Only Fools - Chapter 14: Chapter 14

"I simply don't understand how you don't have more confidence in me, alleged best friend," I tell Ivy as we walk through the front door of the house hosting tonight's party which is yet another celebration of our football team winning a game. Ivy narrows her eyes at me before shaking her head and looking back forward.
"You really don't have the best track record as far as I'm concerned, bird," Ivy explains. I scoff in disbelief, despite knowing that she's right.
"Ok. Then let's make a bet. We go our separate ways for.... let's say two hours, and if I'm still completely sober by the end, then you have to take me out to get a milkshake,"
"But you have to stay in this house,"
"Correct,"
"And what do I get if I win?"
"I don't know? A kiss? You're supposed to reward me for staying away from the temptation that is alcohol. What am I supposed to reward you for? Staying at a party for two hours?"
"More like reward me for putting up with the team being drunk for that long rather than spending the time with you like I planned to,"
"So you're saying the kiss would be a good reward?"
"I'm saying that I deserve some type of reward for leaving you unsupervised at a party for two hours. I'm going to be worrying the entire time, bird,"
"Well don't because you won't have anything to worry about, right? Because I won't be drinking,"
"Or so you say,"
"Let's just say that you shouldn't be counting on that reward,"
"Darn. I may just have to spike your drink when you're not looking then,"
"Ivy!" I exclaim. But she just giggles as she turns around and walks away, towards the rest of the football team and Jaxon who is awkwardly standing by them, striking up conversation with Dustin, a friendship I wouldn't have exactly predicted beforehand, and yet from the nervous smiles on their faces they seem to be getting along well enough.
Her words echo in my mind in the minutes after she walks away, but I know I need to stop thinking about it, just stop overthinking.
Me: Where are you??
Margot: Missing me already?
Me: Terribly.
"Makes sense," I hear someone whisper in my ear. I whip around to find a smiling Margot and I can't help but smile back.
"You ready to leave?" she asks me, but I shake my head in response.
"In one minute, Naomi said that she needed to tell me something, but Tori pulled her over to the drinks too quickly for her to finish what she was saying,"
"Sounds like Tori,"
I just nod before I grab Margot's wrist and begin to lead her throughout the house to the basement, where I assume Naomi to be.
"Aspen!" Tori yells excitedly from across the room as soon as she sees me. Naomi just rolls her eyes at the girl before shooting me a small smile.
"You wanted to tell me something?" I ask the sober one of the two.
"Yes! The cupcake wars," Naomi says, much to excited for my taste.
"What about them?"
"Would you like to enter them with Tori and I?"
"You could have just texted me this?"
"I know, but I wanted to ask you in person. How about it?"
"I ain't doing no school sanctioned baking contest," Tori chimes in suddenly.
"Tori!" Naomi whines.
"I won't,"
"You're drunk. You'll change your mind,"
"I won't,"
Naomi groans as she casts her eyes around the room before they finally land on Margot.
"Margot,"
"No," Margot says without a second thought.
"Margot. Please? You're Aspen and I's last hope," Naomi leans into the dramatics of the situation.
"Please, Margot?" I ask, batting my eyes jokingly which causes for her to roll her eyes. She lets out a sigh and looks back at Naomi's pleading expression before shaking her head.
"Whatever," she says, finally agreeing to join.
"Yay," Naomi cheers before giving Margot a hug which causes for her to flinch slightly at the suddenness.
"Oh!" Naomi exclaims as she pulls away from Margot and looks up towards the stairs.
As I turn around, Ivy's familiar red hair immediately catches my attention before I let my eyes wander to see who's with her: Dustin, Keegan, and Jaxon.
"Keegan!" Naomi exclaims as she runs over to the boy and then pulls him back over to Tori. It's then that my drunken best friend looks up from her drink and her eyes almost instantly light up at the sight of the person Naomi just brought before her.
"Keegs!" she exclaims excitedly.
"Hey, dude. Had a bit too much to drink, didn't ya?" he asks her, ruffling her hair before pulling the drink out of her hand and throwing it into the nearest trash can. Tori narrows her eyes at the boy for throwing away her drink which just causes for him to chuckle.
"Come on. You wanna go get some ice cream?" Keegan asks, knowing that bribery is the best way to go when it comes to Tori.
Tori just continues to narrow her eyes at him until he rolls his eyes at her and whispers something in her ear that makes her eyes light up and causes for her to nod rather enthusiastically. Keegan smiles at her before pulling her arm around his shoulders to make sure that she's completely steady.
"I got her, Nao," Keegan reassured the blonde girl next to me which allows her to let out a sigh in relief.
"Are you sure?" she checks. Keegan looks over at the girl clinging to his side before nodding.
"Of course,"
"And you can drop her back off at home?" Naomi asks him. He just nods in response which causes for her to smile in satisfaction before waving him off. Tori smiles over at him as they begin to walk away.
It's then that I turn my attention back to Ivy who is now standing in front of me with an eyebrow raised.
"Completely sober," I tell her confidently with a wide smile. She sends a small smile back as she nods.
"It's only been like twenty minutes," Ivy reminds me.
"I'm confident," I tell her.
"Good," she then moves forward to whisper in my ear, "Let's just say that I'm hoping you win the bet."
"So you don't want a kiss from me?" I say, hoping that she thinks my frown is just acting.
"Let's see how our milkshake date goes and then we'll see," Ivy says with a wink, forcing me to look down as my cheeks heat up. She could have friend zoned me. She could have just called me her best friend in defense as to why we shouldn't kiss, but she didn't. And I can't seem to tell what's actually a joke anymore.
"A date? I'm suddenly more motivated for this bet,"
"Yeah. I'm really rooting for you to win, but sadly part of the bet was to stay separated so I'll see you in an hour and a half, bird,"
I just smile at Ivy as she walks away, back over to Dustin and Jax who are talking animatedly about who knows what.
"You done flirting?" Margot suddenly asks me as she nudges my shoulder. I try to form a response but just stutter which causes for her to smirk before she walks away, simply assuming I'm going to follow her. My cheeks flush as I walk behind her until we find an empty room and Margot falls back onto the bed with a sigh. Shaking my head, I close and lock the door behind us before falling back next to her.
"So we've got an hour and a half?" Margot confirms with me. I nod my head and she sends me a small smile. We stay silent for a few moments, her cracking her fingers while I just stare up at the ceiling and allow Ivy and I's last conversation to replay in my mind.
"What's the deal with you and Ivy?" Margot questions me.
"What do you mean?" I ask, trying not to sound too defensive.
"It just seemed like you two were flirting a lot or something today," Margot explains.
"So? We flirt all the time,"
"We argue,"
"Dude. Same difference,"
Margot just shrugs before she seems to drop the subject. And it's then that my words begin to hit me. Margot and I do seem to flirt all the time, and I can't help but allow thoughts filled with doubt to slip in and come to the realization that maybe Ivy's words weren't truly special.
And yet again, that's how Margot and I have always been. Ivy must be different. She simply must be.
"Favorite song. Go," Margot suddenly says from beside me. My eyes widen slightly at her question.
"Um. What?"
"Has the CD I gave you improved your music taste yet?" she asks me.
"I don't think my music taste really needs to be improved,"
"And she's in denial,"
"Hey!"
"Well, ok. I'll give you that it's fine, but there's room for improvement,"
I just nod as I turn my head to look at the wall.
"So? Favorite song?" she repeats herself.
"I haven't listened to the CD yet," I say so quietly that I can barely even hear myself.
"What was that?"
"I haven't listened to the CD yet," I repeat myself a bit louder.
"Dude!"
"Dude!" I say slightly louder than her, causing for her to smile.
"Well, you better let me know what you listen to it then,"
"Yessir," I say with a joking salute which she rolls her eyes at.
After a little more than an hour of talking to Margot about the most random things we can think of, from arguing over which Percy Jackson character is the best to her rolling her eyes as I talk about my love for One Direction, I finally get a text from Ivy.
Ivy: I'm pretty sure it's been an hour and a half. How ya doing, bird?
Me: Ivy!!
Ivy: You better be sober.
Me: Come see for yourself. Upstairs, second door on your right.
I hop off the bed and practically skip over the door to unlock it, which causes Margot to raise an eyebrow at me but not actually question me any further. I then hurry back to the bed and flop back down onto it, almost hitting Margot on accident in the chaotic process.
It's only a couple minutes before I hear Ivy knock on the door and I happily tell her to come in. Cautiously, she cracks open the door and peaks her head into the room, but a smile overtakes her face as she sees me.
"One hundred percent sober," I tell her confidently. Ivy smiles as she turns to Margot.
"It's the truth," Margot backs me up, and I can practically see the pride in Ivy's eyes.
"Well then I guess it's time for some milkshakes, isn't it, bird?"
I practically jump off the bed to get to her.
"Did you want to join us, Margot?" Ivy asks, most likely to be polite to my new friend.
"No. It's alright. I think I'm going to head home. See you, Aspen," Margot says as she gets up off the bed and walks past us out the door.
"Ready to go, Charleston?" I ask her. Ivy just smiles and nods at me before proceeding to lead me out of the house.
————
"Fuck," I say after I pull my mouth off of the straw of my strawberry milkshake.
Ivy gives me a look filled with disappointment, however it's quickly replaced by a shrug of acceptance.
"Thanks for the milkshake," I mumble.
"Thanks for not giving me something to worry about tonight,"
"You worry about me?"
"Of course I do, bird,"
"Oh," I say quietly.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm happy that you have fun at these parties, but I just don't want that impulsive type of happiness to get you hurt. So I'm sorry if I ever get annoyed with you. I just...."
I pull Ivy in for a hug, not sure how to handle the situation. Part of me wants to tell her everything. I want to let her know how I feel about her. I want to tell her about how much she means to me and how much I hate it when Jaxon flirts with her or she tells me that we're just going to be best friends forever. But I don't want to take the risk. Even if there was only a small chance that she didn't feel the same way about me. I don't want her to be uncomfortable because of my feelings and have to leave me. It would hurt too much. So I just settle on something else.
"I'm sorry," I tell her which causes for her to almost immediately pull away from the hug. I'm sorry that I'm too scared to tell her, that I make her worry, that I've turned her into something I need to make myself forget.
"It's ok," she says in response as she tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. My eyes flicker down to her lips before they meet her eyes again. Butterflies suddenly erupt in my stomach as even if I've never been kissed, I just have a feeling as to where this is going to go.
"Shit," I say quietly as I nearly jump out of my seat at the sound of a car alarm screaming into the night. Ivy doesn't jump like I do, but her head snaps around to find the source of the noise.
"Oh fucking hell," an old woman grunts out loud as she scurries over to her car from the back door of the small ice cream shop, fumbling with her keys as she removes them from her coat pocket.
As I turn back to look at Ivy, we almost immediately break into laughter, but it doesn't quite make up for the moment that's already been lost.