Authors: Alicia Kobishop
The rest of us followed her and Nate into another pitch black hallway. A monster jumped out and screeched at Jess and Isaac, but it only caused them to laugh hysterically.
“Fuck! I’m next, baby! They’re coming for me!” Melody cried to Nate.
“Geez, Mel, language!” I teased.
“I’m too freaking scared to have a brain-to-mouth filter right now!” she replied.
Evan pulled me close to him. Still pitch black, I felt his nose by my ear. “Your friend is pretty freaked out,” he whispered. “Is she gonna be okay?”
“She’s tougher than she’s letting on,” I quietly responded. “She’ll make it.”
We made it through the cemetery, the butcher shop, and the electroshock therapy room. Jess and I got spooked by monsters and zombies a few times, but Melody had managed to escape them, which only intensified her anxious anticipation. The boys and Jess weren’t nearly as freaked out as I was, yet I was nowhere near as terrified as Melody.
It seemed like we had been in there forever, and I was ready for it to be done. We entered another hallway that was lit up by black lights.
“Roooaaarrrrggg!” A monster jumped out, right in front of Mel.
“AAAAHHH!!!” Mel jumped frantically in the air, then slapped the monster directly on the face.
“Ow!” the monster…who was really just an actor, shouted.
Still horrified, Mel repeatedly punched the monster in the shoulder. We all began to roar in laughter.
“Ahh! Hey, that hurts! No touching!” the poor actor cried. “Hey, Joe! We got a hitter here!!!”
Two more actors dressed in monster and zombie attire came out from the shadows. There was nothing spooky or scary about the way they approached. Annoyed, they kindly asked Mel to follow them, to exit the haunted house early. She and Nate followed them through a door in the hallway.
Knowing Mel would be safe with Nate, Jess, Isaac, Evan, and I decided to finish. The last scene was a scientific lab where an actor dressed as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was performing mad experiments. Jess and Isaac chuckled briefly and kept walking. Evan and I stayed and watched the actor drink his potion and turn into crazy Mr. Hyde.
Once we lost interest, we headed through the door to the final hallway, which was illuminated by a string of pink neon lights on the ceiling.
“I have to admit, that was pretty awesome,” I confessed. Just before I was about to push the handle of the exit door, my hand was pulled back.
“Liv, wait,” Evan whispered as he pulled me into the corner, not easily visible to the passersby. The force of his tug caused my body to press against his. Confused, I looked up at him. His expression was a mixture of playfulness and desire.
“Hey,” he breathed.
Holy crap, he looks good in this light.
“Hey,” I softly replied, as my arms found their way around his middle.
With a slight grin, his fingers took my chin, and his lips lowered onto mine. His hand moved behind my neck to pull me closer. He was a good kisser, and I enjoyed the moment fully until my mind brought me back to the kiss between Logan and me. It was the only time I had ever felt such electricity, and I became upset at the thought that I wasn’t feeling the same kind of intensity with Evan.
I smiled as he pulled back. Even without the intensity, it was good. Maybe even great. “Is that allowed?” I asked, remembering his confession from earlier.
He smiled. “Yeah, that’s allowed.”
I gave him one last soft peck on the lips before taking his hand and leading him out the door where the others were waiting for us. Isaac had his phone to his ear.
“Did you see what those jerks did to me?” Melody asked when she saw me. “I should get a refund!”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You guys want to go to Gavin’s?” Isaac asked, his phone still on his ear. We all looked at each other, shrugging and nodding. He turned away, talking into the phone. “Yeah, we’re in, man. We’ll be there in a bit.”
I turned to Evan. “Do you want to go?”
“Sure, why not?” he replied.
Chapter Eleven
Logan’s car was the first thing I noticed when we pulled into Gavin’s driveway. Part of me was apprehensive to see him again since the last time we were together, we argued over the very person who happened to be sitting in the car next to me. But mostly, I was excited to see him. I made a mental note to talk to Logan tonight to end our stupid standoff.
I could hear the music pounding before we entered the house. Gavin, Hailey, Logan, and Chloe were at the bar doing shots as we came down the stairs. Matt sat in one of the couches, looking at his phone. I chuckled at the sour face Chloe made after she took her shot. It must’ve been something strong. Logan smiled as he watched her, and my heart dropped.
Then, he turned to me. I swore I saw relief in his eyes, but it quickly turned to frustration when he stared past me, seeing who I was with. His smile quickly faded. Chloe noticed his expression change, then glared at me with her crazy devil eyes.
“Hey, stranger,” I said, ignoring Chloe, as I approached him.
“Hey,” he replied coldly.
"I'll take one of those. What is it?" I asked.
"Whiskey. You sure?"
He must've thought I was some sort of lightweight. I guess there were still some things he had to find out about me.
"It's So-Co, Liv, your favorite," Gavin divulged. It was nice the way he always remembered my drink.
"Well, then yeah, I'm in. How could I say no to that?" I said.
"SHOTS!!!" Gavin called.
I passed out the shots to everyone as Gavin poured them, giving Matt a quick hug during the process. He became less creepy every time I saw him. Considering I had been spending time at Logan’s shop, Matt’s creepiness had become almost non-existent. Almost.
Once everyone had their shot, Gavin toasted, “To friends!”
“To friends!” everyone else repeated, and then we all downed our shots. The liquor burned slightly going down, but it was a sweet burn that I hadn’t tasted in a while. It felt good.
“Holy shit, that stuff is disgusting!” Melody choked. Nate laughed until Melody glared at him. Then he abruptly stopped.
“Yeah…Nasty whiskey,” he agreed.
Mel rolled her eyes then glanced at the pool table. “Let’s play doubles. Evan, Liv, you want to play?”
“I’m game,” Evan said.
“I’m in,” I said.
“One more round first?” Gavin called out, already pouring more shots. Logan, Chloe, Gavin and I were the only ones who did the next round. Hailey took a seat on the couch and started flirting with Matt. Geez, that girl got around.
"I’ve never seen a girl take a shot like that without flinching. I think you might be the coolest chick I know." Logan looked at me in awe and a little out of focus. I wondered how many shots they had before we got there.
Chloe let out one single sarcastic laugh.
"To cool chicks!" I toasted. I clinked Chloe’s shot glass with a smile, trying to be nice, then we slugged our second shots. "Hey, wait, I'm not a chick."
"Well, what are you?" he laughed.
"Just a girl. I'm just a girl in the world." I smiled at my Gwen Stefani quote.
He nodded in Evan’s direction. “I see you’re with the porn star.”
“Not a porn star!” Evan called out, as he chalked his cue, completely unfazed by the remark. “Liv, you want to break, or should I?”
I wanted a minute to talk to Logan and clear the air, but Chloe stayed tightly glued to his side. It looked like I would have to wait for the right moment.
“I’ll break,” I said to Evan, leaving Logan and Chloe at the bar.
As the pool game progressed, so did the closeness between Logan and Chloe. I saw them take at least two more shots together.
“Nice one, Liv!” Evan said as I sunk my second stripe. Evan was good at pool too, and we had a strong lead.
“This is so unfair!” Melody said. “Next game we’re playing boys against girls!”
I missed my next pool shot but not on purpose.
“Good try, babe,” Evan said as I sluggishly walked over to him, acting much more disappointed than I really was. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Logan turn his head towards us.
Evan finished the game on our next turn, sinking the final two stripes and the eight ball. I went to give him a congratulatory hug, and when I put my arms around his neck, he took me by the waist with one hand, by the neck with the other, and dipped me down, planting an unexpected kiss on my lips. I giggled as he lifted me back up to a standing position, holding on to him for balance. Those whiskey shots had clearly kicked in.
“Ok, Liv. Let’s kick some boy ass,” Mel said.
I leaned back against the wall, waiting for the next pool game to start and looked over at the bar. Logan’s eyes were on me with an expression I couldn’t quite figure out. It wasn’t a happy one. His intense stare made my heart flutter. For a few seconds, the world seemed to go away, and it was just the two of us, staring into each other’s eyes.
What the hell is going through his mind?
A moment later, he looked down at the floor, breaking the stare. His shoulders lifted up from a small chuckle as he shook his head, snapping himself out of it…Whatever it was. Turning to Chloe, he brought his face close to her ear and whispered something. Her eyes widened, and she nodded with a smile. The corner of Logan’s mouth turned up as he looked at her and raised one eyebrow.
Oh no.
He took her by the hand and led her to the back room. A knot tightened in my throat. What typically happened in the back room was no secret.
"Logan," Matt called from the couch area, where Hailey, Jess, Isaac, and Gavin were also sitting. Their heads all turned toward Logan. Logan turned to look at him.
"Just think, man. Think about it."
Giving Matt an expression that said
"whatever,"
Logan lifted his middle finger at him and turned back around, stumbling into the back room with his arm around Chloe’s neck, closing the door with a bang. Matt looked down and shook his head.
Mel and I looked at each other simultaneously.
“We should go,” Mel said. “Let’s go. We could go get something to eat.”
We stopped for food on the way here. I knew she wasn’t hungry. “Mel, don’t worry, it’s fine. Do you wanna break or should I?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!” I replied. “Of course. There’s no reason for us to leave.”
Mel nodded. “Okay. I can break. Lord knows I need the practice.”
That’s when I noticed the stares. It seemed like everyone in the room had their heads turned in my direction, all trying to gauge my reaction.
What is everyone’s problem?
Logan was allowed to have fun, and they all knew I was not his girlfriend. I was here with another guy for God’s sake. My mind told me that Logan was doing what needed to be done—to confirm our friendship. What I didn’t understand was why my heart was suddenly in my stomach and why tears where begging to escape my eyes.
As Mel took her shot, giggling noises came out of the back room. Gavin went to the stereo and turned the music up, looking in my direction just before returning to the couch. I got the feeling he felt the need to protect me. As Gavin sat down, Matt stood up from the couch and walked toward me.
“Liv, I’m going outside for a smoke. Do you want to come with me?” Matt asked.
“I don’t smoke. It’s nasty,” I replied.
“Okay, then will you just come out for a minute? To talk?”
Not that I needed permission, but I turned to Melody who was staring intently at me, as was everyone else.
I sighed. “Fine. Hey, Jess, would you want to step in for me?”
“You got it, hon.” Jess replied.
I turned to Evan. “I’ll be right back.”
“Yeah. No problem,” he shrugged.
Once we were outside, Matt lit up his cigarette. I waited patiently as he seemed to be finding the right words. After a few moments, he finally spoke.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you know Logan is doing what he’s doing to prove a point, right?”
All the muscles in my body tensed. “Sex to prove a point, huh? That’s always a good idea.” I thought for a moment. I didn’t want to ask why, but I had to know. “Exactly what is he trying to prove?”
After a long pause, he turned to face me. “That he’s not into you.”
I felt as though the wind had been knocked out of me. My mind imagined all the things Logan and Chloe might be doing in the back room. I wanted to stop thinking in graphic detail about the acts that were taking place back there. It was making my stomach turn. Why was my mind so focused on it? I hated that I had become so affected by another person. I
hated
it so much that I wasn’t ready to admit it.
“Well then, that’s where you’re wrong,” I replied, trying to keep my cool. “Because he’s not ‘into me’ in that way. So there’s nothing to prove.”
Matt took a drag from his cigarette. “I’ve known Logan for over ten years. He’s like family to me. Trust me. He’s into you. And it’s tearing him up because…” He shook his head and dropped his smoke to the ground, stepping on it to put it out. “Has Logan ever talked to you about what happened after his dad died?”
“No, we’ve never gotten too in-depth about our pasts.” Logan and I had an unspoken understanding that talking about our “sad stories” was out of the bounds of our comfort zones.
He sighed. “There are some things that you need to hear from him…it’s not my business to say anything. But you need to know that he’s been hurt, Liv. By his own family none the less.”
I continued to stay quiet. This conversation seemed to be difficult for him, and I wanted to make sure he had the opportunity to say what he needed to say.
“Since he met you, I’ve seen changes in him that I never thought would happen. With the exception of the last few days, that is. I just think…I can tell that you’re a strong person, Liv. I just hope you can be strong for him, okay?”
Matt was obviously a good friend to Logan, and it made me feel good to know that he had Logan’s back. It was sweet. It suddenly hit me that no matter what, Logan had become a part of my life, as well. He was—first and foremost—my friend…and losing him scared the hell out of me. “Logan is my friend, Matt. I’m not going to abandon him if that’s what you’re worried about. I don’t know why everyone is acting so weird tonight. Logan is allowed to have fun. I’m not his girlfriend. He’s not my boyfriend. We’re
friends
. Nothing’s going to change that.” I hooked my elbow in his. I needed this subject to change. “And, by the way, you are officially not creepy anymore.”