Chapter 42 | Grounded

Isabella:

The shrill sound of my phone ringing is pure torture.

Refusing to open my eyes knowing the bright sunlight peeking through the blinds would only heighten the effects of my hangover, I blindly grab my phone and press on the screen randomly hoping it clicked answer.

"Hello?" I grumble into the device once the ringing stops. I tug the duvet up and over my head to block out any light streaming into my room and slowly peak my eyes open to see who was calling me at this horrendous hour.

Once my eyes adjust to the brightness of screen, I let out an annoyed groan.

"What Lucas?" I snap, bringing the phone back to my ear. "Why are you calling me at this time? I was sleeping!"

"I'm coming over," he replies, there's a lot of rustling about in the background and there is a sense of urgency in his voice. "My parents are driving me crazy."

Before I can even reply, he ends the call.

Fine by me, I can go back to sleep for a little while longer.

***

The duvet is stripped away from me as I press my head deeper into the pillow, using my hair to shield my left eye from the sun.

God dammit, did he have to come so quickly?

I had drifted back off to sleep barely 30 seconds after Lucas had ended our call and was getting into the good part of my dream where Theo James was about to confess his undying love for me when this imbecile had decided to wake me up.

Lucas doesn't even wait for me to open my eyes until he begins speaking. I hear his footsteps against my carpeted floor as he paces up and down my room.

"They're driving me crazy, like really fucking crazy," he begins rambling, speaking 90 bloody miles per bloody hour. "They've grounded me until the new year and had me wake up at 6 am to clean up the fucking mess from yesterday."

"I would've got hit by a shoe and right now would've been on the plane back to Colombia if I was in your position, be grateful," I mumble, my eyes still screwed shut. "Also what are you doing here if you're grounded?"

"This is only place I'm allowed to go to that is not school or football practice or the gym because my mom told abuela to keep an eye out on me and because they think you and I we're dating."

It takes a second for my brain to process what he had just said but when it does I shoot up from my bed. "WHAT?" I groan, bringing a hand to my head as a sharp pain shoots through my skull. "What do you mean they think we're dating?"

Lucas' pacing increase. "Well after catching us...ehem, you know-"

"You can just say making out you know, I'm too hungover to make a big deal out of this right now."

"Ok whatever, anyways, after that my mom scolded me saying that I shouldn't mess around with you because you're a nice girl and she doesn't want you to get hurt, whatever that means and I said no mom it's not like that and then she was like what and her eyes sort of lit up which was weird and then she suddenly started rambling about how she is so happy for us that we're serious and that I found someone better than Ivy and then I didn't have the heart to tell her that we're not actually dating because after that she reduced my grounding from my birthday to new years. But can you still believe they've grounded me until the new year?"

"It's still better than getting hit by a shoe." I prise my eyes open, finally taking a good look at Lucas.

He looks...not hungover. His hair is damp like he just had taken a shower and his cheeks are flushed pink but other than that he looks completely fine and that...angers me.

"Firstly why would you let your mom believe that," I groan, "I have a reputation to uphold, I can't be letting people believe that we're actually a thing, gross." I run a hand through my hair, tugging at the knots. "Secondly, why do you not look hungover at all? My brain currently feels like Sofia is using it as a trampoline and thirdly, memories from yesterday night are slowly coming back to me and once I get abuela to make me her hangover gloop I probably will kick you out of the house because ohmygod what the fuck did we do yesterday?"

"Fourthly," Lucas interjects. "You need to go and brush your teeth, I can smell your horrendous breath from over here."

I promptly shut my mouth closed and scramble out of bed. "Shut up Lucas, I'll throw up on you," I mumble under breath - which he ignores.

Instead, Lucas strolls over to my desk and pulls out the chair before sitting down dramatically on it, his long legs extended out in front of him as he rubs his eyes, just as I rush over to my closer and grab a fresh pair of clothes and my towel before quickly making my way over to the door of my bedroom, smacking Lucas' shoulder with my palm on my way out.

"Ouch," he yelps. "What was that for?" I hear him say as I walk across the landing.

Swinging my towel over my shoulder, I close my eyes to try and relieve some of the pain that is coming from my head as I step into the bathroom.

My head is pounding, like it literally feels like my entire brain is pulsating really hard.

God dammit I am never drinking ever again. It makes me do stupid things like become horny and kiss the boy I am supposed to not like.

I lean my head against the wall of the bathroom, fighting the urge to not smash my head against the tile as a wave of panic flood through me, heightening the slight nauseous feeling in my stomach.

Oh God...it made me kiss the boy I'm not supposed to like.

How had we gone from barely acknowledging each other's existence to ferociously making out in a matter of hours? And now Lucas was here complaining about his parents who supposedly think we're dating now? Bloody hell.

This feels like a very horrid nightmare and the worst part of it all was that I can still feel his lips on mine. As the memories from yesterday nights encounter come flooding back in my brain as I stay leaning against the cool tile of my bathroom wall, my entire body is jolted alive with the feeling of his lips against mine.

I mean I can barely remember anything that happened prior that moment, but us making out - that memory is vivid in my mind. Every caress, every groan, every fibre of his freaking hair, when I had been running my hands through it, I can remember...and I don't know why.

I need a cold mother fucking shower asap.

Rubbing my temples with my forefinger and thumb, trying to rid myself of the tingly feeling on my lips and pressing pause on the flashbacks running through my mind, I re open my eyes and almost scream at the sight that befalls me.

JesusMaryandJoseph. I look like a train wreck. I look like I've been trampled over my a herd of buffalos, oh God. My hair is a sweaty, greasy mess, sticking up in all directions, my makeup, which I had fallen asleep in, is smeared all across my face...but my pyjamas...at least they're cute.

Grimacing, I turn away from the mirror and peel off my clothes before finally get into the shower, grabbing my toothbrush and toothpaste on the way and aggressively brushing my teeth and tongue as I wait for the water to heat up, then I put the water on full blast and begin lathering up my hair with shampoo, my body with soap and then body wash and just begin scrubbing myself mercilessly.

Once I'm done, I dry myself off before lotion-ing my body and getting dressed into the baggy grey t-shirt and black leggings I had quickly grabbed on my way to the bathroom and leave my hair to air dry.

As I walk back to my room I can't help the swarm of nervous butterflies that enter my stomach.

"You took your time." Lucas rolls his eyes the moment he spots me standing in the doorway of my room, tucking his phone back into the pocket of his black sweatpants.

I ignore him and walk over to my vanity/desk and pull out my hairbrush from the drawer and aggressively running it through the limp strands of my hair, trying to get rid of the knots.

"Abuela's made her hangover juice for you," he continues, pointing to the glass on my bedside table filled to the brim with greeny-brown liquid. I simply nod.

"Why are you so silent?" Lucas eyes me carefully as I continue brushing my hair before putting on moisturiser. "Are you about to freak out?"

I still for a second. "Let me drink the hangover juice first."

Once I've finished putting on moisturiser, I grab the drink from the bedside table and chug it all down in one go, refusing to breathe as I swallow all the juice down. I grimace after I've downed the glass, smacking my tongue against the roof of my mouth in reflex due to the absolutely putrid taste.

I then grab my water bottle and take a long sip to get rid of the horrid taste in my mouth.

"Can we talk now?" Lucas asks, craning his neck to look at me as I swallow down the cool liquid before leaning against the wall.

I pause, staying silent for a second as I scour my eyes across his face. The sun is directly hitting the side of his head, lighting up the left side of his face as the bright sun catches his eye, the typical browny-green shade of his eyes becomes a more prominent emrelad colour. My gaze then falls onto his plump lips and my own tingle as the flashbacks of yesterday instantly flicker in my mind once again. Another odd feeling settles in the pit of my stomach - a mixture of panic, regret and surprisingly, want and I briskly pull my eyes away, bringing the bottle of eater back to my lips and taking another liesurely sip, delaying my answer as I contemplate how to reply. I mean he literally asked a questions with a simple yes or no answer but I still needed time to think and process the events of yesterday.

As I'm about to open my mouth to answer the loud ringing of my phone swiftly cuts me off and a breath of relief automatically escapes my lips. Great timing. I practically dive head first onto my bed to grab my phone, as I glance down at my phone I see that it's Mia facetiming me and I'm quick to answer it.

"I've got to take this sorry," I tell Lucas as the call connects and I stumble out of my room. I delve into the store room near my mother's room, quickly turning on the light as I shut the door behind me and Mia's zoomed in face pops up on the screen.

"Oh thank God you called me," I sigh, letting out another huff of breath as I lean against the wall of the small room, I'm cramped between a couple of suitcases and boxes. "I need your advice."

"What's up?" Mia asks, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Also why are you in the store room?"

"I'll explain in a second," I retort.  "But first lets add Grace to the call as well, you guys won't believe what I'm about to tell you."

***

There is silence for a half a second once I've finished explaining the events of yesterday night, well what I remember anyways, before both Grace and Mia let out defeaning shrieks, their shrill voices echoing inside the little room I was stuck in. I was no longer leaning against the wall but sat on the ground, my back against some odd boxes and my bottom numb from the hard surface of the floor.

Mia begins fanning herself frantically as Grace begins to take deep breaths in and out, trying to calm herself after the two stop screaming.

"Okay first of all," Mia begins, a silly smile playing on her lips. "How was the kiss? Was it fast or slow? Was there any groping? Any titty touching? Ass touching? Tongue? Too much saliva or not? Oo how did he smell? How did his hair feel? Any choking-"

"Mia!" I briskly interject, cutting her off from her ramble as Grace laughs and Mia's mouth slowly forms into a frown.

"What? I just want details," she huffs. "This is a special moment."

"Special my ass." I roll my eyes. "Also details later, I need advice, he's literally sitting at my room wanting to talk, what the fuck do I do?"

"Ask him to kiss you again!" Grace grins, tucking a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear just as Mia nods her head encouragingly.

"I second to that!"

"Guys!" I whine, bashing my head against the boxes behind me. "I need real advice!"

"Just ask him out," Mia says more seriously now, shrugging. "I know we're still expecting an apology from him but I think you should make him fall in love with you and then break his heart." She grins, clasping her hands together. "BAM KARMA!"

I stare at her incredulously through the phone screen.

"Also," she continues. "You should so ask him out so Grace and I can send you on the special date we've been planin-"

"MIA," Grace yells causing Mia to stop mid sentence.

Mia's eyes widen and she quickly slams her mouth closed, her eyes widening before muttering out a quick apology.

"What Mia is trying to say," Grace interjects before I can press on what Mia was talking about. "Is that you should just listen to what Lucas has to say, if you guys don't talk it out then things will just rile up more between you two even more and then you both will end up doing something stupid again and end up in this same place, again."

I slowly nod my head, letting out another breath. "Okay, thank you Gracie."

"No problem babe," she smiles. "Now go, stop talking to us! And good luck sis! Call us straight after!"

I nod. "Will do."

Mia speaks up just as I stand up from the floor, dusting my palms across my thighs and beginning to open the door to the storeroom.

"Also don't forget to grab him and kiss him passionately afterwards-"

I end the call before Mia can finish the sentence.

Switching the light off and closing the door behind me, I treck back to my room, taking my sweet time.

Okay, I'll give Grace's listening advice thing a go. I don't think he'll say anything but the fact it was a drunken mistake which is what it was.

I spot Lucas sprawled across my bed the moment I step back into my bedroom, my duvet over his body, his dark hair spread across my pillow as he is watching something intently on his phone.

"Well you made yourself at home didn't you," I mutter, causing him to glance up from his phone.

"I'm tired," he murmurs in reply, closing his eyes for a second to emphasise his point. "And your bed looked so cosy."

I roll my eyes, snorting as I make my way over to my bed and sit on the edge timidly, playing with the ends of my blanket. "So are you really grounded until new years?" I ask, twisting my body around, not getting into the whole kissing conversation just yet - let's ease into it shall we.

Lucas nods solemnly, sitting up in my bed, resting his back against the headboard, his hands interlinked behind his head, his biceps flexing. "Yeah, but it's technically till the 27th of December because that's when they're going to Switzerland." He pauses for a second, swiping his tongue against his bottom lip. "So you need to pretend to be dating me until then."

I quirk an eyebrow in surprise. "Sorry, why would I do that?"

He sends me a look. "Or at least act like you sort of like me so they don't get suspicious."

"Why would I do that though?" I repeat. "What's in it for me?"

"The integrity of our friendship."

"We're not friends."

He presses his lips into a thin line. "You're right, we crossed the friendship line when we made out on my front lawn for like 20 minutes yesterday."

I freeze. "Okay never mind, we are friends."

He rolls his eyes and lets out a low chuckle, running his fingers through his hair that is now almost dried. "Okay quit stalling, we've got to speak about yesterday now."

I shake my head, crossing my arms across my chest. "We were both drunk, it was a mistake," I mumble quickly, shutting down the conversation out of nerves. Shit, I'm not exactly following Grace's advice am I?

"We were drunk," he agrees. "But I don't think it was a mistake." Before I get to press on to what he means he continues speaking, cutting me off. "But can we not be awkward about it, things are already awkward as it is between us, I mean we were literally not even acknowledging each other's existence yesterday afternoon."

He pulls the duvet off of his body and swings his legs to the side before standing back up and walking over to me so he is standing directly in front of me. I have to crane my neck up to look at him. "So being grounded has left me lots of time for thinking-"

"You've been grounded for only 4 hours."

"-and I've realised that things are only awkward because we make things awkward so if we act like there's nothing awkward between us then we won't be awkward, you know? I mean you're the one who makes things extra awkward between us but I'll admit lately I've been awkward too so how about we just stop being awkward, that means you've got to stop freaking out over everything."

I narrow my eyes at his accusation that I'm the one mainly making things awkward between the two of us (even though it's true) and how he's claiming I freak out over everything."

At my stern expression Lucas pinches the bridge of his nose before letting out an exasperated sigh. "Please Isabella, I'm sick of this back and forth weirdness between us, we see each other all the time, it'll be better if it's not awkward."

I nod my head slowly. "Okay, you have a point."

"Okay good," he smiles. "See how when we talk things out we manage to come to a mutual agreement and sort things out much quickly."

He blinks, staring at me expectantly and I quickly realising what he's insinuating.

I groan. "I thought you forgot about that and you promised you'd stop bringing this up, I told you I'll tell you later."

He gasps feigning innocence, clutching his chest with a large hand of his. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I roll my eyes, standing up from the bed and sliding out of the small gap between Lucas and I but just as I walk past him, he reaches out and grasps my wrist, stopping me.

"Now that you've agreed that you'll stop freaking out over everything and we've come to the agreement that we'll stop being awkward around each other, I know you won't freak out over what I'm about to tell you next, right?"

I cock my head to the side and nod slowly. "What?"

He locks eye contact with me, his eyes twinkling. "I can't get yesterday out of my mind, you're a good kisser."

I suck in a breath at his unexpected confession, shaking my head. "It can't happen again though."

He doesn't reply, just gazes down at my lips for a second before dropping my hand and allowing me to walk past him at last.

It can't happen again, it can't...no matter how much I want it to.

I mean what? I don't want it to happen again. Nope not at all.