Chances (Sequel To New Beginnings)

Chapter 5: Giving You a Chance

Text Messages

7:02 pm Chase:))- Mind if we reschedule tonight? Mandatory football dinner tonight. 

My phone went off, I parted my eyes from my laptop to check my phone. I hoped it was Chase, seeing as his practice should've been over half an hour ago. As I read over the message, my heart sunk a little. I wasn't sure what to do, football was the reason he was here yet why was I feeling like a second choice. I knew that was being selfish, but this dinner would've been on the calendar months ago. Did that make me a stalker?

"Why are you dramatically sighing?" Arabella asked from her bed. Was my sigh really that dramatic? "It's Chase, isn't it?"

My mouth opened in shock, "Wha- how'd you know?"

"Trust me, I know the feeling of being let down." Arabella got up from her bed, and walked over to me. She grabbed my phone, and read the message. 

"Okay, miss nosey." I sarcastically remarked.

She rolled her eyes, "Tell him you're upset."

"What? No. I can't." 

"Yes you can." She said, "Your feelings are valid too, ya know."

"It's not his fault, plus it's an important dinner. I'd be a psycho girlfriend if I was mad." I picked up my phone and replied to his text.

7:15 pm Me- Yeah, no problem. Love you.

Almost immediately, he texted me back.

7:15 pm Chase :))- Love you more.

I wiggled the phone in front of Ava's face, showing off the text. "See, easy communication."

"Yeah, whatever. Too bad he's not here to see the makeup you put on." Arabella pointed out.

"Makeup? I'm naturally this beautiful." I joked.

Arabella looks at me for a moment before putting on her shoes, "Put on a cute outfit, we're going out."

"Now?" I said taking a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I had on Chase's crewneck still, and paired it with my infamous messy bun. 

She nodded before throwing a pair of denim shorts at me, "Put these on, and fix your hair. I'm gonna text Mateo to pick us up, so you have ten minutes to look presentable."

Hearing Mateos name, angered me. I was still pretty angry at him for hitting on me at Smitty's. "Does he have to come?" I whined.

"We're a trio now, so yes. Do you not like him?" 

"Something like that." 

"He's hard to like at first, but give him a chance." She pleaded with me. There wasn't anything wrong with giving him a chance, I did that with Chase and our relationship blossomed beautifully. Maybe the same would happen with Mateo, but as friends.

"Fine, where are we even going?" I said putting on my trainers.

She shrugged her shoulders, and I decided not to wonder. She rummaged through her closet and grabbed a beige tube top with the words Chanel across it. I put it on with no question and let my hair down. My brown hair cascading down my head, framing my face perfectly. I put on a lip gloss, and feeling a little more confident. It had been a really long time since I felt good, and had gotten ready.

 I wanted to start living life on the wild side, and not having everything on a set schedule. Arabella and I began walking out of the dorms, we saw Mateo leaning against a white mustang. He was focused on his phone, texting away not sparing us a glance. 

As we continued to make our way towards him my mind wandered to Julian and Arabella. "So you and Julian?"

"Don't, he's incredibly handsome, I won't deny that. But he's a fuck boy." Arabella said. "Plus, I'm not planning on dating anyone, ever."

I laughed, she didn't know Julian like I did. Sure he was a fuck boy, I won't deny that. But he had so much to offer, he was truly a caring soul. What they both didn't realize was that they were sort of similar. From the short amount of time we had known each other, I could tell she was really sweet. We had a weird bond.

Mateo finally looked up from his phone to see us standing in front of him. He had a big smile as he hugged Arabella and I. I was reluctant to hug him back, and I could tell he was hurt by it.

"Look Ava, I apologize for making you uncomfortable last night." Mateo said, searching for my eyes.

I smiled at him, "Thank you, I needed that apology." 

"See, I can be a gentleman." Mateo said holding the door open for Arabella and I.

"Ha! Gentleman my ass, you're only nice when you want something." Arabella said before getting in to the backseat of his mustang. Mateo held his heart in hurt, something he did a lot. 

"You kill me bélla." I got into the mustang and he closed the door behind me. He jogged around the car to the passenger seat and we headed off. As we drove off, I peaked at window seeing all of the flashing lights in California. That was something I would never get used to. It was just too beautiful for me to even handle. 

"So where are we off to, Mateo?" I asked focusing my attention on the Italian model. He turned to glance at me and smirked. However, he didn't answer my question and continued driving. Arabella laughed behind me and gave me a daring look, to which I confusingly looked at her.

A short drive later, we ended up in an empty parking lot. The street lights were flickering and the lot was vacant. It gave me an eerie feeling, something inside of me wanted to scream out for help. Plus, I had only met these people for a short moment who knew if they were going to kill me!

"Uh, what the hell are we doing here?" I asked them curiously. Mateo switched the engine off and him and Arabella hopped out of the car. 

Mateo opened my door and extended his hand to me, "You'll never know if you never step out of the car."

I rolled my eyes, "Why should I trust you?"

"The more important question is, why aren't you?" I got out of the car, ignoring his hand. He laughed it off, however. Arabella popped open the trunk of the car and grabbed a pack of Smirnoffs. 

Arabella handed me a Smirnoff, "Drink up, we're pre-gaming."

"Pre-gaming for what exactly?" I said putting the bottle down. 

"We are going to a party, amor." Mateo said slinging his hand around my shoulders. I shrug his shoulders off, knowing Chase would probably have a fit if he saw this encounter. I knew he would do the same though. Mateo sighed, "Ava, listen. I'm not trying to hit on you anymore, I get that we're just friends."

"Mateo's just an overly affectionate person." Arabella added as she sipped on her blue drink. 

I felt bad, I kept pushing Mateo away when he clearly was only set on being my friend. "I'm sorry too, for being an uptight bitch lately. I'm usually more fun guys, I swear."

Arabella pushed herself off the car and grabbed the bottle I had set aside, "Show us how fun you really are." 

I looked at Arabella and Mateo next to me smirking at me. The bright blue bottle dancing in her hands, I grabbed it from her and untwisted the lid. I brought the bottle to my lips and drank the fruity but toxic drink.

"Aren't we going to the party?" I said skipping towards the white mustang. I turned around and saw the duo looking at each other than me. Off to the party, we went.