A Love Restored

Chapter 17

Then

The party was…something. I had never been to a party before, and neither had Tilly. We had expected some drunk shenanigans, but this was a lot. more than we had expected.

Way!!!

We had parked the car a few minutes away from Callum’s house. Callum was in our year but we had never really interacted much. Him and Tilly were lab partners, which is why they had developed a friendship, and that was the only reason he had invited us.

When we reached, the house was already packed. There were so many people, the music was really loud, and there was so much smake,

for some

“Tilly!” Callum greeted us when we entered. He enveloped her in a short hug before he turned to me. “Flora!” He said cheerfully, his grin lopsided, enough to tell me he was quite drunk. “You look great.” I could feel his gaze as it shifted from my face to down my top. I didn’t know how to feel about It. He looked behind me. “Is Felix here, too?”

“No.” I answered.

“Ah,” He scratched his head, “I just assumed, since he’s always around you. Anyway,” He stepped to the side, and Tilly and I slipped in, “Get in, guys. Let me get you both a drink”

We followed him to the kitchen, saying hi to people we knew on the way. He handed us both beers, then excused himself. Tilly and I looked at each other and gulped. So, this was happening. The first drink of our lives, I was the first to go. I pressed the bottle to my mouth and took a large sip. Swallowing, we both made a face. Beer…wasn’t tasty.

But I took another sip, then another, and another till I finished the bottle in about four minutes.

me to party.” Tilly commented, and shrugged. Right then, Remy made his way to us. He snuck up behind Tilly and put his arm around her, pulling her to him,

“Geez did you come

“There you are.” He whispered. He had someone with him. His friend, Jason, who Tilly had told me before liked me.

“Hey, Flora.” He said sheepishly. Jason was really tall–like super tall. He was a basketball player, so he was tall and lanky.

HI

“Did you have a drink?

I nodded enthusiastically. “Want another? He offered his own beer to me, and I thought for a second, before accepting.

“I’m gonna

steal Tilly from you.” Remy informed me. “You can hang out with Jason.”

I didn’t have a chance to agree or disagree before Remy and Tilly snuck out. I looked up at Jason. “Guess it’s the two of us then.” He said.

He took me to another room where a bunch of people were dancing, and we joined them. I was kind of a shy person, generally, but today a new version of Flora was coming out. I Eked this. It was fun. Besides, the liquid courage was definitely helping, Jason looked awkward and lanky, but he did have moves. I liked that he wasn’t being creepy. He hadn’t once looked at me in the wrong way, he hadn’t touched me in any weird way either. He seemed nice and I thought we could be good friends.

–

After about fifteen minutes of dancing, I took a step back, heaving. All that had made me thirsty for water. I had finished my second beer already, but it wouldn’t quench my thirst or anything

“I want water.” I told Jason and started to go to the kitchen. He followed me, lightly grabbing my top from behind as we traversed through the crowd. It was funny. He was following me like a little puppy. I got myself some water and drank half the glass, Jason drank the rest. He grinned down at me from his humongous height.

“Let’s step out.” He suggested. “Its so loud here.”

I nodded, and he grabbed my wrist and led me to the porch. There was a small garden in front of it, and we sat down in the grass. It was cool of moist, but I didn’t mind it.

kind

Javon fished out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He offered it to me, but I shook my head. I could feel my vision blur a little. Oh I was drunk alright. He shrugged and lit one for himself, pressing it to his lips before he blew out some smoke to the other side. I didn’t like the smoke. Felly smoked, but he never did it around me. This was the first time I was experiencing a cigarette.

+10

Bonu

Chapter 17

“So,” Jason began, “Are you dating that senior? Felix?”

I shook my head. “We’re just friends.”

“So, you’re single then? I can ask you out?”

I hesitated. It wasn’t that simple. “I don’t think so.”

“Ah, sorry.” He raised his hands up. “Shouldn’t have assumed you were into me.”

I smiled. “You’re really nice, Jason. We should be friends.” Maybe it was because I was drunk and tired, or maybe it was because Jason was genuinely a nice guy. but I felt so comfortable with him in that moment. 1 lay my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. We sat like that for a bit, my head on his shoulder while he smoked his cigarette.

“What the fuck, Flora?”

My eyes shot open. Oh no. I felt myself being ripped away from Jason as Felix pulled me by the arm. He pushed me away towards Nick, and I stumbled a bit, till he steadied me. The next moment, Jason was being grabbed by his collar and Felix was all in his face. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, fucker? His eyes were filled with rage, but Jason didn’t quiver.

His Little Flower