𝐋𝐄𝐒 ➤ 𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐘

𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 - 𝘪 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘴

𝐋𝐄𝐒

𝘾𝙡𝙚𝙤'𝙨 𝙋𝙊𝙑

My heart dropped as I peered over Ashtray's shoulder. Nate and Cassie stood in the doorway. I shoved Ashtray away but it was too late. Nate had a smug yet surprised look on his face and Cassie's jaw was wide open as I assumed she was the one who let out the gasp that interrupted the kiss.

I looked down to see Nate's hands placed on Cassie's hips as she was leant back against him and I was quickly able to connect the dots. My horror at the sight must have been evident on my face as Nate nudged Cassie into the room and closed the door behind them.

I slid off the counter and stood beside Ashtray who bared his usual angry expression.

"It's clear we all came in here for some private time so let's keep it that way. Cleo, I know Maddy is your best friend but I suggest you don't go run your mouth," Nate warned.

"What you gon do if she says shit?" Ash asked with slight venom in his tone.

Nate let out a small chuckle before saying, "Well I'll just tell everyone about whatever it is going on here. Y'know, Cleo's dad was my old football coach and I'd love to catch up with him, let him in on my concerns about his innocent daughter fucking around with a drug dealer."

My eyes widened at Nate's word. As far-fetched as his threat was, I knew he wouldn't hesitate to actually go through with it. I looked at Cassie with pleading eyes, she was supposed to be my friend after all, but she just bowed her head.

"You two are fucking disgusting," I spat before shoving past them and opening the door.

I tried to rush down the hallway but I was turned back around by a tug at my wrist. I looked at Ash and quickly shook away his grip before demanding, "Don't touch me. Don't look at me. Don't even breathe in my direction for the rest of the night. If Nate does what he says he's going to then I don't want anyone else to be able to back him up and say they've seen us together."

"He won't say shit, Cleo. He's bluffin'," Ash groaned.

"You don't know him, Ash. Nate will do whatever he has to do to protect himself," I persisted, "We just need to go back to hating each other and pretend all of that never happened."

Before he could protest I had already walked off. As soon as I returned to the body of the party my eyes landed on Maddy and my heart sunk. She looked so excited as she engulfed me into a hug, "Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"I just went to the bathroom. I wasn't feeling too great," I mumbled as I pulled away slightly.

"Oh, god. Are you sure you're gonna make it to midnight?" she said in a teasing tone to which I weakly smiled.

"I honestly don't know," I responded with a small laugh.

"Well I'm just gonna head to the bathroom but when I'm back you better dance with me. You should try find Cassie too I still haven't seen her tonight," Maddy informed causing my eyes to widen.

I frantically nodded and turned away to try hide my expression. I felt awful not telling her the truth, she deserved to know what Cassie and Nate were getting up to. Part of me was hoping she would catch them for herself as she went to the bathroom.

I went and got myself another drink once Maddy had left to go the bathroom. I stood in the corner of the kitchen, taking small sips as my eyes scanned the room. I caught Ashtray looking over at me from the couch but as our eyes met he got up and went out to the backyard.

I knew I had been harsh on him but I didn't have much choice. One person who scared me more than Nate Jacobs was my dad and if he found out about me even associating with criminals I knew it would be over for me. If he found out then I might as well become a criminal myself, either way I would be locked up for the rest of my teenage years.

I had been in the kitchen for a little while when I saw Nate return to the party, he gazed over at me momentarily but I turned away. I had always disliked Nate but right now I just felt physically sick at the sight of him.

I couldn't deal with being in the same space as him so I went outside to just escape. I started to regret that though once I spotted Ashtray sat amongst a group of people. He shot me a glare which I couldn't tell if it was a genuine or if it was him playing into my request but I still instinctively returned a similar glare.

I sat alone on the opposite side of the pool from him but I kept my head down to avoid any more stares. I pulled my phone and checked the time, seeing it was only 11pm. There was no way I was making it to midnight.

I slouched back in my seat, thinking of all the things I would have done differently tonight. I had a number of regrets starting with going to the drug deal. The kiss wasn't a regret though, no matter if we had just been harmlessly smoking or full on getting it on we would have been caught. The only regret I had from that situation was not locking the fucking door.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I saw a figure plop into the chair beside me. I tilted my head to see Mckay. It had been a little while since I'd seen him since he hadn't returned to town after his breakup with Cassie.

He had an unhappy expression on his face as he stared into space. I frowned slightly at him before speaking up, "Is everything good, Mckay?"

He turned to me with a bitter chuckle, "Not really but we move."

I did feel slightly bad for Mckay. Sure, he wasn't the best guy ever but I could tell deep down he had a kind heart. Unlike Nate, he always made a genuine effort to be nice to me.

"What's up?" I shot him a sympathetic smile.

"Honestly I only came to this dumbass party to try sort things with Cassie but after I just spoke to her things are really over," he grumbled.

At first I thought she might have admitted to whatever she had with Nate but I knew Cassie was smarter than that. Mckay was Nate's best friend so he wouldn't just let it go if he found out. I almost felt as guilty as I did with Maddy for not telling him what I had seen.

"Damn, I'm sorry about that. At least you can focus on your football career," I tried to reassure but it came out as more of a weak suggestion.

"That ain't going to good either," he admitted with a saddened laugh.

"Well if it's any consolation, my nights not going to well either. If I could go home already then I would," I shrugged.

"I can give you a ride if you want? You don't live far and I could do with a break from this place before it hits midnight," he offered.

I nodded politely, "Thanks, Mckay."

"Don't worry bout it. We better go now though cause I need to be back before the countdown," he explained as he stood up from his chair.

I followed after him, catching a final glance at Ashtray as we went to leave the party. Ash had his familiar scowl on his face but I took no notice, turning back to Mckay who led me over to his car parked out front.