Capturing the Star's Heart

Alleyway Aftermath

Instead of going straight back to the stadium, I drove to Adam's house and parked in the driveway. Before getting out and running inside, I shot my parents and Matt a few quick texts, explaining that the owner of my record label wanted to talk to me about a few things. After that, I jumped out of the car and power-walked up to the front door. I didn't even bother to knock since I never do it anyway. I opened the door and moved from the entranceway, through the hallway, and to the living room. All three of them were sitting in the room, scattered around. Adam was sitting on the couch, shuffling through some papers on the coffee table. Alyssa was sitting a few feet away on the floor, painting her nails and talking to Adam. Finally, Dex was laying across one of the armchairs with his nose buried in his phone.

Taking another breath, I decided not to wait until they notice me in the doorway. I dug in my pocket and took out Dex's keys. I chucked them across the room; they landed square in the middle of Dex's chest, causing him to flip out and fall off the chair. He snapped in my direction and glared.

"Hey! What was that for?!"

Adam and Alyssa's heads moved to me, both wearing confused expressions. "Oliver? What are you doing here?" Alyssa tilted her head as she asked her question.

I walked into the room and collapsed on the other armchair, all my friends sending me looks.

"You okay, man?" Adam questioned, closing the files he was looking through and pushing them to the side.

I shook my head and moved to sit up properly, "Not really," I puffed out a breath of air, " I just ran into an old friend of yours, and he was not too happy."

When I said old friend, I motioned towards the sibling duo, causing them to share a curious look before glancing back at me.

Adam was the first of the two to speak, "Who? What are you talking about?"

"Connor. I ran into him when I went to drop off those papers for my parents, and let's just say that interaction did not go great."

I saw Alyssa tense up, but she said nothing, Adam's eyebrows knitted together while an angry frown formed on his lips, and Dex took in my slightly disheveled appearance before asking, "Did you fight him?"

"What? No, I didn't fight him! I'd like to think I'd be a little more banged up if I did."

He continued, "Then what's up with your clothes?"

I sighed, " When I went to walk away, he grabbed me by the collar and pinned me to the wall."

Alyssa's eyes widened; she looked at me with worry, "He pinned you to the wall?! Are you alright?"

I sent a small smile her way, "Yeah, I'm fine. Luckily that's all he did."

She relaxed and nodded slowly, "Good. At least you're okay."

"Okay, wait," Adam piped up, "What exactly happened?"

I leaned forward in my seat and began to retail the tale. After I was through, they stared at me in silence. I waited patiently as the information sunk in. Alyssa was the first to speak up.

She looked down at her newly painted light pink fingernails and asked quietly, "You're not gonna listen to him, are you?"

I could tell she was still concerned; I knew that she had to be beating herself up about him being involved. I stole a look at Adam, who was watching his sister with worry and sympathy. It wasn't hard to tell that he was thinking the same thing I was.

Before I could answer her, Dex called out, "No way he's gonna listen to some big, obsessive jerk! He doesn't control what O can and can't do!"

Alyssa seemed to ignore Dex's reply and was still waiting for my response.

I softened my stare as I met her eyes, "No, I'm not listening to him. You're my friend, and I'm not gonna ditch my friends."

Aly let out a relieved breath and nodded slowly, "Okay. ...Okay."

"So, what are we gonna do about this guy?" Dex picked himself off the floor and moved closer to the group.

"Well, I'm not staying away from Alyssa," I retorted, moving my eyes from Dex to the only girl in the group and back.

"Yeah, I know that, but we need another plan to keep you away from him."

"The best thing to do is to ignore him," Adam jumped in, catching both of our attention.

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and wondering what he was thinking.

"Connor's all bark and no bite. As long as we keep him away from Oliver; and not mention him if he is around, everything should be fine."

I don't know how I feel about this. Part of me thinks I should trust Adam because he knows Connor better than I do, but the other part knows that he won't stop until he gets what he wants.

"Are you sure about that, Adam?" Aly's voice squeaked gently across the room.

"Positive," he turned his gaze to me, "Just do your best to avoid a social situation where you know he'll be there. If you do by chance see him, call us. We'll help you get out before he can try anything."

As much as I hate to admit it, Adam's right. I don't wanna lose my friendship with Aly, and it's not like I can scare Connor off. All I can do right now is ignore him to the best of my abilities. I can only hope it won't escalate further than it already has.