Chapter 9

Zoey's POV

Evelyn magically appeared at my door at 4 and I was beyond surprised. The moment she stepped into the room, she began listing out the different dresses that she had brought to try out even though I had no clue what was going on.

"What's going on?" I cut in, interrupting her rant about how she spent half of her day looking for her favourite eyeliner. The incredulous look that she wore on her face confuses me more.

She slaps her hands onto my shoulder and shakes me excitedly, "Darling, we're going to my cousin's party!" She is clearly bubbling away with excitement, judging by her huge smile that kind of looks very eerie and her jumping around.

And all of a sudden, I realise.

Shit.

Shit.

Shitshitshitshitshit.

I have totally forgotten about the party. Hell, I didn't even remember to get a dress for it.

"Judging by your expression, I can tell that you ain't prepared for this," the smirk on Evelyn's face irritates me furthermore, it's not like I should be excited for it. Technically saying, I was forced into going. Evelyn clasps her hands together loudly and her lips stretches into a wide grin.

"Zoey, fret no more. The mighty Evelyn got you all covered. You're gonna sit down and watch all the magic happen. "

---

"Stop moving."

"Stop fidgeting."

"I said stop fidgeting!"

"Don't touch those."

"No, this isn't going to hurt."

"Stop rubbing your eyes."

"Goddamn it Zoey!"

"Don't you dare."

"One more time. And I'll shove a damn calculator down your throat."

"Finally! Done."

After two freaking hours of pure torment and lots abuse going on here and there, Evelyn had me looking pretty decent for the party. I must admit, this girl has some skills. The last time I got so dressed up was for my father's birthday before he left us. I have my hair straightened and light makeup on. I had to literally beg and plead Evelyn to not make me look like I had just coloured my eye area with permanent markers.

"Come on, Xavier's waiting outside."

---

"Evelyn." Ignored.

"Evelyn Evelyn Evelyn Evelyn." Ignored.

"Evelyn, I'm sorry but I want my feet to be happy." Ignored but was glanced at.

"Evelyn those stilettos can kill me before Usain Bolt reaches the finishing line." Ignored.

"Evelyn, look." Ignored.

"Really Evelyn, look!" Still ignored. Goddamn this woman is stubborn.

"Evelyn! Levi is here!" Ah, look who's gotten her attention.

The last time Evelyn and I had a sleepover at her house, I managed to dig out her little crush on Levi. She was blushing so badly when she confessed, I was afraid Rudolph's nose would be resentful of her. Since then, I have never failed to use this secret to my advantage. Whenever she teases, "Wittle Zoey has a wittle cwush on Chrisy", I coo, "Says wittle Evelyn with her giant cwush on Levi the hottie". She shuts up.

"Where?" her head is spinning around, trying to catch the sight of Levi the hottie.

"There." Levi, Chris and Seth steps out of a car like movie stars attending the awards show. There was even a slight gush of breeze that swept past as they brush back some of their hairs. I might or might not suspect if they actually hired someone for that wind effect.

The grin and blush on Evelyn's face is creeping me out. She never blushes this frequently! But I guess I can't jump to conclusion since I've only been friends with her for 3 weeks.

"Levi is definitely the sexiest man alive, not Adam Levine," Evelyn croaks out, staring at Levi the hottie dreamily. My head falls back and my shoulders shake vigorously as I laugh.

I was still laughing when Evelyn nudges my elbow. "You and your stupid laughter, they are walking towards us!" her eyebrows are creased and she looks frantic.

"But it's Levi the hottie, aren't you excited?" I hold onto her sweaty palms, ceasing her from jumping up and down.

"Do I look good enough? Zoey is my makeup smudged?" Subconsciously, she straightens out her dress and adjusts her brown locks to perfection.

"Good riddance calm down. You look stunning enough." Evelyns smiles but her eyebrows are knitted together still.

"2 metres." she whispers.

"1.5 metres."

"1 metre." Is she seriously counting down?

"0.8 metre." Levi and friends saunters towards the porch.

"0.5 metre."

"Shit." Evelyn curses when Levi finally reaches her and smiles.

"Hey Evelyn, looking great." I swear there was a flash of adoration and contentment in her eyes. She smiles nervously, "Hi Levi, thank you."

I turn my head away and laugh, it's official, I ship Evelyn and Levi.

After I manage to contain the laughter and put on a straight face, I turn my head back to Levi and Evelyn to find them grinning at each other adorably.

Can I just burst into awwwwwws already.

I didn't notice Chris and Seth standing behind Levi until I saw something white out of the dark surrounding.

Goodness gracious it was Chris' freaking teeth. Did he just painted and polished them?

He grins at me, signalling my lips to break into a toothy grin too.

"Hi Zoey."

"Hi Chris. Hi Seth. Where's Caden and Jacob?"

"Caden has to babysit his cousin, Jacob's at home revising for Literature. Why are you two standing at the porch? Let's go in, you might catch a cold."

---

The song 'Wild wild love' is booming through the speakers, throughout the whole house. There are so many people dancing around with those red cups that you always see in movies and shows. I was about to get one of those drinks in red cups when I remembered Xavier's pep talk in the car, so I settled for a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator.

Evelyn and Levi are in their own wonderland, drowning themselves in chats. Evelyn giggles like a school girl sometimes and I can't help but laugh quietly at that.

Chris and Seth are seated by my sides, they are having their own conversations. I frown, I have nothing to do. I'm too lazy to dance and too lazy to walk home. Where is Xavier anyway? The moment Evelyn and I got off the car, he drove off. Isn't this supposed to be his cousin's birthday?

Sticking out my bottom lip, I wait silently for Chris or Seth to finish their conversation so I can at least talk to one of them

"Zoey!" Evelyn shouts over the music and I glance up.

"Huh?"

"I'll bring you to the birthday boy! I want you to meet him," she winks and leans over to pull me off the sit. From the corner of my eyes, I notice Chris and Levi frowning. I groan, not wanting to stand up but follow after her anyway.

"Hey Evelyn, can I tag along? I haven't seen Josh in a while," Chris' velvety voice appears from behind and I smile. Don't ask me where is that smile from, I have no clue either. Vaguely, I still remember that day when I decided to avoid Chris because of his attractiveness and the fear of getting attracted to him. I presume that plan isn't going to work since it didn't even lasted for a day before I kind of caved in.

"Sure! Let's go find him."

We finally found Josh, Evelyn's cousin in the kitchen retrieving a bottle of beer from the refrigerator after squeezing through those sweaty bodies on the dance floor.

Evelyn squeals and runs to Josh, "Josh! Happy birthday! You are old. Very old. So old. So very old." She shakes her head disapprovingly and hugs Josh.

His voice booms with laughter and he returns the hug to Evelyn.

I just stand there awkwardly with Chris' arm slung over my shoulders.

"Josh, this is my good friend, Zoey. Zoey, this is my very old cousin, Josh."

"Hello Zoey," Josh has a deep voice, just like Chris, but not as deep as Chris'. He has light blue eyes and dirty blonde hair that falls over his forehead. He is cute enough.

"Hello Josh, how old are you?" he couldn't be that old, I mean he throws a party full of teenagers and he looks cute.

Josh chortles loudly, shaking his head, "I'm only 18."

"And that's really old. You should get married already," Evelyn teases, laughing at herself. "Wait, Josh, do you have a girlfriend?"

Josh shakes his head, pretending to be sad, but it's so obvious that his lips are itching to break into a smile.

"So you're available! Good." Evelyn wiggles her eyebrows and looks at me knowingly. I turn away rolling my eyes.

---

After Chris and Josh did some boyish greetings and we wished him a happy birthday, we went back to our seats.

Chris still has his heavy arm over my shoulder when we sat down.

"Zoey you look pretty today, you should dress up more."

I turn to face Chris, to see his eyes raking down my body. Instantly, I feel conscious of the dress that's exposing my legs and the small cleavage. Swallowing down a lump in my throat, I realise how his body is dangerously close to mine.

"Ah, um, I just don't find the purpose to doing so," I need to get home soon and salute the god for making it possible for me to recite the sentence without stuttering. I take this chance of our proximity to check him out. He's wearing a white shirt with a sleeve rolled up a inch or two. Accompanying the shirt, was a pair of black skinny jeans. How the hell do guys get such skinny legs?

"But I'll be in school, aren't I a purpose for you to do so?" Chris whispers smoothly.

Oh my is it just me or is it getting hot in here?

"I take back what I said earlier, you don't look pretty at all."

My heart drops. What the hell?

"You look sexy and really beautiful," he draws out. He face is inching forward and I do not like how it's driving my heart haywire.

"Why are we so close to each other?" It's still miraculous that I said that without stuttering.

"Because I want to be close to you." Chris really needs to stop his husky whispers before my spine collapse from all those shivers.

Our noses are touching and Chris' finger traces down my earlobe. Our lips are an inch away from touching. Do you hear that? It's the sound of my spine breaking into pieces.

I can feel Chris' breaths fanning across my lips already. His finger continues to draw lines up and down my earlobe. My eyelids flutter close.