Keep Your Heart Wide Open.

As hard as she tried, Gianna could not ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach. She held the green Heineken bottle in her hand, taking a deep breath before bringing the bottle to her lips. She took a sip, letting the liquid sail down her throat, in an attempt to find a better place. She bit her lip as she felt Alex reach out, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?” Gianna nodded, not wanting to ruin Alex’s night with her pointless moping. She tried to give him a convincing smile and he squeezed her shoulder before walking to talk to some friends.

Gianna turned around and sighed, finding a seat on an empty couch. She looked down at the bottle in her hands, running her fingers over the cool, green glass. She swirled the liquid, just trying to occupy herself. She rested her head on the wall behind her and shut her eyes. With her eyes closed the only thing she could see was Joel kissing her. She bit her lip and immediately opened her eyes, trying to ignore the tears she could feel welling up.

She just didn’t understand. How could he go from kissing her to basically ignoring her completely? It just didn’t make any sense. Gianna knew she had to talk to him. No matter how afraid to face him she was, she knew that nothing would change unless she told him how she felt. She finally felt ready to admit to herself that she had feelings for him.

Gianna looked around the room for any sight of Joel, but sighed when she couldn’t see him anywhere. She stood up off the couch, walking through the crowd of people. As she passed by various people, she kept looking for Joel. Unable to find him, she walked herself to the kitchen and grabbed another beer, before turning back around and banging into Alex. He smiled and lightly punched her on the shoulder. “How are you doing?” Gianna bit her lip and leaned in, whispering into his ear. “Have you seen Joel? I wanted to talk to him.” Alex pulled away, and looked around the room while he spoke. “I haven’t actually. Maybe he—oh wait, there…he is.” His voice trailed off and Gianna followed his gaze across the room.

Joel stood in the middle of the dance floor with that same girl, swaying back and forth. His face was stone-like as her arms were squeezed tightly around his neck, his arms wrapped around her way-too-small waist. Alex tapped Gianna, but she still stared at the pair in the middle of the room. “Gi…” She ignored him as if she couldn’t hear him. The only thing on her mind right now was Joel dancing with another girl.

She continued to stare when Joel looked over, meeting her gaze. She exhaled and bit her lip, calming herself down. That is until the girl turned around to find out what could possibly be distracting Joel. When she turned her head and saw Gianna looking over, she scowled and spun back around to Joel. Knowing that Gianna was still watching her every move, she reached out and grabbed Joel by the collar, pulling him close. She attached her lips to his and held on for as long as she could.

When Joel pushed her off and looked back to find Gianna, she had already gone away. Gianna went back into the kitchen, fully aware that the tears she had been successfully fighting had won the war. She wiped her damp cheeks with the back of her hand, sighing as she saw black eyeliner rivers on her skin. She walked into the kitchen and walked up to the one person she knew could cheer her up.

Garrett turned away from his conversation when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He came face to face with Gianna, eyes stained with tears and slightly rosy cheeks. He reached out, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Gi, what’s wrong?” She wiped her eyes one more time and shrugged her shoulders. “Just having a bad night, I guess.” He nodded and bit his lip. He took her hand and pulled her out of the kitchen. “How about a dance, then?” Gianna nodded, thinking that this was exactly what she wanted.

She knew that this was probably a bad idea. Gianna Summers does not play dirty. But the fact was, she was not going to just let Joel dance with that girl right in front of her. Two can play it that game.

Gianna followed Garrett to the dance floor, starting out where she couldn’t see Joel and his new dance partner. As she and Garrett moved around to the various upbeat songs, he leaned in. “So what’s really wrong?” Gianna bit her lip and looked at the floor. “It’s nothing, really.” Garrett sighed and shook his head, not buying any of it. But he let it go, for Gianna’s sake.

Gianna continued to search the overpopulated room for Joel, with no luck. As she danced with Garrett they were both quiet, neither of them speaking a single word. Garrett pulled her close for a hug, resting his head on her shoulder. Gianna could feel a slight buzz from the alcohol she had consumed, but not enough to make her do anything she would regret. It was just enough to make her feel a little less of the pain.

The music suddenly seemed to get louder at that moment, the crowd growing tremendously. By this time there was hardly any space between couples dancing, bodies pressed up against each other. Gianna started to wonder where Joel and the girl had gone, scenarios running through her head. What if they had left together? What if he had ditched her? Was he outside sweet-talking the girl, much like he had done to her? Was anything that he had told her true? She took a deep breath and stared straight at Garrett, not paying attention to anyone around her.

In the next second she felt herself bang into someone. She turned to apologize, being faced with none other than Joel himself. The two stared at each other for a moment before Joel turned his attention to Garrett. He was still with the mysterious girl, watching how Garrett was holding Gianna. His eyes narrowed and he fiercely toyed with his lip piercing, taking a last glance at Gianna. The stare was chilling.

He adjusted his hands, wrapping them tighter around the girl’s waist, getting closer. Gianna looked one last time and did the same, causing Garrett to furrow his eyebrows in confusion. She merely smirked and pulled Garrett closer to her chest.

Whether she liked it or not, this was not going to be easy.