Life always has a way of bringing two people together. People don't meet each other by accident. In life, everything comes in its time. Life lets you meet people who you desperately need at that moment. And at this moment I desperately needed someone with a car.

"I'm not going to walk all the way there. Do you know how far it is?" I looked up at Caden who just stared at me with a tired expression on his face. He was exhausted from me. "Why can't he just pick us up?" I asked as I stuffed a handful of his fries in my mouth.

"I asked if you wanted food, you said no!" Caden grabbed his cone with fries from the table and held it as far as possible from me. "I already told you, Quinton's car isn't home."

I pouted. I wasn't hungry earlier, but now I am. "I cannot walk on an empty stomach and besides 'you know who' is going to be there. I'm pretty sure he hates me."

"Landon doesn't hate you. He said he doesn't mind if you come. I thought you were over him."

I scoffed. Landon, the guy who just ghosted me last summer. "Can you believe I was about to settle for that?" I was appalled. Landon was the guy I met in my senior year. We were never friends nor were we ever in a relationship. Let me rephrase that better, he and I were never in a relationship nor were we just friends. It was always more than a friendship and less than a relationship. We had a, what you call, situationship. A situationship is kinda like a relationship, but more of a situation. There can be feelings involved and here is where the twist comes, the one who catches feelings is the one who is going to get hurt in the end.

Tell me why I had to be the one who caught the feelings. I hated how vague he was about us. At some point, I didn't know if we were a couple or a couple of friends.

It was bad, but I never hated him for it. I never did, because at some point in my life I did need him. As I already said before, you don't meet people by accident.

But the fact that he unfriended me on all my socials and then completely stopped talking to me, was unnecessary. Petty, but unnecessary.

Caden snickered. " You were in love, honey. Love makes you blind." He stuffed his mouth with the last bit of fries left in the cone and threw the empty cone in the trash bin next to us. "Now, let's walk."

I met Caden in high school. There was a bench at school where I always sat and sometimes Caden took that spot. Every time I saw him sitting in my spot, I fumed. Like, that's my spot even though it's not mine, but it's mine.

It was a rainy Tuesday morning when Caden decided to sit in my spot...again. I rolled my eyes but decided to sit next to him. David Dobrik had uploaded a video this morning and I wanted to watch it before my next class started. I muttered a good morning to Caden as I sat next to him, but he was too focused on his phone. Now that's rude.

I was about to call him a 'rude bitch' when my eyes fell on what he was watching on his phone. "Is that Tana Mongeau?"

That's when Caden looked up at me with a surprised expression on his face. "You know her?"

"I don't want to walk so far," I whined as I got up to start walking. I can't believe I have been friends with his dumb ass for a couple of months now. We have been doing dumb shit ever since that day we bonded over Tana Mongeau.

"What if Landon is going to make everything awkward there?" I asked worriedly because I know for a fact that I wouldn't. I lost all my feelings for him the day he texted me 'leave me alone, thot.'

Landon was history to me. And good thing I don't like history to repeat itself.

"He's not. You're over him, aren't you?" Caden looked down at me, his hair blowing in the wind as he was trying to get a strand out of his face. His eyes fell on my outfit. "Ohmygod you look hot. The jeans with a cropped hoodie look suits you."

I did a little twirl for him. The yellow cropped hoodie and light blue jeans gave me the hourglass figure I was going for. "Looking like a snack, baby!"

Caden laughed. "Period sis!"

He himself didn't look bad either. He never does, but I guess that's what happens when you stay in the closet for too long. Your fashion sense gets impeccable.

"Is it still far? Are we going down that dark road?" I asked as I followed him walking down a road that was barely illuminated. I have watched enough murder documentaries to know that's where they kill young girls.

"Three blocks and yes."

I cried out loud. Call me dramatic, but I am not going to walk so far, especially not down the road that screams 'stay away' in all the sixty-five thousand languages that are currently spoken in the world. "I'm tired and scared. Let's go back!"

Caden rolled his eyes at me and let out a huge sigh. "Climb on my back, you brat!"

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"We're here." Caden panted as I jumped off his back. We were standing in front of Quinton's two-story house with Quinton standing on the balcony yelling at us to hurry up and make our way upstairs. "For someone who is not even five feet tall, you sure are heavy."

"Are you calling me fat?" I placed my hands on my hips, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Not you, just that ass." Caden winked. I busted out laughing. "Come, they are waiting for us upstairs."

When we finally made it upstairs, Landon showed us the way to the balcony where Quinton was already waiting impatiently for us.

This was the first time I saw Landon again after that stupid summer. He didn't change that much except for the fact that he got a new tattoo. Landon wasn't bad-looking, in fact, he had a nice set of eyes. They were like freshly melted chocolate. And I was a sucker for chocolate.

But that's the past. Now we were back at being just friends with some memories.

The first thing I noticed when I saw Quinton on the balcony was the lazy but flirty expression on his face.

When I first got to know Quinton, I thought he hated me. He had a resting bitch face and if it wasn't for Landon pushing me to get to know him, I probably wouldn't.

"Are you drunk?" I asked, chuckling. "That's early."

"I'm not drunk." He laughed as he waved his hand in dismissal. "I'm so not drunk."

When Quinton says he is not drunk, he meant the opposite. He was not drunk. No, he was fucking wasted.

"Yeah right, that explains the two empty beer bottles on the table. Anyway, I'm thirsty," I said as I grabbed a bottle of beer and took a huge sip of it. The walk to Quinton's house made me thirsty. It wasn't really a walk for me, because Caden did all the walking while I was complaining about how uncomfortable his back was.

"She drank the disgusting beer!" Landon yelled out at Quinton who just stared at me with an amused expression on his face. "Are you crazy, woman?"

"It's not that bad," I shrugged, as I put the beer back on the table. "Or maybe I'm just thirsty."

I spoke too soon because the aftertaste was like rotten eggs.

"It is bad. Taste like fucking piss."

No shit, it did taste bad. I'm not going to admit that though. Not going to give him the satisfaction of being right.

"Oh, so you know what piss tastes like?" I asked instead, raising my eyebrows.

Landon narrowed his eyes at me and showed me the finger.

Quinton handed me a chair. "Sit down, princess." He never calls me princess when he's sober.

"You're still single?" I asked, plopping down on the chair.

"Sadly, yes," Quinton said. "Do you have someone in mind for me?"

I shook my head. "You need to learn how to flirt first and how to start a conversation."

Quinton sucked at flirting and starting conversations.

He kinda reminded me of the boy next door. Introverted, quiet, and extremely shy. But if you got to know him better he was so much more than that. He was brilliant and he had this rarely-found mature sense of humor.

Quinton won't draw attention to himself with loud words or clothing. But his face was something special. His features were balanced and symmetrical. His skin was clear and smooth. His hair was soft, and so were his eyes. Innocent, but secretly deceiving.

"Who is coming?" I asked, looking at Caden, as I heard a car pulling up in the driveway. I thought it would just be us tonight. I don't like meeting new people.

"Quinton's cousin and his girlfriend. Remember Axel and Lilah?"

"That one dude who picked us up at that restaurant when we were stranded?" A couple of months ago we were stranded at this restaurant and I recalled hearing something about Quinton's cousin picking us up that night.

"Yes, that's the one." Caden laughed and shook his head. "I remembered how you refused to greet him."

"I didn't really notice him until later. He also has a girlfriend. I don't like to greet boys who have a girlfriend."

That was mainly for my own safety because for some unknown reasons girls always thought I was flirting with their man.

Like, I'm sorry for having a flirty personality. I didn't ask for it.

"You're going to greet him tonight, right?" Caden asked. "Don't be rude."

"Only if he greets me first," I answered sassily, greeting someone isn't required after all.

"Good evening." A voice said behind us. I turned around to see a tall black-haired boy standing in the door opening.

He carried that whole bad boy aura around him. His hair was like a mop of waves on his head and he had the kind of handsome look that got into my bones, that spoke to me of olden times.

My eyes shifted to his lips and back to his thick and lustrous eyelashes. Eyelashes he didn't deserve.

He must be Quinton's cousin. Behind him stood a girl with long black hair that was tied into a bun on top of her head, charcoal black eyes, and a smile with a hint of shyness. That must be the girlfriend.

"He has a girlfriend," I whispered to myself. "He's off-limits."

I hated it when I met a good-looking guy and he wasn't available.

"Good evening," I said as I watched them take a seat on the chairs across from me. They looked so good together.

They made the perfect couple. Shy girl meets bad boy. The one you read about in books.

Deep down I wanted whatever they had.

"You want a drink?" Lilah asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

She was pouring herself a glass of beer. The disgusting beer. I'm not going to tell her that though.

"What's wrong with you women?" Landon exclaimed. "Y'all be drinking piss."

I laughed and shook my head at Lilah. "No, I already had some."

I watched her go back to her seat and whisper something to Axel. Axel laughed and shoved his phone in her hands. "Take a picture of me and the boys."

As I already said. They made the perfect couple.

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The night passed slowly and everyone was already kind of tipsy at this point.

"So what's your name?" Axel asked after he already had a couple of drinks. I gave him a funny look. So all this time when we were talking he didn't even know my name?

"Her name's Aulia," Quinton slurred, barely sitting up straight on his chair. On the other end of the balcony, Lilah was helping Caden who just fell from his.

"Au-what?"

The confusion was written all over Axel's face.

"Just call me Lia," I answered smiling. I'm used to people not pronouncing my name right and I was not about to have this drunk dude butcher my name.

"No, no. It's Aulia right." Axel said, finally pronouncing it correctly.

I nodded my head and smiled at him. The drunk dude with kissable lips was able to pronounce my name right. Impressive.

"So, Aulia. Can I have your number?" Axel asked suddenly.

I looked at him and then at his girlfriend. She didn't seem to bother, so I just shrugged my shoulders and nodded at him. "Sure, why not?"

It wouldn't hurt to make another friend.

Landon grabbed my phone out of my hands and saved Axel's number for me. He then did the same for Axel.

Looks like my Summer fling was trying to play cupid here.

"Now y'all can sext each other," Landon said, winking at Axel and me.

Without thinking twice I slapped him on the back of his head.

"I need to go now," Caden announced, furiously tapping away on his phone. He looked at me apologetically. "Sorry, my mom just texted. She wants me home."

"Caden! My mom is still babysitting. She will be off in two hours. You can't leave me here alone."

"Alone?" Quinton yelled out offended. "What are we then? Potatoes?"

I rolled my eyes at him and focused back on Caden. "Are you really going to leave me?" I pouted.

"Sorry babe." He answered, kissing my cheeks. "I have to go. I'll text you tomorrow morning."

And with that, he just left me behind with three drunk guys and a girl who barely talks.

"Stop drinking so much," Quinton said to Axel who just poured another drink for himself. "Wifey is getting mad over there." He pointed at Lilah who just sat in the corner quietly.

"Ex-wifey," Axel corrected him.

I frowned my eyebrows in confusion. Did he say ex-wifey? What is she doing here then? I looked at her and she didn't even seem offended at what Axel said.

I then looked at Landon. The guy I was once in love with. We were sitting in the same room, talking and laughing like we didn't have a history.

So maybe Lilah and Axel were like us.

Quinton yawned. "I'm going to bed, y'all. Goodnight."

After we said good night to Quinton, Lilah decided to head for a shower.

"Did you just call Lilah your ex?" Landon whispered to Axel when Lilah left the balcony.

Axel nodded his head. A sad smile appeared on his face. "She cheated on me when she went on vacation last summer."

"Seriously? That's fucked up man."

"She's young." He sighed. "She hasn't gone through her hoe-phase yet. Before me, she was a loyal side chick to an older man. Being in a serious relationship while you're young, you tend to fuck up."

"Yea I got you." I'm pretty sure Landon didn't get him. He was just saying that to make Axel feel better.

"But cheating. Man, I don't know. That's a choice she made and to me it's unforgivable."

"I...think I need to vomit." Landon got up from his chair and staggered to the bathroom.

"Lightweight," I muttered, as I heard him knocking over something in the living room. "I hope that's not Quinton's mom, her favorite vase he knocked over."

Axel laughed and I looked over at him. His smile didn't reach his eyes. It was a blessing and a curse to be a writer and notice these little things.

Hurt.

That's the second thing I noticed about Axel. The first thing was the long eyelashes he didn't deserve.

Lilah had hurt him.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Axel looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"You got nice hands." I blurted out, regretting it the second it came out of my mouth. I wanted to bang my head on a wall right now.

Out of everything I could've said, why did I say that? My anti-social ass really needs to socialize more to avoid saying stupid things like this.

"To choke you with," he responded quietly, but loud enough for me to hear.

I stared at him agape. I did not expect that to come from him.

Axel rubbed his face tiredly and looked at me with a lazy smile. "Tell me I'm right, Aulia."

Before I could answer him, Lilah came back from her shower. She was wearing an oversized shirt and looked at both of us. "Did I miss something?"

The perfect couple only exists in books. Axel and Lilah were not it.

I shook my head at her before taking my phone out of my pocket to text Caden.

Axel is daddy material.