Chapter Three

"Woah, it's crowded in here," Matthews commented. "I really should have stayed back home." He had later changed his mind and had shown up at Elena's house later, all dressed up. He said he was to make sure she didn't do anything stupid, and it had almost led to a fight, but Silver had managed to stop it.

"Exactly how I like—Oh, look, there's Jeremy!" She announced. "Quick, tell me, how do I look?"

"Good." Elena had taken extra time in her appearance that day. Not just in her outfit, but everything. She had shaved and 'prepared' herself because she felt it would be the day she finally entered Jeremy's room. 

"Smell, my neck," she said to Silver. "Is it bad?"

"It's okay?"

"Okay?" She palmed her head. "Dude, I want him to be seduced by my appearance, not think I'm 'okay' and also—Oh, he's coming here, act normal!"

Matthews sighed. "I'm going to go use the bathroom."

"Better," Elena said, grabbing Silver's hands as she walked to go meet Jeremy. Matthews stared at her for a while, before turning to go look for the bathroom. "I don't know what's his problem," she whispered to Silver. "I don't think he likes Jeremy, which is weird because Jeremy is the closest thing to perfect, how can you not like him?"

"I think Matthews is just looking after you."

"I can take care of myself, he doesn't have to bother." She gave a bright smile once they came to a stop before Jeremy. "Hey."

"Hey, you look amazing." This made Elena flush immediately, but his next words had her feeling down once again. "You also Silver." Silver only nodded curtly at the comment. "Anyways, oh, there's Freya." Freya was actually dressed really casual, in baggy jeans and a t-shirt, she wasn't a material girl. Elena had gone for a slutty dress, heavy make-up and she even toyed with her nipples just to make them hard and visible through her dressing.

The name made Elena's blood boil. She didn't hate Freya, she just didn't feel comfortable seeing her beside Jeremy. She still didn't know why they were so close, since earlier during lunch break, they had both been missing at the cafeteria and Jeremy didn't introduce them. "Oh hey," Freya greeted when she arrived.

"Guys, Freya, these are my friends, Silver and Elena. Guys, this is Freya. I'm sure you've seen her from class earlier. She's a very good friend of mine, one of my closest friends.

 "Hi." She said to the girls.

"Hello," Silver greeted with a wave while Elena managed a small smile and a wave.

"Jeremy, you asked me to come because there's something you wanted to tell me?"

"Yeah...I haven't gotten drunk enough to do this, but-"

"Elena," Silver leaned over to whisper as they watched the duo. "Maybe we should excuse them. I don't like where this is heading."

"What? No. We'll stay." Even when Silver tried to drag her away, Elena still refused to move, ignoring the awkward glances Jeremy was giving her. "You don't have a problem with it right?" She said to Jeremy. "There's something I was actually hoping to discuss with you. But I can wait once you're done with her." 'Her' was Freya.

Freya eyed Elena, who kept up with the look. Both girls looked determined, not ready to move an inch. It's like they were fighting an unknown battle with their eyes. "Freya, I was just wondering if you wanted to go out with me sometime. I was actually planning on doing this while drunk... which is cowardly of me, but yes, that's what I wanted to say."

"Go out with you sometime? I go out with you everyday, Jeremy. Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"

"Eh?" Elena didn't know when the words escaped her lips. Her brain was still trying to register what was happening at the moment.

"Yeah." He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "If you want to?" Elena held her breath as she waited for Freya's reply, which didn't come in the form of words, but a kiss.

Elena blinked twice, wondering if she was seeing right. Her mouth was already falling open to remind Jeremy that her name wasn't Freya, it was Elena and maybe he was really drunk after all that he couldn't recognise her. Jeremy didn't look like he was mistaken because right before her, he leaned down to kiss Freya. "What?" She exclaimed, making the new couples turn to face her.

"I know you didn't expect it," Jeremy was saying with a big smile on his face. "But Freya is the girl I've been talking about. Remember, the one I told you I wanted to confess my feelings to earlier? Thanks for your..." His words faded off when he noticed the look on Elena's face. "Elena, is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine." Silver came to the rescue. "She's just so happy for you two. If you'll excuse us, we'll leave." She grabbed Elena's wrist and dragged her away. Once they had gotten to a distance, far away from Jeremy and Freya, she turned to her friend. "Put yourself together. At least he didn't know you had feelings for him before that, imagine the embarrassment if you had confessed yours first."

"D-do you think he's drunk? Maybe he mistook Freya for me?" She shook her head. "She probably casted a spell on him, I've heard that anyone bearing the name Freya is a witch."

"Don't be stupid Elena. You just got your heart broken, not your brain removed."

"Silver, I really...I really thought he liked me. Gosh, I feel like such a fool, I'm angry and embarrassed with myself. Because this is what Matthews has been trying to tell me."

"Calm down Elena, there are people around, we'll discuss this when we get home."

"Get home? No. I need to clear my head."

"Ok, I'll come with you."

"No, no." She stopped her. "You stay here, in case Matthews comes looking for me. I'll be fine on my own."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I just can't be here right now." She was already pushing through the crowd to walk away. Instead of following her, Silver went to go look for Matthews, he was the one who knew best how to comfort her in times like this.

~~~

Matthews had spent a great amount of time in the bathroom. He had locked himself in a clean bathroom he found upstairs and even when people wanted to use it, he would pretend he wasn't in there and waited till they got tired of knocking and either pissed on themselves or went to look for another one. He waited for forty five minutes before he stood up to leave. Stepping out, he could notice a change. Unlike the time he walked in when people were still much sober, now everyone looked high.

He tried to call Elena to find out where she was, but she didn't answer his calls. Then he went back to where he had left her, but she wasn't there, there was also no sign of Silver or Jeremy around.

"Hey, sorry, have you seen Elena?" He asked a girl he recognized was from their class. Elena was pretty popular in the school, she didn't stand at the top of the girls chain, but enough to be recognized by everyone in the school. 

"Nah." She shook her head. "But forget Elena, come dance with me."

"No, thank you." He moved aside quickly, only managing to escape her embrace. He walked away quickly, trying his best not to look at the couple who was having sex at a very open corner in the passage. 

Matthews heaved a sigh of relief when he finally saw Silver in the kitchen, with a bottle of vodka before her. He rushed over to her side quickly. "Hey, have you seen Elena?"

"Elena?" She was drunk. "Who's Elena?"

"How many Elena's do you know?" instead of a reply, she gave him a lopsided grin and went back to her drink. Matthews contemplated on leaving her alone, or going round the house to find Elena, but before he could move, he heard Silver speak. 

"She's gone."

"Gone? Where?"

"I don't know. She said not to follow her...after Jeremy's incident, she needed some time alone with herself."

"The Jeremy incident?" His fist was already clenched, as he began to look round the crowd again for Jeremy. "What happened, did he hurt her?"

"He asked Freya to be his girlfriend right before Elena."

"What?" Matthews exclaimed in disbelief.

"I know, Elena was so hurt. Anyways, I hope she's ok, you should go look for her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid, you know how she is...Also remind her that she owes me hundred bucks." She gave him what was supposed to be a wink, but turned to an eye-roll. She faced her drink again. "This party sucks," she muttered.

"I'll just call her... hopefully she's with her phone."

"Hopefully," she chuckled. "Listen, when you find her. Don't forget to come get me, if I get murdered, my blood will be on you two."

"Maybe you should stop drinking Silver. Haven't you had enough?"

"I haven't gotten drunk in months . Don't worry about me, go find Elena."

"Fine, both don't do anything stupid." He added before he walked away. Elena hadn't answered the call.

After ten minutes spent going round the house, he finally gets a text from Elena, telling him that she had gone to some bar around the corner. He knew immediately the bar she was talking about, he had seen it while they drove over to Andrew's house. Andrew was the captain of the football team, and was the one hosting them for the night.

"I.D?" The bouncer said when he tried to walk in. "No one below eighteen is allowed here."

Matthews rolled his eyes. "Do I look eighteen to you?" Unlike Elena or Silver who always had to use a fake I.D to get in bars and clubs. Things were always easy for Matthews, when he was fourteen, because of his height and build, he could already be mistaken for someone above eighteen.

"Fine, go in."

"Tha-" He was about to say 'Thank you', but stopped himself, feeling that would be seen as naive.

It wasn't hard to find Elena. She was right at the bar, as usual. Whenever she was down, got in a fight with her mum, or dad. She would run away, and Matthews knew he could always find her at the nearest bar.

"Fuck, Elena I've been so worried about you. Why did you leave the party without informing me?"

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"Have you forgotten the text you sent me?" He raised his phone, reaching forward to push the alcohol filled glass she was about to take out of her reach. "Come on, let's go home."

"No. You can go ahead and laugh at me if you want," she said, bringing a frown to Matthew's face. "I actually thought I was the one he planned to ask out, but no, it's Freya. The girl he talked about being in love with, wasn't me, but Freya... that bitch." When Matthews didn't say anything, she turned to face him. "Well, if you aren't here to laugh at me, you can go home."

"I'm not leaving you here, come with me, I'll take you home."

"No!" She protested. "Laugh at me, I want to feel shame for our stupid I have been."

Matthews wanted to throw her over his shoulder and carry her away, but they were starting to get attention from the bartender, so he knew he had to be gentle before they mistook him as a harasser. "Is that what you really want? Fine. Ha ha, Elena, you're so stupid for thinking Jeremy has a crush on you."

"Hey, that was kinda harsh," but she didn't sound like she was hurt by it. In fact, she expected it. Matthews was a real gentleman to her, but when she called for it, he would give her a reality check.

"You asked for it." He said in a firm tone, but he couldn't keep.up with it. "Listen, let's just go home, we could talk and find a way to make you feel better?

"Fine, let's go. This place sucks anyways. Can you pay for the drinks? I offered to allow him touch my boobs for-"

"You touched her?" Matthews shouted at the bartender. Though he pretended to be doing something else, it was obvious he was listening to the conversation.

"Calm down dude, I told her no. Anyways, that would be a hundred."

"Hundred? What did you drink?" She only shot him a grin in reply.