**Chapter Sixteen**
I did nothing wild at last night’s party, so I was feeling enough the next day to go to the Coffee House. Dillon was still sleeping in bed when I grabbed breakfast and a drink from there. I took that time to bring my laptop and try to get some work done. The stupid essay I had to write for English was killing me and it didn’t help that I was distracted yet again.
Drew wasn’t anywhere to be seen still, and it made me worry a lot. Juliana also has been acting strange, too. Her normal, bubbling personality was a shell of itself. I have seen no signs of her either since the party. I wanted to talk to her to make sure she knows I’m not going after Drew. As much as my heart wanted to, I wouldn’t do that to her. The hat was simply because he said he wanted to borrow it. There wasn’t anything more to it than that.
Still, I somehow felt guilty about it. I knew Juliana was very possessive of Drew. Giving him the hat should have been a clear red flag, but I didn’t think she’d get this upset. Juliana has become someone I like a lot. I didn’t want our blossoming friendship ruined over something like this. Luckily, I had an English class with her tomorrow. Maybe we could talk after that.
Sitting with my head in my hands, it startled me when I heard the chair across from me move. I lifted my head to see a smiling Drew sitting in front of me. My eyes widened out of shock and relief. Relief that he was ok, shocked because he was smiling, and thought he could just show up without me yelling at him. How dare he make me worry like that!
Slamming my hands on the table, I look at him, very furious. “Andrew Tate, where have you been?” I question angrily.
He shrugged. “I was at the party,” he says calmly.
“I didn’t see you there,” I respond.
“Maybe I didn’t want to be seen.” I hated how nonchalant he was about the whole thing.
Unnecessary answers aside, I’m happy he at least looked to be doing better. His face was smiling and happy. His green eyes I adored looked bright. I’m assuming he and Juliana fixed things. Though Drew still wore my beanie. As much as I wanted to ask for it back, I couldn’t. He looked so great in it; I didn’t want to take it back. There’s also the fact that I couldn’t date him ever and him having something from me made me feel at ease. Mostly anyway. All I wanted was to see him, and I did.
Looking away, I sighed with relief. “You could’ve at least told us where you were going to be,” I say shyly.
I can feel him smirk when he says his next words. “Awe, was someone worried about me?” He teases.
Ignoring his question, I ask him something else I wanted to know. “Are you and Julie ok?” The nervousness in my voice was clear.
He nods slowly. “As good as we’ll ever be,” he says, not interested. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”
Drew gets up and walks away while I sit and wait for him to return. It’s good that they were ok, but the way he said it didn’t sound good. Like they were fine, but there would still be a lot of tension. The tension was something we did not want. Hanging out as we have been would be weird if those two were always fighting. No one wanted to be around that all the time. Though, this should be a good thing for me, right? This would be my time to swoop in and have Drew to myself. But I couldn’t bring myself to do that either.
After a few minutes of waiting, Drew came back with a matcha iced green tea. It made me laugh because he didn’t peg me to be a matcha drinker. I honestly didn’t think he liked anything at the Coffee House. I’ve never seen him buy anything from here before and the only other time he was in here was the second time I saw him on campus. It looked so weird in his hand, but he was sipping away.
Drew looked at me, confused about why I was laughing. “What’s so funny?’ He chuckles as he speaks.
I continue to laugh. “Nothing I…I just didn’t expect you to like matcha,” I say.
“It’s my favorite drink, and it’s not funny,” he says, even though he’s laughing with me.
Nodding, I settle myself. “Ok, it’s not funny, but it’s surprising.” I change my wording.
As much as I hate that he’s fighting with Julie, hanging out with him has been great. We’ve moved past that awkward stage a little where I’m able to talk to him with fewer nerves. I’m sure he’s picked up on that since he hasn’t pointed out any of my flaws like before. That day in his car changed our relationship for the better, I believe. This felt more natural.
Sighing, Drew looked at me seriously this time. “Would you be down for another outing, say 2?” He asked me.
My face fell. “I don’t know. I don’t want Julie coming to claw my eyes out,” I joke.
He rolled his eyes. “Annabelle, please? We’re only hanging out as friends,” he explains.
“Depends. Are you bringing me to the skate park?” I query.
His lips pursed. “I said we’d go once a week, but no, I have something else in mind.” He suggested.
The offer was tempting, but we saw what happened over the beanie. Imagine what she would do if she found out we went somewhere together. It wouldn’t be the first time, but I don’t even want her to find out about that. There was enough drama as it was. Drew would bring more to the situation. However, it is near impossible for me to pass up the opportunity to find out more about him. The weakness I had for him would surely bite me on my butt one of these days.
Before I could answer him, my phone rang. My heart nearly dropped when I saw it was Keegan calling me. I’m still very mad at him about yesterday when he didn’t show up. So much so, I didn’t even want to answer the phone. How are you going to not show up somewhere you’re invited to? He didn’t even have the decency to let me know ahead of time. My interest in him was dwindling, but Drew told me to answer it.
“Take it. I’ll see you at 2,” he says before walking off.
I did not agree with it, but now he was expecting me to meet him. Regardless, I had more pressing matters to deal with. After much debate, I answer the video call, only to be greeted by a smiling Keegan. I for one, was not smiling, and he realized that once his face fell.
“Ok, hear me out for a second,” he spoke, but I stopped him right there.
“No, you hear me out. How could you do that to me?” I was furious. “You didn’t even tell me you weren’t coming. You just didn’t show up.”
He took accountability for that. “I know and I’m sorry, Anna. My boss wouldn’t let me leave at the last second,” he says. “I wanted to be there, honest.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, right? Why are you calling me Keegan?” I was in no mood for it.
He sighed. “I want to make amends and see if we could start over.”
Starting over sounded like a good idea. Though I had Dre in my head from last night. Would it be using Keegan to get over Drew, though? It’s not like I didn’t have an interest in him. It’s more like a reason to get over my feelings for him. I saw his point and in the grand scheme of things, someone would be mad.
Regardless, I wanted to give Keegan a chance to at least make things right. That’s the least I could do after everything.
“I’m calling because I wanted a fresh start,” he says. “So, let’s meet up today.” He suggested.
That would not happen. “Sorry, I have plans today, but we could meet tomorrow after 3,” I say.
He nods. “I promise you won’t regret it!” He said excitedly.
“As long as you show up this time,” I tease.
Laughing, he promised to come this time, and we ended our conversation there. I wasn’t hoping for him to come. I did last time and disappointment followed right after. The big thing was that I had something to do with both Drew and Keegan. There is no telling how either would go down, but I’m confident things will be fine. Now I could only wonder where Drew was taking me.