Agony Aunt

Chapter Three

"Are you using my own words against me?" I chuckled.

"Maybe. Is it working?" Matias pulled back slightly to look me directly in the eyes. 

I went to open my mouth but realised I didn't know how to reply, the playfulness that ensued from Matias I could easily flow with but my mind had started to overthink. 

My anxiety flared up and began to question if Matias was actually flirting with me. If that was the case, I didn't want to give him the wrong impression but I also didn't want to say something that would humiliate myself. Geez, thanks anxiety for making this way more complicated than it needed to be. 

"So," I coughed and Matias took a step backwards to place some distance between us. "Who are you here with?"

"Some of the guys from uni, some from the newspaper," I peeked over Matias's shoulder to where he pointed to his table. There were about twelve people crammed in together, some were finishing their drinks and others were putting on their coats. 

A shiver ran down my spine and I immediately felt his presence bore into me before I even spotted him. My eyes darted around the circle until they stopped on a pair of grey stones, cold as they appeared to be. There was something about this guy that creeped me out. 

I couldn't put my finger on what it was about Carson but the moment his lips turned up into a smile, my stomach did a somersault. Was this guy seriously blowing hot and cold on me? Was he playing games? 

My eyes flicked from his thin, pink lips back up to his eyes and I didn't see what I expected to see. They weren't cold or harsh, they weren't full of hate or anger, in fact, it was the complete opposite of what I had seen before. 

Carson's eyes smiled back at me as much as his mouth did. 

Had I unwarrantedly misjudged him and got it completely wrong? Surely my gut feeling couldn't have been wrong too? 

I felt a pang of guilt in my stomach and then my eyes noticed a ponytail of red hair sitting next to him. She was sitting on a stool at the end of the table, her back faced me but I would recognise that hair anywhere, it was Bryleigh. 

"Alice?" Matias questioned when my gaze returned to him.

"Sorry, did you say something?" I furrowed my eyebrows. 

"What's so fascinating about Carson?" He joked. 

"Oh," I shook my head, "I can't really figure him out, one minute he's being cold and the next he's smiling at me. What's that about?" The words flew out of my mouth before I could even question if it was the right thing to say. 

Matias laughed, "I don't know, maybe you should ask him what his problem is?" 

"I can't do that," I gasped. 

"Then you're going to have to figure it out in your own time," Matias shrugged. 

"What a great help you are," my gaze landed on the crowd of friends that were now standing behind Matias. 

I noticed that amongst some unfamiliar faces were Wyatt, Grayson and Ada but all eyes were on me, the person that held Matias's attention. 

"Alice, why didn't you say you would be here?" Bryleigh's sweet voice announced her presence as she shuffled past Grayson. 

"Hey, Bry," she flung her arms around me and pulled me into a quick hug. "I didn't know you knew Matias," I smiled.

"He's a friend of a friend. I only met him today." 

"I know that feeling," I griped.

"Hey!" Matias laughed from behind Bryleigh. "You know I'm still here and can hear you, right?"