Silent Love_Part 1_Forbidden Series Read online

  “Let’s do something tonight,” Amy said, her blue eyes sparkling.

  “But it’s Sunday.”

  “So? We don’t have to go partying. Let’s get something to eat and go bowling or something,” she suggested. I wanted to decline, but seeing her pleading look I couldn’t say no. And it’d been a while since we hung out together.

  “Okay, let’s do it. What time should we go?”

  “We can go now. I mean, it’s nearing four anyways.” Amy shrugged.

  “Sounds good. Call Mace while I get myself together.” Amy sent me a wide grin as she stood up, moving away to make the call. As I cleaned up all my textbooks and notebooks, I started to agree more and more with having a girls’ night tonight. Maybe it would take my mind away from this whole Ethan fiasco.

  “All set.” With my stuff in my arms, I nodded before following Amy out of the library. During the walk to my dorm, Amy talked about how she has had cheerleading practice every day, and how it was a lot harder than in high school. I let her talk about it and added a few comments here and there, even though I wasn’t all that interested in cheerleading.

  She droned on about some girl who thought she was better than everyone else. I couldn’t find it in myself to tell her to stop, because it felt like she was back to being my friend. I did not want to ruin the moment, and I was never one to actually voice my opinions on stuff like that.

  The walk to my dorm was over quickly, and sooner than I thought I was changing into something more “appropriate” to go out in—Amy’s words not mine. Apparently, my paint-stained shirt and jeans weren’t stylish enough to be seen out in public. I pulled on a pair of blue jeans that had manufactured rips in the knees and a cute off-the-shoulder pink shirt that had lace on the back. I kept with my usual flats and decided to just leave my hair in its messy bun. The only makeup I put on was to hide the bags under my eyes, and some lipstick. I did not have the energy to do anything more. It was a girls’ night out, and I was not going out to look for any guys to hook up with.

  Thankfully, as I exited my bedroom I found both Macey and Amy dressed similarly. For once I wasn’t going to be the underdressed one, for which I was glad. It was odd because once the three of us got mistaken for being triplets. Triplets! We looked nothing alike. Amy was tall, blonde, all body, gorgeous. Macey was dirty blonde, short, beautiful. And me, I was brown-haired, medium height, somewhat pretty. The person who told us had to have been drunk or high. No way could we ever look alike, and ever since that incident no one else had ever said anything remotely similar.

  “Let’s hit the town!” Amy yelled once I was in the living room.

  “The town?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Let me have my fun, Car!” She pouted. I shook my head at her while making sure I had everything I needed to go out. I had made sure to grab a pair of socks in my purse, so I wouldn’t have to go barefoot, which was completely and utterly gross. “Girls’ night out!” Amy practically screamed as we left the dorm room. Both Macey and I sent each other looks, and we couldn’t help but grin. We were used to Amy’s antics by now.

  We headed to my car this time, not wanting to be left alone if Amy found some guy. We had passed some guys wearing football jerseys who catcalled us. Of course the catcalls did little to actually make anyone want to give them the time of day.

  “You know, we haven’t done a girls’ night in forever,” Macey said as I unlocked my Honda.

  “That’s true.” If you considered going to an underground fight and having Amy ditch us a girls’ night, then it hadn’t been that long. But a real girls’ night hadn’t happened since the summer.

  This last summer seemed to be busier than any other. Amy was either with her family or away at cheer camp, which lasted for two months. Then of course she had to get ready to move into the dorm building, so we didn’t see her much. Macey and I did spend a lot of time together; again, we were practically sisters.

  Over the three-month break, my parents wanted me to have the best summer before heading off to college. They scheduled a month-long trip around Europe to see all the sights, to soak in the culture, and to get as much family time as possible. Some would think spending a month away with your family would be torture, but in fact, it was the best month of my life. I had the best time seeing all these amazing places, and let’s face it, there are tons of hot guys in Europe. Definitely not complaining there.

  The best part, though, for me, was taking photos. I had made sure to get a whole new SIM card, so I could take as many pictures as I wanted, and by time we got back it was filled to the max. There were so many things I captured with my camera, and later, when I got home, I drew things I had seen. My inspiration was at its highest then.

  “So where to?” Macey asked, dragging me out of my thoughts.

  “Somewhere good,” was my response.

  “Yeah, thanks for the help,” Mace shot at me.

  “Anytime.” I winked at her as I sat in the driver’s seat waiting to hear where we were going. It took us a few minutes to decide, but we finally chose a diner that was a few miles away from campus. I kind of remembered the diner from eating there after one of Luke’s games. It had good food and wasn’t too far.

  “Music time!” Macey yelled from the passenger’s seat, even though we could hear her perfectly fine. Not even waiting for any response from Amy or I, she turned the radio on, turning the volume all the way up. A new song was coming up as we listened to announcer’s voice for a second.

  “Yes!” both Mace and Amy said at the same time as the first notes of Adele’s “Hello” played. I wanted to groan because it was on all the freaking time, but I couldn’t deny its awesomeness.

  They continued on trying to match their voices with Adele’s, which was impossible. I bit back a grin that was fighting to break free, and I concentrated on the road. The chorus was coming up and I prepared myself for the two worst singers to start yelling the words.

  True to my word, Macey and Amy screamed out the lyrics, making the sound bounce around the small car. They both sounded like dying walruses, but they didn’t care. Carrying on with the chorus, they never skipped a beat. Macey even placed her hand on my cheek, slowly stroking it while singing.

  “Car, come on! Join in!” Amy urged me as the new round of lyrics was coming up. I didn’t waste a second. Soon we were all screaming the lyrics to Adele’s “Hello.” As luck would have it, we came to a stop sign just as the chorus came through again. I turned to face Mace and Amy as we bellowed the words. We used our hands too, as if that would help us sound any better. If anyone had seen us, they would think we were crazy.

  Because the diner was only a few miles away, we reached it by the time the song was over. The moment the song ended we all burst out laughing. We knew we were terrible, but it didn’t stop us. It was almost a rule with us: whenever we were in one of our cars, we had to sing. Sometimes, it was songs from the radio; others, we would plug our phones in.

  I pulled into a parking spot before wiping away some tears that had formed from laughing so hard. We stumbled out of the car, grinning from ear to ear. It felt like we were back to ourselves. I was first inside the cute, small diner. It was semi-busy, but we were able to find a booth with no problem. Heading to our table, I glanced around the place.

  The diner seemed like it was straight out of a book where two characters met and fell in love, or where a group of friends met to talk while the shy’ girls served them, to later on fall in love with one of the guys. The red upholstery could almost be tacky, with the white plastic table tops, but instead of it being tacky, it gave off that vintage feeling. Like tons of great memories had been made right here. The floor was designed with the black and white checker tiles like every diner seemed to have, which gave it an almost retro vibe.

  Booths lined the walls while tables littered the open space. There was also a long counter with swivel stools placed right in the middle of the diner, where I bet kids in the summer sat to drink their milkshakes. Behind the cou
nter was the kitchen, where you could see chefs busy at work. The walls were covered in old items such as old license plates, a Route 66 sign, and pictures with sayings on them. There were even photos placed on the wall; some were black and white, and some were newer, taken with a Polaroid camera. Everything about the place screamed charm.

  I grinned as I looked around. I almost expected to see waiters on roller skates. The seats were comfortable, and you seemed to sink into them as you sat down. We barely sat down before a girl around our age was handing us menus.

  All around us kids our age sat at tables talking about everything and anything. Families were spread throughout the place as well, with little kids talking loudly while drawing on their menus. The whole vibe of this place was friendly, making me instantly love it here. I couldn’t remember it being such a cute place when I came here with my parents a while back, but I did know I would probably be coming here when I didn’t feel like going to 95 Degrees on campus.

  “So what are you going to get?” Amy asked. I hadn’t realized I was staring off into space instead of looking at the menu. I sent her a sheepish smile before finally looking at the menu in front of me. My stomach growled loudly, since I hadn’t eaten since this morning. I was too busy in the library to eat anything.

  “What can I get you three?” the same girl asked, coming back to our table with a pad and pen in her hand. Macey and Amy rattled off their order while I tried to pick something. When it was finally my turn, I spouted off my order.

  “I’ll have the barbecue hamburger with no cheese, and fries. And can I get a strawberry milkshake?” I handed her the menu, watching as she raised an eyebrow at my order. Yes, woman, I will eat it all, I thought silently.

  “I can’t believe you will eat all of that,” Amy said as our waitress walked off to put our order in.

  “I’m hungry.” I shrugged. Macey smiled next to me, knowing I ordered like that all the time. It was a miracle that I wasn’t fat by now, honestly.

  “So…have you guys been with any cute guys lately?” Amy asked, looking between Mace and me. It seemed her and Macey were always thinking of guys nowadays.

  “Nope,” was my response. No way in hell was I going to tell her about Gage. I didn’t want to be rude, but seeing as Amy was a lot better-looking than I was, it wouldn’t be a surprise if she slept with him or something. Sure, I didn’t really like Gage, but that didn’t mean I wanted her to get to know him. I guess I was just being selfish. I could have hugged Macey in that moment, when she changed the subject.

  The next few minutes were spent talking about our classes and how we weren’t looking forward to more homework. Our conversation was steady and the only time we stopped was when our food came.

  “Car, is Luke ready for the game coming up? We have been practicing the same time as the football team, and man, do they practice,” Amy said.

  “I think so. Yesterday it was all he and Ethan could talk about,” I said, munching on some fries. At the barbecue, both boys kept going over plays with my father and uncle. The game wasn’t until Tuesday, but they wanted to be prepared. “I’ve heard that Coach Barnum is working them hard this year.”

  “Oh, he is. Although I’m not complaining when they all take off their shirts.” She wiggled her eyebrows. I shook my head but smiled. She was right; it was such a great sight, all those hot guys sweaty and shirtless. One time, as I sat on the bleachers waiting for Ethan and Luke to finish, I had the great opportunity to see almost the entire team pull off their shirts. The bleachers were sitting right by the water cooler, where they all went to get a drink. I was able to watch about twenty or so sweaty, hot, shirtless football players come in my direction to get a drink. Let’s just say I almost had a heart attack.

  That happened in high school, Ethan and Luke’s senior year, so the guys weren’t as hot as the ones in college. I think it was last year some time when I was here on campus, waiting for both boys to do something when the same thing happened. I was leaning against the wall beside the door to the guy’s locker room. All the football players came out shirtless, dripping with water from their showers. The sight was even more delicious than what I’d seen in high school. College guys worked out more than high schoolers. I almost died then too.

  “That’s the true reason you join cheer, isn’t it?” Macey teased.

  “Of course. Being near guys in those tight football pants is a girl’s dream.” None of us could deny that. I sipped on my milkshake, thinking of Ethan shirtless. I almost let out a sigh at the image. Just as Ethan came to mind, Gage seemed to force himself front and center in my brain.

  His ripped abs flashed through my mind. It was almost like he was right in front of me. I could see the tattoo on his arm and the ridges of his pecs and the v-line leading down to his pants. Apparently not thinking of Gage wasn’t working for me.

  “Hey, isn’t that Ethan’s Range Rover?” Macey suddenly asked. I looked out the window to my right. A black Range Rover sat right outside the window, looking exactly like Ethan’s. It was a present from his parents when he graduated. It was mostly a “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it but congratulations” kind of gift.

  “It looks like it,” I muttered. Sure enough, a few seconds later Ethan slid out of the driver’s side, with my brother emerging from the passenger’s side. All three of us seemed to stop and stare at the two boys heading inside. I barely noticed the way Amy grew pale at the sight of Ethan. As they entered the diner, I slid down in the booth a little bit slightly, hoping they wouldn’t see us, which was impossible considering the fact that we were right by the window they parked near. It only took them a second to find us before heading our way.

  “Well, if it ain’t my sister, Amy, and the midget,” Luke said as soon as he got to our table.

  “Ha-ha, like I haven’t heard that one before,” Macey shot back at him, rolling her eyes.

  “Move over,” was all he said before he started sliding in next to Macey and me. I was suddenly squished against the window as Luke made himself at home beside us. Ethan slid in next to Amy.

  “No, go sit over by your boyfriend,” Macey said trying to push Luke out. Her pushing did nothing; Luke was like a brick wall of muscle.

  “But what’s the fun in that?” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders before pulling her tight against him. Her head was smashed into his chest and armpit. With his grip she couldn’t move, but she did try, resulting in hitting me and pushing me further against the wall. Ethan and Amy just stared at us clearly enjoying the show.

  Macey and Luke continued practically wrestling one another while I kept getting banged and smushed against the window. After a few minutes passed, I got fed up.

  “Guys, there is another person in this booth,” I bit out, turning my head to glare at them. Feeling my heated glare, they pulled apart.

  “Sorry Car,” Luke said. I fixed myself so I wasn’t completely smashed against the window, but there still wasn’t enough room for all three of us so we were still squished against one another. Not bothering to reply to him, I grabbed my milkshake and sipped through the straw.

  “So what are you guys doing here?” Ethan asked softly, tapping his fingers on the table.

  “What does it look like we are doing?” I waved my hand at our plates.

  “Your words hurt me, Car.” Ethan clenched his fist to his chest while smirking at me.

  “I’m glad.” I sent him a sickly-sweet smile.

  “Fine, be that way.” I watched as his eyes darted to the last few fries on my plate. Not wasting a second, I grabbed two out of three before plopping them in my milkshake. His hand shot out a second later, only to grab the one I left him.

  “Hey!”

  “Too slow, buddy boy,” I said, shaking my finger at him. Just to show off that I got the other fries, I slowly swirled them in my milkshake before plopping them in my mouth. “Yum.”

  “You are evil,” he muttered, munching on the small fry.

  “You two are coming to the game Tuesday, right?�
� Luke asked, reaching for the other half of Macey’s hamburger while Ethan did the same to mine. Amy had gotten this big salad that I knew the boys would never eat.

  “It’s a home game, right?”

  “Yep,” Luke said around a mouthful of meat.

  “Ew, gross, close your mouth.” Mace sent him a look. Of course, being Luke, he just had to go against her words by opening his mouth wide, so everyone could see the food in his mouth. “You are a pig.” She slapped his arm.

  “We will be there,” I said over Macey.

  “You’ll be there too, right?” Ethan turned to Amy, who hadn’t said a word this entire time. I watched as Amy turned a little red, which was unlike her. It took her a few seconds to reply.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there cheering.”

  Ethan nodded, turning his attention back to my food. Keeping my eyes on Amy, I noticed she let out a breath before grabbing her water and gulping it down. Weird.

  “You doing good in your classes, Car?” Luke asked, taking my gaze away from Amy.

  “Yes, Dad. I am going on time as well.”

  “Just making sure, I’m in charge of you and Macey at school.”

  “You are not in charge of me,” Macey butted in.

  “Yes I am. I’m older than you two. Plus, our parents asked me to,” Luke pointed out.

  “Just because you are older than us doesn’t mean you are more mature,” I said.

  “Exactly! Carter and I are way more mature than you and Ethan,” Mace pointed out.

  “Hey!” Ethan exclaimed.

  “It’s true.”

  “Is not. Luke and I are way more responsible than you two,” he said.

  “How so? I had to call and remind you two about the barbecue yesterday,” I replied. “Without me and Mace, you two wouldn’t survive.”

  “Yes we would!” Luke said defensively.

  “Yeah, right.” Macey rolled her eyes at the two of them. I smiled as they shared a look, almost like they were agreeing with what we said. And it was true. If it weren’t for me and Macey, they would be late to a lot of things or forget important dates. Everyone would think us two girls were older than the boys. Girls were always more mature than guys, no matter the age.