5

Lana’s POV

The flow of comments from the viewers filled my screen as I tweaked my guitar. I read some of the comments then peeped the views– 2000 views. I felt bad on the inside as I expected more views every day. I was happy with the consistent number, but I felt I was not doing enough.

I dropped the guitar and positioned my mic then the phone, making sure it caught my face well and the background. I leaned forward and read some comments before I began.

Lay.o21: Sing something nice today.

I smiled. “Of course, I will. I haven’t made up my mind on what to sing though. What do you want me to sing today? More classics?”

The viewers started to suggest some songs and I smiled at them.

I turned on my microphone and stared directly into the camera, preparing to sing one of their suggested songs. I smiled at the viewers then took a deep breath. One of my classics was Afterglow by Taylor Swift.

I played the guitar and started to sing at my cue. I felt the song flow through me as I sang. The next thing I knew, Drake filled my head as I sang more. I tried not to get distracted and sang more passionately, being one with the song. I felt my heart fill with the song, enveloping me with warmth.

Soon enough, I finished singing and smiled at my virtual audience. I beamed at the inflow of gifts sent by them. I scrolled through the comments from when I was singing, reading and grinning.

“Thank you, CoquetteQueen,” I said, replying to the viewer’s comment. “Yes, I always sing whatever my viewer’s request of me to… No, I don’t rap. Sorry, I’m not a rapper.”

I read through other comments, responding to them happily until it was time for me to end the live video. I said goodbye and stopped the live recording. I sighed and got up then began packing up my set.

Once everything was clear and with my phone in hand, I left my room to go find something to eat. As I made my way out of the hallway, I got a text. I opened the text and rolled my eyes at it. My friends were outside the house. I was glad mom was not at home because she hated them for no reason.

I quickly made my way to the front door and opened it. I smiled at my friends. They were sitting in Rachels’ sports car, blasting the song playing from the radio. I waved at them and rushed over to them.

“Hi, guys,” I said to the three of them.

“Ugh, why are we even here?” Cici asked from her spot beside Rachel and eyed me with a grimace.

Out of the three, Cici never seemed to like me, but she was fun to be with. Lin in the back was only focused on her phone while chewing her gum aggressively. I looked at Rachel who was looking at me over the rim of her glasses.

“There’s a party at my place this weekend, I’m sure you remember,” Rachel said.

Cici stretched out her hand toward me. I looked at it in confusion before I understood what she meant. Each time they hosted a party, they always wanted me to contribute to it with some amount of money. The only problem was that I didn’t really have money like they assumed I did because they felt that since my mother worked for the Hamiltons, we were swimming in billions like they did but we didn’t.

“I haven’t gotten my allowance yet,” I said, and they scoffed in unison.

“And you claim you work for the Hamiltons,” Cici said.

“She also claims she’s friends with the sons,” Lin said, and they laughed.

“Speaking of that,” Rachel said and smiled at me. “You can invite your so-called best friend. Which one did you claim is your best friend again?”

I forced a smile on my face. Sometimes, I understood why people told me the girls I called friends weren’t actually my friends. But that was just how we were. Even though we’ve known each other for a year now, they were the only people I knew outside of the Hamiltons.

“Drake,” I replied, and they laughed.

“As I always say, there is nothing on you that shows you’re his friend…So, why don’t you bring him to the party and maybe we can actually take you seriously in the group,” Rachel said.

I bit my lip. Drake would say no because he was part of the people who didn’t like my friends. How was I going to make him come with me to the party? Drake partied a lot but parties like the ones middle class people hosted was not where he would be at, even though my friends were likable. His family was influential, he was a rich kid. He trended on social media for the littlest things, he and his siblings. So, I doubted he’d want to come to a party hosted by them.

“What do you say, Lana? Are you bringing him or not?” Cici asked with a mocking undertone.

They all laughed and before I could respond, Rachel drove off. I sighed as I watched the car disappear into the distance. What was I going to do?

+++

I walked through the hallway, heart pounding and anxiety biting me in my heart’s ass, if it had any. How was I going to beg Drake to come with me to the party?

I shook my head to push away the heavy feelings then made my way to his room. I grabbed the door’s handle and pushed the door open. Once I walked into the room, I closed the door and made my way further into the room. There were no signs of him. I had just today to tell him about the party and him being absent was the last thing I wanted.

“Where is he?”

As if on cue, the door opened, and I turned around. A smile took over my face at the sight of a sweaty Drake and when he saw me, he eyed me with confusion swimming in his eyes. I rushed over to him and wrapped my arm around his arm. I forced myself to ignore the hard muscles of his arm as we walked further into the room and into his bathroom.

“What is it, Lana?” He asked and I released his arm.

I leaned against the sink while he went over to the shower cubicle. He was going to shower and the fact that he was not chasing me away made my heart flip. Were we at that part in our relationship where we could see each other naked or something?

“I need you with me,” I began to say, preparing myself for my next line after any response he was going to give.

“For what?” He asked.

When he grabbed the hem of his shirt, my heart somersaulted in my chest and when he lifted the material upward, my eyes drank in the sight of his muscled upper body. He had muscles in all the right places and perfect, washboard abs. His tan skin glistened with the sweat coating his skin. When he took the shirt off, I swallowed and watched him throw the shirt to the side then sweep his fingers through his hair, messing it up and letting the locks fall over his eyes.

Jesus. Drake was hot and it made me feel a heating sensation in several horny-triggering places.

“Lana?”

I blinked. “Yeah…Uhm… my friends.”

He scoffed. “Those two-faced girls? You still hang out with them? Really, Lana?”

I pursed my lips and crossed my arms. This was not the time to argue with him over the group.

“I came here to let you know about a party we are—”

“I’m not interested,” he cut me off and walked over to me.

"Please, Drake."

Drake towered over me as he stood before me. His eyes held mine, keeping a steady eye contact that made me want to coil into him. His eyes darted around my face, and I could have sworn he looked at my lips before he came closer and hunched over to my height, making me stiffen.

“I. Am. Not. Interested,” he whispered in my face.

He was so close I could feel the warmth of his body. The space between our faces was so small that I could make a small step and our lips would be brushing. Those lips that I have dreamt of kissing.

I was a gone girl.

“Please, Drake,” I pleaded in the same tone of voice.

I gasped when he held my waist and leaned over to my ear. I arched my back, making my body fit into the curve of his body. He squeezed my waist before he removed his hand and moved back completely. I blinked at the space between us and looked at him walking toward the shower cubicle with a toothbrush in his hand.

“I am not going; Lana and you should not be going. They are only friends with you because of our family name and I have to protect you from their type. I hate how they treat you. So… please.”

He grabbed a towel and hooked his finger around his pants' waistline. He gave me a raised eyebrow look then glanced at the door. It took me some seconds to get what he was saying—He wanted me out of the bathroom.

“I hate you so much,” I said, stomping my foot.

“I love you too.” He laughed.

I gave him the middle finger then left the bathroom, making sure to bang the door. The more I heard his laughter, the more I got angrier. I left his room and bumped into someone. The person grunted and held my waist before pushing me away. I looked up and saw it was Paul.

“Hey. I—Are you okay? You look pissed.”

I sighed. What do I do now?

+++

It was later in the day and Drake still did not say anything about the party. All he did was stay in his room or come downstairs to eat then go back to his room. My mood got worse each time I saw him and when he ignored me, it worsened.

“Guys!”

I raised my head from the book I was reading when I heard Paul’s voice from the living room. I got down from the kitchen stool I was sitting on and made my way to the living room. When I reached the room, I froze in my steps. There was a very pretty, blonde girl in a white summer dress standing beside Paul. She had to be the prettiest girl I have ever seen. She was so pretty she looked unreal. Her appearance made me feel insecure out of nowhere and I had a feeling she was Paul’s girlfriend.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Drake come down the stairs and I turned my head fully to gauge his reaction to the girl. A look I have never seen before took over Drake’s eyes and face as he saw her. His steps slowed as he approached where I was standing and when he was close enough, I knew what the look meant— Drake had feelings for the girl.

My heart ached and when I looked back at the girl, I saw the same look in her eyes, directed toward Drake and not Paul.

It was a strange look, especially from her but didn't care and couldn't stand it anymore.

With a heavy heart, I walked back into the kitchen to get my stuff. I needed to go home.

+++

It was the next day and the party had already started but I was without Drake. Instead, I was hiding behind a bush at the entrance to Rachel’s house, counting the number of times my heart pounded from fear of what would happen.

I was still mad at Drake. Mad at him for declining my request, for liking that girl, for not liking me back. I hated how I felt entitled, but I couldn’t help it when I had feelings for him.

“Lana?”

I jerked at the sound of Cici's voice. Shit, shit, shit. It had to be her. Of course, it had to be her I saw first.

I put a smile on my face and walked out of the bush to where she stood with her boyfriend.

“Why were you hiding?” She laughed and her boyfriend followed suit.

“N-no. I was checking something in my purse,” I replied, and she grimaced.

“Whatever. The party is this way… come on.”

Before I could respond, she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me toward the house. I was getting anxious the more we neared the house. Drake was not here with me and there were so many people here. This was a bad idea. I should have stayed home.

When Cici entered the house, she hollered and got the attention of everyone in the living room. Even though the place was small, it felt smaller with all the attention on me. Something was about to happen and Cici was going to be the mastermind behind it.

“Guess who I’ve got here!” She laughed. “That’s right… Our girl here claims she’s pals with the rich Hamilton boys.”

They started to laugh.

“Yeah, right.”

“More like their cleaner.”

“Such a loser.”

“I need the delulu roll she’s smoking.”

The words my ears heard made my heart hammer with every second that ticked by. I was in deep shit. Hot deep shit.

“So,” Lin said, walking out of a crowd of people. “Where is your so-called bestie or shall I say…boss?”

They all laughed, and I tried to take my arm out of Cici’s grip, but she held me tightly. I looked down, not wanting to look at their faces as they laughed.

“We all know you are nothing but a lying bitch,” Cici said beside me, getting in my face.

Suddenly, another hand grabbed my other arm and pulled me away from Cici. I grunted at the slight force and looked up. I gasped at the familiar face.

“Drake?”

He smiled down at me then cupped my cheek before moving some locks of hair away from my face. I could hear murmurs around me but that didn’t matter right now. Drake was actually here!

“Are you okay?” He asked and wrapped his arm around me, then pulled me closer to his body.

“Yes,” I replied, then he frowned and looked over my head.

“Hello, everyone. I see you’ve all been treating her like shit…I don’t like when people mess with my woman.”

I gasped. His woman?

“Y-your woman?” I heard Cici ask.

“Yes… Lana’s my girlfriend.”