Enigma (17 page)

“He’s just talking.”

“Kate, you don’t know my brother like I do.”

There was an awkward silence between us.

“Why don’t we find somewhere off-campus to have lunch?” I asked.

“No. I’m not going to let my brother run me out of school.”

Sebastian looked up and waved at us. I smiled and waved back. Jack put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me away.

“Jack, what are you doing?”

“I don’t want you getting friendly with Seb. We need to keep our distance.”

“Well, that’s going to be difficult; he’s in my art and English classes.”

Jack tensed up and looked over at his brother, who was still fighting off the girls around him.

“That’s so typical of him. He probably had this all planned.”

“How would he have known ahead of time that I’d be in his classes?”

“Kate, please stay away from my brother as much as you possibly can. Take my warning seriously, please.”

“I’ll try,” I said, half-heartedly.

A girl pushed through the crowd passing out pink flyers. I took one and I read it.

Beach Party Tonight

8.00pm

Bring your own beer!

I hadn’t been to a party in ages and had heard that beach parties in Long Beach were awesome. I looked excitedly at Jack and he told me that he would pick me up at seven-thirty.

A
fter dinner, I ran straight to my bedroom, remembering the party dresses that I’d bought. I grabbed them from my closet, laid them on my bed, and studied them, thinking about which one would look the sexiest. I chose the short, thigh-high, emerald-green dress, which was low-cut enough to be sexy, but not trashy. There were tiny, silver sequins around the haltered neck, which sparkled beautifully. I shimmied into the dress and slipped on a pair of black flip-flops. After applying my makeup, I put on my emerald earrings and a matching diamante bracelet.

I took one last look in the mirror and couldn’t help smiling at the woman I saw. I tiptoed downstairs without my parents seeing me, and Tobias quietly opened the front door for me. I smiled, appreciating his discretion, and I noticed that he was in an unusually good mood.

Jack was waiting outside and I could tell that he liked my outfit. He handed me a bottle of beer and held my other hand, appearing very relaxed.

I loved the relaxed Jack.

CHAPTER 17

T
he beach was crowded and it looked like everyone was having a good time. Someone had constructed a raging fire on the sand and the ocean was calmer than it had been in days. Girls paraded around in bikinis and couples frolicked in the water. Jack was on his third beer and was becoming quite loud. I was only on my second and felt fine.

Taking a step back, I watched Jack joking around with his football friends and the cheerleaders. Jack was now captain of the team and everyone was celebrating his new title. Someone handed him a beer and Jack waved it in the air, making some kind of slurred toast.

“How long has he been acting like that?”

Startled, I turned around and stared into Sebastian’s green eyes. He was the last person I had expected to see.

“What do you mean? Acting like what? He’s just having fun, Sebastian,” I said defensively.

“Kate, you don’t understand. Alcohol affects us differently than it affects humans.”

I hated the way Jack and Sebastian separated themselves from humans, like they were from another planet.

“I’m guessing Jack didn’t tell you that,” Sebastian continued, looking worried.

“What do you mean alcohol affects you differently?”

Sebastian sighed. “One alcoholic drink affects us like we’ve drunk at least three. How many has Jack had?”

Panic writhed through my body. “He’s on his fourth, I think.”

“So he’s actually on his twelfth drink, which is a disaster waiting to happen. We have to get him home.” Seb looked at me and I agreed. He was looking out for his brother and I was glad that he was with me.

“I don’t understand why he’d allow himself to get this drunk. This isn’t like him.”

We watched Jack drape himself over the guy next to him so that he wouldn’t fall over.

“Kate, this is very
like
Jack. He’s a great guy, but there’s a lot you don’t know about him.”

Despite Jack’s stupidity, I wanted to get him home before he did something he’d regret.

“What are we going to do?” I asked, but Seb already looked like he was planning something. I had no idea how Jack would react to an intervention by Seb, of all people.

“First, we need to get him away from the crowd. Then you need to take the beer from him. Tell him you want to go home.”

“I doubt I’ll be able to get him home by myself,” I said while looking at Jack, who could barely stand on his own.

“I’ll help you get him home. I’m not going to leave you to deal with him by yourself.”

I was relieved by Seb’s reassurance, but I wasn’t looking forward to approaching Jack, who was singing loudly with his equally intoxicated friends. I wanted Seb to come with me, but I also knew that if he did, Jack would never listen to us.

A girl standing close to Jack wrapped her arm around his waist. I picked up speed and Seb followed suit. When I reached Jack, he wrapped his heavy arms around me.

“Jack, I need to go home,” I said, feeling like a sour pickle in a jar of tasty olives.

Jack screwed up his face. “Why?” he slurred. “The party has barely even started. What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, but I want to go home. I’m not feeling well,” I said, knowing that I’d need to be far more convincing to get him to leave.

There was a chorus of booing from Jack’s teammates, and I looked over at Seb who shrugged his shoulders and urged me on. Finally, seeing that Jack had no intention of moving, Seb strolled over to me.

“Hey, Jack. Come on, let’s take Kate home,” he said calmly.

Jack didn’t seem surprised to see his brother and smiled, pointing at Seb. “Everyone, this is my brother, Sebastian,” he announced loudly.

There was a chorus of cheers and Seb coyly waved to everyone. The girl who had her arm around Jack’s waist turned her attention to Seb.

“Come on! My two favorite people in the whole world are here with me! My friends are here! Let’s dance! Come on! Let’s dance!” Jack shouted. When he raised his beer bottle, the liquid spilled on my dress.

As I wiped at my dress, I was a little annoyed. I didn’t like his teammates much and I certainly didn’t like the cheerleaders who followed them around like lost lambs. I felt like I was fighting a losing battle and looked around for Seb, who was trying to get away from the girl who had been all over Jack.

“Jack, I don’t feel well,” I whispered in his ear.

He ran his finger down my cheek. “Just one dance and then we’ll go,” he slurred.

Now I was annoyed at his lack of concern for me. For all he knew, I could’ve been really sick.

Seb looked at Jack and when he spoke, his voice was far more assertive than mine. “Come on, Jack. Let’s call it a night.”

But assertive or not, neither of us were able to convince Jack to leave, and we couldn’t leave him at the party by himself.

“Seb, come on! You love to dance! One dance then we’ll go home.” Jack threw his arm around his brother like they were the best of friends. Seeing them like that made me realize how close they must have been.

Seb and I agreed to one dance and I hoped that we’d be able to drag Jack away afterward, but I wasn’t very optimistic. The music was great, and when an upbeat song played, I danced next to Seb, forgetting that I was supposed to be sick. Seb was a great dancer; he had a natural rhythm. Then, to my horror, I saw him take a bottle of beer from the girl who’d been hounding him.

“What are you doing drinking?” I whispered in his ear. The last thing I needed was to look after two supernatural drunk guys.

Seb laughed. “Relax! I’m not going to drink it all. I’ll only drink half. I’ll sip the rest and then spit it back into the bottle. That’s how I learned not to be a social outcast.”

“Sounds like you’ve done this before. Maybe you could teach Jack your little trick,” I answered, relieved that he wasn’t planning on getting drunk.

While we talked, I lost sight of Jack and began searching for him. Everyone formed a circle when another song played, and Jack stumbled into the middle, throwing his hands in the air like a rock star. The crowd went as Jack began busting some great dance moves. The guys cheered him on and the girls screamed his name, which I didn’t like.

When Seb and I joined the circle, Jack approached us. I was looking forward to taking him home, but he grabbed Seb’s arm and pulled him into the middle of the circle with him. Seb looked horrified, but Jack waved his arms, goading the crowd to cheer Seb on too. Jack pointed to Seb’s T-shirt and had the girls chanting for him to take it off.

Seb looked at me and I shrugged; we had obviously lost the battle with Jack, so what was the point in protesting? Seb took off his T-shirt and tossed it at my feet, revealing his toned chest and his intriguing tattoo. It was four symbols linked together and went from his lower back all the way up to the back of his neck. The girls went crazy and screamed both of their names, which I liked even less.

Seb shied away from the attention he was getting and Jack was feeding off the crowd. I wasn’t happy with all the attention he was receiving from the half-naked females, but it was comforting to know that he was all mine, and he was in love with me. As I relaxed, I realized that I couldn’t deny Jack the attention he deserved, so declaring myself defeated, I joined in with the screaming and cheering.

Eventually, Jack and Sebastian danced together, showing off with front handsprings and synchronized back flips. Together, they looked amazing, and it was great to see them enjoying each other’s company rather than arguing. I wondered if this was how they used to be and hoped that tonight would help them realize that their friendship was worth fighting for.

The song ended and a few girls walked to the center of the circle hoping to join the stars of the evening, but Jack stumbled over to me and grabbed my waist. The girls crowded around Seb, each one desperately vying for his attention. Seb looked a little overwhelmed, but the intrigue I felt when I looked at him was becoming dangerously stronger.

W
hen I awoke the next morning, I lay in my bed thinking about what Jack might remember of the previous evening at the beach party, when I was disturbed by an annoying tapping noise that I couldn’t locate. I tossed and turned, trying to ignore the sound, but it didn’t go away.

I got out of bed, following the sound, and opened the curtain. Shading my eyes from the sun, I saw Jack standing below my balcony. He was wearing a hooded jacket and was throwing tiny stones at my window to get my attention. He probably felt awful, but I smiled at him and rubbed my eyes before opening the balcony doors.

Dodging the mess of bags on my floor, I ran to the bathroom to freshen up so that I wouldn’t frighten Jack. After checking myself in the mirror, I walked out of the bathroom. Jack stood with his back to me, looking incredibly tempting in a pair of blue jeans and his hooded jacket. I walked over and hugged him from behind.

“Hey, how you feeling?” I asked, but something felt different. I let go of him and he turned around. “Seb, what are you doing here?”

“I came to see if you were okay after last night and to tell you—”

“I’ve had later nights than that; I don’t need you to check on me.” I felt stupid that I’d been caught off guard. I knew that Jack knew how to get into my bedroom without my help; he had let himself in several times without a key. I kept my voice low so nobody would hear us. “What are you doing here?” I asked again as I grabbed my robe and draped it around me.

“I came over to tell you that Jack isn’t doing too well. I think you need to come over.” He walked back to the balcony.

“What do you mean?” I asked, yawning.

“Just come back to the house with me. You need to see him,” he answered, and leapt off my balcony, landing in the grass below. It was an impressive jump, but I couldn’t let him know.

Rummaging through my closet, I threw on some khaki shorts and a red camisole, and ran downstairs and out the front door before anyone could question me. I was worried about Jack and I had to see him.

CHAPTER 18

A
s I approached Jack’s house, my mother was at the door talking to Lindsey. I wasn’t sure whether to go back home or hide around the side of the house and wait until she left. Then I thought that maybe it would be better if I hurried over and interrupted their conversation before my mother said something offensive. I approached them, and my mother wasn’t happy that she hadn’t been invited inside.