Forever Young
8
I was laying on Oliver’s bed next to my sister as he rummaged through his closet for a shirt. He was wearing nothing but a pair of Harry’s signature tight black jeans and some white socks, he turned to face us, “Since I’m a winner, I don’t have to wear a shirt... Right?”
Cassie and I sat up, laughing, I opened my mouth to tell him that I liked him better shirtless as his bedroom door swung open and the person I had been dreading to see walked in. He had a smirk on his face and an open bottle of wine in his hand, “Dinner is ready.”
His eyes moved from Oliver’s to mine as he walked closer to me and held the bottle out, “I think your teacher is here, both of our moms are in love with him.”
I took the bottle from his hand and took a long drink, “Well look who we have here,” I pulled the bottle away from my lips and mustered up my rudest tone before bringing it back up and taking another long drink.
The smile on his face widened as he stepped closer to me and wrapped his arms around my shoulder, “It’s good to see you, Alex.” He pulled back keeping one hand on my shoulder and using his other to take the bottle from my hand, “Let’s talk later; we have all sumer—I’m not going anywhere.”
He stepped back, keeping his eyes on mine for a second longer before turning to face the weird stare he was getting from his brother. I looked to Cassie who looked just as confused as Oliver was, “I’ll see you guys dow—”
Harry stopped mid-sentence as a short brunette walked in, she wrapped her arm around his waist as he pulled her into his side. She took a long drink from the wineglass she was holding before looking at us with a sly grin, “If my teachers looked like that in high school I would go to class every day.”
Everyone laughed so I forced myself along, watching her closely as she detached herself from Harry and handed him her empty glass which he filled up. She walked to Oliver and grabbed his face into her hands, “Oh my god, you’re so big now!”
Oliver chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her waist, “I know I haven’t seen you in a few years. How’s school?”
“It’s good,” She stepped out of the hug, “I’m excited for you to join us next year—I’ll have my two boy’s with me.”
I wanted to vomit. Who the hell was this chick? The realization slapped me hard in the face; this was the girlfriend. Cassie walked towards her and held out her hand, introducing herself with a giant smile plastered on her face. I sighed as I walked to join them, putting on a fake smile of my own as I brought myself to look at her, “Hi, I’m Alex,” I muttered.”
“Annie,” She smiled at me. She stirred up my rage by doing nothing, but standing there; she gave a bad rep to girls who’s names started with the letter A. I wanted to punch Harry square in the nose. Truthfully, I wanted to punch her but that would come off as unfriendly so I just continued to smile like nothing was wrong.
I faded into the background as Oliver, Annie and Cassie kept talking. My gaze wandered up to Harry’s which was set on me even though he held Annie’s hand in his own; he made me sick. I reached my hand up towards him, he held the bottle out to me which I silently grabbed and brought up to my lips, chugging all that I could before stopping to take a breath. I inhaled deeply and brought it back up, finishing off what was left and handing it back to Harry.
He had a small smirk on his face, “Let’s go to my room—I have tequila.”
Annie’s attention was now on us as she realized he was speaking to me, “Baby, your sent us up here cause dinner is ready,” She spoke up with a smile.
“You guys go start and we will go take some shots and then join you,” He looked away from her and up to me, “sounds like a plan?”
“Harry,” Oliver and Cassie walked by them and out the door, avoiding the awkward confrontation that was unfolding before my eyes. Annie put her hand on her hip as she stepped a few feet away from him, “Her teacher is down there and both of your pare—”
“Annie,” He raised his voice slightly, “just go, Alexis is a big girl; she can handle it. We will meet you down there.”
Her face fell as she walked past him, “You’re a shitty boyfriend,” I muttered once she was out of earshot.
Harry laughed, “I know, but I told you it’s complicated.” His smile fell as he got serious, “you don’t know half the shit that girl has put me through.”
An awkward silence fell over us as I tried to figure out what to say. Harry let out a sigh before grinning at me, “Let’s go get drunk.”
XXX
Harry and I spent a good ten minutes passing a bottle of patron back and forth between us as we drank as quickly and sneakily as we could. The conversation was kept to a minimum, but for once the silence was comfortable. Mostly we just hurled obscenities at each other and laughed as we drank while I tried my best to ignore the thousands of photographs of Harry and Annie all over his bedroom. He was a good enough distraction and our mission could be deemed a success.
I managed to get myself fairly drunk before we headed upstairs, everyone was seated at the table and my mom was sitting right next to David with her eyes locked on his. I took a deep breath as I realized what I was about to face. I strolled over with confidence provided solely by the tequila that coursed through my bloodstream, my mom looked up at me with a grin, “Alexis!”
I smiled at her as I walked over, putting my hand on the top of her chair, “Hey, mom.”
She laughed as she grabbed at me and pulled me into her lap, “I haven’t seen you in a weeks!” She hugged me tightly, placing a giant kiss on my cheek and leaving behind some lipstick in its place. I looked up at David who looked amused as I struggled in my mother’s grip, “David, over here has been telling me all about you.”
I pushed out of her arms as I straightened out my shirt, “Mom, will you stop.”
My voice was hushed so only she could hear, but I knew that David heard every word, “Sweetie, I just missed you,” She looked defeated, making me feel slightly bad, but I shook it off and walked around the table to take my empty seat between Harry and Cassie.
I looked up, locking eyes with David who was sitting directly across from me, he gave me a small smile before looking down and reaching into his pocket. He pulled at his phone and tapped at the screen for a few seconds before slipping it back into his pocket and reaching for his cup of wine. My phone vibrated in my back pocket, I reached in, pulling it out and sliding it open to reveal my text: You look beautiful :)
A small smile spread onto my lips as I locked my phone and set it down next to me on the table. Harry’s mom began bringing out plates topped with food as her husband zoomed past her, he snapped his fingers at my mom motioning for her to follow as he spoke into his phone, “Well, Mr. Carter, you own 51% of the company, so ultimately the decision to sell is on you.”
My mother scrambled to her feet and followed Jack out to the terrace, “God, do they ever stop working?” Cassie asked in a slightly irritated tone.
Cassie and I were slightly different, she hated the time away both of our parents had to spend for work, but I loved every minute of it. Give me an empty house with no responsibilities, an endless amount of money and I’ll be happy. Cassie could give a shit less about money. Sometimes we were so different I would fantasize about one of us being adopted—her, obviously—because there was no way we were truly related.
“Well, sweetie, we should be very thankful for the work they do,” Mrs. Styles said as she topped off her wine glass, “We are very blessed to live the way we do and we cannot forget the sacrifices your mother and My husband make for us.”
She downed her wine in three large gulps before reaching across the table to fill it up, “Anyway, David,” She said as she masked a smile over her face. “Why is a young, handsome, man like you still single?”
David coughed as he reached for his wine and took a drink, “Well,” He said with a crooked smile, “I too am guilty of all work and no play. Most of the girls I date end up leaving because I spend too many extra hours grading papers or devising new lesson plans, but it comes with the job.”
I glanced over at Harry’s mother who was lost in David’s charming stare and slyly reached for Harry’s glass of wine and took a long drink before setting it back down between us. He shot me a small smirk and kicked at my foot with his underneath the table, “So how exactly is it having Oliver in a class?”
Annie asked with a giggle, “I’m sure he gets awfully rowdy,” She added in as Oliver shot out a ‘hey’ in defense.
“No, he isn’t too bad, Oliver’s a pretty good student,” David said as his eyes landed on me and a small smirk spread to his lips, “Alexis, over here, on the other hand...”
“Oh, I bet,” Harry laughed, “she seems like she would be a nightmare.”
“Harry!”
My jaw hung open as Mrs. Styles scolded him. Harry chuckled, “I’m just joking, mom.”
David laughed, “Alexis, is a very bright girl, but she is the type of girl who needs a little extra motivation to make it to class.” I bit down on my lip as his eyes burned into mine, “We had troubles before, but we figured out a nice system.”
“That is so great, that you are concerned about the success of your students,” Mrs. Styles gushed as her husband and my mother walked back into the room.
“We, sold it baby!” Jack said with a giant grin and enthusiasm as he walked around the table towards his wife and planted a kiss on her lips, he pulled away with a huge grin as he pointed the unlit cigar he was holding at David. “You like scotch?”
David nodded as Jack let out a booming laugh, “Well come on then, let’s go to the office, I have this bottle that I have been saving for an occasion just like this—aged for fifty years.”
He began leading out of the dining room, forcing David to leave the table and follow him as my mom sat down to her full plate of food with a giant grin, “So,” She announced with a smile, “the Styles family and the Black family are going to be going on a much needed vacation.”
Thank you for updating!! This was so very good! :)
8/24/14