Sweet Illusions

"Maddie, don't leave," Elliot jutted out her bottom lip with a can of beer in her free hand while the other arm was linked with Madison's. She was slightly buzzed, but made it a point to keep her head on straight, Madison on the other hand, couldn't say the same thing.

"Elle, I-I love you s-so much! C-can I just live with you p-please?" Madison slurred falling over and resting her head on Elliot's shoulders, her eyes fluttering shut. Elliot chuckled before they walked into the kitchen and said hello to the group of boys they'd gotten acquainted with. "Kenny!" Madison cheered before wrapping herself around him.

"Oh lord," Elliot rolled her eyes, Kennedy, who was working on a beer himself, let out a big laugh after Madison whispered something into his ear and it took literally two seconds before they wandered off hand in hand. Elliot simply followed them with her eyes until they ventured out of sight.

"Well, wonder what ever in the world they could be up to," Jared wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as he came up to Elliot holding a red party cup, both of them were relatively sober in a house full of completely drunk people, which as entertaining as seeing their peers falling over themselves and making fools out themselves could be exhausting.

Elliot looked over at the boys standing around John, their eyes locked for a moment causing her stomach to drop. She pursed her lips into a seductive smile before turning away and seeing Jared's expecting stare. Everything about her appearance been planned, from her freshly shaved legs to the little black dress that made her legs looks miles long and hugged her every curves. Her light brown hair had been curled into loose waves tumbling in a casual sexy way down her back.

"So who's house is this exactly?" Elliot asked changing the subject and looked into Jared's eyes, but they were staring at the boy she'd been making eyes with. "Jared?" She asked curiously before turning her head and seeing John mouthing something, "what's up?"

"Nothing just giving John a little reminder about behaving himself," Jared chuckled before literally shaking off the subject and smiling brightly. "So Elle, I think that we should do shots together," He smirked with a bottle of vodka in hand and she laughed lightly.

"One shot," She agreed with an index finger up, biting her lip before following him to a counter where he poured a fair amount into two shot glasses. "To new friends?" She offered as a toast, she tilted he smiled.

"To new friends," He nodded in agreement and they knocked back the shots. She blew out roughly after burning liquid rushed down her throat and let out a chuckle to mask the uncomfortableness in her stomach. She stole another look over at the boys before they walked over. "Do you remember my warning?" Jared asked and Elliot simply nodded, "well be especially careful when alcohol comes into the mix."

"Jared, you seriously don't have to worry about me," Elliot chuckled, brushing his shoulder lightly as reaffirming gesture. She saw John was close enough to hear what she was saying and she smirked, "I will never, ever have the desire to sleep with him."

"Oh, sleep with who?" A reddish-brunette let out with a girly flair before he scanned her body and extended a hand, "I'm Garrett, by the way."

"Elliot, nice to meet you," Elliot let out a laugh before raising her eyebrow and looking back to Jared who was nodding with a laugh of disbelief. Elliot turned to see John with pink cheeks after putting two and two together.

"Ha, that's great; so you're Kennedy's new step-sister John's been putting the moves on?" Garrett asked after seeing John's embarrassment and connecting the dots. She took another sip of her beer and exchanged a glance with Jared as a reminder of his warning. She scoffed at the fact that John had been bragging already, but talk was good.

"That would be me, and did he mention that he has been completely unsuccessful thus far?" Elliot nodded letting out a small laugh, the boys around her started a roaring laughter at John's sake. They began talking about people from high school and Elliot suddenly felt awkward. "Excuse me," She smiled heading towards the back door and her eyes locked with John's once again.

She weaved her way through the crowd of people and someone wolf whistled, she simply shot a dirty glare over her shoulder before she was outside and there was no one there. Finally, she could breathe and think, she stared out into the blackness and bit her lip feeling a pang of sadness. She missed the ocean view from her old house, the smell of sea salt in the air or the soft crashing of waves in the background. For a moment, she wished she had Parker, or any boy for that matter to hold her and let her know everything would be okay.

She heard footsteps behind her before sucking in a deep breath of air and she buried her feelings. Elliot had a slight sadness in her heart, she wasn't sure if it was being uprooted, but it was there. She turned to see John standing behind her awkwardly, his lips opened as if he was preparing to speak.

"Do you like being alone?" Elliot asked randomly, as soon as the thought popped into her head it slipped through her lips and she felt tears clouding her eyes. If she could get him to open up to her then she would be more than just another girl, in a way she knew he would follow her and the alcohol in both their systems would make it easier to just talk. She stared as his shoulders relaxed and he walked closer.

"No, there's too much to think about, too much reality. What about you?" John admitted quietly, looking down slightly at her with a glimmer of emotion in his eyes and she smiled. She felt her heart strings tug at the fact her plan was working rather well and quicker than expected.

"Depends, sometimes I like it, but it's not the same here. It was better to be alone on the beach, but here it's either dead silence or sirens off in the distance. I miss it, it was peaceful. Right now, I hate it," She spoke before lowering her voice to a whisper and keeping her eyes glued on his. She realized she was probably making little to no sense at the moment.

"Well, luckily neither of us is alone right now," John smirked, moving closer almost expecting her to move away. The tension seemed to burn through both of them as their faces got closer, she studied his greenish-blue eyes and still saw the vulnerability until he gave her a cocky smirk, as if this was a line and she sighed.

"Wanna walk me home?" She asked making her voice sweet and soft, breaking the moment and gave him a juvenile smile and chugged the rest of her beer. He chuckled realizing she'd shot him down again.

"Yeah, I'll walk you home," He scoffed, almost sounding bitter about it and she smirked. "After you," John opened the door for her and she brushed her fingers lightly against his chest before muttering a thank you, they both squeezed through the crowd and seconds later they were both outside again, she felt the breeze blowing through her hair and she turned to face John again. She turned back after seeing his eyes scan over every curve of her body, walking up the driveway.

"Can I ask you a question?" John asked, after the sirens off in the distance died and there was a calm silence, just them walking along the sidewalk under the gleam of stars and streetlights.

"Yeah, shoot," Elliot nodded, staring at the imperfections in the sidewalk, she smirked. People probably tripped on them all the time, but she missed being able to walk without looking down. She was always too careful to fall.

"Why have you been giving me the green light and the red light for the past couple of days, to be completely honest, it's kind of confusing," John muttered, wandering if he should be doing it right. This question took her back, most guys never straight up asked that question.

"You intrigue me, but your reputation precedes you," Elliot shrugged, knowing full well that was he wanted to hear. She looked up to see him surprised, honestly he wasn't quite sure what to think of the situation.

"Fair enough," John said, she couldn't read his emotions. He seemed slightly disappointed, but it was hard to tell if he was disappointed she was refusing to fall for him because of his reputation or if it was because she'd figured him out. She let the silence settle for a couple of seconds before she stole a look at him, feeling her stomach tightening. She shook off the feeling and regained composure.

"Tell me something about you that no one else knows," Elliot smiled, tucking a piece of curled hair behind her ear and looking up at him. This was just another part of the plan, but to him- he was surprised she actually wanted to know him. He chuckled uncomfortably before shoving his hands in this pockets as they walked on the black pavement into the night.