10.

“Oh, Alex baby, I missed you so much!” little miss ex declared, making goo goo eyes at Alex.

Alex looked like he had seen the light after death. All his body parts had gone immobile, while the ex latched onto him, like a leech sucking blood from its host.

I, on the other hand, watched everything unfolding before me like a third party observer with no interest in the matter.

Okay, fine, I am lying, but, only because for some weird reason, I had felt my heart go numb for a second, when Blake declared that the clingy girl was Alex’s ex.

No, it’s not what it seems like! I was just shocked. I mean, it was so unexpected. I had never anticipated Alex to have dated, like ever! Not to sound judgmental, but, I thought no girl could ever tolerate his moodiness apart from his friends (and me, of course, but let’s not go there!)

Cameron cleared his throat, “Uh, what brings you here, Jackie? At this time of the night?” he asked, directing the question at the clingy bitc-I mean, ex.

Good question.

Jackie goo goo (yup, I decided to very generously give her a nickname) pulled away from Alex, registering all of us for the first time since she arrived here. Alex exhaled a sigh of relief and muttered something to himself.

“Oh, hey! I didn’t know we had so many guests here, tonight! I didn’t even notice you all until now!” she said with a sickly sweet smile.

Was this girl kidding me? She was lying through her teeth!

I could bet my ass that even before she saw Alex, she had made eye contact with me, for the tiniest second. And, I also distinctly remembered how her eyes had flicked to my hand which was captive in Alex’s hold, before she decided to go all ninja on us and broke us apart.

Wait…that didn’t come out right! I swear, I was just trying to justify (to myself) how much of a lying witch Jackie goo goo was.

“Excuse me, but, what did you mean by ‘we’ had so many guests,” Julia spoke up, cutting off my thoughts, “as far as I am aware, this house belongs to Alex’s parents, that would mean, technically to Alex. So, where do you come in?” she asked Jackie goo goo, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jackie goo goo waved her hands, laughing, “Oh, you know, what belongs to my boyfriend, belongs to me.”

Everyone nearly choked on their own breaths while Alex looked like he wanted to bang his head in the nearest wall. I curled my lips in disgust.

“You are frickin’ delusional Jackie!” Alex ground out, after taking many deep breaths, “I have already told you numerous times that our relationship is over! What is the meaning of all this?”

Jackie’s lower lips trembled, no, wait, correction: she made her lower lips tremble. Then, she applied pressure to her eyelids to widen them in a puppy dog look.

“I know you are mad at me, baby. But, can we please let past remain in the past?” she pleaded.

“I say, no.”

I slapped a hand over my mouth as soon as those words came out. All eyes in the room turned to me.

Oh shiz! What was I thinking? I mean, why did I have to blurt out whatever I was thinking?

Alex turned to me, “You are the one to say. Don’t you think that makes you a hypocrite?”

I chose to keep my mouth wisely shut, while Jackie goo goo gave me a distasteful once over.

“Who the hell are you, looking like you just emerged from the dirtiest sewer of the city?” she spat at me.

Oh right! I was drenched in water from head to toe. But, this witch shouldn’t have gone there…

“Don’t you think that makes two of us?” I deadpanned, “seeing that your ‘so called boyfriend’ is in a similar state and you were just hugging him, soaking all of that ‘dirty sewer water’?”

Jackie goo goo let out a banshee like scream as soon as this realization hit her.

“Alex!” she shrieked, “How could you?”

Seriously?

Alex rolled his eyes, then, closed them, and then, opened them again, giving her a very deadly calm look, “Listen to me very carefully. I don’t have the patience to deal with your hysterics right now. I have no idea why you are here, and I don’t even want to know. There was nothing between us in the first place,”

Wow! Really? Um…I mean, not that I was interested…nope! Not at all!

“And even if there was, you destroyed it the day you decided to cheat on me. So, you may get out now,” Alex concluded in a no nonsense tone.

I felt bad for Jackie goo goo, now. If I was in her place, and Alex had adopted that tone with me, I would be shaking in my boots (not really) but, miss goo goo had the nerve to break a dam and start a flood of tears then and there.

“Don’t do this to me.” she wailed, “Where will I go, so late at night?”

“Uh, home?” Blake suggested.

Her wailing rose to an octave, “How will I go home at this hour of night?”

“Um, the way you came here, at this hour of night,” Hailey replied.

I nodded subtly in the background. Blake and Hailey were totally voicing my thoughts.

“I can’t,” miss goo goo sniffed, “please Alex, let me stay here tonight. I know, your parents are not at home,”

“What the hell?” Ashton asked in bewilderment, “who told you that?”

Jackie wiped away her tears, “Well, obviously, if his parents were here, you all wouldn’t be having this um, gathering right now.”

So, she had brains…

“And, what makes you think I will let you stay here tonight?” Alex asked her, blankly.

She made those irritating goo goo eyes at him again, “I know you still like me. Come on, you haven’t even committed again after we broke up.”

“Um, sorry not sorry, but, he is committed,” Blake said, coming to the rescue.

I had never seen Alex with a girl whom he could possibly be in a relationship with. Surely, Blake was lying, right? But, wait, what if he was not?

Why are you losing your shit over it? my inner voice not very kindly mocked.

I blew out a breath. What the hell was wrong was me? I was just a third party observer here!

“You are lying,” Jackie goo goo said to Blake in an accusatory voice.

“No, he’s not!” Millie responded.

What…?

I looked up to see Alex’s face: blank…like always.

Darn it! Could he like, not keep such an emotionless face for once? I was dying with curiosity here!

“Who is she?” Jackie goo goo and I asked at the same time.

Oh my God! Shoot me. Shoot. Me. Now.

Everyone was looking at me in amusement, except for Jackie and Alex. Jackie was giving me a ‘what’s it to you’ look while Alex had narrowed his eyes on me with a smug expression.

I had such a strong urge to face palm myself, at that moment, and I would have done it too, but a chuckle interrupted me.

A manly chuckle. All of us turned to its source: Dylan.

Oh man, I had almost forgotten about him…

Weirdly enough, Dylan walked up to me, slinging an arm around my shoulder, “Oh, girl, you are really funny,” he said to me.

“Uh…thanks, bro,” I said, hesitantly, totally confused about where this was going. But, something told me that Dylan had a screw or two loose, so, I thought better than to ask him.

“Why would you ask about Alex’s girlfriend, when you are the lucky girl, herself?” he declared with a chuckle.

After that so many things happened at once: my eyebrows rose so high that I am sure, they must have receded under my hairline, Alex looked like he had seen the light after death for the second time in a day, Jackie goo goo let out a second banshee like scream, everyone else had a mischievous, knowing looks on their faces.

I was doomed! I was so doomed!