Chapter 3 Unsettled Echoes

"So, who were the texts from?" Luke asks me as we sit down on the chairs on the porch.

"What?" I ask him, trying to come up with a lie I could tell.

I would rather not tell him they were from ' my non trusting, overprotective, drunk, moody boyfriend who tries to control me even though he's hours away. '

"Well you seemed kinda pissed after you checked your phone inside, so I kinda figured someone was texting you that you didn't really wanna talk to."

"Oh, uh–that. That was my boyfriend."

"Wouldn't you be happy to hear from him?" He lightly chuckles.

"I usually am. He was just being a jerk so i'm assuming he's drunk." I explain further.

He nods his head. "So how long are you here for?" He changes the subject, which I was thankful for.

"Just the summer. I go back to Melbourne beginning of September."

"Oh that's cool." He says. I give him a small smile. Michael then came outside.

"May, you ready to go?" He asks me.

I thought it was still pretty early but I was fine with going home.

"Yeah, i'm ready. Nice meeting you, Luke. Tell everyone I say bye." I say as I stand up, adjusting my top and shorts, and follow Michael to his car.

"Yeah, nice meeting you too." Luke says as he waves goodbye.

We get into the car and start driving home.

"Why were you and Luke talking outside?" Michael asks me.

"Oh, we went to get more drinks from the cooler. Plus, I didn't really want to see my older brother making out with some girl right in front of me." I laugh. He laughs too.

"Sorry about that."

"So, are you two dating?" I ask.

"What? No! I can't stand her! She's annoying and such a b---h, ew no! I would never date her!" He groans.

"Luke was right." I giggle.

"What?" He c---s his head to the side.

"He told me how you and that girl-" I begin before Michael cuts me off.

"Cora. Her name's Cora."

"He told me how you and Cora, always act like you hate each other but then can't keep your hands off each other every time you're together." I say.

"Luke's an idiot." He laughs.

We get home and I go straight to my room. I check my phone to see I had multiple texts.

From Ian: r u still at the party?

From Ian: How many guys have you f----d since u got to sydney?

From Ian: Now ur ignore me? Fine b---h

From Clay: Hey, idk what Ian's texting you right now but he's piss drunk. Ignore everything he says.... you hear...

From Aubrey: We're all at Clay's right now. Ian's drunk out of his mind and can't stop complaining about you. Ignore whatever he says to you. He doesn't mean it. Hope you're having fun in Sydney with Michael and your Mum. Miss you may...

I knew Ian was drunk. I couldn't believe how rude he was being. Actually, I could believe it because this was how he usually acted whenever he was drunk. I was surprised Clay texted me though. He's usually drunk right along with Ian. I decided to reply to their texts.

To Ian: Stop acting like such a jerk. I wasn't at a party, I didn't have sex with anyone, and i'm not ignoring you. I know you're drunk so just stop texting me and call me when you're sober...

To Clay: Kinda figured lmao. Thanks for letting me know..

To Aubrey: He's being such a d--k omg. It's alright here but honestly I'd rather be back in melbourne. :.. miss you

I lock my phone and get ready for bed. I couldn't deal with anymore of Ian's s--t tonight.

I wake up the next morning and immediately go to the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth, and apply a bit of makeup. I go back to my room once i'm finished and put on my dark blue denim short shorts with my grey panic! at the disco tshirt. I roll the sleeves a bit, slip on my vans and walk downstairs.

"Morning, you're ready early." Michael says.

"Yeah, I'm gonna just go for a walk, and do a bit of exploring." I lie.

Truth was, I was probably going to just go smoke behind the convenient store, but I didn't want my mum or Mikey to find out I smoke.

"I'll come with you and show you around." Michael says, standing up from the couch.

"No, that's okay Mikey. I'll be back really soon. Plus, I kinda wanted some time to myself today." I say.

I felt like a total b---h for saying this to my brother. After all, I came here to see him.

"Actually, never mind. Come with me. I want to spend as much time with you as possible while I'm here." I smile.

Forget going out for a smoke, I missed my brother. He smiles as he walks over to the door and puts on his shoes.

The day was spent with Mikey showing me his school, favourite hangouts, and where he first got high-which I was pretty surprised about.

"May? Look I know today was kind of brother sister day but, Cora's friend is having a party tonight and she asked me to go. She told me to bring you. Come with me?" He asks me.

I really didn't feel up to it but, Ian hadn't texted me all day and I need a distraction to keep myself from texting him first because he should be the one texting me to apologize for what he said to me last night.

"Yeah sure. I'll come."

"Okay good! And if you want, I don't have to hang out with Cora all night. I can stay with you if you don't feel comfortable with people you don't really know." Mikey says.

I shake my head. "No it's okay. I'll find a way to keep busy." I say as we walk home.

It was now 8pm and we were just about to leave. I had on my same shorts but changed into a plain black tank top and straightened my hair instead of leaving it in the messy bun it was previously in. I walk downstairs and go straight to the car where Michael was already waiting.

After a fairly short drive we arrive at the party. We get out of the car and go straight to the front door. We knock since we didn't know the host. Some girl opens the door, she's clearly intoxicated. We walk into the house and the smell of alcohol, weed, and sweat immediately hit my nose. There were people everywhere you turned.

"D--n, you guys know how to have a party. Seem's like I'm back in Melbourne." I chuckle lightly.

"Yeah, summer parties can get pretty crazy. Calum texted me and said they're all in the lounge downstairs, let's go." Mikey says.

We manage to get through all the people and downstairs to the lounge. Mikey opens the door and inside was Cora, Calum, Luke, Ashton and a few others I didn't know. Michael does the bro handshake thingy with the guys and quickly sits beside Cora.

"Oh right, guys this is my little sister,.. May... May this is Harry, Trey and Alex." Michael says, introducing me to the people I hadn't met before.

They all say hey and give a wave.

"Hey, I'm May. And i'm not that young. I'm going to... year 12.. (s.s 3)...." I laugh lightly before sending a glare over to Michael.

Just because Michael and I were two years apart, he always made me feel like a baby. Sometimes it was nice to have an older protective brother but, being sometimes it was smothering. They all laugh and I stood there awkwardly.

"Wanna sit?" Luke asks me.

I nod and sit beside him. "Why are you all down here instead of upstairs at the party?" I ask.

"It's my party." Alex laughs lightly.

I couldn't help but notice how pretty she was. She had dark brown eyes and long brown hair.

"I usually only have parties so I can hang out with these dorks." She says, referring to everyone in the room.

"Everyone else sort of just, shows up." She explains.

I nod my head.

"Want a drink?" Calum asks me.

"Yeah sure a Coke is fine." I reply.

Before I knew it everyone was laughing at me.

"That's not the kind of drink I meant." Calum says as he opens up the fridge, revealing tons of beer, vodka, and pretty much any other alcohol you could name.

"Oh, uh–a beer is fine then."

Before I knew it everyone in the room was drunk, other than Alex, Trey and myself. Alex said she needed to stay sober to take care of her house in case the party got out of control, and Trey said he felt bad that Alex was going to be the only sober one. I on the other hand wanted so badly to get drunk, but I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of people I barely even knew.

"You know, you're pretty." Luke mumbles into my ear.

"Thanks." I say with a smile.

"Did you work everything out with Ian?" He asks me, I was surprised he remembered his name.

"Nope." I say popping the 'p'. "He hasn't texted me since last night."

"He's a jerk then." Luke says.

"He's sweet when he's sober." I say, trying to make Ian sound good.

"Regardless of what state he's in, he should treat you good." Luke says. He was making a lot of sense for a drunk person.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Just then my phone starts to ring. The caller ID showed that it was Ian. "I'd better take this." I say as I got up.

"Oh, yeah–sure." Luke says.

I get up and quickly walk into the bathroom, since it was the quietest place I could find.

"Hello?" I say into the speaker.

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