Never Say Goodbye (18 page)

“Hey,” Ryan says, calling behind me.

“What Ryan?” I ask annoyed. I knew I would run in to him eventually, I just hoped it wouldn’t be so soon.

“Can we talk?”

“There’s really nothing for us to talk about,” I tell him truthfully.

“Liv, please just hear me out, okay?” he says pleading.

“Fine, what do you want?” I say looking at him.

“I’m sorry I was a scared jackass, and didn’t tell you the truth as to what was going on,” he says looking directly at me.

“You’re sorry for cheating on me and not telling me?” I ask clarifying what he just said.

“Shit, Liv, I’m sorry. Yes, I was wrong; I should never have cheated on you. You tried to give me an out and I didn’t take it and I should have. Maybe then we could have tried to make us work,” he says looking solemn.

“You should have talked to me, lying gets you nowhere. Unfortunately Ryan, you did cheat and you lied, and because of that, I’ll never date you again,” I state honestly.

“Babe, if you could give me one more chance. I will prove to you how much you mean to me. I swear it. Liv, I love you so much baby,” he says as he steps closer, looking like he wants to kiss me.

I take a step back, “Ryan, I can’t give you another c
hance. You ruined us, I’m sorry, but I need to go,” I say and start walking towards the car.

Ryan doesn’t follow me and I’m able to get into
my car and head home in peace.

I don’t miss Ryan or even think about him, which tells me that maybe I didn’t really
love him like I thought I did.

Thankfully, the weeke
nd gets here, and Brynn’s back.

I keep my promise.
I don’t plan on anything except for hanging out with my best friend. And that’s exactly what we do. We unload all her stuff from her parent’s car and get her situated. Then she tells me about her last week with Chad and how she can’t wait for us to move into the sorority house in July.

I tell her about my run in with Ryan and how I handled it. She makes me laugh, she wants to beat the shit out of Ryan and punch Nathan in the jaw. She does tell me how she almost told Nathan off, but didn’t out of respect f
or her relationship with Chad.

I told her to let it go, and hopefully now she will. The last thing she needs is to ruin her relationship because she’s angry at my childhood best friend.

It’s time we all move forward with our lives. The past is the past for a reason, whether we know the reason or not.

Chapter Seventeen

Summer is flying by. Between hanging out with high school friends, Brynn, and my parents, it’s time to pack up and get ready to head back to North Carolina, into the sorority house.

The only thing that got annoying was Brynn constantly complaining and bitching about how much she missed Chad. I get it
, I do, but come on, they talk numerous times a day, text all day long, and even use Skype.

We say
our “I love you’s” and goodbyes to our parents and head back to college. I can’t believe almost two months has gone by already.

“Can I just say I hate this fucking car ride,” Brynn complains from the passenger seat.

“I know, but at least you have me with you,” I tell her happily.

“Thank G
od for that. I don’t know how you did this trip all by yourself, I would have gone nuts,” she says, while changing the station on the radio.

“It was boring, but it could have been worse,” I tell her truthfully.

We sing along to the silly songs that play on the radio and the iPod. The long trip feels much shorter when Brynn’s along. Thanks goodness for that.

Thankfully, we get to the sorority house a little before
5:00 p.m. Some of the girls already living at the house come to help us unload the car.

Sophie shows us which room is ours, which happens to be right across the hall from her and Megan. I couldn’t be happier with that information.

Once we are all unpacked, Brynn rushes out of the house and heads to Chad’s. I knew it wouldn’t take long.

I hang out with Sophie and she talks me into going to The Cave with her tonight.

We get to The Cave around 10:00 p.m. I’m surprised by how crowded it is.

“Damn, is it always this busy?” I ask Sophie.

She starts to laugh, “No, I’m guessing a lot of people decided to move back to school early.”

“I don’t think it was this packed the first time I came here with you,” I tell her while I look around.
The majority of the people look to be college age. It just seems crazy that so many people would be back already.

School doesn’t start for another five to six weeks.

“Some people can only take so much of the parental units Liv, so they head back to school. Usually ones that live off campus, or in frat or sorority houses,” she tells me.

“That makes sense, being home isn’t that much fun,” I tell her with a smile and follow her to the bar.

We order our drinks, grab a table and decide to people watch.

After about an hour, Sophie spots
Caden, her pierced and tattooed man but just stares at him.

“Earth to Sophie,” I say with a laugh, “Are you with him now?” I say nodding in the direction
Caden.

“No,” she says with a pout.

“Why not?”

“He doesn’t want a relationship, some bullshit about not wanting to be tied down,” she says, still staring in his direction.

“Oh, I’m sorry Soph,” I tell her sadly. She’s been seeing the same guy for quite some time, so I know she really likes him.

“It’s no big deal,” she says with a shrug.

“Soph, this is me you are talking to. You’ve been interested in him since you first laid eyes on him.”

“That’s just it, I’
ve liked him for such a long time now, and I know he likes me, he tells me all the time, but he won’t pursue anything more,” she says looking defeated.

“Then why don’t you make yourself less available and see what happens?”

“Huh, I never thought of that, I wonder if it would work,” she says thinking.

“It can’t hurt. Maybe if he sees you w
ith someone else, he may make an effort in wanting something more with you,” I say hopeful.

“Either way
, it will be a good thing. If he comes back wanting more with me good, if not, seeing someone else can help me move on,” she says with a smile.

“I’m so smart,” I say laughing. Sophie joins in
, our laughter carrying over for others to hear.

A
nother hour passes with a few more drinks and a lot of dancing, we sit to cool down. I take the time to check out the people in the club. I did say I’m a people watcher.

Unfortunately, I shouldn’t have looked around the club because that’s when I spot Nathan laughing and having a good time with a bunch of people. I quickly turn back to Sophie acting like I know what she just said.

“Seriously Liv, you didn’t hear a word did you? Where did you go?” she asks looking suspicious.

“Oh sorry, just got lost in thought,” I lie.

“Care to share?” she asks.

“It wasn’t anything worth repeating. You ready to head out?” I ask, hoping she’s ready.

“Umm, yeah sure, even with a tank top and shorts I’m sweating like a pig in here,” she says pulling on her tank top.

“It’s really hot in here,” I agree. I only have on a pair of blue and teal plaid
shorts with a teal tank top and flip flops but I feel like I’m soaked.

We head towards the stairs to go down to the first floor
. As we make our way towards the exit, I feel like I’m being stared at, I look around and then come in direct eye contact with Nathan.

I don’t look away this time, allowing him to back down first, and he does. I continue my way down the stairs
as Sophie and I make our exit.

“Holy shit, it’s as hot out here as it is in there,” she complains.

“It is July,” I remind her with a laugh.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

We make our way to the car and she drives us back to the sorority house. We decide to park the car and walk to a house party.

The party is at one of the sorority houses on the other side of the campus,
so we make our way there.

As we walk inside
I’m surprised more people aren’t here. Don’t get me wrong, there are still quite a few people hanging around, I just thought there would be more.

“Damn, this shit looks lam
e,” Sophie says as we head in.

We say hi to a few
people we know, but the majority of the people here, I’ve never seen before.

I get a drink and hand one to Sophie
then scan the room hoping to see more people we know, or something entertaining to watch.

“We aren’t staying, so drink up,” Sophie warns me.

“Why? What’s up?” I ask confused, we just got here.

“This shit is boring. I’d have more fun at home, or we can go back to The Cave, if you want,” she says, looking at me.

“I’m fine to go back to the house. Not really in the mood to go back to the club,” I tell her half truthfully.

“Please, yo
u don’t want to go back to the Cave because of Nate. I saw you, don’t try to play coy with me,” she says calling me out.

“That too,” I admit, “we decided to stay away from one another, so no point causing issues.”

“Tell him to get over himself and grow the fuck up,” she says looking annoyed.

Too bad I only told Sophie part of the story. I didn’t really fill her in on how he thinks I crushed him by abandoning him. I simply told her we were childhood friends and changed when we got older. Luckily, she didn’t really question it further.

“It’s fine Soph,” I tell her, then down my drink, hoping I won’t have to say anything else.

“Alright let’s go,” she says as she downs her drink and s
ets the bottle on the counter and we head home.

The next
few weeks go smoothly. No run-ins with Nathan and surprising, I haven’t seen Levi either.

The girls and I
spend our days lying out and swimming by the pool during the day. At night we either head to a party or come up with events or plan events for the sorority house this year.

Brynn is ecstatic; she’s hardly around,
she’s always with Chad. I don’t blame her. She did spend almost two months without him, so they are still catching up.

We are down to two weeks until school starts back up. The campus is getting busier by the day.

It’s Saturday and the sisters and I are sitting in the living room deciding what we are going to do tonight.

Brynn walks in and pulls Sophie and
me from the conversation. She leads us to our room.

I plop down on my bed and Sophie sits on the end of mine
while B jumps on hers excitedly.

“What happened
, Brynn?”

“You bitches have plans with me tonight,” she says happily.

“Okay, what’s the plan?” I ask and look at Sophie, she has a smile plastered on her face.

“Party tonight, and no Liv, you cannot back out,” she tells me, which only means it’s someplace I don’t want to go.

“Where’s it at?” I ask her with a frown.

“It’s at Chad’s,” she says still smiling.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Sophie asks, so I don’t have to.

“Yes, it’s fine. I already discussed it with Chad.”

“Brynn, I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but ever since Chad opened his mouth at the bar and realized who I was, he hasn’t exactly treated me the same,” I say with a frown.

“I know, and I don’t foresee it getting better anytime soon. He’s team Nate and I’m team Liv, so we agree to not discuss you two when we’re together.”

“Then how can you possibly think taking me to their house is going to be a good idea!?” I say louder than I intend.

I look at Sophie and she’s shaking her head, probably thinking this is a bad idea too.

“I talked to Chad. Liv you are my best friend. I’m not going to live two separate lives because he can’t get over himself about something he doesn’t have all the facts about.”

“I feel like this isn’t going to end well,” I say looking towards the floor.

“It will be fine. Chad’s telling Nate that you’re coming tonight, because I’m not taking no for an answer. He will either act like an adult or he can go elsewhere for the evening,” she says like it’s no big deal.

“BRYNN, he freaking lives there. You can’t kick him out for the night just because you want me to come over,” I holler.

“The fuck I can’t. Watch me,” she says with a straight face.

“No B, just no,” I say shaking my head.

“You two need to eventually talk and figure out this whole fucking mess before it drives me nuts,” she says with a piercing look.

“I told you we talked.”

“No, you two fuck-tards talked about staying away from one another. You never talked about what really happened all those years ago. Maybe if you did, he wouldn’t be such an ass and you wouldn’t feel the need to leave every time he stepped into the same damn room,” she snaps.

“Fuck,” I
yell, “I’m not getting out of this am I?” I ask nervously.

“Not a fucking chance
bestie,” Brynn says with a smile.

“I hate you sometimes,” I mumble.

“You love me more,” she says as she comes up to wrap her arm around me, letting me know it’s going to be okay.

“Count me in,” Sophie chimes in with a smile, “I’ll kick someone’s ass if need be.”

“What am I going to do with you two?” I ask with a laugh.

Two hours later I’m ready to go
, even though I’m dreading it. It’s August and hot, so tonight I’m in a denim skirt with a green sparkly halter top and cute sandals. Brynn’s wearing a lavender baby doll dress that is incredibly too short, but she pulls it off well. It looks amazing with her tan skin and long dark hair. Sophie is in a white sundress with killer heels.

We make our way to their house, the whole time my stomach is churning. What the hell am I doing coming here? I keep asking myself this question, but I can’t seem to come up with a logical answer.

I’m surprised when we reach the driveway that there aren’t any other cars parked there besides the ones belonging to the owners of the house.

“Brynn, why’s it so quiet?” I ask confused.

“Oh, we’re probably just early,” she says calmly continuing to walk towards the house.

We get to the
door, Brynn opens it and walks in, followed by Sophie while I hesitantly follow after. I hear music in the distance, and still don’t see anyone.

We go into the living room
. All I see is Chad, Rob, Caden and some blonde girl, sitting on the furniture.

Brynn’s all smiles, but before she can get out of reach, I grab her arm and yank her back in front of me.

“What the hell is going on Brynn?” I say through a harsh whisper.

“What? I told you we are coming here to party,” she says with a smile.

“Then where the hell is everyone?” I ask angrily.

“Relax
Livie, it’s going to be fun, you’ll see,” she says as she removes my hand and makes her way over to her boyfriend’s lap. I know this isn’t good, she called me Livie, that tells me she’s up to no good.