━━━ 04. if something's wrong, leave it be


|chapter four:: if something's wrong, leave it be|


THE school seemed drained when I walked in today. Everyone talked to amongst their groups, but clearly nothing interesting to talk about but the Red Party that was a week ago. I thought it was just me since I spent all night texting Ander, though I was the only one texting. He didn't respond to a single one.


"Good morning, Addy." I heard NiccolΓ³ greet as he came to my side, "So I was hoping that you could come over today after school and we could hang out by my pool, maybe swim a little bit. Clothing is optional."


I rolled my eyes as he walked beside me to my locker, "You do remember I have a boyfriend, right, Nic? Or is all that coke fucking with your memory."


"Among other things," He grinned and I scoffed, "And since when did a relationship change how other people should act with someone?"


"Since relationships first began and best friends got sent to boarding school," I stated to him as we reached my locker.


He let out an exaggerated yawn, "Well that sounds boring and like a buzzkill because if you remember, we were more than just best friends."


I quickly snapped my head over to him, "Nic, we promised not to mention it, especially in public. It's been years since it happened and it was shortly lived."


"But why can't we ever talk about?" He whined as if we were children until I gave him a look to stop. When he did, he moved close to me for my ears only, "I can't get it out of my head, Adriana.. I can't get you out of my head."


"Well try harder until you forget it all happened. I know it worked for me," I shut my locker closed and walked away from him, shaking off the memories that tried to resurface as I got to class. I was kind of surprised to see Ander already here, seeing that he would usually walk with me to class. I dismissed the feeling as I went up to him with a smile, "Morning."


I leaned in for a kiss, but he didn't turn to me, so I ended up kissing his cheek before I sat down. He seemed unmoved and too deep into his thoughts, so I grabbed his hand for him to look at me, "Hey, what's wrong?"


He stared at me for a moment as if hesitating on something before looking down at his notebook, "It's nothing," He grumbled and I furrowed my brows.


"Something's wrong, Ander," I claimed, "You didn't meet me at my locker like usual and I texted you last night with no response back. You've been like this all week."


"I've been busy." He bluntly told me.


"Is it because I told you to let Omar sleep at your place?" I wondered, "If you didn't want him there, you could of told me. I just thought that you were friends."


"It's not that," He sighed, "It's nothing, I've just been busy."


I pressed my lips into a thin line and looked up front, "Fine."


He was using my tactic against him, which was to keep saying it was nothing until the other person gave up because it was clear that the truth wasn't going to come out. I see why he's usually pissed when I do it.


Occasionally, I would glance over at him to see him either with his head in his hands or his pen in his hand to pretend he was taking notes. He didn't feel like talking much today and I didn't want to push him into it, even as Lu spoke to me during lunch about a double date.


It was supposed to be just Ander and Guzman hanging out, but Lu explained to me how him and Nadia were getting close again and she just couldn't sit back and watch it happen..again. I tried to tell Ander the idea, but he disappeared sometime after first period.


"Something's wrong with Ander," I sighed, after texting him, "I haven't seen him since first."


Lu looked over at me shrugging as we walked into Chem, "He probably went to go smoke or something."


"He's been like this all week, Lu," I groaned, my eyes still glued to my phone as we took our lab costs and sat down, "It's like a switch went off in his head, now he's beginning to act-"


"Like you?" She remarked and I met her eyes, "Adriana, there was a time- or multiple when you would be distant with him and avoid his calls, texts and efforts to make you feel better. Maybe he just doesn't want to talk about it."


I looked back down at my phone, before placing it down, "Yeah, maybe you're right. And it's probably nothing really serious, unless it's about his parents or his grades-"


"Look, he's here now, so you can finally stop stressing," Lu smiled and I looked up at the door to see Ander. I gave him a wave when he met my eyes, but he quickly looked away and went to get a lab coat before sitting down across the room. I could feel Lu's smile drop at the same time my hand did, "Ouch.."


I groaned, "Whatever, just have Guzman tell him about the dinner." She only nodded, knowing that I was a little pissed. I know I have no right, but all the issues I can think of, he already tells me about, which makes me conclude to the fact that he's avoiding me for another issue I could never figure out.


After school, Lu and I got ready at her house before having to take a cab to the restaurant she suggested. "Is it bad that I already need a glass of wine?" Lu asked me and I chuckled as I touched up my lipgloss.


"You sound like my mother," I commented as I closed my compact mirror to put in my purse when we arrived at the restaurant, "Did you know that Guzman had to tell me that Ander was with him?"


She looked at me with a furrowed brow briefly before sighing as we walked inside, already seeing Ander and Guzman at a table for four, "Ana, I beg of you, don't start trouble tonight."


"I won't," I assure her, "I'll be on my best behavior."


As we got closer, their conversation got louder, "That's not funny."


"What's not funny?" Lu asked Ander, intervening into the conversation as we sat down.


"Ander quit tennis." Guzman stated, looking over at me, "Did you know?"


"Yeah, he only just quit." I hummed as Lu kissed Guzman as a greeting.


"What a pity, Ander. You were really good," Lu inputted, "You should definitely get back into sports. I'm only saying that as a favor since I'm concerned for you." Lu then looked as me when I gave her a look.


"Thanks, but no thanks." Ander turned down, crossing his arms across his chest.


I grabbed the glass of wine already on the table, sipping on it, "Did you guys order?"


"No, I'm not hungry, actually." Guzman responded, looking at Ander with a slightly annoyed face I didn't see a few minutes ago.


"Me neither," Ander agreed, "Lost my appetite."


"Did you lose your phone too?" I mumbled before taking another sip, though both him and Lu looked at me briefly. I placed the glass down and sighed, "Well, I am starving," I admitted, raising my hand for the waiter to come, "So I will be ordering with or without you guys."


The waiter hands me a menu, before Lu asked for three more to pass around the table. It was as if my words were the last words spoken, not counting when we gave in our orders. Even when we got our food and Ander was already knee deep into his wine, no one said anything until Lu spoke up.


"So, Ana," She began, "How's NiccolΓ³?"


I stopped myself from chewing to meet her eyes that had amusement. She knew the answer to the question because I told her about what happened this morning. She was just trying to get a conversation started- or at least a brawl of some sort.


I swallowed my food and hummed, "Wouldn't really know, been kind of occupied lately."


"He was dying for you to go to the Red Party last week, Ana," She explained, a chuckle escaping past her lips, "He was so depressed about you not going, he didn't even want to do drugs with Valerio. Gosh, it's like you have him wrapped around your finger still."


"I wouldn't say that," I shrugged, noticing Ander take a big gulp from his glass. Everyone at the table noticed.


"Oh please, Ana, don't be so modest. He was so into you back then and I bet he still is now. He's probably moping by his pool he invited you to-" Before she went on, I kicked her slightly under the table, causing the table to shift a bit.


"Why did he even come back with Valerio?" Guzman asked, "Are they conjoined at the hip or something?"


"He's probably conjoined to Adriana's," Ander finally spoke up and I seen a small smirk on Lu's face before she met my scowl, "He always was."


"You see, I'm not wrong," She hummed and I eyed her for a moment. She was just as drunk as Ander, but a little more kept together. Ander was clearly pissed, and neither Lu's mentioning of Nic or Guzman's glare was making anything better.


"So now everyone chooses to speak after thirty minutes of silence?" I retorted at them, "Is it fucking 'Pick on Adriana Day'?"


"When isn't there a day about you, Adriana?" Ander commented, looking at me.


"Wow, Ander, this is the first complete sentence I had heard from you all week," I began to give him a round of applause, anger clearly expressed on my face, "Should I just shove three glasses of wine down your throat for you to finally speak to me now? Or should I leave you over twenty text messages for you to leave me on read just for you to tell me you've been 'busy' in person?" He only looked away and so I looked at Lu, "And you told me not to start any trouble tonight, but here you are."


I grabbed my glass and down it before sitting back in my seat. I let out a huff when I felt my phone buzz, but when I take it out, I saw a text from Nic.


I'm at the club instead of the pool..
Is this a better offer for you to take up on?
Sent 8:49pm


I stared at his messages for a moment until the waiter came, placing the bill onto the table, causing me to then watch both Lu and Guzman reach for the bill.


"I got it," Guzman assured, but Lu pulled at the book that they both had in their grasp.


"It was my idea to have this stupid dinner anyways," Lu insisted, but then so did Guzman until she snatched it away, " Can we just talk about this at the house?"


"I'm not going back home," Guzman told her, "I'm going out for a drink."


"Really, Guzman?" She questioned, "You can't stand to be here or have a conversation tonight, but you can just run off to grab a drink?"


"I'm tired of staying inside, Lu." He sighed, "I just want to have fun."


"So you're saying I'm not fun for you anymore? Is that it?" She went on, but I pushed out my chair, having all of them look at me, "Don't tell me you want to go have fun too, Ana?"


I stood up from the chair and placed my bag on my shoulder, "I guess I won't tell you," I went around the table, past Ander to go to Lu and kiss her cheek, "I'll call you later."


Before she could begin an argument with me, I left the restaurant, quickly hailing a taxi to go to the club. When I got to club, I pulled out my phone to turn it off completely before heading inside. I noticed the new girl, Rebeca, once I walked in, but when I looked at the bar, I seen Valerio laughing with NiccolΓ³ in the corner about God knows what.


I didn't hesitate to go over, but as if he had a sixth sense, Nic looked away from Valerio and in my direction, a sudden smirk on his face once I got close to him. "You came," He stated, "Did think you would."


"Yeah, didn't you have that double dinner date with Lu?" Valerio asked me, "What happened? It didn't work out?"


"No, I just realized all the fun was here." I smirked and he grinned widely.


"Glad you've come to your senses," Valerio hooked his arm over my shoulders pulling me close, before talking to the bartender, "A rum and coke for the lady here." The bartender only nodded, and Valerio pulled away to look at me before at Nic, "I will be leaving you two now, but I have my eyes on you both, so be PG. Remember, we are still in a club."


I let out a fake laugh before flipping Valerio off as he took that as his cue to walk off. Nic then leaned in, looking at me as he ran his hand through his hair, "You still have my number in your phone I see."


"Says the one who texted first," I retorted and he let out a laugh.


"So why did you come?" He wondered, "Were my text messages a great way of persuasion?"


I chuckled as my glass was placed in front of me, "You wish, Nic," I looked down my glass for a moment before at him, a small smirk on my face "So, are we just going to sit here the rest of the night or are we going to have fun like we used to?"


He grinned at my words, quickly grabbing my hand, "That's all you had to say, Addy," He suddenly pulled me out onto the dance floor, glancing back at me, "That's all you ever have to say."

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