He now reminded her of a gargoyle, but she couldn’t put her finger on why.
“Just a few minutes till we have some more fun!” he said.
“Dancing?” she asked.
“Something like that.”
She started to feel stranger, and felt a need to lie down. She was glad when Dave started leading her toward the stairs. Yes, she could rest in a spare bedroom for a while.
She felt like she was stumbling a bit. It was probably the heels.
A part of her thought something wasn’t right and she heard herself asking:
“Where are we going?”
“Your friend wanted to meet you up there.”
Relief washed over her.
“Nicholas? Or Maria?”
“Yeah, both of them.”
“Edward there too?”
“Yeah sure,” he said.
***
“Hey, there’s your brother.”
Edward turned in the direction of Maria’s nod. He didn’t really care to see Nicholas at the moment, especially since he was enjoying his explorations of Maria’s mouth.
“I thought he was still with Sydney,” she said, looking worried. “I think I should go check on her.” She started looking around.
Edward didn’t want to let her leave and was saved from it because just then, Nicholas noticed them and headed over.
“Hey, where’s Sydney?” he asked once he reached them.
“We left her with you man,” Edward replied.
Maria started wringing her hands.
“This isn’t good,” she said. “We drove together, and I have the keys so she couldn’t have taken the car. She also doesn’t have the patience to sit around waiting till I’m ready to go. She would have found me immediately and demanded to be taken home, especially since she forgot her purse in our room so she doesn’t even have money on her to call a taxi or anything.”
Edward put a hand on Maria’s shoulder to calm her down, but most importantly, stop her from running on and on.
She looked up at him.
“Edward, I’m worried. This isn’t Sydney’s kind of place. I don’t know where she could be or what she could be doing or who could be...”
She closed her eyes and seemed to be trying to shake off a hideous image.
“I have to find her and make sure she’s okay.”
She turned to where Nicholas had just been but he had slipped away from them.
“Where’d he go?”
Edward shrugged.
“To find her I guess. Shall we resume?”
He smiled at her, heading for her lips but she put her hand up, fingers covering his mouth.
“Are you nuts? I said I have to find her! What part of that don’t you understand?”
She turned and started to look more frantically through the crowd, making her way through.
Edward resigned himself to assisting with the search.
He looked around and eventually spotted the back of someone with long dark hair and caramel skin, so he headed for her.
Maria, who was at least a foot shorter than him, couldn’t see as he could over the crowd, so she followed him until the object of his chase became clear.
“That’s not her,” she said.
He looked at the girl again, then noticed the clothes and body were different, and when she turned her face to the side, he knew for sure it wasn’t Sydney.
They continued the search, but found neither Sydney nor Nicholas on the dance floor, in the kitchen, or any of the other first floor rooms. When they went to check the bathroom, it was locked, and Maria pounded her fists against it. A girl with pink hair and red eyes emerged, her breath smelling of vomit.
They turned away and headed for the stairs.
Maria started running all the way up.
Eddie tried to sneak glances under her dress but had to content himself with the way her butt moved under it.
“Eddie, hurry up!” she called out to him.
He complied, deciding he better start acting like he was concerned. It would earn him points after all, and fulfill his fantasy of having Maria’s legs around him sooner than later.
He busted open the first door he came across, scaring the couple within out of their intimate embrace. He apologized to the startled blond looking back at him with wild hair and raccoon-like eyes, her mascara and eyeliner having spread, and apologized to her drunken, brunette female companion. He closed the door softly and ran to the next door with marijuana smoke sneaking out from under it. Sydney was not among the group of boys getting high.
He noticed the third door already open, and when he looked in, saw Nicholas over some hapless fellow on the floor with a bleeding mouth. It looked like Nicholas was contemplating hitting him again.
He was about to tell him:
“No need to continue to beat a man while he’s down!” when he saw Sydney’s prone form on the bed, appearing unconscious. By her partially undone pants, Edward figured what had transpired—or had been about to.
He shouted out Nicholas’s name to make sure he didn’t hit the guy again, even if he deserved it.
Nicholas looked up at him, a lost look in his eyes for a moment. Then his eyes focused.
Before he said another word to his brother, Maria ran to her friend, and shook her gently.
“Oh my god, what happened to her? Sydney? Sydney? Answer me honey...”
Nicholas went over and stilled Maria’s hands.
“Maria she’s not gonna get up now. I’m pretty sure that bastard gave her roofies or something. Let’s go get her checked out and make sure she’s all right.”
Maria looked at him in despair, her eyes wide and glistening with tears.
Nicholas gently refastened Sydney’s pants, then lifted her up, cradling her in his arms. Edward walked over to Maria and draped his arm around her shoulders in support. She looked up at him sorrowfully.
Then the three of them walked out.
The party halted as everyone watched Nicholas carry an unconscious Sydney down the stairs in his arms, followed by him and Maria.
The foursome exited the house in silence.
CHAPTER SIX
Nicholas hated the idea of leaving Sydney in the hospital by herself but he had been informed she would be kept for observation overnight, and wouldn’t likely wake up for several hours.
He agreed to meet Maria and Eddie at the hospital at around eight in the morning to pick her up.
Although he left the same time as them, he was so restless, he eventually showered and changed and headed back to the hospital. He was there by three a.m. and waited out the rest of the time there.
At around eight a.m., the other two arrived, waking him up from a nap he didn’t realize he had fallen into, and they followed up on Sydney’s condition. A nurse said she was up although disoriented, but waiting to see them, so they rushed to her room.
Maria grabbed Sydney in a hug when she saw her, and it took everything in Nicholas’s power not to do the same.
Sydney stared at them blankly.
“Guys, why am I here?” she asked. “The nurse told me they found drugs in my system. What happened?”
Maria looked at him and Eddie before answering.
“Yeah, Syd—apparently someone put something in your drink. Do you remember taking drinks from anyone?”
Sydney put her hand to her head.
“I can’t...I can’t remember much after Nicholas and I came back inside. Let’s just go home,” she said. “I’m really tired. Dr. Stone said I can go.” She sighed and looked around the room, her face showing disgust. “I don’t want to have to come to a hospital again unless I’m giving birth. Get me outta here.”
Nicholas escorted her to Maria’s car and the boys followed them as Maria drove Sydney back to campus.
“Okay, so...you guys’ll be all right?” Nicholas asked Maria, as he laid a sound-asleep Sydney in bed, even tucking her in which he saw Maria smile at. Sydney had fallen asleep during the drive.
“Of course we’ll be all right Nicholas,” Maria said with a small laugh. “What are you gonna do—sleep here with us to make sure?”
She rolled her eyes.
Nicholas almost offered to do just that.
“Right. Of course she’ll be fine, you guys will be okay, of course.”
It was quiet for a few moments.
“Okay well, let me know when she gets up,” he said. Then he wrote down some numbers for her. “Here’s Dr. Stone’s numbers in case...you know, anything. And my cell.”
Maria took the piece of paper and said a final goodbye to him, shutting the door.
***
Nicholas was stuffing a large slice of Hawaiian pizza in his mouth when he heard Eddie coming down the stairs behind him.
“Hey Nick, you won’t believe who just called—mom.”
It was enough to make Nicholas turn away from the television, almost dropping the next slice he had picked up. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nope. She wants us to come home for Christmas.”
Eddie gave him a look as he came over and grabbed a slice of the half-eaten pizza.
“Oh really? She trying to impress her boyfriend?”
Eddie’s voice was muffled as he chewed.
“You don’t really still believe...”
“Why not? It’s not like you don’t know our parents have about as much love for each other as cats have for water.”
“Nicholas...”
“Come on Eddie. Mom’s a red-blooded woman. She’s gonna get passion from somewhere.”
Eddie swallowed then grabbed the nearby two-liter of Sprite and took a mouthful.
“You know, there was a time when you would’ve thought her incapable of such intense emotion,” he said, letting out a satisfied breath.
“I did say passion Ed. The woman can hate too. But love, I don’t know if she’d know it if it hibernated in her hair. When was the last time we even saw that woman?”
He saw Eddie flinch at his choice of words.
“Well, it
has
been a while. I guess about two or three years, right before you started college. So you comin’?”
Nicholas sighed. It was certainly tempting.
“We’ll see. Hey, have you talked to Maria yet?”
“Yeah, she’s with Sydney. Probably going over what happened as we speak.”
Nicholas took a moment before saying:
“I wonder if I should’ve been there. I keep wondering if I should go there now to support her...”
“This from the guy trying to stay away from her.”
One of Eddie’s eyebrows was raised as he looked at him then reached for another slice of pizza.
“But how can I now? After what happened? Look, I’ll just make sure she knows I’m here for her, and when she’s okay, and she’s done whatever she needs to do, I’ll back off.”
Eddie was laughing, looking like he was about to choke on his food.
“Yeah sure man. Whatever you say. You can’t expect me to believe you’re going to leave her alone now, after last night.”
Nicholas sighed.
“Yeah I know. It’s going to be harder than ever.” Nicholas thought a moment. “Maybe I’ll just keep watching her from afar...”
“As if you were ever going to stop doing that.”
Eddie threw him a skeptical look.
Nicholas ignored him and continued:
“I’m still not gonna, you know, get close to her or anything but she does need me.”
“Oh, she needs you now.”
“Yes. I mean, who knows what could have happened if I hadn’t been there?”
“Nothing if there was no ‘there’ to go to.”
“What do you mean?”
“Honestly, I think she came to see you. And since ‘we’ throw these parties, it was her opportunity to get close to you. So you see Nick, it wouldn’t have happened without you anyway.”
“Are you trying to say it’s my fault?”
Nicholas felt his blood start to boil.
“I’m just saying bro. She only came to see you.”
That thrilling thought was enough to temper Nicholas’s anger. Could his brother be right?
“Nicholas, don’t be dense. Think about it: why else would she come to our party? It’s clearly not her thing. And did you see the way she was dressed? She brought out the big guns—that girl was on a mission. And who else do you see her talking to besides Maria? But above all else, you and I both know it doesn’t take much effort on our parts to attract the opposite sex to say the least.” He pretended to pull on lapels. “Come on now Nick. She probably has a cutout picture of you from some newspaper with little hearts saying ‘Nick and Sydney forever,’ like hundreds of other chicks out there.”
“Well, brother, as you so clearly pointed out, I think it’s a good idea to cancel our parties.”
“Of course we’re still having them.”
“But look at what almost happened to Sydney! How could you still go ahead with it?”
“If we don’t throw them, someone else will. And no one can throw a party like us. Lighten up, it’s part of our status, our image. Can’t ruin that on account of some isolated horny bastard.”
“Eddie, you and I both know that was not an isolated incident.”
Edward shrugged.
“We’re not responsible for everyone’s actions.”
“Exactly—just our own.”
“Nicholas, the solution is simple. Just don’t come.”
Then it looked like he remembered something.
“Hey, Nicholas—what happened before she got trapped with that guy?”
Nicholas almost saw red as blood rushed to his head but he cooled himself, knowing nothing would come of it.
“Well, you guys know we took a walk outside. Chatted a little. Yes, there was kissing involved Eddie. Anyway, I basically said it wasn’t a good idea and took her inside...then left her.”
He exhaled heavily.
“Nicholas, you really can’t blame yourself.”
“Why not? I know what she’s like, Ed—I really do know her pretty well. She’s not the type of girl who can handle herself at bashes like that, she’s not street smart. She’s brilliant but too trusting. She doesn’t know the evil out there, wouldn’t know if it came and shook her hand. And I’d bet my life she’s still a virgin. I knew she was an easy victim for pricks like that guy but yet I left her.” He sighed. “I was more worried about keeping her from me, seeing myself as the danger to her that I actually forgot about the real dangers. God that was so fucking stupid.”
“Damn right,” Eddie said, popping a piece of pineapple in his mouth.
Nicholas was caught off guard.
“What?”
“Well you’re the one determined to take the blame. Listen, I gotta go. Let me know what you decide to do about the holidays.”
Eddie headed back upstairs grabbing the soda with him.
“All right bro,” Nicholas replied, thinking about it.
On one hand, he would rather plunge into the sea than subject himself to his mother. On the other, he was burning with curiosity. She had to have something up her sleeve, and he wanted to know what it was.