Spoiler
Charlie Black, Austin, and Jax were out one night when a fight occurred. It resulted in Austin accidentally stabbing and killing a young girl. A few weeks passed, and now Charlie and Austin have gone out to a youth club for the night where they met Jax. Charlie and Austin went outside the club and into an alleyway when Zoey Cardle ran into Charlie.
The girl Austin killed was Zoey Cardle's sister, but no one is aware of that. Zoey and her friend, Beth, have just bought some tickets to get into the club. Zoey, Beth, Charlie and Austin are planning to go into the club together for some drinks.
The girl Austin killed was Zoey Cardle's sister, but no one is aware of that. Zoey and her friend, Beth, have just bought some tickets to get into the club. Zoey, Beth, Charlie and Austin are planning to go into the club together for some drinks.
Stop and Stare ~ Part Eight
Zoey - Continued
When Beth spotted Austin stamping out his cigarette butt, she threw her make-up back into her bag after checking her reflection in her hand mirror. I managed to smile at her, despite the growing feeling of being in a freezer.
“I wouldn't be surprised if Austin and me can't get back in,” Charlie said as he neared us. He nodded at the security guard now a good few yards away from us. “I don’t think he’s my biggest fan.”
“It’s your fault, Charlie boy. You shouldn’t have kicked off at him.” Austin laughed as he stopped beside Charlie.
Charlie whacked Austin in the arm, which resulted in the two boys laughing as Austin whacked him back. These two were becoming more peculiar as the seconds passed. Not that me or Beth would ever do it anyway, but if either one of us started hitting each other, all hell would break loose. After finishing their bizarre form of bonding, Austin let out a yawn before patting the sagged pockets his jeans. He clicked his tongue.
“Damn...” He glanced back towards the alleyway. “I think I might have dropped some of my cash down there or something. I’ll be back now.”
Before anyone could say or do anything, Austin jogged back into the alleyway. Charlie, Beth and me were left standing outside Vertigo along with passing groups of strangers who were laughing and joking. The wind was becoming more bitter now, and it wasn't long until my teeth were chattering. A good couple of minutes passed, but there was no sign of Austin, and the longer we waited, the higher the hairs on my arms became. I glanced at Charlie to see him looking at me, but he soon turned away. It wasn’t long until his eyes returned to me though.
“Sorry he’s taking ages. God knows what he’s doing...” Charlie glanced at the alleyway. “Here.” He pulled off his jacket and he was soon was holding it out for me. “I’m kinda hot anyway.”
As I hesitated to take it, I shot my eyes towards Beth for a moment. She had the biggest smirk on her face. She was standing beside Charlie while she nodded at the jacket in his hands. The nods were enhanced as she turned to me.
“Thanks.” I smiled as I took the jacket. Beth winked at me.
As I grasped the jacket, I couldn’t help but notice that it had the stench of deodorant mixed with cigarettes and alcohol. I scanned the faded black jacket as I held it in my hands. I really didn’t want to have it put it on now... If the jacket hadn’t been washed after having cigarette smoke along with alcohol on it, then who knew how much bacteria was feeding on it? My stomach churned. With both him and Beth watching me, I had no choice but to drape the jacket over my shoulders. I’d be fine... I’d just have to make sure I showered when I got home. Besides, it was awfully nice of him to offer me the jacket. I couldn’t be rude and take it off now.
Charlie smiled at me, showing his dimples again, as he rubbed the back of his head. He winced. Gosh, I hope he was alright. I think his head had stopped bleeding, but I couldn’t help but be on edge about the situation, especially considering I was the one that made him fall. No one said anything for a while then--if it wasn’t for Beth, it would have stayed like that for a great deal of time.
I soon caught myself staring at him. In all honesty, boys should have been the last thing on my mind right now, but the more I thought about it, the more right it began to feel. I mean, I'd been figuring out ways of keeping my mind off what had happened with Aimee for a while now, and this could have been the ideal distraction. Hang on, what was I thinking? I didn't even know what Charlie thought of me. It wasn't as though I could get into his head or anything. Besides, there wasn't any point in being interested in him just because I thought I should though. I mean, did I actually, well, like him?
I crossed my arms as I kept my eyes on Charlie. Either the bad lighting was fooling me, or he was staring blankly into space. His eyes appeared distant in the artificial light, and his lips were pulled down slightly at the corners. What on earth was going on in his head? There was something about him, something that couldn't help but make me intrigued. Something unexplainable. He glanced up at me. Something dangerous. That was entirely illogical though. Since when was I attracted to anything dangerous?
“So,” Beth said to Charlie, causing both him and me to turn to her. “What school do you go to?”
Charlie shrugged as the glassy look vanished from his separately coloured eyes. “I don’t really go to any school now. I was hoping to get into this college to study music, but it didn’t really work out.”
“Oh, wow, really? That is, like, such a freaky coincidence.” Beth looked at me with a broad grin on her face. “Zoey’s mum--”
“Beth!” I nudged her hard.
As I gritted my teeth at her, she raised her eyebrows. I knew exactly what she was about to say. Just as Charlie was about to open his mouth, I excused Beth and me for a moment. I more or less yanked her to the side.
“He is so into you. Seriously, Zoey, it’s perfect." Beth almost squealed as she patted his jacket that was draped over my shoulders.
“Beth, he gave me his jacket. It’s not a big deal. He’s probably got a girlfriend anyway, and besides, she’s bound to be way pre--”
“Oi! Black!” Beth and I spun around to see a tanned boy parading towards us. His eyes were on Charlie.
As I turned back towards the club's entrance, I noticed that the security guard was nowhere to be seen. Gosh, was it half past seven already? Beth and I had gotten here just in time then. He still should have been keeping an eye out for trouble though, if you asked me. Speaking of keeping an eye out for trouble...
"Oi!" The boy yelled again as he stared at Charlie.
I shot my own eyes to Charlie now. He muttered something under his breath before letting out a sigh. Beth and I edged our way back towards him as the tanned boy neared us. Charlie turned to the boy who was now inches away from him. As he stopped, Charlie glanced back towards the alleyway, and bit into his lip.
“You’ve been out ages.” The boy burped before taking a sip out of the drink in his hand.
Now that he was beside us, the horribly strong smell of alcohol circled the air. The jacket over my shoulders smelt of roses compared to this boy. He was grinning as he scanned Charlie’s face. His eyes were digging into Charlie, and his face was twisted in a way that made every single one of his features look as though they were smirking. He burped again and laughed. I began fiddling with my hands.
“Uh, yeah, I know.” Charlie’s answer was strangely quiet and simple.
Charlie’s reaction only made my pulse quicken. He’d been a little quiet before, but this was odd. Why had he responded to the boy so distantly? I wrapped my arm around Beth’s, and for once, she didn’t push me off her.
“Huh?” The boy rolled his eyes. “Mate, grow a pair and speak up, yeah?”
Charlie muttered something under his breath, but when he looked up at the boy, he just smiled lightly and apologised for some reason. He glanced back towards the alleyway again, but it was pointless. There was no sign of Austin anywhere.
Charlie
“Hey, where’s tweedledumb then?” Jax laughed as he smacked my arm. “He ain’t bought any booze from me yet. The door guy's gone, so it would be great if he could buy some now.”
He held up the drink in his hand up before gulping it. That was a damn good question. Where the hell had Austin gotten to? I turned to the alleyway again, and as Jax followed my gaze, he stopped halfway. He took another sip out of his drink.
“And who are they exactly?” He nodded behind me.
Before I could say anything, Zoey answered for me with her voice quiet. “Uh... I’m Zoey, and that’s Beth.” She jerked her head in Beth’s direction.
“Ah, cool. I’m James, but to cut a long story short, just call me Jax.” He grinned as his slimy eyes scanned every inch of their bodies. “So, are you girls coming inside? I’ve got some stuff you might be interested in.”
I could have seriously done with Austin right now. I opened my mouth, but all that came out were stammers. I heard the girls fidgeting behind me. One of them whispered to the other, but what they said was inaudible. If this idiot terrified these two, I swore I’d beat his ass off. Well, that was a lie. I'd never beaten anyone's ass off, and I didn't see why I'd start now. I blinked slowly before avoiding Jax's gaze.
Beth seemed at least a little bit interested in Austin, so I didn’t want Jax spoiling everything with his ridiculous attempts at selling everything illegal possible to the girls. I didn’t even want to think about what else was on his mind as he licked his lips with his eyes locked on Zoey and Beth. Austin could have done with a girl right now because he knew as well as I did that what happened a month ago was slowly eating his mind, even if he did everything possible not to show it. Zoey seemed kind of into me too, but I didn't really want to think about that. I didn't need anything even similar to a girlfriend right now, and besides, I hardly wanted to drag a girl into the crap hole that was my personal life.
“Err, you alright, faggot?” Jax started laughing again. “You look like you’re gonna cry or something.”
My jaw locked as the argument I had with Austin flashed back into my head. I didn’t let Jax push me around, I just... There was no point in letting him piss me off. There was a pang at the back of my head. I flinched. Ignoring the aching feeling, I bit on my tongue. All I had to do was call him an idiot, or just tell him to leave us alone. It was as simple as that. Why the hell couldn’t I do it then?
“Look, we’ve gotta go. I better find Austin.”
I spun around, tapped Zoey’s arm, and nodded towards the alleyway. With their eyes still stuck on Jax, the girls followed me as I more or less jogged away.
Jax’s voice soon stopped me. “Hey! I’ll come with!”
I think he said something else, but the loud beats echoing out of the club drowned his voice out. With any luck, he hadn’t said something stupid. Considering it was Jax, that was highly unlikely.
“Just sod off,” I muttered as he began walking beside me.
“Huh?” He glanced at me.
I stammered again. “Uh, nothing.”
I dug my nails into my arms. I didn’t even have the guts to repeat what I’d literally just said to him. One thing I knew for sure was that I didn't need to worry about leading Zoey on anymore. No way would any girl be interested in some pansy wimp who hung out with someone like Jax Burch. All of this could have been avoided anyway. I’d told Austin not to ask Zoey and Beth to follow us back in the alleyway, and I was bloody right to do so. I wish the guy had listened for once.
I felt Zoey’s shoulder pressing against mine as Jax yelled at a group of people who passed us. He began sniggering after muttering something about one of the boys’ ginger hair. None of the girls had said anything for a while now, and I couldn’t blame them. Zoey’s breath was heavy beside me, and despite all of the noise around us, the sound of her heartbeat was clear and hasty. Mine was soon matching hers.
I glanced at her to see her lips pressed together into a thin line. I swore even a blind man could have told me that she looked terrified. Beth didn't look half as scared, but she hardly looked comfortable either. I soon caught myself gazing at Zoey again. At least that was one area where I actually acted like a guy: it only took me an almost non-existent amount of time to get attracted to someone. She was awfully pretty though, and her ivory skin almost shone in the lights that were shooting onto her young face. Charlie, you prick, get over yourself. I couldn't be dealing with the hassle of girls right now, and I knew that. I quickly turned my concentration back to the alleyway we were nearing.
“Hey, do you guys wanna go in? I’ll catch you up later,” I said to the girls as we neared the alleyway.
“Nah, don’t be silly, Black.” Jax nudged past me and pushed himself in-between Zoey and me. “They’re fine.”
For what felt like the millionth time tonight, I opened my mouth, but closed it again. Jax put his arm over Zoey’s shoulder and nudged my jacket off her. I didn’t dare leave the girls and Jax to pick my coat up. The moment Jax threw his arm over Zoey's shoulder, every inch of her face was a deathly white. She glanced at me, and it wasn't hard to notice the pleading look in her now cold eyes. Jax tousled her long, blonde ponytail, and her face whitened even more. Maybe I should have said something to Jax? I soon changed my mind when he began shouting at another group of people that passed. I was silent, and despite speaking a great lot earlier, not even Beth said anything.
“There he is!” Jax let go of Zoey and jogged into the alleyway.
“Beth, can we go home,” Zoey whispered once Jax had entered the darkness.
I could see the figure I knew all too well as Austin crouching down beside one of the walls, and it wasn’t long until I saw Jax tap him on the back. The longer I stared, the clearer the inside of the alleyway became. The last time us three had been together was a good month ago. That night. Memories tried drowning my thoughts, but I did everything I could to shove them away. What the hell was wrong with me? Tonight had nothing to do with all those weeks ago. I was a fool for even thinking about it. I looked back at the girls.
“Yeah... Yeah, come on.” Beth stopped in her tracks. “I’ll ring my mum now.”
Zoey locked arms with Beth as she reached into her handbag. Both girls were religiously tapping their feet as they stood on the pavement. Zoey looked at me and forced a smile. I interrupted her before she could say anything.
“Sorry about this... I didn’t... I just...” I sighed. “I better go and find them.”
Without looking back at the girls once, I entered the alleyway. From the inside, I could clearly see the girls waiting outside. Beth’s mouth was moving in an impossibly fast motion as she pressed her phone to her ear. Except for her tapping feet, Zoey was entirely still.
“Jax, leave it!” Austin shouted. “I didn’t want to buy any anyway.”
I snapped my attention away from the girls to see Jax in front of me. Austin was behind him with a strained expression on his face. His dark eyes were trying to tell me something. Warn me? Before I could grasp anything, Jax's face was right in front of mine as it replaced everything else in sight.
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Click here to read STOP AND STARE (PART NINE)
