help him and he just left like that. After everything he told her last night. After he admitted he had feelings for her. Thinking about it made Lola's lip tremble and she felt like crying.