Chapter Thirty-three

Luke's P.O.V

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked frantically as I gently pushed Jessica to the side.

"What the hell do you think I'm doing?" Jessica asked while chewing her gum. "We were just kissing…Was I not supposed to kiss you?" she asked with wide eyes. I could already see that her feelings were hurt.

"No, you weren't," I sighed, trying to figure out a way that I could handle this without breaking her heart. "You're a pretty girl, Jess, but…"

"'You're a pretty girl, Jess, but I just don't like you that way.' Is that right?" she asked, her dark eyes already saddened.

"I'm sorry, Jess. I didn't know you felt that way about me," I said while running my fingers through my hair, my heart pounding against my chest. "If it makes you feel any better I like someone else."

"It's okay," she perked up all of the sudden. "Trust me, Luke, I'm really not that heartbroken. My pride is a little more hurt than anything, but that kiss was actually meant more for someone else anyway," she said and patted my shoulder.

Wait what? For someone else? "What do you mean for someone else? You literally just kissed me."

"I know, but do you think Kason just saw us kiss?" she asked with hopeful eyes, blowing a bubble with her mint blue gum.

"Kason? Why would Kason–"

"Luke, clearly this will be hard for you to understand, but unlike most girls, I don't like you like that. I'm sorry if your man pride is at all wounded by this, but you'll be surprised to learn that in fact, I like Kason Vanderbilt. I always have and was wondering if he just saw us kiss so I could see if he got jealous at all."

Unlike most girls? Clearly, I wouldn't understand since I knew most girls didn't like me anyway. That didn't hurt my 'man pride' one bit. "So, what you're saying is that the reason you kissed me out of the blue a second ago is just to get Kason Vanderbilt jealous so that you know if he's into you or not?"

"Exactly," Jess nodded and popped her bubblegum bubble with her teeth.

"You know that doesn't work, Jess," I said, wiping my lips. "Guys don't like girls who just go around kissing guys to spark a reaction–at least normal guys don't in my experience."

"Well now I'm a little offended that you just had to wipe your mouth like I infected you with cooties," she rolled her eyes and continued to chew her gum. "And since when do guys not like girls that are hard to get?"

"The good ones," I laughed. "If Kason actually saw you do that and wanted you more than he did before, I'd be surprised. He's not that kind of guy, Jess. He's a good one."

"Shit! I messed up big time," she shook her head. "I know he's a good one, Luke. I was just being…well…stupid. Now I could've ruined everything."

Damn right, I thought to myself and looked at the white double doors. Where was Chloe? She just texted me moments ago saying she would come find me, but I still have yet to see her. Thinking about how crowded the place was, it probably freaked her out a little. That's probably why she wanted to come to me, so that I didn't see her freak out. I smiled slightly. Chloe was cute sometimes, but beautiful all the time. Maybe I should just go find her.

I got up from the couch and left Jess sitting there alone freaking herself out. I walked out of the living room with ease, everyone circling out of my way.

I felt someone bump into me, and I looked down to see some guy about to mouth me off when he looked up at me and smiled.

"Sorry for bumping into you, Luke," the guy grinned sheepishly and quickly got out of my way.

I didn't even know the guy, but he knew me. He probably just looked at my jersey. "It's fine, man. Forget about it," I said and continued to walk. I circled around the stairs and made my way to the kitchen.

I peeked inside the kitchen to see several guys hitting on Marshall and Hailee, who were sitting on top of the kitchen counters.

First thing I noticed was how Hailee was dressed. She was dressed as…the playboy bunny? That didn't really seem like Hailee, but who was I to say anything? "Hey Hailee…Marshall…have you guys seen Chloe?"

"Luke!" Hailee squealed and ran over to me and wrapped her thin arms around me. "You're here!"

I laughed nervously and gently pulled myself away from her grip. "Of course I'm here. I invited you guys."

Hailee buried her face deep in my chest and inhaled. "Yummy."

Was Hailee drunk?

"Hailee get off Luke you're making him uncomfortable," Marshall rolled her eyes and jumped off the counter.

"Thank you," I mouthed to Marshall, who was quick to wave it off like it was nothing.

"No problem," she mouthed back with a brilliant smile on her face.

"The black wig looks good on you," I smiled.

"Thanks, Claire told me that too," she smiled. "Oh yeah, you asked about where she went. Well, actually I don't know where she went. We came in and I immediately wanted to get a drink and Hailee followed me, but I don't know what happened to Claire after that."

"You just left her alone?"

"Luke it isn't that big of a deal. She's a big girl–"

"You don't understand, Marshall. Chloe hates being alone."

"What?"

"Chloe hates being alone. Who knows where she went after that. She probably doesn't even know where the living room is."

"I'm sure she can figure that out, Luke," Marshall tried to reassure me.

"Normal people can figure that out, but Chloe isn't exactly normal," I said, piecing everything together. I thought about the time I came to pick her up at the club with tears in her eyes. "She has anxiety."

"Claire has anxiety?"

I nodded. I wished I had realized it sooner, but at least I had it figured it out now. Chloe had anxiety, that much was certain. That's why she acted nervous about well…almost everything.

"Well now I feel like shit," Marshall shook her head.

You kinda should, but you didn't know any better, I thought to myself. "I'm going to go find her," I said and walked out of the kitchen.

I pulled my phone from my pocket and quickly texted:

Me: Chloe? Where are you at?

There was no response.

Dammit. I searched the entire first floor of the frat house, but Chloe was nowhere to be found. Maybe she went outside? I went outside to see Gunther laughing with a couple friends.

"Hey Gunther," I called out as I approached him.

Gunther took his glasses off to his police officer costume and responded, "Yeah?"

"Have you seen a short girl hanging out with a Cleopatra and a playboy bunny?" I asked. He must've seen her since he was the one checking everyone on the invite list.

"You mean Chloe Claire?" he raised his eyebrows.

"How did you know?" As far as I knew he didn't even know her name.

"Yeah I just saw her and texted Kason that she was here. He's with her right now," he said and gestured for the two guys he just checked on the list to go ahead inside.

"Really? Where and why?"

"They're in one of the bedrooms upstairs as far as I know," he smiled. "And as for why. Well ya know," he winked.

What the fuck?! What the hell was Kason doing in one of the bedrooms with Chloe? He couldn't have been trying to come onto her…did he? Flashbacks of Kason telling me at the gym that he had a crush on her came to mind. I wanted to scream and stomp my feet like a child. There was no way Kason was going to confess his feelings for her before I did…right? Because I call bullshit.

"If I were you I'd leave them alone for a couple minutes longer," Gunther said as a guy and a girl approached him. "Names please?" he asked them.

Fuck no, I thought, turned around and stormed back into the frat house. "Excuse me," I mumbled to everyone I pushed past, not even giving them time to move out of the way. I had only one thing on my mind. I had to stop Kason before he told her how he felt. I had to.

I started knocking on every door upstairs, and one of them partly opened.

"Chloe?" I asked and turned on the lights in the bedroom only to find Heather with only a bra and panties on, on top of some dude dressed as a vampire.

"Dammit, Luke!" she screeched. "Don't people knock anymore?"

I shield my eyes. "Sorry," I murmured and shut the door.

"Luke?"

I spun around to see Kason and Chloe together in the hallway. I looked and saw that Chloe was dressed as a band nerd, which was pretty cute and predictable. I couldn't help but smile, but then our eyes met, and I saw tear stains in her eyes. She had been crying? I then couldn't help but notice someone's arm around her. Kason's.

"Chloe, where have you been?" I asked, my voice cracking. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Was I too late? I didn't want to believe it.

"She's been with me," Kason said smugly, pulling Chloe closer to him.

I could see how uncomfortable she was. There was no way that they did anything, which relieved me. Chloe just wasn't the type to just give herself away easily. From the look in her eyes it looked only as if Kason had been comforting her, but his arm around her told me differently.

"I thought you were going to hang out with me?" The disappointment in my voice was apparent. I was obviously hurt by this. This wasn't how tonight was supposed to go at all. We were supposed to hang out the entire night and then at the end I would confess my feelings for her. She wasn't supposed to be hanging out with Kason.

"Change of plans I guess?" Kason said and looked at Chloe. "Chloe and I are going to an ice cream shop downtown. Do you want to join us?"

"I'm fine thanks," I said immediately. What the hell was wrong with me? It wasn't like me to be jealous.

"Sorry Luke," Chloe said, staring at the floor.

My heart felt a pang. She was acting the way she did when she hated me. I could feel the distance between us already. What suddenly changed between us? There had to be a reason and I couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"Well see ya later then, Luke," Kason said and walked away.

Chloe began walking away with him but stopped abruptly, turned around, and whispered, "Bye Luke," before heading downstairs with him.

Why did her goodbye feel as though our friendship was ending?