the secret » david dobrik au

T H I R T Y - E I G H T

The next month or so of my life moved so smoothly I hardly believed it was real. My classes weren't too challenging, I had plenty of time with all my friends, and mine and David's relationship was better than ever. That's not to say we didn't have our fights because we did. Most of them were my fault. I was insecure that he was going to leave me, and he was constantly fighting to prove he wasn't. It was exhausting, but David understood. He accepted that that was a part of a relationship with me, that I was probably never going to fully trust what he said.

Lydia's birthday was mid-February. I went home for the weekend to celebrate with her. We popped some bottles (though she told me a hundred times that she could get arrested for feeding alcohol to her minor, kind-of-daughter). She told me Simon could be taken away from her care, and I laughed, pouring more champagne in the cup until it overflowed.

It wasn't much of a party. The three of us watched both Grown Ups and Grown Ups Two, then went to bed. It was still fun. I told Lydia that if she was going out with her friends the next weekend, I'd come back and watch Simon. Simon whined that he was old enough to stay alone for the night and that he didn't need me "all up in his business", so we decided that he could call me if he got into any trouble.

David's mom's birthday was towards the end of February, and I got invited to her dinner. It didn't surprise me that I got invited; she had been calling me a lot during the second semester. We mostly talked about me, how school was going, and if I needed anything. Sometimes, she ranted about Alyssa or David, and I gladly listened. I didn't tell David about half the times she called. It felt personal.

"Oh, my darling Evangeline! You look so beautiful!" she wrapped me in a hug as we walked through her front door. She had described the party as something small and casual, which is why I was so confused when David made me go buy a dress. He disproved of my first choice, a casual yellow sundress, and made me pick something else. We finally settled on a long sleeved, off the shoulder, sparkly black dress. I thought it was a little much... but God, was I wrong.

It looked like one of those Gossip Girl parties I always secretly dreamed of going to. There were little waitresses walking around in those ugly black and white outfits with trays of hor d'oeuvres. The people looked like they stepped straight off of a movie set. It was bustling and busy for a small, casual party.

"You look pretty, too, Nicolette," I smiled into her hug despite my fear. "Thank you so much for inviting us. It looks... not casual."

"Oh, no, sweetie," she laughed, swatting her hand in the air. "This is as casual as a birthday gets for me. Come in! David should know everyone. He can introduce you."

She half hugged David, nowhere near as sweet as she was to me, and then sent us on our way. We dropped off our present at the table with all the presents (I didn't know adults still got birthday presents). David said, "Let's get a drink before we get stopped by any of these people."

"We should've smoked," I laughed. "If I knew it would be like this, we would've smoked."

"We'd smell bad," David snatched two champagne flutes, the real, fragile glass kind, off of a tray. "Cheers! To the worst night of our lives."

"I've had a few worse," I joked, but clinked our cups together anyways, knocking back half the drink in one sip. "Who am I set to meet tonight, David? An aunt? A grandma?"

"Definitely a drunk aunt. My grandma doesn't usually come to these things. Not the biggest fan of fancy parties."

"Respect," I nodded. "Well, let's get appetizers. I love appetizers."

I met Gabriel's publicist, a thirty year old named Jackie who David insisted I chat with because I wanted to be a publicist. She was very sweet, but she made multiple jokes about me taking her job once I graduated, which made the whole conversation awkward.

I met a drunk aunt named Cecilia, who told me she was so surprised that I was David's girlfriend because I was pretty and he was a dick. I agreed with her that he was a dick, and David dragged us away before we could get into any serious shit talking. Probably a smart idea.

We talked to Alyssa and Eli for a bit. They were as charming as always, but Alyssa did seem a little more apprehensive before telling me my dress looked cheap this time. I told her that hers did too and asked if the maternity section was lacking as much as it looked like it was. For the first time since I met her, she smiled at me like she respected me. It felt like a win.

"Sorry," I whispered in David's ear as soon as we got pulled away from the two. "Don't mean to be a bitch."

"The bitchier you are to her, the more she'll like you. She likes when people won't take her shit."

We got a little tipsy and ate dinner with the group, our table consisting of David's lovely little sister and her boyfriend and their cousin Maxwell. He was a rich dick, just as I expected, but he was pretty funny.

We slept in David's bedroom and went home the next morning, even though Nicolette and Gabriel asked us to stay for the rest of the weekend. I had a ton of homework that had to be done, but David said he might come back the next day for Alyssa's doctor appointment. It was in the afternoon, and David only had one morning class on Mondays.

He ended up going. Monday was a day that I needed to focus, since I spent my entire Sunday with David instead of doing homework like I said I would.

Corinna, Natalie, Todd and Matt, who were all sitting in our living room throwing marshmallows into eachother's mouths and screaming when they made it, were not helping with my problem.

Even with my door shut, I could not pay attention to save my life. I finally decided to pack up all my stuff and make the trek to Starbucks, hoping that the quiet and a five dollar coffee would inspire me to write a stupid paper due at 11:59.

I had just reached Starbucks when I looked across the street to The Greenery, a weird smoothie and healthy food cafe that I despised because it felt too clean for me. In the parking lot was David's car. I frowned, my hand leaving the door handle as I walked to see what the fuck he was doing at The Greenery instead of at his sister's doctor appointment.

I reached the sidewalk and stared hard, trying to see. The glare was pretty bad on the windows, but my heart still dropped when I finally focused on what I was seeing. David and Madison, at a table by the street, laughing their asses off. David and Madison. He said he was going to his sister's appointment to make sure her baby was healthy, but instead, he was at a fucking healthy cafe that I fucking hated with fucking Madison, who I also fucking hated.

I turned on my heel and stomped back to the apartment.

bc someone asked for drama and IVE BEEN WAITIN FOR THIS ONE...... TURN IT UPPPP

xoxo abby