Chaotic (Imperfect Perfection) (15 page)

“Well, my vote is for Nash. I know
we’re still young and all, but Nash is a way better choice. You don’t have to
worry about him with other girls-” Zoey jabbed Callie sharply in the side to cut
her off and I looked between the two of them, both looking extremely guilty.

“Ok, what are you two not telling
me?” I crossed my arms, giving them both that
look.
You know the one
where your best friends are supposed to tell you everything, no matter what. It
was some sort of code or something.

“It’s not that big of a deal,
really,” Zoey said with a loud sigh. “The gossip queen over here heard someone
in one of her classes bragging about how they hooked up with Justin. So of
course she had to stick her nose into the conversation.”

“Please, I wasn’t sticking my nose
in anything. I was looking out for our girl.” I gave Callie a small smile, even
though I just wanted to smack her upside the head because she hadn’t told me
sooner. Sure, rumors were rumors, but sometimes there was some truth to them.

“She said that she and Justin
hooked up about a week ago,” she finished quietly. “I argued that Justin was
dating you, and why exactly would he need to turn to someone as skanky looking
as her. I think she got a little offended, but still stuck to her story.
Apparently, it was on one of his nights off from the restaurant and she met up
with him at some bar.”

“Well, that’s…interesting.” What
else was I supposed to say? Justin and I had never really said that we were
officially a couple, but I thought we had an understanding that we weren’t
seeing other people.

Honestly, I felt a little hurt. No,
I wasn’t being honest with myself at all. I felt all kinds of hurt, but I put
on my brave face and pushed it out of my head, something I had learned to do
over the years and was an expert at.

“That’s all you have to say?
Really?” Zoey smashed her lips into a straight line, narrowing her eyes at me.
“Because the Della I know is one tough bitch and wouldn’t put up with that kind
of shit. You need to confront him or just drop him. He obviously doesn’t
deserve you if it’s true. You know I’m not a fan of Nash, but maybe you
should
give him a chance.”

“I’ll talk to him about it, trust
me.” I stood up and headed towards my closet, mainly to hide the hurt look on
my face. I had texted Justin to see if he was coming tonight but the only
answer I got back was a vague “
maybe
” which was a little strange coming
from him. I was all ready so used to his sexting that I sort of expected it
every time. “But now, it’s time for us to have fun, so let’s get our asses
moving.”

We walked up the wooden steps of
the house that Drew lived in. There were people everywhere, from the wide front
lawn to the balconies that jutted out from several of the upstairs windows. The
music could be heard from outside and probably at least a mile away.

‘Scream and Shout’, blasted my ears
as the door swung open, and I followed Callie in who knew her way around. Let
it all out was all I really wanted to do right now, although I really wasn’t
planning on doing that Britney Spears style. So when Callie handed Zoey and I a
shot of something, I took it immediately, throwing my head back and letting the
burning liquid wash down my throat. I instantly felt a bit of calmness rush
through me, so I quickly took another.

When I opened my eyes, Zoey and
Callie were staring at me with a look of disbelief. “What? Aren’t we here to
get a little cray cray?” They both slowly nodded their heads at me before I led
the way back out of the kitchen and onto the makeshift dance floor which appeared
to be the once living room.

Callie found Drew in the crowd, so
she quickly darted off, leaving Zoey and I to dance by ourselves. Whatever.

Zoey looked like she was loosening
up a little bit, so I grabbed onto her hand, throwing my free one into the air
as I moved my hips to the music. Those two shots had quickly gone to my head,
and I was feeling good. I noticed a guy come up behind Zoey, quietly asking her
to dance, and she gave me a look with her eyes. I nodded, giving her a smile as
I stayed surrounded in the sea of people that all seemed to be moving in a
frenzied rhythm.

I felt a pair of hands land on my
hips, secretly I was wishing it was Justin, but when I spun around to see Nash
standing there, those soft brown eyes staring back at me with something I
couldn’t quite put my finger on, I tried not to look disappointed.

“Hey,” I shouted into his ear, and
he wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me closer. “Dance with me? Please?”
He asked in that gravelly voice of his. I nodded in response, and we danced
wrapped closely, and at a slow pace, for what felt like a lifetime. Being
wrapped in his arms was comforting, but it wasn’t really what I needed right
now.

“I need another drink, I’ll meet up
with you in a bit.” He reluctantly let go of me, dropping his hands to the
side, and motioned towards an empty couch as I headed back towards the kitchen.
I smiled at Zoey who was now with another guy and looked to be having fun, not
ready to leave anytime soon. Which was a good thing because neither was I.

I grabbed two shots from a flirty
looking guy, downing them and handing him back the empty glasses back with a
smile, before I turned back and joined Nash on the couch. Before I could sit
down he grabbed my hand. “Let’s take this somewhere a little quieter. I can’t
even hear myself think out here.” I rolled my eyes as he led me down a hallway
and pushed open a door, checking to see if it was empty first before pulling me
in and locking the door behind us.

“Did you drag me in here to have
your way with me?” I managed to slur out before plopping down on the unmade bed
that was covered in clothes. Most of the time, I would be totally against
something like that, but right then, I didn’t care.

“Exactly how much have you had to
drink?” Nash asked, crouching down in front of me with a smirk.

“Who knows?” I murmured before
running my fingers up his arm, touching the tattoo on his forearm. “What does
this mean exactly?” I leaned forward to trace the black ink and I could hear
his breath hitch at our close proximity. “Nothing lame I hope, I don’t think
Chinese symbols are the in thing anymore.”

He snorted, pointing to his
forearm. “Well, I did get it a few years ago. Sorry if I’m not up to date with
the trends and all that shit. And I’m not sure if you’re really ready to hear
what it means.”

I stared at the tribal looking sun
etched into his forearm, the Chinese symbols in the center, hoping they would
form some kind of conclusion in my head. But that was not going to happen. It
was actually spinning a little right now.

“I think I can handle it.”

He sighed loudly and moved my
finger with his hand. “All right, well this is obviously a sun. And these right
here,” my finger traced the symbols lightly, “translate over to Adelaide.”

“Seriously?” I whispered as I
stared at my finger, his touch on mine so delicate as he explained something
that obviously had a lot meaning to him. Most tattoos did. They were permanent
after all.

“Seriously,” he replied, his
crooked smile in place as he laced our fingers together. “I got it as soon as I
turned eighteen. I told you that you were like my sun when you came to visit
during the summer. Every minute with you was an escape from my dad, so I think
you deserved some recognition. I thought this was the best way.”

Wow, I couldn’t believe someone had
a tattoo of my name on their arm. Even if that someone was Nash. “You really
give me too much credit,” I said, hiccupping as I sank down to the floor with
him. “I’m really not that great of a person. If you really knew who I was, you
would probably be getting that removed right now.”

“Della.” His hand grasped my chin,
forcing me to look him straight in the eyes, “People make mistakes sometimes,
no one’s perfect. But to me you are. No matter what.”

I groaned and buried my head in my
hands. “Why does everything have to be so serious with you, Nash?”

“What? Like that boyfriend of yours
or whatever the hell he is?” He snapped out, standing up abruptly. “Sorry that
I have some sort of feelings Della. Would you rather me be an ass all the time?
He doesn’t deserve you.”

“And you do?” I snapped back. “Just
because you broke up with your girlfriend, doesn’t instantly give you the
rights to me, like I’m a piece of property that you can just snatch up. I know
we’ve been friends for awhile, Nash, but maybe we’re better off just being
that. Friends.” I stood up too quickly, the alcohol rushing towards my head.
Sure I didn’t know where my relationship even stood with Justin. Maybe I just
needed to stop dating all together so I wasn’t so confused all the time.

“Maybe we just aren’t meant to be
right now,” I said a little more calmly as I gripped the handle that was
holding me upright. I hated to see that hurt look on his face, but I just
couldn’t deal with him right now.

“You’re right, Della. I think we
both have some growing up to do before that happens,” he answered back quietly.
“I promise, I’ll keep things strictly as friends from now on.” I rolled my
eyes, not believing him for a second, but I guess I could give him a chance.

We walked back out to the party,
and I instantly spotted Justin on the edge of the crowd. His eyes landed on me,
and he gave me a tight smile, but it quickly disappeared when he saw Nash
behind me. “I’ll catch up with you later,” I yelled to Nash as he took off in
the opposite direction, but not before giving me a scowl. Just friends, yeah
right Nash. I don’t think that existed in your book, with me at least.

Justin pulled me into his arms,
kissing my forehead, as he wrapped me up tightly and gently rocked me back and
forth to the music. His body felt oddly stiff against mine, and I looked up at
him, his gray eyes staring down at me with a look I just couldn’t read.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I took a
step back.

He pinched his lips together, and I
could see his jaw tic as he stared back at me before he finally answered.
“Nothing. You wanna get out of here?”

“Um, sure,” I replied, surprised
that he didn’t want to stay. Parties were normally his thing, and while I
hadn’t been to one with him yet, I had kind of been looking forward to tonight
if he had decided to show up. “Let me just find Callie and Zoey, I’ll be ready
to go in a minute.”

“I’ll meet you outside.”

I found Callie who looked like she
had even more than me to drink so far, she was a serious lightweight, and Drew
was basically holding her up. I told him to pass along the message that I was
leaving since she probably wouldn’t remember. Zoey was still dancing away, with
a different guy again. “Hey, do you mind if I leave? Justin showed up, and I
was going to take off with him.”

“Sure,” she panted out, her eyes
glittering with an excitement that was normally absent. “I’ll catch a ride home
with someone.”

“Awesome, text me if you need me.”

I found Justin outside, one leg
propped up against the house, his head tilted towards the dark sky as he puffed
away on a cigarette. I wrinkled my nose at the smell, but grabbed onto his
hand. “I’m ready to go whenever you are.”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied
absentmindedly, staring at the dark sky for a second longer before he walked quickly
towards the road where his car was parked.

“Are we going back to your place?”
I asked after getting into the car. The silence was uncomfortable as I tried to
figure out what was going on with this strange mood he was in.

“Um…” he chewed on his lip as he
pulled the car out onto the road. “Let’s head somewhere for coffee. You look
like you could use it.” He looked at me sideways, giving me a slight smirk as
he turned out onto the main road.

My head was starting to clear, and
I didn’t feel as wobbly, but coffee sounded good so I didn’t question it. I had
only been to Justin’s a few times. He lived by himself about fifteen minutes away
from campus in a tiny house.

“So what’s going on?” I asked after
the waitress had brought over two cups of coffee and a piece of pie for me.

He shrugged his shoulders at me,
staring out the large front window of the diner he had chosen that was pretty
much deserted.

“All right,” I replied, gnawing at
my bottom lip when Callie and Zoey’s words from earlier had popped into my
head. We didn’t have a title, but I sure as hell wanted to know if he had been
with another girl when I thought we had clearly talked about not seeing other
people.

“Well if you aren’t going to talk,
I guess I will. I heard from a few people that you hooked up with some girl
pretty recently. Is that true?” There I said it. I watched his face to see his
reaction, and he finally turned to look at me, a scowl in place directed at me.

“And you believed that shit? No, I
wasn’t with anyone last week. Haven’t you learned by now that girls like to run
their fucking mouths?”

My head jerked back at his tone,
and I saw his eyes soften slightly. “I’m sorry, Della,” he huffed out. “I just
wanted to come out and have a fun night with you. But then I get there, looking
for you, and you’re nowhere to be found. Then I see you coming out of a room
with that douche bag.”

My mouth formed into an O as I
guessed at what his conclusion had been. So he was jealous? I didn’t think I
would ever see this day from Justin Parker. I really thought he had too big of
an ego to ever be jealous.

“Nothing happened between us, I
swear. Although I have no clue exactly what we’re doing here, I wouldn’t do
that to you.” Something unreadable flashed through his eyes, and he rubbed at
the scruff on his chin. “Nash agreed to being just friends again tonight. I
know he’s said that before, but I think this time I believed him. I’d like to
figure out what’s going on between us first,” I picked up his hand, swirling my
finger around his wrist. “Because I really do like what we have going here, and
I’d like to see where it’s going to go. Are we on the same page?”