Chapter 8

Ace's POV

"Fine," I tried my best not to roll my eyes and sighed instead, and the way her face lit up was simply priceless to look at.

I couldn't find it in me to say no to her.

"Thank you, she'll be very happy," She smiles.

"I'll see you at the bonfire." I say and she silently says 'okay' while still smiling.

I silently go down their stairs and quickly went out the door.

I walk back to my house and I see my friends messing around the front yard.

"Ace, why are you smiling?" Paul asks me.

I am?

We got to the bonfire and I followed my friends who were approaching the little spot under the trees.

They started putting up our tents, but I just stood there, looking for Melannie.

"A little help here, Ace?" Zeke calls out.

"We will all look for girls later, bro. Calm your tits." Tristan says, giving me light pats on my shoulder repeatedly and I roll my eyes.

I help them put up the rest of the tents and we threw all our stuff inside.

There were logs that were surrounding the fire and we all used it as chairs while some students sat on the grass.

Of course, the guys would already get to work and start hitting on some girls. Normally, I would be one of those guys, but I still couldn't find Melannie so I remained seated.

But then, I hear familiar voices behind me.

"You were with us in detention last week right?"

"Yeah, it didn't go well for me."

"And you're fine now?"

"Oh yeah, I'm pretty much good as new," She laughs.

I know that laugh.

I turn around and there were Tristan and Melannie.

She wore a knitted beige sweatshirt, black ripped jeans, and suede boots.

"Ace, there you are, I have been looking for you." She tells me.

"Why? Miss me already?" I tease.

"Keep dreaming." She rolls her eyes.

Ouch.

"So, where's Chloe?" I ask her.

"Been looking for her, I see," She grins.

Nope, been looking for you.

"There," She says and points out to the least crowded part of the lakeside.

Chloe was talking to some girls along with the other guy-or gay, Ollie.

"Why are you not with them?" I ask Mel.

"Oh I was, they got rid of me- actually, I got rid of them because Tristan and I were talking and we needed a bit of privacy."

Huh. Privacy my ass.

"Okay, I'll go get her," I say, with a bit of hesitation in my voice, but she couldn't notice it because she was too occupied with Tristan.

I left my place and walked towards Chloe at a slow pace as if I was taking my time.

Of course, I was having second thoughts about the whole thing with Chloe, but I didn't wanna disappoint Mel.

"Chloe?"

She turns to me and smiles a little.

"Ace? Hi, what's up?"

"Mel's over there, wanna join us?" I ask her.

Come on Ace, you can do this.

"Yeah, sure." She says and turns to her friends who were giving her encouraging looks before walking with me.

We both walked in silence and I was low-key expecting her to say something since she's the one who was into me.

We got back to our side of the lake and she quickly approached Mel who was still with Tristan.

They both started talking and Tristan sat beside me.

"Mel, pinch me please." I hear Chloe say.

"What? No, why would I do that?"

"Ace just asked me to 'come with him'." I can seriously hear the emphasis in her voice.

"You're welcome," Mel says and I chuckle.

"What did you do? Hold on, whose scarf and beanie are you wearing?" Chloe asks Mel, completely forgetting the first question.

"Tristan let me borrow it," Mel answers.

"I told you, it's already yours!" Tristan shouts.

"Fine then! Thank you!" Mel shouts back.

"The girl seriously does not let you win a conversation," Tristan smiles, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I can see that,"

Seriously? Giving her a scarf and beanie to keep her warm?

Let her freeze for all I care.

Damn it.

Mel's POV

Right after Ace left, I got dressed, put on concealer, mascara, and lip balm, and let my hair down and made it look somewhat decent.

I got our snacks and drinks ready and also brought my favorite blanket and throw pillow.

I checked the checklist that I made the night before and had all my stuff ready.

After a few more minutes, Chloe and Ollie arrived.

Ollie wasn't wrong, my mom did love them both, we all went up to my room and Chloe used some of my make-up, while Ollie just laid down my bed, wishing that it was as soft as his bed back at his older sister's apartment.

He told me that when he came out, his parents weren't very supportive, he couldn't take the negativity, so he decided to live with his sister for a while.

"Yeah well, I'd rather live with my bitch-of-a-sister than be under the same roof with people who don't appreciate my gorgeousness." He says while striking a pose and we laugh.

Once we were all done getting ready, we headed to the bonfire.

We set up our tent at the least crowded part of the lakeside and the two of them threw all their stuff inside along with the pillows and blankets.

"Please tell me we are not leaving our tent like this," I say.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Ollie asks.

"Everything is wrong with it! From the snacks and drinks to the pillows and blankets, it's a mess!" I tell them while going inside the tent and sorting out the pillows and blankets and also separating the snacks from the drinks.

"You're freaking out over nothing, Mel," Chloe says.

I ignored both of them (who were already standing outside) and I continued organizing our stuff.

Once I finish with the snacks, I put them outside the tent and unfolded one of the blankets and spread it over the tent's tub floor.

"Should I organize the pillows by color, size, or just random?" I ask them.

"Whatever you think is not a mess," Ollie says, Chloe chuckles and I roll my eyes.

I decided to go with random.

I put pillows on the side of the tent and the rest in the middle, I put the snacks and drinks back inside near the tent door.

I grabbed our bags and put them on the empty side of the tent.

"Much better," I sighed as I get out.

"Not bad," A voice says.

The three of us turned around to see the voice belongs to the black-haired guy back in detention.

Where did he get a red cup?

"Thanks," I smile.

"Yeah, took her a lot of hard work and freaking out," Ollie says and the guy laughs.

"Why are you not with Ace?" Chloe asks him.

"He's sitting there by our tent. He says, pointing in a direction.

"I'm Tristan," He says and we shake hands.

"So, mind telling me where you got that red cup?" I say and he laughs.

"Sure, it's this way," He tells me and gestures for me to follow him.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Ollie shouts from behind us.

"Shut up, Ollie!" I shout back and Tristan laughs.

"So, why did you move here?" He asks me.

"My parents separated. I went with my mom." I simply told him.

"I'm sorry,"

"It's fine, I'm used to it now," I say giving him a small smile.

I am so good at lying.

We reached a part of the lakeside where there were food and drinks.

"Here you go," He says while handing me a red cup.

"Which one of these has alcohol?" I ask him.

"Why? Scared you won't make it through the night if you accidentally drank one?" He chuckles.

"No, I'm scared that I might not make it through the night without drinking one," I tell him and he shakes his head.

"Well, I'm just supposed to share this with my buds.." He starts to say while reaching into his pocket.

"Oh well, you're my bud now," He smiles and hands me a little bottle.

"You did not just bring a cute gin bottle to a bonfire!" I say with enthusiasm and he laughs.

I get the bottle from him and poured in just a little, and then mixed it with cranberry juice.

"Now it's like a little red wine," I grin after mixing it.

"I seriously have never met a girl like you," He says.

Oh no.

"What do you mean?" I ask him before I took a sip from my drink.

"The girls here at school, well, let's just say are too whiny and exaggerated," He shrugs.

"Let's go find the others," I tell him.

Oh Tristan, no. We're buds remember?

We walked to their side of the lake and then he stops.

"You were with us in detention last week right?"

"Yeah, it didn't go well for me."

"And you're fine now?"

"Oh yeah, I'm pretty much good as new," I joke, and we both laugh.

From the corner of my eye, someone turns to us.

"Ace, there you are, I have been looking for you," I tell him.

"Why? Miss me already?" He grins.

"Keep dreaming."

"So, where's Chloe?" He asks me.

"Been looking for her, I see," I tease.

I look around and spotted her right where we put up our tent.

"There," I say, pointing to them.

"Why are you not with them?"

"Oh I was, they got rid of me- actually, I got rid of them because Tristan and I were talking and we needed a bit of privacy."

"Okay, I'll go get her," He tells me as he stands up and walks toward her and I smile.

They are gonna make such a cute couple.

I took another sip of my drink and there was a cold gust of wind which made me shiver.

I will someday burn this sensitive body of mine, myself.

"Are you cold?" Tristan asks.

"Yeah," I frown.

"I have a beanie and a scarf in my tent, you can use it if you want," He says.

"Sure,"

He goes inside their tent and comes back with a black beanie and a brown scarf in hand.

 "Oh, it's cute," I gush.

"It's yours if you want," He says.

"No, I'll just borrow it."

"I insist,"

"I'm giving this back later," I tell him and he shakes his head.

Ace came back with Chloe.

She quickly rushed to my side and Tristan sat with Ace.

"Mel, pinch me please," She says.

"What? No, why would I do that?" I ask, baffled.

"Ace just asked me to 'come with him'." She tells me with emphasis.

"You're welcome," I smile.

"What did you do? Hold on, whose scarf and beanie are you wearing?" She asks me.

"Tristan let me borrow it," I tell her, not answering the first question.

"I told you, it's already yours!" Tristan shouts.

"Fine then! Thank you!" I shout back, giving in.

Chloe and I talked a bit and when it was nearly 7, our class president, James, spoke up.

"Alright, y'all, it's time for games!" He shouts and everyone cheers.