Mr. Average

No. F**king. Way.

Scott linked hands with me, walking to the lunch room. Neither of us was hungry enough to eat the slop-- I mean, re fried beans,-- that the lunch ladies were serving. So we sat directly at our table; I rested my head on his shoulder, fiddling with a loose string on his sleeve, when Victoria delivered Earth shattering news.

"Kassi and I broke up."

I felt a spray of soda hit my face, I jumped, pulling Scott's sleeve string off. Jolly glared at Victoria with a slack jaw, "No. f*****g. Way!!"

Vic shrugged, playing it off as no big deal, but as soon as her lip trembled a millisecond we knew it was a big deal. She never cried, ever. She was always the optimist, always found the bright section of the dark index. As soon as the slight emotion crept out, it all fell out. Her face crumpled and she buried it in her hands, silently sobbing and trembling.

"You two were perfect together..." Scott mumbled under his breath.

Even Helena was sad, and she was a blank slate. Logan hugged Vic supportively, soothing her tangled, unbrushed hair.

"Why?" I whispered, shock freezing over my veins.

"She... she said that there's someone else." Victoria said between sobs.

"That's impossible!" Helena said, making us all look at her. And, I s**t you not, her eyes were filled with tears.

There was a collective gasp at the table, seeing Helena cry was like seeing a ghost, none of us had ever witnessed this.

"I mean," Helena took a breath, dabbing her eyes, "You two were the only ones to give me any god damned hope in this world! Now I have to rely on these two butt munchers." She said, gesturing to me and Scott.

"Thanks, Helena," I murmured.

Helena bit her lip, burying a sob. "I'm sorry, this just seems too surreal."

The sound of the bottom of Sperry's scraping the tiled floors brought my eyes up to see Zoi and Lola, hand in hand, skipping to our table.

"Oh, shit..." whispered Scott, seeing them as well.

"Party!" Zoi chimed.

"We're hosting a party at Zoi's house, Victoria, Helena, Logan, Jolly, Scott and Joel." Lola added, smacking six invitations on the table.

"Be gone, dweebs!" Snapped Logan shoving away the invitations. "We're going through a mourning period here."

Zoi gasped, "Who died?"

"No one," said Helena, hiding her splotchy face from Zola. "Kassi broke up with Victoria."

Zola looked at each other, "Even worse!" They said, in unison.

"So, as you can see, we're not really in a party mood..." I said.

"No!" Victoria protested, sitting up. "A party would be good for me, like therapeutic or some shit."

"What if Kassi's there?" Jolly asked.

"We haven't invited her, yet." Zoi piped.

"But, Victoria, we don't have to invite her. We kinda like you more than her, Vic." Lola said, sheepish.

The ghost of a grin teased the corner of Vic's mouth. "We'll be there."

Zola's faces brightened, "Really?"

Vic shocked us all with a smile, "You bet your duplicate asses."

"I can't go," Scott said carefully.

My heart lurched, "What? Why not?"

"Job interview," Scott said, pecking my neck. "Someone's gotta pull their weight in the Faire family."

"You're moderately rich," I protested, grabbing his hands. "Which means a lot in this minimum wage town, I think you can skip this."

"It's an interview to be a Barista, Joel," Scott said, his thumb circling my knuckles. "I can't pass this up, I've always wanted to work at a coffee shop."

I hesitated, "Does this coffee shop include a friends, family, and caffeine-addicted boyfriend discount?"

Scott did his signature gravelly chuckle, he kissed my jaw. "I'll make sure of it."

"Joel," Lola chimed, yanking me out of the daze Scott pulled me into when he kissed me, "We invited Adonis."

The familiar screaming in my head when someone said Adonis' name triggered. I could never figure out what, but every time someone brought him up, I felt like I was forgetting something. And with Zoi and Lola here, it was stronger, and I knew I should remember, but I gave it up.

"How do you know Adonis?"

Zola chuckled before a serious block fo emotion sat on their faces, in an ominous voice they said, "We know all."

"Right. But why did you invite him?"

Zoi and Lola looked at each other before erupting into giggles, "Because he's hot as fire!"

I nodded, "Should've seen that coming."

A jealous crease crossed Scott's face. Ever since my birthday, Scott has been a smudge suspicious around Adonis, how attractive he was, how he looked at me, and no matter how feverishly I told him about the lack of feelings I had towards Adonis, he was always a little jealous.

"And, each invitation offers a plus one, and he's bringing Finn, Joel." Added Lola.

I rolled my eyes, "It's fine, you guys. Yeah, it might be awkward with my brother there, but he's practically my age."

"I thought you hated him," Jolly inquired.

"Past tense. Now, I just don't care. He doesn't care about me, I don't care about him." I suddenly felt like the room was broiling hot. "What's with the interrogation? Let's talk about the party."

"There's not much else to tell, really." Shrugged Zoi.

"I think what Joel means to say," pushed Logan, "Is some gossip-- I mean, background information,-- about some people attending."

I c****d my head, "Not really what I meant, but okay."

"Well, speaking of Finn, Joel and Logan," Lola began, "Finn and Madison broke up."

"Really?" I said, I hadn't been paying much attention to Finn, so I wasn't caught up in his social life. "Why?"

"Our sources are unclear at the moment," Zoi said, "But we hope to find out at the party."

"Good to know, Zola." Said Logan, "That's all we need to know, we'll see you guys there."

_~_~_

Jolly, Logan, Helena, Vic and I stood side by side in front of the door to the house where the party was being held.

I quickly texted Scott, giving him good luck. The interview was being held so late because the manager didn't do interviews until after business hours, because he had to constantly watch the workers and customers, because he was a perfectionist.

He texted back a thank you, and our LC headed in.

The party was so not like Zola to host. There was a thin layer of weed smoke in the air, which I drifted away from. The music that was blasting was unrecognizable, though I picked up hints of Kanye West and Rick Ross.

Our Cluster drifted apart absently, each enjoying the party in our own way. I got a peppermint Schnapps from the liquor table, sipping it. My brain was full of fizz by the fourth sip.

"Hey, Joel!" I heard Finn called out. "Does Mother Dearest know you're drinking devil piss?"

I turned around, meeting his eyes. He was holding a joint, his eyes already bloodshot.

"Dunno, does she know you're getting high as a f*****g kite?"

He burst out into laughter, sitting on a recliner by the liquor table. "What's going on, little brother? Where's Steve?"

I rolled my eyes, "His name is Scott, and he's at a job interview."

"Steve, Scott, to-may-to, to-mah-to." Finn said with a dismissing wave of his hand.

"Heard you broke up with Maddy."

"Yep," Finn nodded, "Artistic differences."

"So, you cheated on her?" I said with a sip of my Schnapps.

Finn burst out laughing, smoke puffing out. "Yup!"

I chuckled softly, shaking my head. "What's the other one's name?"

"Kassi. She's a major babe."

I froze, the solo cup that held by Schnapps slipping out of my hand and tumbling to the ground, thick clear liquid spilling out.

Finn glared at me, his eyes clear of any daze brought my the weed. His irises were quirked with a sinister promise.

"You'll never be done ruining my life, will you?" I said, choking back tears. Just thinking of Finn doing that with Kassi, of all people, made bile rise in my throat.

"Nope," Finn said, a wicked grin teasing his mouth.

I filled the solo cup with rum and tossed it into Finn's face. Running in the opposite direction.

I ran into a hard body of muscle, more alcohol spraying on me. I looked up, meeting Adonis' crystalline blue eyes. I was caught up in them for a moment, before realizing that we were both drenched in vodka. "f**k!" I cursed, tugging at the hem of my shirt. It was a leopard print polo, my favorite shirt.

"I'm sorry," Adonis said pushing his hair back through his fingers, discreetly flashing impressive biceps. "Come on, there's some shirts that might fit you in Zoi's dad's closet."

"Adonis," I said, stopping him. "Are you taking me to the bedroom?"

He c****d his head, "Joel, don't be ridiculous. I don't think you want to walk around covered in Russian water."

I laughed, but tried not to.

He softly grabbed my wrist guiding me to a wide door near the bathroom. He locked the door and pulled off his shirt, showing his solid six pack and bulging pecs.

Scott, Scott, Scott, Scott, I mentally chanted. Adonis was attractive, but I loved Scott. I had to get my mind away from where it was.

Adonis fished through the closet, finding a polo. I took off my shirt, trying to avoid his eyes.

The polo went a little below my hips, and was hopelessly baggy around my torso. "It's too big," I said, quietly.

"That's what she said." Adonis whispered, sitting on the bed next to me.

I laughed, taking off the polo. I felt overly bare next to Adonis, specially considering that he was checking me out and not even trying to hide it.

Every thought about Scott drifted away, despite my attempts to catch them. I felt Adonis' hot breath on my neck and shivered, hands balling into fists. I chomped my lip, seeing if the pain would bring sense into my head, but Adonis had already stolen me away.

I touched his chest, pulling myself onto his lap. My hand drifted to his abs. Adonis put his hand on mine.

"Does Scott have these?" Adonis said, flexing. I shook my head.

Adonis and I locked eyes, my hand roaming his muscles. He leaned in, kissing my neck. His soft lips felt like feathers grazing my skin, he lightly bit down, my hand clenching his.

I rocked my hips, resting my head on his chest as he licked my neck.

"I think you got vodka on your pants," I breathed into his warm skin, "You should take them off."

There was a brief flurry of clothes being shed, and we moved into the bed, and the only thing I could think about was the feel of Adonis's body on mine.