Chapter 9: Chaperon

"What are you doing?" Leo asked as I stood in front of him. I was dressed for the party, though if you saw me, you'd probably think I was going to the grocery store. I was dressed in jeans and a tank top, covered by a plaid shirt. I also had a bag, a purse if you would, hanging off my shoulder that I had a few things in- a bag of chips and a water, and some other stuff.

"Going to the party," I told him.

"No you're not," Leo retorted.

"Yeah I am," I expressed. I told Elliot I'd be there at 9, and I'm getting there by 9 one way or another.

"No, you're not. How did you even find out about the party?" he asked.

"It's not hard, Leo. We go to public school," I replied.

"Yeah, but it's an invite only party," Leo expressed. I furrowed my eyebrows. I didn't know that.

"Well, I was invited," I told him with a shrug.

"Yeah, by who?" he scoffed.

"Phoenix," I replied.

"Yeah, right," Leo ridiculed.

"He did!" I bit back, growing annoyed.

"Let's go ask him," my twin responded. He opened the door and stormed down the steps. I followed, not bothering to shut the door as I went.

"Yes, I'll get up from my comfortable position on the couch and shut the door," Avery grumbled loudly from the sofa. We walked down to Phoenix's house and Leo didn't even bother knocking. I noticed that there weren't any cars in the driveway and I was a bit relieved. If Mrs. Carson was here, she'd spend an hour talking to me about how much I've grown in the past few years; she'd probably break out the photo albums of when Phoenix, Leo, and I were very small children.

I followed Leo hesitantly up the steps to Phoenix's room. If I'm not mistaken, it's in the same place it was the last time I dared step up to the second floor, which was about four years ago. Not even bothering to knock, my brother shoved open Phoenix's door and the teenager was sliding a shirt over his head. Luckily, he was dressed from the waist down. I looked away, though, not wanting to be caught staring because he'd probably smirk and make a comment. Any other time, it'd be annoying, but it'd be worse now because I feel like Leo's already frustrated with the two of us.

"You know, most people knock...on the front door," Phoenix announced as he pulled the shirt down completely. Phoenix glanced at me but saw Leo's expression and didn't bother to say anything.

"You invited her?" Leo practically seethed.

"Yeah," Phoenix answered. "Was I not supposed to?"

"No! You weren't!" Leo retorted. "Why'd you even invite her?"

Phoenix shrugged. "I just did. I didn't think it'd bother you this much."

My brother sighed. "Is there anyone else you invited?" he asked.

"Yeah, Elliot," Phoenix expressed, surprising me. I thought he'd turn to me and say something about how I invited Elliot.

"The boy from Spain?" Leo asked, earning a nod from Phoenix. "What about you, Grace? Did you dig into your contacts list, as short as it may be, and decide to invite a few people?"

I shot my brother a glare. "No, Leo, I didn't."

My brother eyed Phoenix for a moment. "You're taking her," Leo snapped.

"Okay," Phoenix nodded. Leo looked at me and I just shrugged.

"You know what? I'll take her," my brother announced. Phoenix's eyebrows shot up.

"I don't mind taking her. I think you should go alone- cool off a little," Phoenix expressed.

Leo sighed and knew he couldn't say anything to counter that. He made a move to leave before looking at me. "Come on," he pressed.

"What? You think I'd try something?" Phoenix asked with a laugh. Leo stared at him with a flat look and Phoenix chuckled again. "I'm not a pervert, you know?"

This time, Leo snorted. "Yeah, you're definitely not," he said sarcastically.

"Grace, start up the car," Phoenix requested as he tossed his keys at me.

"You're going to trust her with your car?" Leo asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" Phoenix shrugged.

"I don't know what's been going on between you two, but I don't like it. Trusting each other now- what happened to the Phoenix and Grace that I know...and hate?" my brother muttered.

"Let's go," I urged Leo before Phoenix would let something else slip.

+ + +

"Finally," I grunted when Phoenix opened the driver side door of his car.

"What?" he asked as he put on his seatbelt.

"You took your sweet time," I noted.

"It takes a while to do my hair," he explained as he looked at it in the rearview mirror, winking at himself. Annoyed, I reached over and messily ran my hand through his hair. Slowly, he turned his head to look at me. "Are you kidding me, Grace?"

I was laughing at his messy hair when he caught me off guard, reaching over and running his hand through my hair. "Phoenix!" I hissed as I pulled down the mirror, looking at my hair. I began fixing it, reaching over and shoving his shoulder.

"You started it," he remarked as he pulled out of the driveway. I glared at him as I put the mirror back, running my hands through my hair cautiously.

"You ruined my hair," I grumbled.

"You look fine," he responded. "If anything, I made you look better. You should be grateful."

"Hurry up, let's just get to the party," I grumbled.

"What's the matter with you?" he inquired. "Are you really that upset about your hair?"

"What? No," I responded. "I'm just tired."

"You don't want to go to the party?" he asked.

"Do I have a choice now?" I mumbled. "It's almost 9, and I promised Elliot I'd be there."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," Phoenix told me.

"Yeah, but Elliot..." I trailed.

"He'll understand. You can just say you had to babysit or something," Phoenix replied.

"Babysit who?" I retorted.

"Brooke and Piper," he answered. Brooke and Piper are his sisters; Brooke is 7 and Piper is 12.

"Why would I be babysitting your little siblings?" I asked him, earning a shrug.

"I'm irresponsible?" he suggested.

"As true as that may be, Elliot would see through it," I sighed. He's already suspicious about me and Phoenix. How would it look if I was babysitting his siblings? "Let's just go."

Barely 15 minutes later, we pulled up to the party and I sighed before getting out. Elliot was waiting at a tree on his phone. He looked up and smiled at me and Phoenix. "Hey, you made it," I greeted him.

"I did. You two did as well," he nodded as he assessed the two of us with his eyes. A knowing grin appeared on his lips and I furrowed my eyebrows. Phoenix nodded at Elliot, greeting him, before turning to me.

"I'm going to go catch up with your brother to make sure he's okay," Phoenix excused before jogging towards the house. He turned around and gave me two thumbs up, earning a glare in response. I turned back to Elliot.

"You guys came together?" Elliot asked.

"Yeah, we live on the same street," I informed Elliot.

"But your brother?" Elliot inquired.

"It's a long story," I sighed as I stared up at the house.

"Are you sure you do not like Phoenix?" he asked me.

"No! Gross!" I retorted with a wrinkled nose, earning a chuckle from Elliot.

"Okay, I'm just asking. For someone who does not like him very much, you two spend a lot of time together," he noted. "But then again, it is none of my business." Elliot began walking towards the house as I stared at him with an opened mouth.

"I do not like him!" I called as I jogged towards him. "In fact, if we were the last people on Earth and we had to repopulate, I would let mankind die off before I would so much as hug him!"

"Do you often think of having children with Phoenix?" he asked with a cute smirk on his lips. I began to sputter like a broken down car engine.

"No! What is wrong with you? I'm not—Phoenix is not—you're sick!" I insisted.

"Hmm, whatever you say, Grace," Elliot shrugged before holding open the door for me. "Whatever you say."

+ + +

Phoenix wasn't wrong when he said that the football team was going to be keeping an eye out on me. There was a group of them located in the kitchen and whenever I went in there, they would make sure I steered clear of the alcohol. At one point, they insisted on grabbing a soda for me from the fridge so I wouldn't snag a beer and run.

It was a particularly small party. There were definitely less than one hundred people, and only about ten of them were in the living room. Elliot and I were two of them. The rest were either football players or friends of the football team. I was sitting next to Elliot, trying to find a few common interests but it was hard work. I felt like everyone was listening to what we were saying. I looked around and a few football players glanced at me and Elliot before going back to their quiet conversations.

"Elliot, I'm going to go to the bathroom," I lied. What I'm going to do is find Phoenix and tell him to have his friends back off.

"Okay, I'll be here when you get back," he told me as he sipped his water. I nodded and began searching the hallways. Most of the doors were opened and I didn't bother opening any that were closed; they were closed for a reason. I eventually wound up at a door that was slightly open. I pushed it so it was opened all the way, revealing a few of my brother's close friends, including Phoenix, sitting in the renovated garage.

"You're just in time. I was just about to take my shift watching you and Elliot," Phoenix reported as he jumped up from the couch. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"That won't be necessary," I glared at him. "I'd appreciate it if you could call off your friends and tell them to leave me alone. It's starting to get creepy."

"Creepy? How?" he asked. "You know them!"

"How do you expect me to have a conversation with Elliot with all of those listeners?" I inquired.

"Easy- say hello, ask what he likes, talk about school, ask about homecoming, and blam- go in for the kill, which, in your case, is asking him to homecoming," Phoenix instructed.

"Tell them to back off or I'm going to leave," I told Phoenix.

"Yeah and how are you going to do that?" he inquired with a quirked brow

"Elliot has a car," I bluffed. In fact, I wasn't completely sure how Elliot had gotten here. I didn't bother to ask.

Phoenix narrowed his eyes at me. "You're definitely bluffing."

"Am I?" I asked Phoenix.

"Yes," he responded.

"Well, I guess I'll see you whenever. I'm leaving," I told him as I began exiting the garage.

"Wait!" Phoenix called as he grabbed my wrist. I smirked before turning around, dropping the triumphant facial expression. "I'll tell them to leave...if you let me stay in there."

"No," I answered.

"Come on! It'll be good for you! You'll be able to talk to him, and I'll butt in whenever the conversation starts to die," Phoenix urged. When he saw that I was about to give him a negative answer, he puckered out his lower lip and widened his eyes. "Please."

"What makes you think that's going to work?" I scoffed.

"Come on!" he sighed. "I won't embarrass you!"

"Fine, hurry up. I told him I was in the bathroom," I grumbled.

We approached the living room just as the rest of the football players were leaving. "You're back," Elliot greeted.

"And look who I brought along with me," I muttered unhappily as I dropped on the couch beside Elliot. Phoenix, that idiot, took a seat beside me.

"Move closer to him," he whispered as I tried to start talking to Elliot.

"No," I hissed under my breath.

"Do it," Phoenix insisted. He nudged me in the side and I immediately moved closer to Elliot.

"So where were we?" I asked him.

Throughout the night, Phoenix would nudge me when I should laugh. He'd whisper what I should say in response when I seemed lost, and he would insist that I laugh and lightly touch his shoulder or arm. Though I hate to admit it, I would've endured a bunch of awkward silences had it not been for Phoenix's coaching.

"I've got to get home," Elliot sighed as he glanced at his phone.

"I'll walk you out," I told him as he walked around the couch. Phoenix began getting up but I shoved him back down, shooting him a glare.

"It was nice hanging out with you," Elliot nodded as he held the door open for me.

"It was nice hanging out with you, too," I told him.

"We should do it again," he replied, earning another nod in response.

"Definitely," I informed him.

"I'll see you on Monday," he smiled at me. "Tell Phoenix I said 'bye' as well. Also, tell him next time he's going to spy on us, make it less noticeable."

I stared at him for a minute before forcing a laugh. "I'll do that," I replied.

"Are you sure you two don't like each other?" he inquired, earning a loud sigh.

"I don't like him! And he doesn't like me!" I insisted. "What makes you think the opposite?"

"Because I treated Ramona very similarly to how Phoenix treats you," he explained.

"Ramona?" I repeated

"My girlfriend," he clarified. Girlfriend? When did he get one of those? Does Phoenix know? "Before, I was not exactly nice to her. I would tease her and bother her. It was much like Phoenix does to you."

"But you liked her," I told him.

"She didn't know that," he replied.

"Yeah, but Phoenix is...Phoenix," I told Elliot, earning a shrug.

"And I was...me," he reiterated.

"He doesn't like me. I don't like him. That's just how it is," I replied.

"That's probably what Ramona said when her friends suggested the idea of me liking her," Elliot spoke.

"I know for a fact that he doesn't like me," I told him with crossed arms.

"What is that fact?" he inquired.

"He's trying to help me to get a date to homecoming," I told Elliot.

"He's probably already accepted the fact that you don't like him," Elliot shrugged.

"No! I'm starting to not like you," I retorted. Elliot grinned widely.

"It is not my job to be liked; it's my job to spread light upon what you are too blind to see," Elliot explained.

I stared at him with slightly narrowed eyes and a disgusted look on my face. "Alright, Mr. Fortune Cookie, I liked you better when you weren't coming up with crazy concepts," I spoke.

His grin was unmoving. "You may not want to hear this, but it looked like you two were kissing in the car when you arrived," he informed me.

The urge to vomit grew stronger in my stomach as I looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Your hair was messed up, and so was his. And he was smiling very largely," Elliot told me.

"Leave," I demanded as I stared at him in disgust.

"Grace, it's okay to question your feelings for him—," Elliot started with a stupid smile on his face.

"Leave!" I called as I shoved my fingers in my ears, humming loudly

"Bye, Grace," he laughed as he approached a red pick-up truck. I stood there for a moment, thinking to myself.

Is there a possibly that Phoenix likes me? Could that explain his ceaseless harassment throughout the years? Could that really be it? Could it really be that simple?

Nah. There's no way Phoenix likes me.

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