Chapter 4 A Part Of Her
Inez's POV
In the past, I wouldn't have cared a bit about Inez. But the moment my eyes caught the curiousity in her eyes - I'd asked myself if truly toying with Inez was a good idea.
From the moment I'd known Inez, she seemed like a boring nerd to me.
She was Irene's best friend. I didn't notice any streak of fun in her. That didn't mean I should care why Irene found her interesting.
Irene wasn't here.
Inez was, dressed exactly like Irene. The only difference was their hair colour.
Irene was wild, while Inez was the exact opposite: calm yet super boring.
I only brought Jess here because she requested we meet closer to home. And my home was way farther from where she lived. I was only intrigued by the mere thought of adding Jess to the number of girls I had hooked up with.
Nothing really special about her.
Thank God - mum wasn't home to witness all I'd done. I'd made sure of that.
And I thought Irene would be up in her room, nestled in her bed....
Noting Inez's presence, I had to send Jess home.
I wasn't afraid that Inez might tell on me.
No, it was way more than that. Inez was just utterly devastated by my actions today. And that look on her face was way too innocent.
I sighed to myself.
My eyes shifted to the coloured book on the counter.
'My Thoughts And Dirty Nothings'.
"Did she forget to take her book with her?" I scoffed as I picked the book.
The title sounded so personal. Flipping through it would be intruding on her privacy.
But the title intrigued me. This didn't sound like one of those boring romance book that take forever to exhaust.
Why do girls enjoy such books anyway?
I flipped through the pages until my finger landed onto the middle page.
"What in the world?" I gasped, laughing at the picture of myself staring back at me.
I didn't think I recall taking a photo in this burgundy top and black leather trousers. She had placed a love crown around my head in the picture.
"Why does she have a picture of me? Isn't this weird?" I asked myself.
I should be pleased but I wasn't.
Was this why Inez was always sweating whenever we were at close proximity?
Because her heart couldn't get accustomed to the thought of me being close to her?
Interesting.
I turned the photo to its back.
"Adrain Anderson and I, together forever. I don't know how this is gonna end but I would love to see where it takes me." I read.
I paused.
Scoffed again as I repeated those words.
Maybe it was another Adrain she was speaking of.
A page caught my eyes, perhaps an answer to my question.
May 4, 2024.
'Irene took me to go see her brother. Adrain was handsome. No, I shouldn't compare him to Ethan. I don't want to sound woke and all that. But why does my heart beat for Adrain more than ever?'
"Wow. I'm like a super star to my sister's best friend. And who is Ethan?" I uttered, certainly impressed with what I had just read.
And here I was thinking about how I would be bored to earth since Jess left for home.
Well, reading through this wasn't such a terrible idea after all.
I got two questions answered.
Actually, three.
One, why Inez was always sweating whenever she saw me?
She was in love with me. Her lips become sealed because she believe she may speak gibberish if she see me.
Second, who was Ethan?
Ethan was her ex-boyfriend?
And I got another pleasant surprise. Inez was a virgin.
Wasn't that interesting?
And she had lied to me last night.
"Irene? Is that you?" Inez stepped out to the kitchen island.
Her hair was a mess. And she looked surprised to see me.
"Nope. It's just me," I studied her.
She froze, recognizing my voice.
"I- uh- I - em.. I thought you'd left," she stuttered, watching me as I spooned the cereal I ate.
I'd been quite famished the early hours of the morning. I cursed my hunger for disrupting the book I was reading while I went to prepare something to eat.
Mother usually kept some takeouts in the fridge but since she started her extensive shifts at the hospital, she left more of these fast foods.
I had to make do with what I saw.
I shook my head in negation. "Care for some?"
"No, no, no. I'm not - hungry," she replied.
She was rooted for awhile. When my eyes shifted to hers again, she abruptly looked away.
I scoffed.
Irene entered.
"Adrain!" Irene shrieked, rushing towards me.
"Don't jump on me," I halted her, "I'm not fit to be crushed." I reminded her.
I heard Inez sniffling a laughter.
"But it's been ages since I last saw you. You didn't say you were coming." Irene smiled.
"Yeah. You left your friend all by herself and where did you go?" I asked.
From my peripheral vision, Inez didn't seem the least interested in our conversation. She was busy looking for something.
"No where important. Besides, Inez can take care of herself. So, you shouldn't worry." Irene pouted at me.
This was another reason why I didn't quite fancied the idea of our parents separating. They weren't divorced yet - but they were closing into that path.
And such path gave Irene so much freedom. And it irked me more that we didn't live together.
I lived with our dad at the other side of town. While Irene lived with mother here in Berkeley.
"Irene, have you seen my journal?" Inez asked.
We both turned to Inez who was beginning to fret.
"Your journal? Wasn't it with you the whole time?" Irene waggled her brows.
Inez shrugged. "I can't remember."
The corner of my lip tugged. "You seemed to have short term memory." I chipped in.
"Excuse me?" Inez rolled her eyes at me.
Perhaps she hadn't expected that statement from me. But I was truly enjoying the look in her eyes.
"Perhaps I left the book in your car." Inez turned back to her friend.
"How does the book look like?" I asked, hoping I could get her to explain.
"It has different shades of purples. Have you seen it? It's really important to her." Irene said.
"I was talking to her. Anything fancy about the book?" I persisted.
"Don't worry about it, Inez. I'm sure it's in my car," Irene grabbed Inez's hand, swirling her towards her room.
"There's a party happening at Kim's tonight," Irene said.
I didn't know who she was talking about but I noticed the way Inez flinched.
"I should be going home....,"
"Home? But it's the weekend, your uncle wouldn't mind that you spend the weekend with me. We're going to the party, Inez. Don't try to talk me out of this one."
I scoffed to myself.
There was no going home for me either.
I would be attending the party.
