We walked through a small pathway that leads us to a garden in front of the door. People were outside dancing and drinking, and some girl was puking behind a bush...cute! The music was blasting in my ear, and I could already feel a headache coming on the way. As we climbed up the few steps to the door, I felt Dylan's hand on my back. I look at him with a frown, and he simply shrugs, "There's a lot of people here."
"No shit, Sherlock," I reply sarcastically.
"I just don't want to lose you," he points out unexpectedly. I don't understand his protectiveness. It's not my first time to a party, and I know how everything goes around here. The guys had already spread, each going to do his own business.
Once inside, I turn to Dylan, "Listen, D, you're not going to stay by my side the whole time, right?" He shrugs again and I sigh. "I'll be fine; you go have fun. You don't have to worry about me."
"Are you sure?" He raises his voice for me to hear over the noise. I nod at him. "Alright, be careful, and don't accept any drink from anyone, okay?"
"Okay, Okay, I'm not a little girl, Dylan," I punch him on his hard chest. He nods and gives me a hug with one arm. "Okay, now go. You know I don't like hugs," I lightly push him away from me.
He chuckles, "Fine, be careful, okay?"
"Okay, Dad!" He shakes his head with another chuckle, and I see him disappear into the crowd. Someone suddenly runs into me and shoves my shoulder to the back. I glare at the guy, "Careful, asshole!"
He looks at me with a sly grin, "Hey, gorgeous, what's your name?" My eyes widen in shock then they turn into a burning glare.
"You wanna know what's my name?" He grins wider, getting closer to me. "I'll tell you what's my name," I smirk at him as I say smoothly. I then kick his leg hard, "IT'S NICOLE, YOU BASTARD!" He groans in pain and bends down to hold his leg, "You crazy bitch!"
I hold him from his collar and look him dead in the eye, "Next time, my foot reaches your balls." He widens his eye at my threat, and before I could let him go, someone separates the two of us away from each other. "Woah, calm down, you two." A guy with blonde hair and fairly noticeable sharp jawline stands in between us. I don't know who he is, but he definitely saved the guy. He looks at the asshole standing two feet away from me, holding him by his arms firmly, saying, "you're drunk, dude. Go find another chick to annoy, and don't come near her again." Now, what? I don't know him and he's already standing up for me though I surely didn't need any support.
He turns to me and smiles at my awed expression. "What was that?" I asked.
"What? I drove his annoying ass away from you," he says proudly.
"Well, I didn't need you to do that for me; I was doing just fine by myself."
"Couldn't you be a bit grateful at least? You don't need to be rude about it."
With a sigh and roll of my eyes, "sorry," I say with a sarcastic smile. "And thank you, but spare me your generosity because I didn't need your help."
He folds his buff arms and says, "Well, next time I'm not going to interfere. Now, can I make it up to you by getting you a drink?"
I smile at his offer, "Without even an introduction?"
"Of course! I'm Ryan," he extends his hand for me to shake and I take it.
"Nicole."
"Yup, heard you screaming this at the poor guy," he chuckles.
"Well, he deserved it. I like to teach whoever bothers me a lesson."
"And I like a brave lady," he smirks at me and gets the hint immediately. He then leads me towards the bar where the bartender asks what we want. I get a Coke while he asks for a cold beer.
"So, Nicole, you don't come to our school, do you?" He asks after a short while.
"Nope."
"It makes sense now. I would never have missed a pretty face like yours," he didn't hesitate to compliment me. Although I'm pretty sure he's using his charm to get into my pants like the player he seems to be, I still like his boldness.
Two hours later, Ryan was laughing his ass off at something I'd said. He laughed so hard that a trace of tears in his eyes. I smiled at the heartwarming sight before me.
"You're something, Nicole," he exhaled. I smile, darting my eyes to the dance floor. Before I take a sip from my third drink, I hear him ask, "So what school do you study in?"
"I don't go to school," I say, and when he frowns in confusion, I add "I dropped out when I was 15." Much to my surprise, he just nods with no response whatsoever.
"You're not gonna ask 'why'?"
"Freedom of Choice," he says with a knowing look on his face, "You don't need to have another reason."
I don't talk more but only listen to the music that's now getting higher than ever. Suddenly, the music stops as gasps and screams echo through the mansion. There's a crowd forming outside near the swimming pool, and from where I'm standing, I see a fight going. I can also tell it's pretty aggressive. I walk with Ryan behind me and push through the piles of people till I get a clear view of the scene.
My eyes widen when I see Jordan falling hard on one of the tables. "Jordan!" I run to him and bend down next to him on the floor. His nose is bleeding and I can see a bruise starting to form on his left cheek. I look up to see a furious Tyler, clenching his fists and breathing heavily. He looked dangerous as he was taking long strides toward us. "Tyler, what are you doing?!" I yell at him.
"Nicole, stay out of this," he pulls Jordan from his collar and brings his arm to the back for another punch. I stand between the two, looking Tyler dead in the eye, "What is wrong with you?"
"HE KISSED MY FUCKING GIRLFRIEND!"
I look at Jordan as he says, "Dude, it wasn't my fault she threw herself at me—"
"YES, IT WAS YOUR FAULT!"
I've never seen Tyler that mad. Heck, the last time I ever saw him angry is when I stole his ice cream from his fridge. I held his shoulders in attempt to calm him down a bit, "Alright, buddy, calm down—"
"I'M NOT GONNA FUCKING CALM DOWN! HE KISSED AMBER!" He then made a move to punch Jordan again, and as I hold Jordan's arm, I see Tyler being pulled away by Ryan. I feel relieved, but not completely since Ryan couldn't fully control Tyler. An actual sigh of relief only can out when Dylan and Cody arrive at the scene, and Tyler is held by three fairly built men.
"Chill, Tyler," the guys try to calm him down, but those attempts only work when Dylan said, "Violence is not how you solve the problem, Tyler." Soon Tyler's breathing became balances, and the death glares Jordan was receiving decreased a little. I looked around to see the one responsible for all the this. The one and only Amber was cowardly standing by the side, watching as we fix everything. I leave Jordan to go to her, and when she sees me, her eyes widen, and she fixes her posture.
"Can you see what you've done?" I ask in a threatening tone. She tried to hide the panic she felt at the moment, but her vulnerability was very easy to perceive. She swallowed a lump in her throat, and hesitation preceded her words, "I didn't do anything."
"You kissed Jordan. You threw yourself at him like the slut you are," I presumptuously stated, carelessly screaming at her face.
"Hey, watch your words, will you? I didn't throw myself at Jordan," she said defensively. "You weren't even around when it happened. Don't judge what you didn't see."
"Oh, yeah? And what have I missed?"
"Jordan is the one who kissed me, and I slapped him for it," she said dubiously. I don't believe her. I don't believe anything she says.
"You mad bitch," I say quietly, "You planned this, didn't you?" She didn't answer, and only looked at me with fake confusion. I abandoned her and headed to the guys, where the crowd has become less condensed now. Dylan was with Tyler, talking to him about something. Tyler still looked pretty tense, but not as earlier at least. Cody stood next to the table, where Jordan sat, pressing a bag of ice on his cheek.
"Are you okay, now?" I ask Jordan, placing my hand on his shoulder. He looks at me and nods, and only now that I realize his beady eyes. I was so grasped in what happened that I didn't notice his drunken state. He puts his head on the table, groaning lightly.
"Dylan gave me his keys," Cody says, pulling Jordan up from the chair, "come on, buddy, let's get you home." I help him out, making Jordan put his arm around me to guide him toward the door. The music had been already playing for a while, and I felt a migraine hit in. Just when we were about to leave, I felt a finger poke my back. I look behind me to see Ryan.
"Oh, Ryan!" I cause Cody to stop in his tracks. "I'm sorry for just ditching you like this."
"It's cool," he shakes his head with a smile, and directs his next words to my drunken friend, "Are you okay, man?"
"Yeah, dude, I'm fine," Jordan's speech slurred and was barely understandable. I look over to Cody apologetically, and he nods his head, mouthing OK. Soon, I was free of Jordan's grasp on my shoulders and felt a heavy burden being lifted from on top of me...literally.
"I'll meet you, guys, where the car is," I informed the two, but only one understands and nods. Ryan and I stand outside in the garden, facing each other.
"That was some drama," he started.
"Yeah, and it's gonna get more dramatic soon. You've only seen a part of it," I say as a matter of fact.
"Oh, trust me, I'm not gonna miss that much. I see them in school every day anyway."
"Oh, you go to the same school?"
"Yup."
I nod, remembering that this is Amber's party, and she sure invited the whole school.
"So when's our next meeting?" He asks, grinning from both sides of his cheeks. His smile is contagious, and I find myself smiling as well.
"I don't know. You tell me."
"May I have your phone, please?" He stretched out his hand for me to place my phone in it. After a short while, he returns my phone with another of his smiles, "Call me."
I smile at my phone and nod at him. I then abandon him for the night.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
