***Chapter Thirty-Seven***
We were back in our classes again, which wasn’t much fun at all. After English, Juliana and I met up with Dillon as we walked to the library. They were all so excited about Halloween coming up in three weeks. They were having a themed night at the bar we frequent and, of course, everyone wanted to go. I didn’t mind, but dressing up wasn’t on my agenda. If candy wasn’t involved, I didn’t see the need to wear a costume. Especially not the one Juliana wanted us to wear.
“Come on, it’ll kick ass!” She tried to convince me. “Plus, it'll be sexy too.”
I snickered. “You want to do a makeshift version of Charlie’s Angel’s,” I say. “What would we even wear to symbolize it?”
Dillon interjected, more excited about this than I expected. “Really cute body suits with heels to match.”
My jaw drops. “Are you seriously in on this?” I asked her, shocked.
Juliana laughed. “Yes! We can do black, gold, and silver.” That just got her even more excited.
Seeing as I would be the odd one out, I agreed, demanding to be wearing the silver. Dillon took black leaving Juliana in the gold. I think the colors suited our personalities well enough. Juliana being the middleman in this trio. Honestly, it felt like I agreed to her idea because of the situation with Drew. Anything she wanted to do, I would do it as remorse for even thinking about Drew how I do. She obviously cared about this friendship. It’s something I didn’t want to ruin. Nor did I want to ruin her relationship.
Speaking of relationships, we found a spot to sit when we got into a topic I didn’t want to speak of. It was nice hearing how well Dillon and Dre have been doing though. She doesn’t speak much about it with anyone. They’ve been quite low key with everything. Even Dre, who is usually always loud with everything he does. Dillon meant a lot to him. I’m sure he didn’t want to fuck that up. It took so long to get her. There’s no turning back now.
“It blows my mind that you guys are dating.” Juliana was stunned.
Dillon blushes a bit. “We’re just having fun with one another. It’s not serious.” She downplays their relationship.
I squint my eyes at her. “Not that serious? You guys hang out almost every day,” I say. “That has to be serious.”
With a roll of her eyes, she switches topics, as the Tate children normally do. “How about you and Keegan? Are you guys serious yet?”
She would be the one to bring up Keegan. We have spent little time together for me to have a good feeling about the matter. The time we saw each other was always great, but I still couldn’t see it going anywhere. Especially not with the way things have been happening with Drew. Although Keegan and I had plans for tomorrow. He was finally going to take me on that date he’s been wanting to for so long. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going, but this could be the catalyst for something great between us.
I heave a sigh just thinking about it. “We haven’t spent as much time as you and Dre have.” I remind her.
“So that means you feel nothing for him or…” Juliana wondered.
Shrugging, I couldn’t provide them with the answers they wanted. “I’m…I’m not sure,” is all I said, desperately wanting to get off the topic with Keegan. “I’m seeing him tomorrow, so maybe something good will come from it.”
They dropped it before Dillon started asking Juliana about Drew. This I was curious about because Juliana talked little about their relationship, too. From our perspective, they seem fine despite a few arguments here or there. No one would tell me the inside information about what went on between them. Including Drew himself. Maybe Juliana would give me a bit more information on the matter if no one else would. Then again, she threatened me to keep it pg with him. She’ll either gloat about dating him or keep as much concealed as possible.
Julie smiled softly, flipping through the pages of her textbook. “He’s…ok we’re fine,” she doesn’t say with much confidence. “Ever since he’s been sick, he’s been…different.”
That didn’t sound too good, considering what happened around the time he was stuck in his room. “What are you saying?” I gulp, nervously.
“We’ve been dating since high school. It is hard to keep the spark alive after so much time and being so young.” She explains. “I’m sure it’s nothing, right?”
Dillon nodded. “When relationships go on for a long time, with changing surroundings, it’s a change process.” She tries to reassure her. Dillon always had words of wisdom.
Julie looked at me this time. “What do you think, Anna?” She asked me.
I didn’t know what to say. Not only do I not have experience in this field, but there may be other factors why Drew is acting weird to her. I didn’t want to believe it because it just couldn’t be. If he wanted to leave her, he would have done so by now. Juliana would not give me any details about their relationship. That much was clear. It could be a reason that I wasn’t seeing, because no one else would tell me. How was I supposed to give her advice on something I knew nothing about?
Still, I try my best to add some comfort to her. “I…I mean it’s Drew. He’s always standoffish.” I say nonchalantly. “Maybe he’s just trying to figure himself out.”
She looked down, accepting what I was saying to her. “Yeah, he has the tendency to be aloof. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Happy that settled her, we switched topics off relationships completely before I went on a hunt for a book I needed for a class. The library here at Western University was quite huge, considering how big the school was. There was space for just about anyone who would come here. Though that made looking for this damn book that much harder. It was a book my creative writing teacher recommend I read to help get an understanding of the importance of structure. It would have been a lot easier if she checked it out for me, but alas. In College you had to do everything yourself.
I must have spent a good fifteen minutes searching for the damn thing. Reading every spine of every book, I was oblivious to everything around me. That is until I felt hands grabbed at my hips, causing me to jolt. I knew those calloused hands anywhere and the feeling I felt when he grabbed me was exciting. It would be hard for Drew to sneak up on me. There’s always this certain feeling I get in my chest whenever he touches me. This time wasn’t any different. Though it was shocking to see him. There was never a moment Drew wouldn’t find me.
Turning around, I see Drew’s smiling face staring back at me. “Whatcha looking for, Annabelle?” He questions, pulling his hands back to himself.
I cross my arms, missing his touch already. “This book called…something.” I forgot the title.
He laughed. “How are you going to find something and not know the name of it?” Now he was just calling me stupid.
“Are you going to stand there, or will you help me?” I frown.
That smile never left his face. I don’t think it ever did when he spoke to me. “I’ll search up top. You do the bottom.” He suggested.
I agreed, getting down on my knees to search the bottom of the bookshelf. Amid searching, the tension between us couldn’t be sliced with a knife. It was so heavy, so thick, and I couldn’t pinpoint why. Last night we were fine, but talking about Keegan and Juliana didn’t help. We were both stuck in something neither of us knew how to get out of. Yet, it didn’t feel like we wanted to. I couldn’t speak for Drew, but having him in any capacity was enough for me. At least it was for now. The real question is, how would we handle things once we go back home? It’ll be the holidays and then what? There’s no way he’ll even be able to make time for me then.
That still didn’t stop me from getting down to the nitty gritty with him. There’s so much that I didn’t know about him and after my talk with Julie, I had to ask him. It shouldn’t be a problem since that is his girlfriend. Maybe I’ll appear nosey, but he should be used to this by now. I ask him questions all the time and it’s been a while since I’ve done any prying. As much as he picked at me for it, he still answered my questions to the best of his abilities. He also said he liked how I wanted to know him. So what’s the harm in getting a bit more personal?
Sitting on the floor, I scanned a bunch of books before asking him this very important question. “Drew, how did you and Juliana date?”
I could feel him stop and stare at me. I didn’t look up to see his face. “Uh…why are you asking this question?” He chuckled nervously.
Shrugging, I look up this time, folding my arms. “We were talking a few moments ago, and I figured I’d ask you,” I say. “You’ve guys have been dating for so long.”
He flips through a book, avoiding eye contact. “We…have.” His responses are slow. “Let’s just say she saved me from a dark time in my life.”
“Are you going to be vague with me?” That answer was not satisfying. “I thought we moved past that.” My voice was soft.
Drew looks down at me, contemplating his next move. I get it if he didn’t want to tell me, but it’s going to eat me up inside not knowing. He didn’t know how much I wanted the relationship we had now back then. My goal was to learn more about him. Why he was rarely at school and when he was, he practically kept to himself aside from Dre, Juliana, and the people that flocked to their every will. This was my chance to get closer to him and get information I’ve been dying to know.
After much contemplation, Drew came to sit next to me, leaning back on his hand. He was very close, but I didn’t mind. His captivating scent filling my nostrils with pleasure. Admittedly, we shouldn’t have been so close, but I’d take anything to be even closer than we are right now.
He ran his fingers through his shaggy hair before speaking. “I can’t give too many details, but inevitably, we would have dated no matter what I did,” he says.
I was confused. “So that means what exactly?” He wasn’t being very clear.
“It’s complicated to explain, Annabelle.” He looked at me with sorry eyes. “I wish I could tell you more, but that’ll be dangerous for both of us.”
My eyes looked at him, worried. “What do you mean, dangerous? Why does everyone get so freaked out about this?”
His head tilts. “You’ve asked others?” He looks shocked.
My cheeks blush as I look at the floor. I probably shouldn’t have said that, but everyone keeps talking about it like it’s some dangerous thing. As if people’s lives will be on the line if anyone finds out about it. The three of them, Drew, Dillon, and Dre, have been making it seem like Juliana is the almighty power that we shouldn’t cross. As much as I didn’t want to cause a riff between them, I wanted to know something. It’s hard staying in the dark about these things.
Sighing, I look back up at him. “Yeah…but no one will tell me anything.” I say. “All I’m trying to do is get to know you.”
He didn’t respond for a moment. Then suddenly, a smile appears on his face. “That’s why you always have a million questions.” He pokes fun at me, but in a sweet way.
I roll my eyes. “Oh, shut up.” I nudge him slightly as he falls back dramatically. “I’m sorry for caring about my friends.”
“Mhmm, *friends*,” he says in a weird way.
That made me purse my lips. “Drew…”
“Hey, are you up to go to the skate park tomorrow?” Classic cutting me off. “It’s getting cold out. We should go before it’s freezing.”
As much as that sounded lovely, tomorrow was going to be no good. I had to see Keegan tomorrow. I couldn’t stand him up because Drew wanted to hang out. If I didn’t have any morals, I probably would have. If I’m being honest, I would put off any other plans just to be with Drew. I couldn’t do that to Keegan, though. He already noticed the way he looks at him. He’ll start piecing things together if I cancel just to go with Drew. I needed to give him a chance, and that started with going on our date.
Shaking my head, it pained me to say this to him. “Um, I can’t tomorrow.” I was nervous.
He sat back up, looking at me intensely. “And why is that?” He was still speaking in his joking tone of voice until I told him why.
“Because I have a date with Keegan,” I inform him, waiting to hear the worse.
Drew just looks at me and then nods his head. “Of course you do,” he says, trying to mask the annoyance in his tone. “We’ll try again the next day, then. There’s your book, by the way.” He points before getting up to walk away.
Following where he pointed, he was right, and I grabbed it. Watching him walk away left me feeling sad inside. I could tell he didn’t like the idea of me going on a date with Keegan, but he didn’t leave me with many options. He wouldn’t tell me about the tea with him Juliana. He wouldn’t come out and give me clear answers to anything he’s been thinking. He was leaving me stuck between a rock and a hard place with nothing good in between. The only thing I could do was look forward to my date with Keegan. Even if Drew would be on my mind the entire time.
***
Follow my Instagram for updates! @myra_gauthor