When Summer Ends

by Isabelle Rae

  As I walked into the kitchen I spotted a couple of guys that I’d met before, a couple of Will’s friends. Jack smiled at me curiously as we walked in. His eyes flicked to Sam questionably before returning to me. “Hi, Chloe, what are you doing here?” he asked.

  “She’s with me,” Sam chirped, grabbing three Smirnoff Ices and passing one each to me and Amy.

  Jack raised one eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Not with me, with me, just accompanying me tonight. She’s Will’s girl,” Sam clarified, doing air quotes around the ‘with me’ part. He nodded to Amy. “This is Chloe’s friend, Amy.”

  Will’s girl? What the heck does that mean? I frowned at Sam as I drank half of my bottle of drink. I was planning on getting wasted tonight; hopefully I’d even throw up in his car on the way home for that little dig about Will.

  “Where is Will tonight?” Amy asked.

  Whoa. What on earth is she asking that for? Maybe she’s hoping to meet him or something so she can kick his ass for hurting me. I looked at her confused as I downed some more of my drink. Hopefully this Will conversation would finish soon, and that would be the end of it. Best to get it all out in one go then we could enjoy the night.

  Jack shrugged. “He’s working at the club.”

  I snapped my eyes up to him, confused. “I thought he didn’t work there anymore?” Why would he still be working there if he was a teacher now? I knew he still worked at the ski slope - surely he wasn’t holding down three jobs.

  Jack looked at me knowingly. “He’s working there every weekend for the next month to pay for the concert tickets he got.”

  I choked on my drink and almost spat it everywhere; Amy rushed over and patted my back while I tried to catch my breath. Will is working there to pay for the tickets for me? He said he didn’t have to pay for them! Why on earth would he give up four weekends just to buy me some concert tickets? That’s just stupid. Incredibly sweet, but stupid.

  Sam smiled at me, and I just looked at him curiously, trying to drag the truth from his eyes. There had to be some other concert tickets that Will had gotten. He wouldn’t give up a whole month of weekends for me, would he? Sam shrugged and drank some of his drink, obviously not going to say anything about it now; I’d just have to catch him out later when he was drunk or something.

  “Let’s dance then, girls.” Sam grinned, grabbing Amy’s hand and pulling her into the lounge where there were already a lot of people dancing. I sighed and chugged the rest of my drink, and grabbing another one, before following them.

  Two hours later I was already wasted. I leant against the wall heavily as I laughed uncontrollably at something Jack had said. Amy grinned and giggled too. Her arm was wrapped around Sam as they sang along to the song loudly. I’d already had way too much to drink, but that didn’t stop me from grabbing another shot of vodka jelly from the side and choking it down. Sam was supposed to be driving tonight, but he’d decided he wanted to drink instead, so apparently we were getting a cab to Amy’s now instead.

  Jack pulled his cell phone out of his pocket as his arm wrapped around my waist, holding me up as I swayed on my feet. I pushed away from him, dancing with Amy. I could hear Jack talking into the phone, but I had no idea who he was talking to.

  “Hey, it’s me. Yeah, your girl’s a little wasted. No. No Sam’s trashed too, and she’s going to need a ride home before she pukes all over my floor. Yeah I’ll watch her. You coming now? Okay yeah, see ya.” He eyed me curiously as he spoke.

  I frowned, flicking my eyes around the packed room, looking for a drunken girl that he was worried about puking on his floor. But to be honest, drunken girls were everywhere so it could have been a lot of them.

  Amy grabbed my hand pulling me off a little way to dance some more. I was having an awesome night and I was totally glad that I’d blown Olly off to come tonight.

  After another couple of drinks Amy gripped my arm tightly. Her nails dug into my flesh making me laugh at the stinging pain that would probably hurt when I was sober. “What?” I giggled at her wide eyes.

  “You will never freaking guess who just walked in!” she cried excitedly.

  “Er, Brad Pitt?” I offered, laughing. She shook her head happily. “Channing Tatum?” I guessed again. Oh my days, I would die if Channing walked in here! I flicked my eyes to the door excitedly thinking it must be someone gorgeous… and it was. In the doorway stood Will looking incredible in black pants and his black club T-shirt with the little red logo on his chest.

  My heart sank. He wasn’t supposed to be here tonight. Sam had promised me that he wasn’t coming which is the only reason I agreed to come. “For fuck sake! Are you freaking kidding me? What the hell is he doing here?” I cried angrily. I glared at Sam. “You promised me!” I accused, frowning.

  He shrugged looking at me innocently as Will walked over to the group where we were standing. I turned my back not wanting to talk to him. I just wanted one night out without thinking about him, and he had to waltz in and ruin it.

  “Hey,” he greeted as he stopped next to me.

  “William, how are you doing?” Jack asked, giving him the man hug thing. They were whispering something but I didn’t even try and listen, I wasn’t interested in anything he had to say tonight.

  He pulled back and smiled at me and Amy worriedly. “Aren’t you girls a little too young to be wasted at a party?” he joked.

  Amy giggled and gripped my arm even tighter as she practically drooled over him. “We’re not wasted,” she protested, shaking her head and slopping some of her drink on her shirt. Oh yeah way to prove a point, Amy. Spilling your drink - good going!

  “Not that it’s any of your business anyway,” I added under my breath. Well, I thought it was under my breath anyway, but I’m pretty sure he heard it because his jaw tightened a little and his shoulders hunched slightly.

  He looked at me intently, his beautiful grey eyes boring into mine and trapping me in his intense gaze. I found myself struggling to remember how to breathe as I literally couldn’t look away from him. Get a grip on yourself, Chloe, and stop looking at him like that! But jeez he looks so damn hot tonight. His T-shirt was fitted and just hinted at the perfection that I knew was underneath. I longed to run my tongue down his abs and bite the edge of his jaw so he’d moan my name. Damn it, stop looking, Chloe! I forced my eyes away from his and turned back to Amy who was staring at him like she wanted to eat him right now.

  She stepped closer to me, leaning in close so she could whisper conspiratorially. “He looks even hotter outside of school,” she hissed a little too loud in my ear.

  “Really? I hadn’t noticed.” I shrugged casually, ignoring her disbelieving expression. Yeah she doesn’t believe that any more than I do! Wow, I suck at lying, I need to practice some more!

  “Oh you noticed,” she teased, grinning at me knowingly.

  Sam stepped forward and smiled. “So what are you doing here?” he asked Will, offering him his drink.

  Will’s eyes flicked to me for a second and I rolled my eyes in exasperation. That’s who Jack was talking to? He called Will to tell him I was wasted and he needed to come and look after me? I shot Jack a dirty look and got a smirk in return which I wanted to smack right off of his face for him for interfering.

  “Just finished early that’s all. Thought I’d drop in.” Will shrugged looking at his brother a little annoyed. “I thought you were driving tonight, Sam.” He nodded to the bottle of beer in his hand.

  Sam shrugged easily, obviously not catching the icy tone to Will’s voice. “I was, but then I just decided we could share a cab. No big deal.”

  “It’s a pretty big deal if you’re supposed to be looking after two underage, drunken girls,” Will replied, smiling a fake smile although his voice was hard and annoyed.

  I couldn’t listen to this anymore. He was ruining my night for me, I didn’t need him to come here and start something with Sam, we were fine without him here. Jack had no right to call him.

  �
��Will, just leave him alone for goodness sake. Go get a drink and chill out,” I ordered, trying not sound stern but it lost some of its authority when I hiccupped in the middle of my sentence.

  “I don’t want a drink. Maybe I should get you two home.” He nodded his head towards Amy but his eyes never left mine.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. He didn’t even flinch, just glared back at me clearly annoyed. “I’m not ready to leave yet,” I stated confidently.

  He sighed and nodded. “Fine, I’ll wait until you are. Maybe you should stop drinking now though.”

  He actually looked really tired, and I felt a little guilty. He probably just wanted to go home to bed or something. He worked Saturday afternoons at the ski slope and then he’d had to go into work at the club tonight too. My heart throbbed at the thought of him working at the club again to pay for the concert tickets. That reminds me… I haven’t asked Sam about it yet. Maybe I could ask Will about it. Would he tell me the truth though? What on earth reason would he come up with to explain why he was doing that for me? Giving up his time like that just so Amy and I could to go to a concert. Damn sweet boy. But that damn sweet boy was now frowning at the drink I had in my hand as if it was poison or something. He clearly disapproved by the look on his face. He hadn’t seemed to mind me drinking when he brought me to a party just like this one when we were dating, but then again at the time he thought I was old enough to drink.

  I frowned and raised my glass in cheers as I downed the contents. Instantly I wished I hadn’t done it. I was just trying to prove a point and win a small battle, but I wasn’t a big drinker and I’d already had more than enough to make me sick in the morning. Will laughed and shook his head as I winced and screwed my face up probably looking like a moron or something. I frowned and swallowed a couple of times as he just looked at me with a big smile on his face. I suddenly found myself smiling too just because it was one of his warm smiles and not a smirk.

  “Nice try going for the ‘in your face’ kind of thing, but the alcohol after burn kind of ruined the effect I think you were going for,” Will teased, grinning at me.

  I laughed and shook my head, slapping him on the shoulder playfully. “Yeah well it was worth a try,” I joked, sticking out my tongue at him.

  Amy gripped my hand and I turned in her direction to see her looking from me to Will and back again. She had a bewildered expression on her face.

  “What’s up?” I asked worriedly.

  “What’s up with you?” she countered looking at me like I was crazy. Suddenly I realised I just had a whole conversation with Will like I knew him and he was supposed to be nothing more than a teacher. Oh no, I even called him Will right in front of her!

  “Er, nothing… um, want to dance some more?” I asked nervously.

  She nodded, still looking from me to Will as if she was trying to work out one of his stupid math problems. I followed her to the middle of the room where people were dancing. She frowned, pulling me closer so she didn’t have to shout over the music.

  “What the heck was that? Were you two flirting? And how did you know his first name? I didn’t know his first name!” She frowned, looking at me questionably.

  I shrugged and tried desperately to keep my face neutral. “Jack called him William; I didn’t know it until then. And no, I wasn’t flirting. As if,” I lied, waving my hand dismissively and praying she would believe me and let this go. I loved my best friend to death, but I didn’t want her to know about Will. I didn’t want to take any risks with him being in trouble for what we did, none of it was his fault, and although I was hurting over it now, at the time it was worth it. The time that I’d had with him was actually well worth any pain or heartache that I felt now that we weren’t together. I wouldn’t change a thing. Actually that was a lie; maybe I’d protect my heart from him a little more, but I’d never regret spending time with him.

  Amy nodded, still looking thoughtful. “O.M.G, I love this song!” she cried suddenly, dancing to a song I’d never even heard before. It was some kind of dance beat that she loves but wasn’t really my thing. At least it got us off the subject off of Will for a little while.

  After another couple of songs I’d had enough. My feet were hurting in my shoes. If I hadn’t had so much alcohol I would probably be crying with pain, but the drink was numbing it a little, thank goodness.

  Out of nowhere a sleazy looking, greasy haired guy walked over to us and smiled. “Well hello there, girls, can I dance too?” he purred, raking his eyes over us both slowly.

  “Actually I need the bathroom,” Amy said apologetically. She looked at me and nodded towards the back of the house where the bathroom was. I opened my mouth to agree to go with her and tell the guy I couldn’t dance with him, but Will appeared at my side.

  “They’re with me,” he stated, looking at the guy warningly.

  Whoa, what is that tone about? Will looked really annoyed as he stepped closer to me, well actually he stepped half in front of me to be exact.

  The guy held his hands up innocently. “Easy there, buddy. I didn’t realise. No harm done.” He turned to walk off and I got more than a little angry about it. What on earth is Will’s problem being all possessive like that? I wasn’t with him so I could do whatever the hell I wanted and he wasn’t going to tell me what to do.

  I turned to glare at Will. “What on earth is your problem?” I asked angrily.

  He rolled his eyes and looked at me a little bored. “He’s too old for you and you shouldn’t be dancing with guys that you don’t know.” He crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

  Oh my days, he is so freaking annoying sometimes! “Will, seriously, have you forgotten the conversation we had yesterday in the car where you said that it was wrong for people to tell others what to do? Or does that only work when it suits you?” I asked sarcastically.

  He laughed humourlessly. “This situation is a little different, Chloe, I’m doing that for your safety. You don’t know that guy, I don’t know that guy, he could be anyone. So I say again; he’s too old for you. Besides, did you see the way he was looking at you?”

  “For goodness sake, Will, just leave me alone. I’ll dance with whoever the hell I want to okay?” I growled as I pushed my way through the crowd in the direction of where that guy went, ignoring Amy who was watching with her mouth open in shock. I decided to dance with that guy just to spite Will and show him he couldn’t order me around. I could definitely shove that in his face better than downing that drink earlier!

  I spotted the guy leaning against the wall scanning the room. I smiled and he grinned. “Got rid of your keeper?” he asked as I stopped at his side.

  “He’s not my keeper, he’s my damn teacher,” I muttered. Anger was still burning through my system at the cheek of him telling me what to do. The guy laughed and looked at me like I was joking, but I wasn’t in the mood for playing around. I didn’t want to dance with this guy, but I knew Will would be watching so I had a point to prove. “Are we dancing or what?” I asked.

  He nodded and smirked at me. As he pulled me a little closer to him I instantly regretted doing this. I really didn’t want to be anywhere near this guy. He was probably in his mid-twenties, and Will was right, he was looking at me like I was a piece of meat or something. Oh well, it’s too late now. One dance should show Will not to order me around again. I purposefully stayed at a safe distance and didn’t really let myself go and dance properly; this was only for Will’s benefit after all. The song was almost over. I smiled gratefully. I needed to go sit down, take my shoes off and rub my feet. When the song finally finished I smiled a small satisfied smile knowing that I’d won for once. Take that, Will!

  The guy moved away a little, smiling. “Want a drink?” he asked, picking up a cup from the side and passing it to me.

  I shrugged and downed the cup of what I thought was juice, but it had an alcohol burn too so maybe there was some vodka in it too. “Thanks,” I mumbled.

  �
�So, your guy’s still watching. Want to dance again?” he asked, running his hand down my arm. I flinched my arm away from him, not really liking him touching me. Hmm, I can dance again I guess. I wonder how long I would have to dance with this guy before Will comes over and tells me we’re leaving. I probably had about another two dances I guessed before he would come over and put a stop to it and demand we leave for home.

  “Okay sure.” I nodded. As the song progressed, my head felt a little woozy. I had definitely drunk too much, and my eyes were a little heavy. The guy grinned and stepped closer to me, putting his hand on the small of my back.

  After about five minutes I felt terrible. It was like the drink had caught up with me all of a sudden or something. My whole body felt heavy, and I was so damn tired all I wanted to do was sit down. My head slumped forward onto the guy’s chest as I struggled to carry on dancing. My energy was fast running out. I need some fresh air or something to clear my head.

  I pushed back away from him unsteadily. “I need to go sit outside or something. I don’t feel well,” I mumbled, but my voice barely worked and I wasn’t even sure if I’d said it out loud.

  “Okay, come with me, I know a back way out. We can sit outside for a little while until you feel better.” He took my hand and instantly starting to pull me through the crowd, heading for the back of the house. I followed weakly behind him, and he pushed open a door, ushering me through it. I stopped and frowned. This isn’t outside! It’s a bedroom. Huh?

  “What the?” My head spinning, making me feel slightly sick.

  The guy smiled and tugged on my hand, making me move to the bed. “Why don’t you just lie down for a little while. You’ll feel better soon,” he cooed. I sat on the bed and put my spinning head in my hands, willing myself not to throw up. There was pressure on my shoulder as he guided me to lie back. My whole body felt weak so I wouldn’t have been able to fight him even if I wanted to. I laid down on my back. Hopefully my head will stop spinning in a minute and then I could go find Will and ask him to drive me home or something. Wow, I hope I’m not sick in his car.