Maybe I'm the One You Like

Peyton was driving me crazy ever since I asked her to homecoming. She had no idea she was doing it, and it definitely wasn’t intentional, but every time she so much as brushed arms with me I felt my heart rate sky rocket. I hated myself for it.

There was something about this girl, something that made me feel differently than I did with anyone else. Peyton wasn’t the type of girl to just hook up with and drop like the rest.

But man, I wanted her so bad.

It was Friday night, and Jack’s parents had conveniently decided to leave town for the weekend for their wedding anniversary. They must have had an immense amount of faith in their son, because currently, the house was a disaster. We had obviously decided to throw a huge rager with everyone from school, and although there were dozens of scantily clad girls drunkenly dancing all around me, I found myself searching for one in particular.

“Alex!” I heard Jack’s voice over the thumping bass and turned my head to see him staggering over to me, two cups in hand. “Here! For you! Rian made us all secret concoctions. I dunno what’s in them but whatever it is it’s doing the job.”

I snorted and grabbed the cup from him with my left hand, my right was bandaged from my angry outburst a few days ago. It was black and blue and sore as hell, and I wasn’t currently talking to my mom, either. Peyton had to practically drag me with her to the clinic to make sure I hadn’t broken any bones. Thankfully it was only sprained.

“Thanks, man,” I mumbled as I downed I what I could only assume was simply bottom self-vodka and Gatorade. I cringed and tossed the cup on the floor, turning back around toward the living room to scan the people dance-fucking all over Jack’s parent’s furniture.

“She’s not here, is she,” Jack sighed when he caught me staring. I shrugged.

“I didn’t think she would be,” I replied. I hated to admit it to Jack, but I had really been hoping Peyton would show. She didn’t strike me as the party type, but Kara and Megan were here, and I thought she would have wanted to socialize with her new friends.

Jack patted my back and shrugged. “Well hey, no one blows off my best friend and makes him sad. I’m going to get you another drink and let’s forget about that dumb bitch,” he laughed, and I let out a small laugh because he was so obviously a fan of Peyton it was ridiculous. “Sure,” I shrugged.

If she wasn’t going to show, I wasn’t going to let it ruin my night.

--
Peyton’s Point of View

“You came!!!” Megan shrieked as she opened the front door and pulled me inside. After much deliberation I had decided to show up for Jack’s party that Alex hadn’t stopped talking about since this morning. I hated social situations like these, especially when I knew hardly anyone, and I felt even more pathetic that I had to text Megan to come meet me at the door, just so I didn’t have to walk in alone.

“I’m bringing you straight back to the kitchen to get you a drink,” Megan giggled, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how drunk she was already. Her black wedges and tight jeans only made her alcohol induced stagger more apparent, and I glanced down at my simple black Vans, thankful for making a more conservative shoe choice. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the kitchen where Rian was mixing several drinks in red cups. “Ri!” she called. “Look who came! Give her a drink, stat!”

“Peyton!” Rian cheered when he looked up. “You actually showed up! How did Alex convince you?”

“He didn’t,” I shrugged, tucking strand of my hair behind my ear. “And I hate these types of things normally, so I need a stiff drink.”

“You got it,” he grinned as he handed me one of the cups. “I don’t know where Alex is; he and Jack are probably off somewhere fucking each other.”

“Shocker,” I said with an eye roll and Megan nudged me before chugging her entire cup. I shrugged and did the same, hoping it would take my mind off the skin tight crop top I had chosen to wear. Sure it was a party, but that didn’t make me and less self-conscious.

It was going to be a long night.

--

Alex’s Point of View

I was sloshed.

If there had been a night I was more intoxicated, I couldn’t remember it. I had lost track of how many drinks I’d had hours ago. The music now sounded like a dull bass rhythm and Jack’s house felt like a thousand degrees due to all the people we had crammed into the place. My vision hadn’t been able to focus for at least twenty minutes and I knew I was stumbling all over the place, but I didn’t care.

Currently I was in the living room, holding yet another cup and dancing around everyone to some beat I could hardly hear. The walls were vibrating and the room was slightly spinning, but I was content. For once, I wasn’t overthinking anything.

“Alex,” I heard a voice laugh from behind me and I spun around only to wobble and spill half my cup on the floor, not noticing until I felt the liquid seep through my shoe. Fuck, that was gross.

“Alex!” Zack shouted again as I struggled to focus on the person in front of me. “You okay, bro? You’re definitely looking a little questionable right now.”

“M’fine, why?” I giggled, making the extra effort to articulate so he couldn’t tell how far gone I was.

“You’re grinding with the air,” Zack laughed, placing a hand on my shoulder in attempt to stop me from swaying back and forth. “Maybe it’s time to call it quits.”

“Never!” I shouted as I danced away from him. “You’ll have to actually catch me first!” I laughed as I walked backwards into the crowd, quickly finished the rest of my cup and threw it over my shoulder, cackling as someone caught it and threw it back at my head. “Nice aim, bro,” I yelled over the music, turning sloppily on my heel to view the culprit. I gulped and scratched the back of my head nervously; this wasn’t a dude at all.

No, this was a short, blue eyed brunette with long, wavy hair tossed over her shoulder, accentuating her slim yet curvy figure. “You came,” I said, blinking dumbly.

“I’ve been here, you asshat,” Peyton hissed, crossing her arms over her chest. “You just threw your cup at me.” She stamped her foot and wavered for a second, and I grinned. The movement was just enough for me to realize she was also far from sober.

“You’re drunk!” I cheered as I threw my arm around her, pulling her into a hug. Why did I do that? We weren’t on that level of friendship yet.

“And you’re wasted, and should probably go home,” she shot back, although the act of wrapping her arms around me to embrace my sloppy hug said otherwise.

“No way, not without hanging out with you, little miss ‘I never party because I’m too good for this.’”

“I moved here a few weeks ago, relax,” she laughed. “And I’m way too drunk to argue so I think I’m gonna find Megan-”

“Dance with me first,” I smirked. “You’re looking way too good to hang out with girls all night.”

“Such a charmer,” she retorted. “But I guess I’ll humor you.” She inched closer to me and hesitantly wrapped her arms around my neck, moving her face closer to mine.

“M’glad you humor me,” I mumbled, trying for the life of me to get my blurry vision to focus. This was the most emotion Peyton had ever shown toward me. “’Cause I like havin’ you around.”

“I think I like being around,” she whispered, biting her lip gently. “Fuck, you really are quite the charmer.”

“What’re you gonna do about it?” I smirked.

“What are you gonna do to me about it?”

“Watch,” I breathed as I pulled her close and kissed her.

Notes

I'M SO SORRY! I didn't mean to take such a long hiatus on this, my laptop broke down on me and I have been waiting for it to get fixed, and since all the chapters were on my old laptop I wrote this from scratch. It's taking a different direction than I thought, but I think I'm digging it. Also, the process of applying to grad school is taking up like 98% of my time, but I promise to update more. Enjoy :)