Laila

          I slammed the door shut to the Gryffindor room and slid to the floor, my hands hiding my face. I couldn't stop from giggling, and my heart definitely wouldn't stop pounding. This literally couldn't be happening. I seriously thought I was going to keel over.

Because you know why?

Justin Richards of all people had been about to kissme.

Now I seriously couldn't get over that.

There'd been no mistaking it that time. No, not when he brushed back a strand of my hair, and lowered his head until there was only a centimeter left before we would be kissing. I'd just been about to have my first kiss, and then with my amazing luck - our mothers had to go and interrupt.

Justin had been right. Crap, indeed.

But now what was I supposed to do? Just go back to avoiding Justin and hide out in my room? Or go off and find him in some secluded corner and demand that he owe up and kiss me?

I knew what I wanted to do, but that wasn't necessarily what was right... was it?

"Lissa will know what to do," I muttered to myself, before crawling over to the bed and grabbing my cell phone off the night stand flipping it open.

I punched in Lissa's number and leaned back against the wall, crossing my fingers and hoping that she would just pick up the phone.

"Hello!" Lissa answered cheerily on the third ring.

"Oh, my God, Lissa, I was just with Justin, and I swear he was - I can't - I mean, I swear he was - "

"Okay, okay. Laila? Just take a few deep breaths, and then start from the beginning," Lissa demanded, sounding suddenly very business like.

I breathed in deep, yogic like breaths for what had felt like five minutes before I explained everything that had just happened between Justin and me.

"Wait, wait, wait," Lissa said, abruptly cutting me off. "So, you're saying that Justin was about to kiss you?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, heat rushing to my face just thinking about it.

"Well, what stopped him?" she practically shrieked in my ear.

I pulled a sour face at the memory. "Our mothers."

Lissa groaned in sympathy with me.

"And that was going to be your first kiss, too!"

"I'm well aware of this, Lissa!" I groaned, slapping a hand to my face.

"Bad luck!" Lissa sighed dramatically. "But wait - how are you sure he was going to kiss you?"

If Lissa had actually been in the same room as me, I would have given her an "are-you-stupid?" look.

"He said 'I might kiss you'."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, crap."

"Exactly."

"It's today, it's today, it's today, it's today!"

My eyes flew open as the door to the Gryffindor room banged open and Emma bounced into the room throwing herself onto the bed, kneeing me in the stomach.

"Ooph!"

"It's today!" Emma squawked in my ear, tossing herself around on the bed, clutching her sides and laughing hysterically.

"What is today, exactly?" I asked Emma groggily, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes.

Emma stared at me like there was an extra limb sticking out of my head.

"Are you serious?" she whispered, looking beyond shocked.

I raised an eyebrow, still half-asleep. "Not kidding here."

"The 4th of July party is today, duh!" Emma shrieked, tumbling off the bed and onto the floor. "Get up and get ready, Laila!"

That was pretty much all the forewarning I had before Emma was bounding out of the room, singing at the top of her lungs, shouting more about this being the day of all days, or something like that.

I was really too half asleep to care about what was going on.

That is, until a sliver of ice cold dread slipped down my spine.

The stupid party was today? Oh, God.

I smashed my face into a pillow before I just let lose with an incredibly long scream. You could say that I was letting out nearly all of the bent up frustration I'd been feeling in the past month or so. Or however long I'd been stuck in this house. It honestly felt like an eternity to me.

"All right, Laila," I muttered to myself, staring up at the ceiling with a determined look on my face. "You can do this."

Too right I could.

I rolled out of bed, stretching, before I stopped short in the middle of the room, hands on hips, wondering what it was I was supposed to do now.

Instead I guess I just to do what any rational girl in my position would do.

"MOM!" I shouted, sprinting out of the Gryffindor room after Emma, practically hopping my way down the stairs. "MOM!"

"Laila Nicole, what on Earth is going on?"

Mom appeared at the bottom of the stairs just as I skidded down into the foyer, a frantic and worried look on her face.

"Is the stupid party today?" I demanded, grabbing at her shoulders.

Mom gave me a confused look, her head tilted to the side.

"Yes, it is," she said hesitantly. "What day did you think it was?"

"Not this day!" I exclaimed, slapping my hands to my face.

Mom looked like she was about to say something else, but broke off as she glanced over my shoulder towards the stairs. I opened my mouth to ask her what had her so distracted, but I was cut off by a low, impressed sounding whistle from behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder as none other than Justin Richards made his way down the stairs, a taunting smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

I hadn't really seen much of Justin since our almost-kiss incident the day before. Yeah, it was a little awkward, since a part of me was immediately still waiting for that kiss, but also because I really couldn't look at him the same way.

Not since I found out that he was adopted.

Whenever I thought about it, looking from Kim or Laurence, then back to Justin - I just couldn't picture Justin having any other parents but Kim and Laurence Richards. It honestly hurt me just as much to find out that Justin was adopted, that he'd been through what he had and was still standing.

"Remind me to watch Batman in the future," Justin said teasingly, winking in my direction before disappearing down the flight of stairs to the kitchen.

I turned back to Mom with a blank expression, then glanced down, appraising my outfit. I mentally slapped myself. I was wearing a pair of Batman boxers that had been on sale at Wal Mart and a tank top shirt I'd thrown on last night.

It was quite possible I was going to die from embarrassment right then and there.

"What was all that about?" Mom asked, sounding just as shocked as I felt.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Mom," I told her, eyes wide.

"Yeah, well, now go get ready for the party! The guests should be arriving soon!" Mom quickly changed the subject, ushering me back towards the stairs. "I promise you you'll have a great time!"

I groaned again, resisting the urge to slap a hand to my face.

"Really, Mom?"

"Go, Laila!"

I theatrically stomped my way up the stairs, muttering obscenities under my breath as I went.

There was no doubt about it. I was absolutely going to hate today.

            I stared at my reflection, not really sure if I was actually staring at myself. My hair was down, flowing down over my shoulders, waving down to the middle of my back. It was a little unusual for me, not having my hair up in a twist, but I decided that it was livable.

        I was wearing a long-sleeve shirt that Lissa had absolutely demanded that she buy me when she had dragged me into Aeropostale during one of our jaunts to the mall, and then just a regular pair of shorts. Keeping in mind that I hated showing off my legs, but my two years on the school soccer team had definitely firmed and toned me up.

I'd called Lissa as soon as I'd slammed the door to the Gryffindor room hours before, and she had insisted that I live a little and wear makeup.

I'd aptly refused.

So now there really wasn't any reason for me to stay holed up in the Gryffindor room anymore. Almost an hour ago, I had heard the sounds of approaching cars and tires crunching on the gravel driveway out front.

I almost leapt a foot in the air as my cell phone in my pocket vibrated violently, announcing I had a new text message. Sighing, I slid my phone out of my pocket and checked the message.

Bajar aquí ahora!

Yep, it was definitely from Avery. I breathed another sigh of relief that at least she was here, the one friend of Justin's that didn't make me feel itchy. Well, besides Nick, I had to reason.

I smirked as I tapped out a reply to Avery.

¿Cuál es la prisa, ¿eh?

Seconds later, she replied.

No, seriously, just get down here. I'm in the kitchen. :D

I rolled my eyes, smiling in spite of myself, and left the bathroom, flicking the light off. I grabbed my sandals off the floor by the bed and slipped them on before leaving the Gryffindor room. My heart started pounding the further I came to walking down the stairs, but it's not like I could exactly stay shut up in the guest room all day. Well, I could, but then I'd be bored out of my mind.

The second I stepped off the bottom step, I peered into the living room, and my jaw dropped.

       There were probably more than fifty of the most finely and expensively dressed people I'd ever seen in my entire life loitering around in the living room, sipping on glasses of wine or stylishly crafted bottles of liquor. Of course, they all must have been extremely rich colleagues and acquaintances of Kim and Laurence, none of which were people that I'd ever been associated with before.

I tried to slouch across the foyer, trying to remain inconspicuous and to not attract attention to myself, but the second I took a few steps forward, a loud, crooning voice called me back.

"Laila!"

I winced, squeezing my eyes shut, before turning around and trying to pull a pleasant smile on my face.

Kim, who looked absolutely amazing in a billowy white blouse and designer pants, paraded her way across the living room with a few other amazingly dressed people in tow.

"Uhm...hi?" I squeaked nervously.

"This is Laila," Kim announced to her friends, squeezing my shoulders reassuringly. "Jeanine's daughter."

One of the women with expensive looking pearl jewelry smiled at me indulgently.

"Hello, Laila," she said, outstretching a hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi," I muttered nervously, awkwardly shaking her hand.

"I've heard much about you from your mother and Kimberly here," another woman, who looked probably the oldest of them all - definitely late fifties - said to me, an appraising look in her dark eyes. "I hear you're quite the student."

I flushed, biting my lip.

Thanks, Mom, I thought bitterly.

"I try my best," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Oh, don't be so modest, Laila!" Kim laughed, smiling, showing off her straight white teeth.

"Are you involved in any extracurricular activities?" a man with a gray streak up his hair and a fancy Rollex watch on his wrist asked me, joining in on the conversation.

"I'm on the forensics team, National Honor Society, FBLA," I said, clearing my throat. "And I'm on the varsity soccer team, as well."

The group of Kim and Laurence's colleagues all shared mutters, impressed.

"Those are quite impressive accomplishments indeed, Laila," the woman decked out in jewelry said with a nod.

"Are you thinking of applying to any colleges?" the man asked, taking a sip of his glass of champagne.

I nodded meekly. "Dartmouth and Sarah Lawrence are my main two choices."

I just left out the part that it was probably never going to happen, since there was no way in hell I'd be able to pay for even a semester's tuition.

"And your majors?" someone else inquired.

"Business and Finance."

And don't even bother asking me why - those subjects were just what I wanted to do.

I could tell before anyone else answered that they were readying themselves for a really long, most likely boring, conversation, that had all to do with college and work.

Just as I was preparing myself to blank out and completely ignore what everyone else was saying, there was the sounds of footsteps approaching behind me, and a hesitant voice that said, "Laila?"

I glanced over my shoulder, confused, and saw a young guy standing a few steps away, one I'd certainly never met before. He was relatively tall with shortish brown hair and familiar dark eyes.

"Yeah," I said slowly.

"Uh, mi hermana Avery me pidió que viniera y encontrarte. Ella dijo que estaba preocupado de que no había llegado todavía?" he said, more question than statement.

Okay, so maybe Avery had misjudged my understanding of the Spanish language when we'd been texting earlier. I barely understood what he was saying, mainly a few words. Mostly something about Avery, finding something, and the kitchen. It took me half a second for everything to make sense - Avery had been looking for me.

"Oh, okay," I said quickly. "I'll go and find her."

"Well, ladies - and gentleman- I think we've held Laila's attention long enough," Kim interjected, coming to the rescue. "We should probably let her go now."

Everyone else chattered in agreement, thankfully.

"It was nice meeting you all," I said self consciously before I left as quickly as I could.

Avery's brother - whose name I still didn't know - was waiting off to the side for me, by the kitchen door.

"Sorry about that," I said awkwardly.

The guy smiled, shaking his head. "No problem. I'm Jason, Avery's brother."

"Laila," I introduced myself. "Nice to meet you."

"No offense or anything, Laila, but my big sister can be pretty bossy, so if I were you, I'd get down to the kitchen now," Jason said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder.

       I skittered my way down the stairs to the kitchen, being greeted with blaring music and loud chattering, and my stomach dropped all over again. If anything, walking down in the kitchen was way more nerve wracking than going through the living room had been. If it was possible, the massive underground kitchen of the house was packed to the brim with tight packs of teens of all varieties - some short, some extremely tall, some wearing tons of makeup, others wearing the skimpiest outfits possible. I could've sworn some kid in the group was wearing long-johns, too.

And why was I here again?

"There you are, chica!" a loud voice suddenly exclaimed from somewhere behind me.

I turned around quickly, eyes wide, and then let out a sigh of relief as I saw Avery squirming her way through clumps of people, making her way towards me.

"Hey, Avery!" I said, feeling a tad bit more relaxed. "It's good to see you again."

Avery smiled, straightening her trademark black glasses. She was looking pretty with her dark hair pulled up into a twist and the flowy purple blouse and short jeans she was wearing.

"Why the long face, hermana?" Avery asked, looking at me with a speculative expression.

"No reason," I was quick to defend myself.

Avery gave me a skeptic look before we dodged our way through the groups of people and found seats on some clear space of kitchen counter. I leaned over, balancing myself by holding onto a cupboard door, and grabbed two sodas from a cooler off to the side, handing one to the both of us.

"So," Avery trailed off as she took a sip of her Sierra Mist.

"So, what?" I asked nonchalantly, raising an eyebrow.

She gave me a flat look, like I should've known what she was talking about.

"What?" I demanded, getting nervous.

"How's everything with you and Justin?" she asked, eyes wide in a false display of interest.

I rolled my eyes and gave her a withering look. "Just fine, thanks."

"Really?" she pressed, pursing her lips.

"Really, really," I reassured her, a little peeved.

Avery made some sort of noise and took another sip of her soda, glancing speculatively at me out of the corner of her eye. I already knew what she was trying to do probably before she knew it herself. She was trying to guilt trip me, and darn it, it worked - I'd never been one to try and annoy people. Well, save for Justin, maybe.

"Okay, okay," I sighed exasperatedly, giving in.

Avery let out a delighted squeal, almost dropping her soda on some kid that was sprawled out on the floor.

"What is it?" she demanded, gripping my forearm. "Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

I flushed, biting my lip and glanced around anxiously, before I just decided to lean forward and tell her.

"Okay, so the other day..." I trailed off embarrassedly.

"What?" Avery shrieked, her grip tightening on my arm.

I made a sour face, wincing.

"Sorry, sorry," she wavied impatiently. "But tell me what happened!"

I chewed on my lip again before taking a deep breath and just blurting out what had happened.

"I sort of kind of almost kissed Justin the other day."

Avery went impossibly wide-eyed and she gaped at me with her mouth hanging open.

"Seriously?" she squeaked, her voice pitching up at least two octaves.

I nodded embarrassedly, almost positive I was the color of a tomato.

Avery started laughing, slumping forward and clutching at her sides. I stared at her with a withering look while she worked to get her composure back, still occasionally bursting into random giggles.

"You done yet?" I sighed.

"Define 'sort of kind of almost'," Avery said abruptly, glancing over at me.

I mentally rolled my eyes as I remembered the events from the day before.

"Our mothers came home," I muttered, pursing my lips.

Avery started laughing all over again. I thought I was going to die from embarrassment. Especially when at that moment a familiar pair of blazing green eyes caught mine.

           Justin casually made his way through the kitchen, talking to a few people here and there, before he finally made it to Avery and me.

"Thought I might find you two together," he said with a smirk.

I internally sighed as I appraised his appearance, noticing with a sinking feeling just how gorgeous the guy before me was. And he'd been about to kiss me?

Something definitely must have gotten lost in the translation.

Justin was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt that was pushed up to his elbows. There was another white shirt on underneath his black shirt that complimented his subtly muscled phisque.

"We haven't seen each other in weeks," Avery defended us with a sarcastic look. "Of course we're going to be hanging out."

Justin laughed, shaking his head. "Right, right. I should've known."

"You better watch it, cachorro,'' Avery warned, pointing a finger at Justin. "Or I might just kick you in the shin 'cause you're not nice to Laila."

Justin blinked, giving Avery a blank look, before he turned to me, a smirk tilting the corners of his full lips.

"Oh, Avery, where have you been? I'm very nice to Laila," he said, winking in my direction.

I started coughing violently, my face turning bright red, trying to get a grip since butterflies were twisting nervously in my stomach already.

Avery giggled, covering her mouth with a hand.

"You wanna go for a walk outside?" Avery said, giving me a pointed nudge. "Get some fresh air?"

"S-Sure," I stuttered, sliding off the counter.

Thank God I caught my balance before I tripped over and landed against Justin.

"See you later, Justin," Avery said as she slid off the counter, putting an arm around my shoulders. "Laila and I are off to go talk smack about you behind your back."

Justin rolled his eyes, smirking at Avery. "Right. Sure. Okay."

Avery lead me away from him and up the stairs from the kitchen before I had a chance to say anything else. Avery herself remained silent until we'd already manuevered our way through the crowded living room, out onto the back deck and the back yard.

"Dios mio, Laila, I swear I've never seen two people have as many troubles getting together as you and Justin do."

I groaned, letting my hands cover my face.

There was no getting around it - Avery was definitely right about that one.

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       Yessss, I've finally gotten this chapter up! :D    oh, and recently I've been getting more comments and fans and I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH!! It really means a lot, you guys, and it's honestly what keeps me going!  

     What do you guys think??

Oh, and p.s. 

   - the next chapter after this one is probably one of my most favorites....think you can guess why? (: