I silently cursed the gods that I agreed to go out with Eli and Elle tonight. Why do I do this to myself? I'm too nice for my own good.

The screeching of the hangers sliding against the metallic racks of my closet and the shuffling of fabrics is the only sound traveling through my room. I don't have Cooper to save me in the outfit department, so I'm forced to search for an outfit with no assistance. I end up deciding on some blue jeans and a white v-neck tank top with some lace decorating the v. I look in the mirror and am completely shocked at what I see staring back at me.

I don't look half bad! My hair is left naturally wavy, the different shades of brown in my hair are also made more apparent in the light. My hair is naturally this color, but I've been accused more than once of putting highlights in my hair. The sun naturally adds shades of lighter brown sporadically through my locks, making it look quite unique and different than your average brunette. My hair is probably my favorite thing about myself.

As I look at myself more and more in the mirror, I find more flaws in my appearance so I decide to put on some light make-up before the ice twins show up... I kind of like that nickname.

I put on a light brown smokey eye, mascara, and lip gloss and I'm ready to go. Looking at the clock, I can see that I have 20 minutes before they arrive to pick me up. I'm always ready early, and this time is no different. I pick up the book "The Catcher in the Rye" and begin rereading it. However, I can't read more than a couple of pages before my mind drifts to Grayson.

Sighing, I know that I won't be able to concentrate on this book without at least checking in on him. We texted this morning, but it was only to say hi. I had to get ready for class shortly after. After scrolling through our texts, I stop when I realize that I've never been the one to text first. It's always him wishing me a good morning, or wondering how my day has been. How thoughtless of me! He must think I'm so rude...

I open up a new message and type a simple text. He doesn't have to answer if he doesn't want to.

Hey

I'm proud of myself. I'm slowly being more confident and not this shy, pathetic version of myself that I was when I originally met Grayson. He instantly texted back.

Hello, love. What are you up to?

Nothing much, just getting ready to go out with some friends. I'm ready too early and I'm bored :/

The text bubbles pop up, showing that he's typing a response to me, but then they disappear. I wait a few more seconds until my phone buzzes. I screech in surprise and my phone flies out of my hand and onto the bed. I grab my chest, attempting to calm my racing heart. When I look at my phone, I realize that I have a FaceTime call from Grayson. Crap! Do I answer? Of course I should answer, the guy I'm crushing on is calling me!

I swipe to answer and hold the phone in front of me. I instantly smile when I see Grayson's face appear on my screen. He smiles as well. He looks to be outside somewhere. All I can see in the background is trees, trees, and more trees. He must be hiking or something. He also seems to have his shirt off, and thankfully I can only see from his shoulders up or else I would be a stuttering mess.

"I hate texting," he says, his voice partially cracking due to the connection. "My hands are too big and I can never..." Grayson stops talking as his eyes widen. Even from through the phone I can see his eyes darkening like they do when he looks at me sometimes. It's honestly one of my favorite things about him. I can't read his face very well, but his eyes tell a different story.

"Thea," he growls out through his grinded teeth and tight jaw. I'm lucky he looks so hot when he's grumpy, because every time I've seen him so far he's been grumpy for at least a little while.

"You look... amazing."

My heart speeds up at his compliment. "Thank you!" I say, then walk over to my dresser and place my phone so that it's leaning against one of my larger snow globes. I then back up to show him my entire outfit. Cooper may not be here to help me with my outfit, but maybe Grayson can tell me if it's okay for a night out with friends.

"I wasn't sure if this outfit was okay. Cooper made fun of my last one, so I tried to choose something nicer. What do you think?" I question him. I'm looking down currently, and my eyes shift up when I hear a low sound emanating from his throat. He then clears his throat a little, which makes me a little concerned.

"Are you okay? Do you have a sore throat?" Maybe he's sick. That would explain all the noises coming from him now.

"No, I'm fine," he quickly brushes off my concern. "Your outfit... You need to change."

The words I am about to say die in my throat. My eyebrows scrunch together as I look down at my outfit. But... he said I look amazing earlier, and now he wants me to change? Was he lying before?

"Don't do that, Thea"

"What?" I mumble.

He sighs, then rubs his hand over his face in frustration. "You look beautiful. Way too beautiful. You're going out without me looking like that!" He points to me, then tightens his jaw once again. "Every guy in the place is going to want you. And you're mine, remember?"

My mouth opens and moves around like a blubbering fish as I struggle for words to say. My cheeks naturally turn red, which is the exact reason I didn't add blush when putting on my makeup. I knew they would naturally blush on their own.

I silently nod my head up and down, which makes Grayson's smirk grow. "Good. Where are you going anyway?" he asks. I'm about to answer when a car honks outside. I glance out my window and see that it must be Eli and Elle here to pick me up. "I'm going to this bar, I don't know the name of it. Wasn't my idea."

Grayson looks like he wants to say something but I cut him off as I grab my phone and my bag along with a cardigan that I throw over my arm. "Gray, I gotta go. They're here."

If I thought Grayson was grumpy before, then now he must be livid. "Thea, don't hang up on me. You're going to a bar? Where horny, drunk men hang around to take advantage of beautiful girls such as yourself?" Every word he adds gets louder and louder until he's basically screaming at me. I don't know why he's so mad at me. I'm just going out with some friends.

"Grayson, I don't have time for this. I'm not drinking. It's gonna be fine. I'll even text you when I get home if you want." As I run down the stairs, the doorbell chimes. I shuffle to the front door and attempt to open the door while juggling my purse, cardigan, phone, and keys in my hand. I must be Wonder Woman because I manage to open the door. Eli looks me up and down before meeting my eyes and smiling.

"You look amazing, as always."

I blush and am about to respond when I hear screaming coming from my phone. Grayson. "WHO THE HELL IS THAT?"

I struggled to balance all of the things in my hand and bring the phone up to my face, so I quickly tell Grayson that he's my friend and that I'll call him later.

"THEA, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT HANGING UP ON ME. WHO THE FUCK IS-"

I hung up on him. I let out a sigh and put my phone in my bag and locked up the house. My mom and Evie were still inside and I didn't want to bother them. I'm also still not talking to my mom, so we've now been ignoring each other for 4 days now.

A laugh breaks me out of my thoughts. "Who was that guy? Your boyfriend or something?"

"Um, no," I mumble. "He's- well, he's a good friend. I think."

"You think?" Eli smirks. "Shouldn't you know if you're in a relationship?"

"Shut up and let's go before I leave you to hang out alone with your sister," I grumble, pushing past him and walking towards the car. I can feel my phone vibrating in my purse, but I choose to ignore Grayson's caveman acts right now. I'm just going to focus on having fun tonight and spending time with my new friends.

Since Elle is sitting in the backseat, I take the passenger seat with Eli driving us. "Where are we going, by the way?" I ask. I know that it's a bar, but that's all the information I have on this mystery place.

"Oh, it's this new bar called Velvet Elixir. I've heard amazing things about it, and they have a variety of foods and drinks there. And there's music. And dancing. And-"

"Wait a minute!" I interrupt Elle abruptly. I turn to completely face her in the backseat. "Are we- Are you taking me to a club?" I raise my voice at her and a guilty smile spreads across her face. My jaw drops at her audacity. "Elle!" I scream.

"What?" she raises her eyebrows and pretends that her lying to me about where we're going isn't a big deal. But actually... Eli was the one who lied to me. I turn to face the front and shove Eli in the shoulder. Even though he's driving, I could see that there were no cars around, so pushing him wouldn't cause any danger to others. Even though I'm mad, I'm still aware of my surroundings.

"Eli, you lied to me! You said we were going to a bar, not a club! Take me home, right now!" I pout and cross my arms in front of me and sink lower in my seat. I just pulled a move that Evie does all of the time, but at this point I don't care.

Eli keeps his eyes on the road as he talks to me, occasionally looking at me. "Thea, I'm sorry. Elle wanted me to go with her and I didn't want to go alone. I thought it would be fun! I knew you wouldn't have agreed, and Elle said that if I lied you would come, and it worked!"

"That's not ethical," I mumble under my breath. Eli and Elle both laugh, having apparently heard me. "No, but seriously. Turn around. I'm not going to a club."

"Girl we're already here," Elle says as she hops out of the car. And sure enough, the neon violet sign for Velvet Elixir is shining brightly in my face. I see a line of people outside and inwardly cringe. Now would probably not be the best time to tell them that I'm claustrophobic.

Eli unbuckles his seat belt and looks over to me. "C'mon. It'll be fun." He gives me his best smile, but it still doesn't ease my nerves about going in there. Grayson was mad when he heard about me going to a bar, but what will he say when he finds out that it's actually a club? What if he's right and a bunch of horny men try to take advantage of me? I'll just wait in the car and-

The sound of my own seatbelt being unbuckled brings me out of my spiraling thoughts. Eli's hand undoes the seatbelt and leans close to me. "Listen. We'll go in there for an hour or so for Elle. If you hate it, tell me and we'll ditch her. She can get an Uber or a ride with someone else."

I look up at Eli, his platinum hair styled with a type of gel that helped his hair spike up at the front. He also wore a plain white shirt and blue jeans. We were kind of matching, which made a small smile spread across my face. "Fine. But I'm not happy about this. Please don't lie to me again."

"Well, I didn't lie to you. Deceive you, maybe."

"Lie, deceive, whatever you call it," I say, "it's unethical. Are you learning nothing from our class?"

Eli smirks at me and opens his door. I hear him scream "nope!" before he slams the car door shut behind him. I take a deep breath, summoning up courage for the wild night ahead of me. After a moment, I open my car door and join Eli and Elle for a night of dancing.