Falling For The Playboy

After escaping being squashed by people, we entered into a hallway, filled with girls loitering in the thin space. Why were they so many? More importantly, what could be so important they wanted to do that would make them pile up like that?

I put my lips to Laura’s ear, “What are these girls doing here? ”

She glanced at the girls, before whispering. “They want what’s in the room we’re about to enter. ”

What?

I was about to ask her what she meant when she pushed a door open, cat-walking in like she owned the place and I was left to follow.

Couches lined the walls in the wide room, with the same led light attached to the ceilings, a table at the center and a humungous tv on the wall. The room was dark and I couldn’t see clearly enough to name the people that occupied the couches, but I could tell most of them were from school. A white girl was curled up on a guy that occupied the whole length of one of the couches to the side and they looked to be making out. I looked away sharply. It wasn’t strange seeing people from other countries anymore; Ivacy High was an international school with a lot of international students.

The main couch, the one at the center, was occupied by some guys from school and as we got closer, I recognized one of them as Dare. He was talking with some girl, smiling and gesturing wildly like he was having the conversation of the century. He looked up when he saw Laura.

“Hey! ” he exclaimed. “You’re here. ”

“We are. ” Laura corrected purposefully and then he looked my way, his eyes widening, as if just realizing I was standing beside her.

He shot up from the couch in a flash, abandoning the girl he’d been talking to, delight obvious on his face.

“Eva, I thought you weren’t going to come? ” it was more of a question than a statement really.

“Yes, but then I changed my mind. ” I offered a small smile.

He nodded, too distracted by what I was wearing to care about what could have brought about my change of mind. “I’m glad you could make it. ”

I was glad he didn’t ask. The lesser the conversation, the better for me.

The girl he had been talking to on the couch, now forgotten, nursed her drink sullenly. She looked utterly miserable and I could only imagine how she felt. Glancing around at the other girls cozying up to the guys, some leaning on the walls, waiting to be fed even a scrap of attention, and the horde still outside, waiting to be allowed entrance, I didn’t feel that bad for the girl anymore. I only felt pity.

So that was what most of the girls did at parties? Dress up, then wait in line outside the supposed VIP room, waiting to be called upon by the guys whenever they were done doing whatever with the girls in the room? How degrading.

“Have you guys had drinks? ” Dare asked and Laura shook her head.

“We’ll go get some. ” she was already taking a step back, “The decoration is mad, by the way. ”

“You suppose know my matter na. ” he was proud.

{You suppose know my matter na : You should know me already.}

Coming back out was even worse than going in. The girls kept pushing against the door, thinking that one of them was about to be called in. They were sorely disappointed.

On our way to get drinks, Laura got intercepted by a guy who snaked his arm around her waist. She didn’t seem shocked though.

“I didn’t think you were here already. ” she beamed up at him, with a certain look in her eyes.

The guy said something to her that I didn’t catch, then she looked at me guiltily. That was when I realized we were standing in front of a number of seated people. The couches were lined by the walls, just like in the room we entered, except the dance floor was only a few feet away from the them.

“I swear if the body isn’t as good as the face…. ” the muttered words came from a masculine voice behind me and I turned, wondering who he was referring to.

It was Axel. And he was referring to me.

I had been standing right in front of him the entire time and I hadn’t known.

He froze when his elevating eyes got to my face. He stared at me for so long that I thought he had gone into shock.

“Hi. ” was what he finally said.

“Hi? ” I echoed. What a normal thing for him to say to me. Too normal.

“You’re here. ” he said as he stood up. So he was stating the obvious. I debated on whether I should give him a sarcastic response, but he was acting unlike himself and I didn’t want to be insensitive.

“Apparently, I don’t have to worry about leaving you alone. ” she cocked her head at Axel, a silent question that I was glad she didn’t voice, in her eyes. “Will you be okay? ”

I nodded. She had to go with the guy who was still waiting patiently and it’s not like I planned on hanging on to her like a leech anyway.

She walked off and I turned back to Axel, something funny happening in my stomach as I took in his outfit. Dressed in a white T-shirt, faded blue, broken in jeans and a blue denim jacket, he pulled off the casual look well. Everything he wore was designer, I didn’t have to guess to know that and did everything he wear have to look so good on him?

“Um…. Do you want drinks? ” he asked all of a sudden. He seemed to be grasping for things to say and that was so unlike the Axel I knew.

Figuring I might as well need some time alone to keep my confusing reaction to him carefully hidden, I nodded. He left before I could even blink. Wow. I looked after him, seeing as he shoved his hand into his hair as he made his way through the crowd, with that sexy, confident gait only he possessed.

I didn’t even want to think about how strange the whole conversation had been just now. Why was he acting that way? Had I made a terrible decision coming here?

“Eva? ” the sound of my name jolted me back to the present.

Who on earth could have recognized me so easily at this party, even with my back to them? I turned, trying to mask the irritation on my face, but it quickly transformed to shock and I wasn’t so sure I did a good job at hiding that one.

I should have known the voice sounded familiar.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Omar? “