Hickey

Hickey || 01

HICKEY / chapter one

❝ Hickeys are love notes written in flesh.❞

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"How the hell do I get rid of this?" I mutter to myself as I get dressed in front of my bathroom mirror.

From afar, the hickey wasn't very noticeable, but still visible. I'd use make-up, but I didn't own any so obviously, covering it up with concealer wasn't an option.

I put on a blue turtleneck dress so my parents couldn't see the hickey that was still fresh on my neck. My parents didn't approve of nor know about my sneak outs, and I don't think they'd probably freak out when they saw the hickey on my neck. They'd be furious, probably threaten to ground me for life. My dad would probably want to shoot the guy who gave me this hickey.

That made two of us, actually.

I head downstairs to find my dad and Elliot already sitting at the table, with my mom serving breakfast.

"Morning," Elliot greets, smirking. It looks like he showered before breakfast like me, though I'm pretty sure it's because he didn't want to be late for school in contrast to me not wanting our parents to smell beer and sweat on me.

Dad looks up and shoots me a bright smile. "Good morning, honey."

"Morning," I murmur back at them.

We eat breakfast quickly, all rushing to get to school or to work. When we finish, Elliot and I quickly kiss our parents goodbye and head out. My brother drives us to school, as usual. Our parents got us a car to share when Elliot turned eighteen, but I'm still not allowed to drive it until I get my license in two years.

"Do you really not remember what happened last night?" Elliot asks as we back out of our driveway.

"I remember going to the party, dancing, drinking. I also remember coming home and almost falling off the tree trying to sneak back in." This earns me a concerned sideways glance from him, making me laugh. Our bedrooms were on the second floor so in order to sneak out, I had to climb down the tree in our backyard. "Don't worry, I didn't fall. But the things that happened between those? Nothing. I was too drunk to remember."

Okay, maybe that wasn't the right thing to say, since he keeps that worried expression on his face for the rest of the drive to school, which is very long. Our house is about ten minutes away so we get there with a few minutes to spare before the first bell.

Once we're parked and Elliot turns the engine off, I adjust my dress again.

"Good thing Mom and Dad didn't notice it," he says, eying my covered up neck.

I nod in agreement. "Yeah, good thing."

"You know, Eva, why can't you just ask them if you can go out with your friends or go to parties so that I wouldn't have to cover for you all the time?"

I scoff at him. "Like they'd let me go to a party on a Wednesday night. They wouldn't even let me go on Fridays!"

"My point," he says, rolling his eyes, "is that you should try asking permission from them sometimes. It'll make things easier for you, that's for sure."

"Where's the fun in that?"

He laughs, shaking his head, and I grin at him before opening the door and stepping out. He gets out, too, and locks the car. Then, together we head into school together.

The day goes by slowly, with me barely managing to keep my eyes open. I slept maybe three, four hours last night, and the slight hangover wasn't helping. All I wanted was to just go home and crash, but I managed to get through the day.

Finally, finally, the last bell rings, signaling the end of school.

I quickly head towards my locker, ready to head home right away to take the longest nap ever. I wasn't even going to plan on waiting for Elliot, since he has football practice. I dump my books, not even bothering to check if I had any homework. As I'm about to walk out of school, someone grabs my wrist, pulling me back.

I'm about to react when I see his messy blonde hair and brown eyes.

"Eva," Ryder says. "Can we talk?"