Chasing You

Chapter 5

I stood there with my eyes wide in disbelief. I shouldn't be this shocked, but come on- what are the odds that I talk to a high school guy and then end up at his house the same day?! After a moment I finally gather my thoughts enough to form a sentence.

"Hey. Nice to meet you, you're house is amazing." I say as I glance past him, down the dimly lit hallway.

"Should we go on the grand tour?" He lets out a slight chuckle as he follows my intrigued gaze.

Tanner butts in as he punches my upper arm, snapping me out of my stare.
"Don't mind my nosey sister, Tyler. She doesn't hold her facial expressions well"

"Sorry, that's totally not necessary. Especially in the middle of a party." I ensure him. I hear my name from across the room and glance back to see my friends waiting for me to go mingle.
"Well, I'd better get back to my friends. Nice to meet you, Tyler. " I say as I head back to Brett, Emily and Anna.

"Yea you too! I'll see you around!" Tyler shouts over the music as I walk away.

The girls and I stand awkwardly in the kitchen, unsure of how to act in this atmosphere. Brady nods his head towards the patio doors and motions for a drink. Taking the hint, we head towards the back deck where the coolers are to grab something to drink. A little liquid courage never hurt anyone.

•••

After a couple drinks have gone down we're all feeling a little less out of place here. We decide to go back in the house and socialize with some people that well most likely be attending school with for the next couple years.

As we're standing in a group talking I catch someone looking in our direction. I quickly jerk my head back towards to group to avoid eye contact. I couldn't help but wonder what they were looking at, or who it was? I make the conscious decision to glance back and investigate. I find myself staring at the back of a tall broad shouldered boy. I can see his muscles flexing through his crisp, white t-shirt as he moves. His ripped jeans hanging on his hips in just the right way that you can see his athletic build. As I stand there taking him in, he turns and notices me staring. Of course, its Tyler. A childish grin spreads across his face and he winks at me. I can feel my face turn bright red as I jolt myself back into the circle. How embarrassing.

Brett notices my hand go to my mouth as I begin to nervously chew my nails. That's my queue when I'm uncomfortable or anxious. She grabs my hand and pulls it to her side, holding it tightly.
"Hey, you okay?" She asks

"Yeah I just have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back" I lie.

"No way, I'm coming with you." She says. she pulls my hand as she makes her way across the living room and down the hall towards the bathroom. We wait in a line of drunk teenagers until it's our turn. Finally we get into the bathroom, she grabs both my hands with a very serious look on her face.
"What's wrong? You got really quiet, and quite frankly, your blushing face is giving you away. Spill." She says.

"Uhh. Okay so today while I was relaxing in the pool I got a friend request from the guy. I had no idea who he was, but he looked cute and tanner, Brady, Jeremy and a bunch of other people were mutual friends.. plus he looked cute, So I accepted. He messaged me, look." I say, reaching into my pocket to show her my phone. I watch as she reads through out short conversation.
"And when we got here, tanner introduced me to the guy who owns the house.. the quarter back at cen-"

"ITS HIM!! This is his house!" She cuts me off before I can even finish my thought.
"Oh, B. He is hot. Look at his arms in this photo! You HAVE to talk to him." She says shoving my phone back at my face.

I check my face in the mirror and splash cold water across it in an attempt to reduce my blushing.

"Oh god. I can't even talk to boys our age, let alone someone older and popular. You know how awkward I get."

"We'll see" She says as she drags me back out of the bathroom with a mischievous smile.