© 2018 Shay Spencer. All rights reserved.

Something New

[ Chapter 1 ] It's Not You, It's Me

. . . . .

Hayden

3 Months

. . . . .

I couldn't feel anything. Hadn't been able to for a while now.

"Where to?" She whispered against my ear, her teeth scratching my ear lobe as she did. "We won't be alone much longer."

"I don't know," I shrugged her off, flipping to the next page.

Rolling her eyes at me, she slammed the textbook shut. "Hayden."

At this point, I didn't even want to look up at her.

"I don't know," I ran a hand through the mess I called hair. After getting to school in August I hadn't found the need to comb through it.

Elias wasn't on my ass about things like that anymore, and neither was Scarlett.

I shook the thought away.

"Want to grab a beer or something?"

"That's the exact opposite of what I was thinking," she corrected me. "Can we head back to your place?"

"We're alone now," I droned, leaning my head against the back of the couch.

"I guess it's my pick then," she smirked back at me, pulling her legs off my lap and standing from her spot on the couch.

She quickly gathered up the quilt that had been hanging over the back of the couch, forcing my head back up as the girl nodded off towards the door.

"Come on," she urged. "My roommate will be back at ten."

I nodded, slipping on my shoes, "then I guess we better get a move on."

-

The quilt felt scratchy against my hands, and the cool breeze wasn't doing much for me either. Not that she seemed to care.

"Move," she huffed curtly, rolling us over and landing me firmly on my back.

The quilt didn't feel any better on my bare back than it had my hands.

Her black hair pooled over me, acting as a blindfold to the stars above as she steadied her knees on either side of me. She claimed she couldn't go a second without looking up at the stars. She obviously had other plans for a moment like this.

The numbness still plagued my nerve endings. Even running my fingers over her pale skin made no difference.

Though she winced in pain as my fingers ghosted over the crook of her neck, she pushed through it. Seemed like the thing to do, I guess.

Pulling her tattered grey band t-shirt over her head, she tossed it to the side, leaving herself exposed to the same cool air that had gotten to me. Pennsylvania had been known to catch a chill around this time of year, but she hadn't gotten the memo.

Otherwise we wouldn't be rolling around half naked in the grass outside.

Her pink lips invited themselves onto mine, acting as a sort of warmth against the frost that was settling itself over us. I was suddenly consumed by her cherry blossom perfume and the taste of the white wine she had been sipping on before.

She bunched up what she could of my hair, moaning into my mouth as she bucked her hips against my own, but still, I felt nothing.

I hadn't felt anything for two months now.

She continued, biting and tugging at my bottom lip in a silent ask for entrance. I could feel the slight twinge of pain but I definitely wasn't in the mood for anything like this.

Ripping myself from the kiss was a difficult feat in itself, let alone finding the time to get a word in. "Let's-"

"Shhh," she hissed, straddling me once again.

"Cece," I groaned, though definitely not in the way she would have hoped. "Tell me about the damn stars again."

"What is your problem?" She wrinkled her face up in disgust.

The girl swung her leg back over, falling back against the quilt she'd stretched out over the grass.

"It's not you." I shook my head, running my hands over my face in embarrassment.

"Obviously," she cocked her eyebrow up at me. "What is it? Are you not attracted to me? Are you gay?"

"No," I nearly chuckled back at her. "Definitely not, and trust me when I say the opportunity has come up a few times."

"Then what?" Her voice was muffled through her shirt as she tugged it back over her head.

Letting my head fall back against the grass, I could only think of one problem with a night like this.

She was cute, blonde, and living in New York with her dick of an ex-boyfriend.

Scarlett Blaine still had me wrapped around her gorgeous little finger.

"I'm trying to get over someone," my voice cracked at the mention. "Obviously I'm failing for probably the first time in my life."

"How long?"

I shook my head, "two months?"

She nodded, her eyes narrowing in one the stars above.

"Why'd you end things?"

"How can you just assume-"

"Because I know you, Hayden," she smiled back at me. "We've been this close to hooking up for months now. Something stops you every time. So, answer me. Why did you end things?"

If I closed my eyes, I could almost see Scarlett again. Despite the fact that we hadn't talked once since she left for New York, her image was etched into my brain for all of eternity. It was my own personal hell at a time like this.

If only I'd steered clear of Scarlett Blaine. I'd be back in Beverly Hills taking girl after girl to bed. Now I'm some idiot who can't get it up for a girl that's quite literally throwing herself at me.

"This is going to sound wrong in every way," I said, opening my eyes to catch Cece gawking back at me. "She's my step sister."

Before I could even think of something to add, she threw her hand up towards the sky.

"Look," she started, pointing her index finger at two stars in particular. "Altair and Vega, two star crossed lovers."

She paused and turned her attention back to me.

"Okay?"

She rolled her eyes, "no matter which way you tell the story, their parents fought to keep them apart. They even put a river in between them to insure that. But every year, they get to spend one night together, and that makes up for the rest of their time apart. They're able to make it despite the odds."

"So you're saying I'm a star," I nodded before she swiftly slapped my shoulder.

"Would you give up the act already?" She huffed in annoyance. "I'm trying to be okay with the fact that you're hopelessly in love with your step sister by telling you an eerily similar story."

"I'm sorry," I shook my head at myself. "Thank you, for trying to be okay with this."

"No problem," she quipped with a smile. Without another word, she pulled herself up off the ground, holding her hand out to me.

I took it, standing beside her as she rolled up the quilt and folded it over her arm.

"You'll get through it," she reassured. "You're too hot not to."

But as I watched her make her way back to her dorm, my eyes shot back over to my phone screen glowing in the dark. It'd been two months and still, the only time I could feel something was when I thought of Scarlett Blaine.

I was a goner if nothing else.

....................................................................

All too short but it gets the job done.