Chapter Seventeen

I slam my car door shut and rest my head on the steering wheel to let the tears fall. The one place that I could always go to so that I can think is my room, but Van had to go and ruin that too.

I wish I could give Van the benefit of the doubt, but let's face it, he has a really bad track record with girls. Even if they weren't doing anything thing, they would have. Not to mention that he had a girl in my bed. A girl who is obviously not me. And a girl who is a baby in high school years.

The passenger's side door opens, causing me to jump as I look who's sitting in the seat.

"Vance, get out, please," I plead.

"You lied, didn't you?" Van asks. "About losing."

"What was she doing in my bed, Vance?" I demand.

Van sighs, running his hands over his hair. "She was just talking to me, about you."

I laugh, mockingly. "Oh, that's great, you guys were talking about me before you hooked up. How great-"

"I don't even have time to hook up with girls like Maya because I'm so...stuck on you, Abbs," he admits. "Just tell me why-"

"Somebody had to lose in order for this to end, am I right?"

Van looks taken aback. "So you actually slept with him? You gave it up for some stupid bet we had going? If you're trying to hurt me then congratulations, mission accomplished," he pauses to get out of my car.

He reaches under my passenger's seat and pulls something out, slipping it into his back pocket. I completely forgot that Van told me to look under the seat before I left. Oh well, there's no use in worrying about it now.

"And for the record, Abby, I'm finished with us."

"Good! I'm glad!" I yell.

With one slam of the door, he walks back over to the party. As soon as I hear everybody scream and shout, I get the feel that it's midnight.

What a great start to the New Year.

I guess I fell asleep because the next thing I know, somebody's knocking on my car window. I sit up and rub my eyes, looking through the glass.

I throw open my door, pissed and ready to fight.

"Do you seriously have the nerve to come near me?" I snap. "You looked awfully cozy in my bed with my..." I trail off, not knowing what to call Van. "You know, that's not even any-"

"Are you done?" Maya asks.

"Excuse-"

"Just come inside and quit bitching before I change my mind," she smirks, walking inside of her house. I follow a little farther behind her to restrain myself from knocking her out.

In Maya's room she plops down on her bed, waiting for me to sit down too. "I've already been in your bed, you might as well sit on mine," she jokes.

I glare at her while I sit down on the very edge of the bed. "What's this about?"

Maya takes a deep breath. "Are you dumb?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"While I was trying to hit on Dex, I couldn't help but see Vance mope around all night," Maya starts. "I asked him what was wrong, expecting a quick response and the next thing I know he's babbling on and on about how crazy he is about you," she pauses. "Then he proceeds to tell me that he tried to tell you, but you blew him off and tonight you were with your boyfriend," she finally stops. "Now your side."

I explain everything to her. It's amazing how I can't say any of it to Van, but I can tell a girl who I barely even know how I feel about him.

"So you guys really weren't...?" I trail off.

"Oh my god, Abby, no," she laughs, like that thought is impossible. "Don't get me wrong, Van is really hot, but I wouldn't be surprised if he couldn't get it up for any girl that's not you."

I roll my eyes, blushing at the thought. I'm sure he has no problem getting anything up, we practically share a bed together.

"Besides, I like Dex," Maya informs me. "He's more my type."

"You're like sixteen," I point out. "What exactly is your type?"

"Guys in leopard printed man panties," she says simply. I guess that Dex, or one of the other guys must have told her about what happened on our adventure in Aspen.

I burst into laughter. "Dex is a really great guy."

"I'm aware. Don't get any funny ideas," she jokes.

"He's all yours," I assure her. "Oh and I'm really sorry for being a bitch earlier, with the whole Van thing. It's just, I want him and I to work, but at the same time if it doesn't I want it to be over with sooner, rather than later when I care about him even more."

"Go tell him the truth."

"He probably thinks that I'm a slut, or something, Maya."

"If he knows you as well as you think he does, he probably already knows the truth," she says. "Besides, you can't be a slut, Kendall wouldn't know what to do with herself."

I laugh. "Wow, I like you even more now that I know you think Kendall's a slut too."

"Dex has told me all about her, Vance...and you."

By the time I get back to my house, I inspect the whole place, mostly stalling before I go check to see if Van is upstairs. I just hope that he didn't find some brainless girl to prove that he's "finished with us." And I really hope that he isn't in my bed with her. If he hooked up with somebody because he believed my lie, I'd be able to forgive him, but if he has some bitch in my bed, I'm throwing in the towel.

I step around people passed out on the stairs and almost trip over a couple people. I stop when I notice that Mitch is one of them. I should probably wake him up.

"Mitch," I say, nudging his shoulder, watching his eyes blink open. "Mitch, come on, wake up, you can sleep in the guest room."

Mitch stands up and walks with a bit of a stumble. "That was some party, Abby," he chuckles.

I roll my eyes, opening the guest room. "I can see that you enjoyed yourself, Boozy."

"If you're looking for Vance, he's in your room," Mitch informs me.

"Did he talk to you?"

Mitch shakes his head. "Nah, I saw him go in there," he says. "But I did talk to Dex."

"He told you..."

"Don't worry, I didn't tell Vance that you dumped Evan."

I sigh, relieved.

"But you should go tell him," Mitch says. "The poor guy has practically reclaimed his virginity for you, Abby."

I laugh. "We had a bet and he went a couple weeks without a hook-up, big deal," I remark, sarcastically.

"Try a couple months, since he broke up with Kendall," Mitch corrects. "So why don't you go, give him a little show," he says jokingly.

I blush and hit him on the shoulder. "You, go to sleep," I order, walking down the hallway.

"And you, go tap that as-"

"Mitch!" I cut him off, giggling.

Okay, here goes attempt number two, in one night. I stand in front of my bedroom door and keep my hand on the door knob for at least ten minutes before I finally push open the door.

The room is dark, but there's enough light coming from my window that lets me see somebody sleeping on my bed. I don't even have to think twice to know that it's Van. I'm just glad that there isn't another person on that bed with him.

Who am I kidding? I never really thought that Van would be so stupid as to bring a girl in my room.

The first thing I do is remove the dreadfully painful heels from my feet. Those things have been killing me ever since I put them on. At least I don't have to wear heals to impress Evan anymore. I kind of feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me. I don't have to pretend with him, or lead him on anymore.

I walk into my closet and quickly throw on a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. In my bathroom, I brush my teeth and wipe the make-up off of my face. Before sitting on my bed, I toss my hair up into a messy bun.

Is it creepy to say that I like watching Van sleep? He looks so quiet and peaceful, as opposed to his loud and wild personality.

Clearly I thought too soon because Van wakes up, rubbing his eyes. I look away so that he doesn't notice me looking at him.

"I would be in my room, but-"

"You walked in on Lia and Kyle..." I fill in for him. "Yeah, I did too. Kyle's surprisingly bigger than I thought," I joke.

Van laughs, but covers it with a cough. "I'll sleep on the floor," he announces, starting to get up.

I scoot closer. "Van, you really don't have to do that."

"Abby-"

"I lied, Van, I didn't lose," I blurt.

Van shifts on the bed so that he's looking at me. "So you said it just to hurt me?"

"I'm sorry, it's just I saw you in here, with Maya and my mind automatically went to the worst," I explain. "I'm really, really sorry."

Van nods along. "I guess having her in here wasn't a good idea. But hey, I'm an idiot so you should've expected a stupid decision from me."

"You aren't an idiot."

"What are you even doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at-"

"I broke up with him."

A smile plays at the corner of Van's lips. "So no more Kevin?"

"Evan," I correct.

"I didn't care before and I don't care now," Van smirks. He motions for me to come closer so I scoot even closer so that I'm sitting right next to him. "Let's just forget the bet because I thought it would fix problems, but it's only making more."

"How would it fix anything?"

Van runs a hand through his hair, slowing that he's nervous. "It was bad enough that you were seeing the guy, but I really didn't want you sleeping with him, ergo the bet."

"I have to tell you something, but you can't laugh, or make fun of me, got it?" I check.

"Well, let's hear it."

"Actually, first," I pause. "Did you mean what you said earlier, in the car? The part about being finished with us?" I ask, playing with the fabric of my pajama pants.

Van shakes his head. "If you lie, I lie," he teases.

I nod, accepting his answer.

"So what is it?" Van prompts.

I take a deep breath. "I, uhm, I don't think that I can say it."

"One sec," Van tells me, leaning over me to my night stand. He grabs a pad of post-its and pulls a Sharpie out of his pants pocket, then hands it to me. I can't believe that he still does that. He said that he uses it to write his number down for girls. "If you can't say it, post-it," Van says simply.

I smile, popping the cap off of the marker. I start to write, but feel Van peeking over my shoulder. I nudge him off. "Hey, no sneak peeks!"

Van chuckles, moving his attention to my face, patiently waiting for me to finish.

I write down three words and rip of the post-it, gently sticking it to his shirt.

***

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