The World Awaits Your Smile

The tension that morning was unbearable. No one knew what to say; they just wanted to get home and forget about this weekend.

After boiling the kettle, Lisa quietly made some tea for Alex, Jared and herself. She set their cups down on the kitchen island and smiled softly at them both after they thanked her.

"How's Jack doing?" she asked her boyfriend, taking a small sip of her tea.

Alex shrugged, "I think he's still beat up over the fact he hit Cody."

"He did that accidently. There was nothing he could do." Lisa replied. She sighed and looked over at Jared, "How's John?" she asked.

"I don't know," Jared began, "I haven't spoken to him since last night." As soon as the words left Jared's lips, John walked into the kitchen; his hair a disheleved mess as he had just woken up. Jared smiled at his friend and pushed one of the stools towards him. "How are you doing, man?" he asked, as John sat down.

"I've been better." he simply said; his voice still hoarse.

A silence washed over the friends soon after and John sighed; he knew it was his fault no one knew what to say. He got up from his seat, creating a load scraping noise to echo throughout the kitchen. Without saying a word, John left the room and the stares of his friends. The group soon created their own conversations, talking about various things that had happened the night before, besides the obvious.

Soon after, Holly awoke from her sleep and entered the kitchen. She smiled widely at everyone and took John's previous seat, receiving sympathetic stares from her friends. After looking around at the three of them with a confused look, she soon spoke up.

"What's up?" Holly cautiously asked, glancing from Lisa to Alex and then to Jared.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Lisa asked, nothing but sincereness lacing her words.

Holly smiled, "Good." she stated. "Why?"

"We were just wondering, is all. We'd think after what happened last night you'd be a wreck." Alex said.

"What happened last night?" Holly asked, her brows furrowing in the process.

"You mean, you don't know?" Jared questioned, with a raised eyebrow.

Holly shook her head, "No. What happened?" After no one spoke up, Holly became aggrivated. "What the hell happened?!" she repeated, her voice raising as she asked the question again. Everyone remained silent, as Holly's rage grew, "Do I have to beat it out of one of you?" she asked in all seriousness.

"Do you have to beat what out of everyone?" Garrett asked, entering the room.

"What happened last night." Holly replied, looking at Garrett for guidance.

"You don't know what happened? Even I know what happened last night and I was fuckin' smashed." he replied, smirking.

"Well, spill it, Garrett." Holly said sternly.

"Okay," Garrett nodded, beginning to recollect. However, he was soon interupted.

"Don't." Jared said, looking at Garrett with stern eyes.

Holly sighed, "Why are you being like this? Just tell me!"

Alex stood from his seat and held his hands up. "I am not getting involved with this." he simply said, getting ready to exit the room. Unfortunately for him, Holly blocked the doorway and shook her head.

"No one is leaving this room until someone tells me what the fuck happened last night."

All of a sudden, a voice spoke up, startling Holly. "Your boyfriend kissed my girlfriend." Jack spat, barging in the room for cereal.

"Way to go, Jack." Alex said, clapping his hands slowly.

"We're so sorry, Holly." Lisa softly said, a frown present on her face and her eyes showing sympathy.

"I don't fucking want an apology off of you! What the fuck?! Where's John?" Holly asked, flaring her nostrils.

"We don't know," Jared answered, "He left before. But please, whatever you do, don't hurt him." he added.

"I'm not going to hurt him," Holly stated, "I'm going to kill him. There's a difference."

"Don't worry. I got that one covered." Jack said, his words laced with venom.

"No, you haven't. You missed and failed." Alex smirked at his best friend.

Before Jack could retaliate, Cody walked into the kitchen rubbing her forehead. "What's all the shouting about? People have hangovers you know." she said.

Holly scoffed and shot a glare to Cody before exiting the kitchen, making an awkward silence loom over everyone else.

+|+|+

Holly stormed down the path and pulled out her phone from her pocket. Taking a deep breath, she dialed his number and put on a fake smile.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, John." Holly said, using a fake, sweet tone. "Where are you?" she asked.

"Just down by the lake. How come?"

Holly shrugged, even though he couldn't see. "I just wanna see you, is all." she mumbled.

"Oh," John muttered. "Well, come on down. There may be a seat for you." he chuckled.

"Good to know." Holly nodded. "See you soon." she said, before hanging up the phone.

Holly made her way down to the lake, noticing a figure sat on a deck chair by the side of the lake. She walked slowly, the stones under her feet making a noise, alerting John that she was there. He stood up from his chair and walked towards her, smiling. Holly smiled back, plastering the best fake smile she could across her face. As soon as John was close enough, Holly's expression changed, and she extended her arm, slapping John as hard as she could across his cheek. John brought his hand up to his cheek, looking back at Holly with a shocked expression across his face. But he remained quiet. Holly shook her head at him,

"So, when were you planning on telling me? Or weren't you planning on telling me at all?" she asked. John shook his head in response, cradling his cheek in his hand.

"I didn't know how to tell you, Holls," he started, taking his hand away from his cheek. Holly felt the urge to smirk as she saw the red hand mark that had already formed on his cheek, "Listen, I was drunk, I didn't kno--" Holly laughed bitterly, shaking her head.

"Don't give me that bullshit. You knew exactly what you were doing, John, or else you wouldn't have done it. I should know." she retorted. John brought his hand up to his forehead, rubbing his temple with his index finger and his thumb, trying to think of something to say that would make this right again. Holly shook her head again, "You know what? I don't even care. I don't wanna hear your lame excuses. All I'm gonna say is I'd stay of out the way of Jack," she paused, "And stay out of the way of me until we go home, for that matter." she added, before turning on her heel, causing the stones under her feet to grind together. She started to make her way back to the cabin before John grabbed the bottom of her arm,

"Just let me explain?" he asked. Holly shook her head no, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes.

"No, John! I'm sick of this. I'm sick of you. I'm sick of the amount of times you've made me cry and made me feel miserable. It was my fucking birthday, John. We were supposed to be here to have fun, all together as a group. But you had to go and ruin it, didn't you?" she said, the tears freely rolling down her cheeks now. "Just leave me alone." she said just above a whisper, turning on her heels once more and picking up her pace towards the cabin, leaving John stood on his own.