Author's note: And that's another chapter down! I'm nearing the drama!! Hehe... Hope you all enjoy this chapter and thanks so much for the wonderful words for the previous chapter - you are all so amazing! I hope I didn't move too fast in this chapter. It as bound to happen sooner or later! Until next week! :)

Chapter Twelve

A head splitting headache was what greeted the dark headed figure as she sat up in bed, eyes squinting against the bright sunlight flooding through the closed blinds. Bringing her hands to her temples, she rubbed them trying to soothe the pain temporarily. Doing a few breathing exercises whilst her index fingers moved in a circular motion, Essa allowed herself a moment to recover before getting out of bed, heading for the kitchen for some panadol©.

As she literally dragged her feet down the stairs and into the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of water before dawdling to the cabinets. Rustling through the medicine cupboard, she released a sigh of relief when she found the one thing that she thanked God for. Popping two pills into her mouth, she washed it down with a large glass of water whilst attempting to recall the events of last night. In all honesty, the previous night had been a blur; however Essa remembered downing various cocktails and immediately regretted her actions.

No longer trying to remember anything that had occurred at the bar, Essa rinsed her glass, deciding it was a little too early to be doing anything strenuous. Making her way into the lounge room, she was greeted with a messy sight - furniture was pushed over to one side and half the decorations were placed into boxes. Sighing, she moved back up the stairs, ready to suss out what was going on at home.

Ever since her father had returned for the remainder of his belongings, Ava Evans had taken an entire month off work, deciding to start paving the road in ‘healing’. Erica had gone back to college and Essa was stuck at home with her mother who she had gotten along with better. She had reached equilibrium in her life, and the conversations between her and her mother no longer felt limited. Surprisingly, Essa had been able to share a lot of opinions and personal thoughts on specific subjects and it felt good to come home at the end of a long day and have a parent around.

Approaching the open doorway which led to her mother’s bedroom, Essa leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest. With an inquiring expression etched across her features, her mother glanced up from the pile of clothes she was packing into a large black bag.

“Hello, dear,” Ava Evans greeted, busy folding and shoving old clothes away. She had been active all morning, determined to change the interior of her home, her mind set that if she was to recover from her divorce, the house had to change to allow that.

“And what happened to the living room?” Essa queried.

“Just refurnishing, it’s a good time for change.”

Feeling the effects of the paracetamol taking effect, Essa relaxed a little, the throbbing in her head dimming.

“Had a good night?” Ava asked, and smiled when her daughter nodded. “Chris carried you up the stairs last night even though he was on wobbly feet himself. He had slept over but left earlier in the morning.”

Seating herself on top of her mother’s large, comfy bed, Essa breathed in deeply. “Was I that drunk last night?” She queried and half cringed.

Never in her life had Essa drank that much before. She had always been responsible, the person that took care of everyone else when they were intoxicated. However last night was a different tale and she knew what had pushed her over the edge. It was the feel of Creston’s eyes on her that had made her continuously gulp down the alcohol that had been offered. Once she had reached her limit, she remembered that being drunk had stopped her from feeling the foreign emotions that coursed through her veins.

“Ah well, seeing as my baby girl doesn’t usually get drunk often, you’re off the hook. Besides, you probably have a killer headache which is pretty decent punishment.” Ava voiced and smiled knowingly at her daughter. “Drink plenty of water and you’ll survive,” she remarked in an awfully chirpy tone which hurt Essa’s head.

Groaning whilst getting to her feet, blue-green eyes averted to the packing form of her mother before heading back out the door. It was blatantly obvious that she wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep, so she walked to the bathroom to brush her teeth before going down to the basement for some well deserved painting time.

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Slender fingers smudged the grey-lead markings on the large piece of white paper. She had been drawing for the past hour now, busy sketching and adding tone to different areas of the landscape she had finished pencilling. The image she had drawn was of trees, hills and a huge waterfall. She had added water lilies and other wild plants whilst her mind reeled back to the events of last night.

At first Essa couldn’t recall anything, but as she probed further into the recesses of her mind, flashbacks of the bar’s restrooms were seared into her head. By now, Essa’s hangover was returning but she persisted to grasp the knowledge she had forgotten. She remembered washing her face to sober up but the events after that were a bit of a blur.

There were specific images of a masculine figure, his black shirt half unbuttoned; her hands running through tendrils of soft hair. For some particular reason Essa couldn’t seem to put a face on the dark figure but she remembered the feel of his lips against hers and more specifically, she recollected that she enjoyed the feel.

Feeling a headache coming on, the dark headed form ignored the feel, trying harder to remember the face of the person that kissed her. As their features started making itself visible in her hazy vision, recognition registered in her head as her pencil came clattering to the floor. Eyes wide and now frozen in place, the occurrence of the bar’s happenings unfolded before her. Essa relived the way she had her hand on his chest, the way his hair felt, but most importantly the way his lips had burned hers…

Taking a while to snap out of it, Essa clapped both hands to her boiling red cheeks, clamping her eyes shut in humiliation. Of all things she had done when she was drunk she just had to make out with Creston Montgomery Spencer. And what was even more embarrassing was that she was sure her kissing technique had been amateurish considering she never had indulged in such an act before.

Inwardly cringing at the fact that she had just thought about her kissing technique, Essa got out of her chair, pacing up and down the room. Her heart was beating erratically and there was no doubt her face was tomato red. Breathing in deeply, she tried to rule out the probability of kissing Creston however deep down within her, she knew that it had happened. Unable to comprehend the emotions that were coursing through her, Essa was certain that part of her was overly embarrassed.

“Good morning Ginger Ale,” echoed the masculine tone that belonged to Chris.

Lifting her head and snapping out of her reverie, Essa managed a weak smile.

“Geez, you don’t look too well,” the blonde stated, descending the few steps to close the distance between him and his childhood friend. “I decided to bring some brunch and spend Saturday together.”

Nodding her head, and feeling thankful for having Chris, Essa pulled out a chair for Chris to sit.

“Sounds good to me,” she breathed.

Falling into the offered seat, Chris ran a hand through his short blonde hair. “How you feeling? You were completely smashed last night which surprised the hell out of me considering you don’t drink.”

Reaching for her pencil on the floor, blue-green orbs couldn’t meet Chris’ blue ones. “It was a good occasion to drink.” She replied lamely.

“Interesting…” Chris drifted, “I should get you drunk more often considering you haven’t verbally abused me today. So I’m guessing you must be really hung over just like Creston.” He remarked but didn’t notice the slight pink tinge to Essa’s cheeks.

“How’s he?” Ess asked, feigning nonchalance.

Shrugging the blonde masculine figure smirked. “That guy must have a really bad hangover considering he never breaks our regular Saturday routine of hanging over at my place. Not to mention, he was the oddest drunk last night, went completely silent and just kept on sculling the beer.”

Not knowing what to say, Essa sank her teeth into her lower lip. The information Chris had just revealed confirmed that her kissing Creston had been real. Not wanting to give the incident another thought, Essa dragged Chris by the arm, pulling him back up the stairs.

“Let’s go for brunch!”

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Silence was what greeted Essa the moment she took her rightful seat in English class. Hell! For the entire day she had been well aware of the way Creston had been ignoring and avoiding her. It was Monday, and for the entire day of school an air of peace followed her everywhere which she wasn’t accustomed to it. Sure it was nice to have back her peaceful life with Soph and Trish, however it didn’t feel right.

She had spent today’s lunch break in the cafeteria, an odd silence between her and her female companions whilst she occasional peered over to the ‘soccer’ table to find Creston deeply engaged with one of his swooning female fans. Thinking that she was just being paranoid, Essa had attempted to approach the situation in a casual manner, however the moment she found herself seated alone in English was when she knew that things between Creston and her had become serious.

As Friday came, and there was still no communication between her and Spencer, Essa knew that she had to ‘man up’ and confront him. She didn’t like the awkwardness that had weaselled between them as well as the fact that Chris always had to make separate plans to accompany both her and Creston.

What also astonished Essa was that she had spent all her English classes this week with no annoying-devil-born Spencer pestering her. Even now as she sat in the final English class of the week alone, she couldn’t comprehend the emotion. She had rocked up to class early and had taken a seat in the centre row of the room; the chair to her right was vacant. A part of her was hoping that Creston would just sit beside her today so she didn’t have to confront him later on, however things hadn’t worked out the way she had planned.

When Spencer did enter in his fashionably late manner, she had felt a sense of disappointment when he refused to look her way, settling for the front row seat – a chair he seldom visited. As much as she loathed saying it, it did hurt a little to know that it was her that he was running from. In all honesty the bicoloured orbed girl didn’t want to admit that she had been affected by Creston’s absence, though she knew that he did have an effect and it irritated her. Since when did he have an impact in her life? She had spent majority of her time despising him yet it appeared that she didn’t hate him as much as she’d liked to.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The moment the bell signalled the end of class was the moment Creston Spencer made a run for the door. It had been the worst week of his life, but somehow he managed to survive. He had spent majority of the week with his soccer team and other fawning females that agreed to every little thing he said. Those girls that were a part of his fan-club was just so boring compared to Essa who practically defied him at every opportunity. And yet, the one girl that seemed to intrigue him the most was the main reason for making his life hell in the first place.

Ever since he had kissed her in her drunken state he felt like such an asshole. He couldn’t look at Chris properly, nor could he muster the strength to confront Essa. Hell! He wasn’t even sure if the dark headed figure remembered the events.

Now trudging down the hallway, somebody had tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to turn and face the source. There standing before him in all her five feet nine inch glory was Essa Evans, the one girl that managed to get under his skin. Standing at his full height, Creston braced himself for the events that were to come…

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Essa asked, perfectly aware of the many glances from passerbies. Feeling self-conscious now, she decided a more private area would be suitable. Opening her mouth to inform Creston of a rendezvous, it appeared he had read her mind.

“I’ll meet you at the ice-cream store,” he stated and walked off leaving her behind.

Creston had been cool and straight to the point. There was no arrogant smirk or derogatory endearments and Essa realised that she had missed it…

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Two figures sat across from one another at a table located outside where the green grass of the park was visible. They had been sitting there silent for the past ten minutes; neither had spoken a syllable because they had no idea where to start.

Fidgeting with the melted ice cream in her cup, Essa lifted her gaze so that she was studying the way the muscle in Creston’s jaw flexed and relaxed. He’s eyes were averted elsewhere though Essa knew he that he had her undivided attention. Spotting him open his mouth to speak, she unconsciously held her breath, only to have Spencer close his mouth again. It frustrated her to no end since the Creston Spencer she knew was always full of smart, irritating comments.

Dropping her spoon, heterochromial eyes finally locked with stormy grey ones. “I’ll start first,” she muttered and was about to pour out the random sentences etched in her mind when Creston had interjected.

“Listen Ess,” he began, “I have to apologize for whatever happened at the bar last week. I never intended to take advantage-”

Sighing, Essa didn’t want to hear any more. “Whatever happened between us was just a mistake Montgomery,” she voiced, halting him in midsentence. “Although we can never take it back, or undo what has been done, however we can act like t never happened.”

Comprehending her words, Creston didn’t know how to respond at first. In all honesty he wanted to apologize for his advances on her, but he also planned on revealing the emotions he held for her even if it meant ruining his ego. He had had the entire week to contemplate the events between him and Essa and all in all it had come back down to how he felt and whether if he really did regret kissing her that night. And right this moment, it was evident that Creston didn’t feel remorse for kissing her, but he felt guilty for making an advance on her whilst she was intoxicated.

Maybe it was the way he was brought up or maybe it was just his morals which made him the person he was today, but Creston knew that what he had done was wrong. To take advantage of a girl was what desperate males who wanted an easy lay would do, and for Creston, girls were never an issue so he never had to – and never would – stoop so low as to take advantage of a female. So when he did find himself pashing Essa that night, it made him sick in the stomach because he liked kissing her when she was drunk.

Staring at the light brown haired male with her green-blue eyes, Essa wasn’t accompanied to the odd silence between them. He had met her gaze a briefly and then averted his eyes elsewhere. She was always used to him and his smart-ass comments, or little taunts which usually enraged her. It was true that Creston was a jerk to her most of the time, but she rather him tease and humiliate then be silent and awkward - as he was now.

Her heart was thumping in her chest, her throat dry, and she couldn’t understand why. She felt a little jittery, her hands fidgeting in her lap which was hidden under the table and she unconsciously held her breath every time she felt that Spencer was about to speak. She had been acting this way for almost ten minutes now and frankly she didn’t want to be like this another minute. Clearing her throat, she decided to break the silence. It was obvious that Creston wasn’t going to say anything – maybe he needed some more time to ponder alone.

“I should go,” she half croaked, wincing at the way her voice had sounded.

Although there were many unanswered questions between them, Essa knew she couldn’t bear the discomfort any longer. Sure she despised the entire week of school without Creston irritating her in English as well as throughout lunch, but she was sure she’d live if things continued that way. She knew she wouldn’t survive if she sat here a moment longer.

Pushing her seat out, she commenced making her way past Creston’s motionless and still seated form, wanting to run home. Slipping past his chair, she felt a warm hand grasp her forearm roughly, the sound of the plastic chair sliding on the concrete floor. Frozen in place, Essa was afraid of turning around to face the person that was clutching her arm.

Her heart was thumping harder now as if it was going to pop right out of her chest. Holding her breath, the dark headed figure felt Creston’s hands slide slowly down her wrist, to her hand, his fingers intertwining with hers. Shifting slowly to meet smouldering stormy blue eyes, Essa could only stare wide-eyed at her right hand.

Blinking at the image before her, she was sure her heart failed to beat properly as warmth poured into her veins, her cheeks flushing a bright red. There was an odd tingling sensation running through her hand which was mechanically clutching Creston’s hand.

Releasing a small sigh, Creston didn’t know why he was feeling so flustered this moment. In all his high school years, he had done a lot of courting, but none of those experiences felt like this. Studying Essa, there was an odd expression spread across her features. It looked to be an expression of surprise mixed with… well, he wasn’t so sure.

“Do you understand what I want Ess?” He managed to cough out.

He wasn’t sure whether if it was his palms or hers that were growing sweaty, but either way he was nervous as hell this moment. Standing here, waiting for her to speak felt like an eternity. She appeared to be frozen in place, blinking once in a while but not uttering a single word.

Only just digesting Creston’s words, her eyes remained fixated on their entwining fingers, warmth flooding through her body. Attempting to remain composed, she coolly removed her hand from his, only just starting to breathe again. She had been stunned, and her heart was doing odd things such as skipping beats as well as twirling. Heck! For a moment she thought she was dying of a heart attack, but as she slowly deciphered what all these emotions and changes in her body meant, it freaked her out.

Running a hand through her hair, brushing her fringe out of her eyes, she shook her head in bewilderment. Gradually backing away from Creston’s figure, she just had the urge to turn and bail. She didn’t know how to react or what to say. What had been an innocent kiss has blossomed into something she had never thought would be possible…ever.

As her voice returned to her, she managed to meet grey-blue orbs. “It was just a kiss Spencer,” she informed. “A kiss doesn’t mean a relationship or marriage,” she explained, although her heart tightened at her own words. “Besides, we’ve established that it was all just a misunderstanding and I know you didn’t mean it and I’m not all those other girls that expect anything from something so small as a kiss and you are totally freaking me out and I swear if this is a joke it’s not funny and-” She cut herself off abruptly, knowing full well she had been babbling.

Stepping closer to Essa’s form, Creston was astonished when she backed away from him.

“Essa I’m not joking,” he reassured.

“No,” she stated. “I-I just need you to give me some space, cause I can’t think when you’re too close.” She explained and wanted to punch herself afterwards for revealing such a thing. Breathing in deeply, she held her hands up. “Spencer, I need some time.” She demanded, “Can you give me that?”

Feeling slightly astounded but knowing that his actions and words were a little unexpected, Creston nodded his head in answer. He was uncertain of where this was going, but he knew he’d get an answer sooner or later. Smiling softly at Essa, he observed as she gave a curt nod of her head and started heading off home.

Although today’s chat between him and her hadn’t concluded as he had planned, he had however felt a little better that he was stirring up some emotions within her. Her babbling had revealed a lot, and it satisfied him that he was having an effect. With eyes still watching Essa’s retrieving back, he grinned when she turned back around to face him.

“I’ll talk to you soon,” she half shouted.

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The lone figure of Creston Spencer stood at the park, silently waiting at the rendezvous where Essa had arranged for them to meet. It had been exactly five days, three hours, six minutes since their chat, but he hadn’t been counting… Now that she had finally made contact with him, he found himself doubting himself.

He was being a little pessimistic, thinking he’d scared the living daylights out of Essa for being so forward. And although he had initially taken her words of ‘not being able to think properly’ with him around as a good thing, he wasn’t too sure anymore. As his eyes scanned the horizon, he spotted the shadowy figure that belonged to Essa, her dark wavy hair streamy down her shoulders. As she approached him, there was an unreadable expression across her features which made Creston doubt himself further.

“Afternoon Evans,” he greeted in what he hoped sounded confident.

Essa smiled weakly, her cheeks boiling, her palms were sweaty. She had had a decent amount of time to mull over what had occurred between her and Creston, and she couldn’t help but shake off the feeling that he had been joking with her. Though when she took into account how serious Creston had been when he held her hand, and when he had avoided her… She knew that there was no way the idiot could fake his attitude.

At first Essa thought she could come to a conclusion with her feelings alone, however the task had been hard to tackle when she took Chris into consideration. She knew there was something there, but she wasn’t sure how deep it ran and what it was exactly. But with Creston she knew she took a specific interest in him, and it surprised her at how affected she had been when he had avoided her for an entire week.

So throughout the past few days, Essa had been busy chatting with her female companions and was grateful for them. When she had informed them of the news, neither of them had been as surprised as her and when she had asked why, they had told her ‘they saw it coming’. They assisted her in the procedure of reaching a conclusion, and right now she was carrying through with her promise of contacting him.

“Listen Montgomery,” she began to say. “I’ve been wracking my brain for days. I want to give you a straight answer but frankly I don’t know what I feel for you. It’s evident I hate you at times and yet you’re amusing too and-”

“It’s a love-hate relationship,”

Taking his words into account Essa didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Whatever it is, I know that these days I can tolerate you a little more and although you drive me crazy,” at her last statement a familiar smirk made its way onto Creston’s lips. Narrowing her eyes, Essa opened her mouth to speak again but Creston halted her.

Stepping closer to her so that only a foot was separating them, Creston breathed in deeply. “Then let’s go and see where this thing between us goes.” He mumbled, “I know I’m a jerk sometimes but I promise to not change too much,” he laughed when he saw her expression alter to one that said ‘sometimes?’ and then morphed into mock horror. “But that’s not the point Evans. The point is we should just try,”

Leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest, Essa attempted to appear as if she was in deep thought. She had relaxed a little, but nothing was stopping the odd thumping of her chest. She already knew what she wanted, but she wanted to play with Spencer just a little longer considering he was usually the arrogant prick that liked to pull her chains. So today she was going to give him a dose of his own medicine.

“I dunno Spencer,” she voiced in a doubtful tone. “You are quite intolerable majority of the time, and I’d probably die of high blood pressure because of your annoying ways,” she explained and smiled when she heard Creston’s loud chuckle.

He had definitely caught onto her joke. The next thing Essa knew, she was being pulled into the warm welcoming arms of Creston Spencer, enjoying the feel and warmth of him. Freeing her arms that had been wedged between their bodies, she found herself impulsively returning his embrace.

Although Essa wasn’t sure where she was going with this new found relationship with Creston, there was one thing that was confirmed… She loved the feel of his hugs and the air of protection that leaked from him. And as she pulled away, she unconsciously thought of her new name: Alessandra Lara Spencer…

For some odd reason I like her new surname... Haha! Anyways, this chapter was a bit of drag but I promise it'll be better next chapter - I'll make it straight to the point (that's only if my writing skills let me.). Anyways, yet again I have to say thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing, you guys are a wonderful bunch of people! Keep safe!

To: daling: Should I take that 'wow' as a good wow or bad? Either way, thanks for the review, and I wish this chapter interested you!! :)

sarcasmismymiddlename: Thanks for your thoughts, and I assure you this story isn't over yet... Hope you enjoyed!

Keemii: Haha! Thank you, I guess I should be proud of the previous chapter, but I'll let myself be proud when the stor is finished! However, I am proud of you for reviewing and am totally grateful! Thank YOU!

~silvenesti~: Haha, your fist "Mwuahaha" was quite evil sounding bu amused me immensely! I'm glad I did I decent job of the desriptions here, and although this chapter hasn't really touched on Chris yet, however it's sure to come! He's smart enough to sense that something odd is going on. Anywhos! Thanks for your wonderful review - they make me smile!

JacklynLindsay: I have added another chapter! :) Do enjoy

Kaleigh Windelynn: Hehe, I had to end the chapter somewhere. And being the semi-evil person I am, I had to leave readers hanging a little! Your reviews and thoughts are much appreciated!

lemon-mint-tic-tac: I shall try to keep up my writing efforts, it seems there is so much more to do during holidays! And I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter :)

kmad: Haha, for a moment I did think that you meant itin a bad way! But yeah, I tend to use those kinda desciptions because I don't like using my character's names too much. Thank you for your encouragement and I do hope you enjoyed this one! :)

KimStories2: Your review definitely counted :) And thank you for it!

jayniee: I have updated! Thanks heaps for th review! :) And let the drama begin!

WriterGurl123: Haha, I was actually grinning like a fool when I read your review! Glad I could put a smile on your face with just writing haha! Thanks so much for your kind words - like always! And this chapter is kinda paving the road for something more between Essa and Creston.

WanderingLight: It's all good - I totally understand your busy lifestyle and I'm grateful that you actually do find the time to review! So thank YOU for your efforts! :) Hope you enjoy this one!

Searching Crystal: Glad you are enjoying this story as each chapter progresses - the last thing I'd want is to bore the crapout of everyone!

Casfar: Indeed Essa and Creston do have a lot to figure out.. I hope this chapter answers your "questions" - though "statement" would be a better word to use! Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing and sharing your thoughts!! :)