Whatever It Takes

After about a half hour of Patrick’s meet and greet, Arianna had been introduced to pretty much everyone in sight. She noticed he always kept her at a close distance, especially when he introduced her to his guy friends and his arm would suddenly find itself wrapped around her waist. She did notice however, that he skipped over introducing her to a small group of girls who were sitting together in a corner.

She shook it off as a simple oversight on Patrick’s part; he was pretty tipsy after all. She turned back to the conversation at hand as she found herself sitting on the kitchen counter surrounded by Sharpie, Seabrook, Jon and Patrick’s friend Justin. They were telling her about Patrick’s last birthday, where he got so drunk he had started to whimper by the end of the night because he stubbed his toe as they tried to get him into bed. She busted out laughing at Sharpie’s re-enactment of Patrick, her eyes suddenly landing on his across the room.

His eyes smiled at her, as he excused himself from the group he was with and started to make his way towards her. She opened her mouth to warn the guys that Patrick was on his way when her eyes caught sight of him being derailed off his course by a set of tanned hands with red nails.

Arianna wouldn’t lie; she had noticed this girl from the moment she walked in. It was hard not to see her. She had long dirty blonde hair, flowing down her shoulders perfectly. Her sun-kissed skin gave off a warm glow, helping to accentuate her grey-blue eyes. She was flawless as far as Arianna was concerned. She tried to not let herself get jealous, to be rational about it all.

But she couldn’t help notice how the girl held onto Patrick, her body so close to his. How he placed his hand around her waist gently, leaning down to whisper in her ear. She could feel a lump form in her throat, as she suddenly realized this girl was part of the group Patrick had skipped over introducing her too. She shook her head and forced herself to look away, hoping no one had caught her starring in that direction.

“Where’s Patty Cakes anyways?” Sharpie asked as he moved his head to try and see threw the crowd of people. “He’s over there with Jamie” Justin answered as he took a swing of his beer, just as his eyes fell onto Arianna. She didn’t like the way he was looking at her, but she shook it off as him being most probably drunk.

Jon suddenly cleared his throat, looking nervously from where Patrick stood to where Arianna sat.“Oh guys remember that time when we went out” Jon began as he started to tell a pointless story, in hopes of changing the subject. Seabrook and Sharpie jumped in, laughing at the memory and having flashbacks.

“Whose Jamie” Arianna leaned down and asked Justin, her curiosity having grown since she saw Jon’s actions. Justin starred at her for a minute, hesitantly giving her a once over before leaning in. “It’s his side girl” he said, as he took another sip of his drink.

She felt her heart have spasms, “what’s a side girl?” she asked bravely. “You know, a girl you have on the side. All the hockey guys have one. It’s nothing serious, just someone who’s around so you can screw. A no strings attached relationship,” he answered, “someone you might even keep around when you get into a real relationship,” he laughed.

She saw Jon stop his conversation, his eyes looking towards her to see her reaction. She avoided his gaze at all cost, keeping her focus on Justin as she tried to steady her heart. “Oh really? Is it always the same girl for him?” she tried to ask casually, hoping Justin wouldn’t catch on to her frailty.

“Usually he changes them all the time, but this one was been around for the past 7 months I’d say. We like to tease him that he actually has feelings for her, seeing as how she’s stayed around so long” Justin continued, as he suddenly got elbowed in the stomach by Jon.

Seabrook and Sharpie looked down at their drinks, as Jon shot Justin a death stare. Arianna could feel her heart break, confusion and pain shooting through her as she made her way off the counter. “That’s not true” Sharpie began, as he looked at Arianna, “not all guys have side girls”. She nodded, fearing that if she opened her mouth she would vomit. “Yeah, and honestly, she’s not even that great. Really clingy” Seabrook added, nodding his head. “He just uses her, and she’s too dumb to notice” Jon finished as he put his hand on her back.

“Obviously Patrick would do that” she laughed, as she put a brave face on, hoping no one could see the water in her eyes. She was suddenly angry; angry with him for lying to her about not having any girl in his life, and not telling her about Jamie. But mostly she was angry with herself for letting a guy get to her like this. Screw this, she thought, I’m not letting Patrick fucking Kane get into my head like this.

“Guys, I have got to tell you, best fucking birthday ever,” Patrick slurred as he came over and joined the group, his arms around Jon and Sharpie’s shoulders. “And I got the best birthday present ever” he teased, as he eyed her from across the circle. She gave him a forced smile, “did you finally get a bike without training wheels?” she asked him as she walked away from the group and towards the living room.

Patrick stood there confused, as he glanced between all 3 guys still standing there. Before he could even ask what just happened, Jon sighed and gave him a look. “You can thank Justin for this one”.