Blindsided

16

A/N: Let me know what you guys think of the longer chapters! Next update out Sunday (10).

...

The cold shower isn't helping. It doesn't rid the thoughts of Simon from my mind, it doesn't wash away the sweat that's coated my skin from the second I left the hotel earlier tonight. Not to mention the moment we just had outside my hotel room.

It wasn't sexual, you could barely describe it as tense. But for some reason, it felt a thousand times different than all the other times Simon and I had hung out. I was more aware of his presence, how close he was to touching me, and don't even get me started on the fireworks that went off when we actually did make skin-to-skin contact. I felt like a creep, suddenly hyper aware of everything he was doing. This wasn't how I was supposed to act around Simon; he was my best friend for crying out loud. I would never do anything to jeopardize that, but it would seem that my heart had a different idea.

I would have stood under the water all night if it meant I could wipe away the uncomfortable feelings I was suddenly feeling towards Simon, but my phone's soft ringtone on the bathroom counter pulled me away.

"Hey, Alex. Just let me grab a towel," I blurted when I saw his caller ID. He mumbled something incoherent as I wrapped one of the plush hotel towels around my chest. "What's up?"

I heard his breathing coming through the phone, but other than that, he seemed to have spaced out entirely. There was something on his mind, and I already knew that this was going to be a stressful conversation. If not for me, than definitely for him.

"Paige, I need to tell you something," he divulged suddenly. I had made it back to my suitcase by now, but I stopped short of the zipper when I took in the force of his voice.

"Yeah, of course. Are you okay?" I asked worriedly, insane circumstances rolling through my mind like a movie.

"I'm fine, but god, I think I'm going to kill Jared. And I need to tell you this, so that you can stop me, because Paige I honestly think that I'm going to murder him—"

I cut him off before his growls become anymore intense. "Woah! Alex, I know Jared's been a jerk lately, but you don't gotta kill him. Just tell me what's going on."

I sit down on the edge of the bed, not caring that my damp towel is probably making the comforter wet too.

"I'm so sorry Paige. I should have told you at the party, but Kristina said that if I opened my mouth, she would tell Simon that..." he trailed off this time, his anxiety starting to play with my nerves.

"Tell Simon what? If you don't tell me, I'm going to have to fly home and strangle it out of you. And this trip has been pretty kick-ass so far," I joke, but my laugh sounds empty and wrong.

"You let me explain everything, okay? This isn't supposed to ruin your trip, but if you found out while you were home, I was scared that you'd actually murder Jared," Alex admits. I roll my eyes at his words. I'm positive that I'd never be mad enough at Jared that I'd want to kill him, but I promise to let Alex explain nonetheless.

"Okay, then just shut up and you can scream at me after, okay?" he told me, and this time my laugh was real. I was already sure that he was blowing this out of proportion, and he was probably just going to tell me about Jared's kiss with Kristina. Which I was over by now, realizing that besides my jealousy that he had been with her so soon after 'ending things' with me, it didn't truly hurt me. What Jared and I had was 95 percent physical, and the other five percent that was actual feelings, consisted of yelling at each other out of anger and frustration.

"I know that he kissed Kristina. After he hit me in the kitchen," I admit, and yet again I realize my mistake. I should have known that lying about what happened, or at least trying to keep in under wraps, was a stupid lapse in judgement. This wasn't the first time that I had let it slip, and I felt like an idiot for thinking that I could keep something like this from my friends.