From Lies to Promises (3 page)

 
“Nope, I think you two have already had too much to drink, and it is time to go.” As I stand I look around to make sure that Ryder isn’t around. He is some kind of intense and I really don’t know if I can handle anymore tonight. Unfortunately for me he sees me stand and comes walking over.

  “You’re not leaving now are you? It’s still early and none of you should be driving.”
He ask.

 
Well that stops me cold. He is right, we shouldn’t be driving, and that means we are staying a while longer.  “I was hoping to head out. But your right, so I guess we will stay for a little while longer till I sober up some.”

  “Ok, that’s better. I have
to go back over there and help Rhett get Cole in the back seat of his truck. Don’t go anywhere, ok.”  He gives me that panty dropping smile and is gone again.

  Once he is out of site I turn
to the girls only to find them gone too. Damn. Now what am I supposed to do?

  “Lo
oking for your friends?” I jerk my eyes up to see Jake staggering in my direction. He stops directly in front of me and I notice his eyes are blood shot.

  “Yea, um, did you see which way they went. They were right here just a minute ago.” I say as I take a step to my lef
t to walk around him. He grabs me by my elbow before I get too far.

  “I did. Come on and I’ll take you to where they were going.” He starts pulling me away from the crowd
and I completely start to panic. I don’t want to go wandering of alone with Jake. I yank my arm, hard, and with no use.

  “You could just tell me how to get to them, there is no since in me taking you away from the party.”

  “Awe, well that’s nice of ya, but I am a sucker for helping a lady in need.” There is need alright, but it isn’t mine. I can see it in his eyes, cold and determined. With that my body locks down, my feet quit moving. I deadpan. “It’ll be ok sweetheart they should be just right over here.”

  “I think we should
just head back now. Maybe they have already went back, they might not even be here anymore. Come on.” I stammer. I try to do anything to get him to go back closer to the party. I yank on my arm again. Nothing. He pulls me until I am standing beside him looking at an old shack. “See there isn’t even a light on, there is no way they would go in there. Lexi doesn’t even like scary movies, let alone go into a dark shack in the middle of bum-fucked-Egypt.”

  He steps up to the door opens it and flings
me in. I try to stay upright, but end up toppling to the floor and hitting my head on a bench. “You’re right they aren’t here, but like I said I am a sucker for a lady in need and by the way you were dancing earlier you are very much in need of something.”

  “And what do you suppose that I need.”
My voice shakes with the fear that my whole body is already experiencing. I look around the room for something, anything that could be used as a weapon.

  “Me.” He kneels, and places his hand on my thighs. His face is
inches from mine. Then I remember the knife I keep in the side of my bra. I reach across my stomach with my left hand, like I am trying to cover myself up. I struggle to get the clip off. It seems like it takes an eternity but eventually I get it free. “See, you have teased me all night. Dancing with your friends, moving in ways that made every man out there’s dick instantly hard. And since you’re the cause of my situation,” He pauses and grabs his erection through his jeans, “you get to fix it.”

  His hands move higher up my thi
ghs, my hips, and slides them over my ribs grazing the bottom of my breast. When he lowers his head to my neck I lift my leg and kick him back, then bend over him. I already have the knife open so I press the point to the side of his throat. He holds his hands up as if to surrender, a cocky smile on his face. “Aren’t you just all sorts of handy? Tell me, where’d you have that knife hidden?” He pauses then laughs, “That’s alright, bitch, don’t tell me. Doesn’t matter next time you won’t be so lucky.”

 
I stand up, arm still extended with the knife pointed at him, and back out the door. Outside I close the knife and put it back. Then I take off, I don’t look back, I just run. I have no idea if I am even headed in the right direction until I see the light of the fire. I’m almost there when someone steps out from around a truck and I crash into them. When their hands land on my shoulders I step back ready to take off in the other direction, thinking that Jake has already caught up to me and is going to finish what he intended on doing in that damned shack.

  “There you are. Whoa, where are you going? What’s the matter, you look like
death himself is after you.” It’s Ryder. Just Ryder, but my mind doesn’t process this as he reaches out to grab me.

  “No! Please just leave me alone. I have to go, have you seen Skeigh and Lexi?” I keep my eyes downcast,
so that he doesn’t see my fear or the tears that are pooling in my eyes, threatening to spill onto my cheeks. “Please, I just feel sick and need to go home.”

  “OK. Okay. No
, I haven’t seen them, but why don’t you come sit over here on the picnic table and I will see if I can find them.” I can tell from his voice he doesn’t believe me, but I refuse to tell him, or anyone what just happened. Not this time.

 
Liar.

  All lies.

  Liar.

 
The words are always there haunting me. Reminding me.

  A few moments later Lexi and Skeigh are walking me towards the car. “I guess it’s a good thing I quit drinking a while back, huh?” Lexi, always prepared.
I fake a smile, and nod, then climb into the back of the car and shut the door behind me. They don’t ask me what happened, they think I just had one of my episodes. I don’t have them often. I have become a master at keeping things buried and not letting them bother me. That is the only way I can have a semi-normal life that I have been in search of since I was little.

They don’t say a word the whole way home. Which is fine by me, I need the quiet right now. With my head against the cool window, I watch the land as we pass. The world looks peaceful when you’re just getting glimpses here and there, but the truth is the darkness is out there, everyone just ignores it.

             
I open my eyes, just to close them right back. My eyelids feel like they have half a ton of sand under them. Just like every other time I wake up from a night of drinking I wonder why the hell I do this to myself. Normally I remind myself that the night before was worth it, but not this time. This time I remember terror. I also remember a beautiful man, with green eyes. I sit up, grabbing my head as it starts thudding, then stand to walk to my door. I need a shower, which usually makes me a feel a tad better anyways.

 
In the shower I decide to lock the bad of last night away. Forget it, like always. I’m sure I won’t see any of the people from that party again anyways and that will make it easier to not remember. I get out and get dressed. College is where I spend a majority of my time. I love to learn, but it’s Sunday and that means I get to spend the day with my little sister. I’ve been part of the Big Sister program for two years, and love Jamie. She isn’t the type of kid to get into trouble, she is just shy and her parents work all the time, in order to pay the bills. Since I have been her big sister though she has shown improvement. She has gained a friend at school, and sometimes she comes with us on our days. She has also found her niche, softball.

  I sit down at the kitchen table where Lexi is reading off her e-reader and drinking her orange juice. I reach across the napkin holder and grab her cup and
take a drink.

 
“Really? You just walked in here, sat down and drank
my
juice? The fridge is right behind you, dork!” Her finger pointing to the refrigerator.

  “Yea, but that means I would have to dirty up another glass, and its Skeigh
’s week for the dishes.” I point out laughing.

  “Which I will not be doing tonight.” Skeigh walks in with her hair all flopp
ed up into a messy bun and drops in the other chair at the table. “Not because I don’t want to or anything, but I have a new customer and she made an appointment at freaking seven o’clock. She better spend her ass off to keep me that late, just saying!”

  “Did
you tell her that you normally close the doors at six?” Lexi ask.

  “Didn’t have to, she already knew. She heard about my shop via her assistant. The woman is new in town and apparently some super journalist, so she needs to look sharp. So, I took the appointment thinking s
he would make it worth staying over for!” Skeigh replies.

  “Well I hope you are right and she does! I have to go get Jamie, I’ll see you t
wo when I get home!” I say. I yell bye as I head out the door and to the driveway to get in my car. It isn’t much but I paid for her in cash my senior year of high school. It got me out of that dreadful town and here, and is still proving to be dependable. The blue on it has faded, but not so much were it looks terrible. The interior is still good, and according the mechanic that sold it to me, that it should have a pretty good mileage rate ahead as well. I had to fix the radio though, it was way too old and music I my mood moderator and keeps me sane. Now, I can hook up my phone to it and play my songs that I have on it. This makes me happy.

  I get in the car and hook
up my phone, then hit random. Asking Alexandria’s song ‘The Death of Me’ comes roaring to life. So what else is there to do other than turn it up louder and roll down the windows. I have to admit I have an addiction to really good, hard rock or metal songs. To be honest I really don’t have a particular type of music, as long as it is a good song and calls to me. I finish the song up before I make it to Jamie’s and turn it off. She likes to tell me about her day, and
not
so secretly hates most of my music. She’s thirteen, I get it, no reason in scaring her.

 
She comes running from her house with a big ole grin like she just got her first kiss or something. Oh, no! It couldn’t be could it? She climbs into the passenger seat, smile still stuck to her face like it’s been glued there.

  “What’s up with the joker smile, kid?”

  She just looks at me with this expression that says ‘really?’.

  “Are you not going to tell me? Because I would like to know what has made you so, how do I say it,
giddy since I saw you Wednesday.” I put the car in drive and head to our favorite spot. We found it not too long ago out in the mountains. It is a nice patch of grass next to a flowing clear river. When we found it we were out there till dark catching frogs and tadpoles.

  “Well, you know that dance that is next weekend
? The one I was telling you I probably wasn’t going to, because I wouldn’t get a date.” She drags it out.

  “
Yeah, I remember. So what did you get a date or are you just messing with my emotions?” I tease.

 
“YES!! He is so pretty, Kat. I am so excited. I feel good about this, too. He is on the football team, and is pretty popular. I couldn’t believe it when I found the note in my locker from him asking me to go.” She practically yelled.

  “So, you’re saying that he didn’t even ask you to your face. He wrote you a note and stuck it in your locker? How do you know for sure it’s from him?”

  “Well, Jane said that Sara said she saw him next to my locker after the period that I found the note in my locker. Who else would it be, it was signed by him and everything!” Needless to say I was apprehensive about the whole thing, but her experience in school is not mine. Plus, it is just junior high. And who could be so cruel to someone as sweet as Jamie?

 
Jamie continues to tell me how amazing this boy is that’s taking her to the dance as we drive. She reaches forward and unplugs my phone only to replace it with hers. She sets it down about the time we arrived at our spot. We roll the windows down and she turns the volume up so we could hear it as we sit next to the water. It’s perfect, ‘American Honey’ by Lady Antebellum playing from the car on such a gorgeous day. We grab the blanket from the trunk and walk to the edge.

  “So do you mind helping me pick out a dress, and helping me get ready for th
e dance Friday night?” She ask like I was just going to throw her to the wolves.

  “Of course, you know you don’t even have to ask
. We can go looking for a dress on Wednesday and I only have two classes on Fridays so I’ll be home by the time you get out of school. Just have your mom drop you off by my house.” When I finish she looks at her hands. I put my hand on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s just that mom and dad are working late Friday. Which means I have to ride the bus home. Do you think you could pick me up from my house?” She peeks at me through he
r lashes them blue eyes and melts my heart.

  “You are my little sister, whether by blood or not, I feel that way. So I don’t know why
you feel like I am going to take of your head when you ask me for something.” I take a hair bow from my wrist and hand it to her, because her blonde hair is blowing everywhere and she is having a hard time taming it.