My dad
'
s words beat down on me
,
"
you
'
re nothing
...
"
If I
'
m not even good enough for that prick
,
there
'
s no way I
'
d ever been good enough for a girl like her. I
'
ve always known that
,
but somehow the words feel more real tonight.
"
I
'
m cool. I
'
ll text you guys if I need you.
"
I start to walk away
,
but Sebastian grabs my arm.
"
Umm
...
you
'
re screwing with our mojo here. We always do this.
"
I shrug and pull my arm away.
"
We don
'
t really need to anymore. Aspen has you to take care of her and Pris has Craig. Bases covered.
"
I don
'
t look back to see his reaction.
Pushing through the door
,
I start to shoulder my way through the crowd. It's packed. So crazy busy it
'
s hard to even walk through the place.
Just what I needed.
I head straight for the kitchen
,
find the keg
and hand over my cup fee to the keg monitor. I give him enough for two cups
,
which he marks so everyone knows I purchased
,
fills them
,
and hands them over.
I drink both cups before getting two more. I
'
m good and buzzed not long after getting here. For a second I let myself wonder if they met up with Pris and got the PPP out of the way. No matter what I said
,
I definitely don
'
t want to leave her in the hands of
Craig.
And
,
on that note
,
it
'
s time to move on. I
'
m heading toward the living room
,
where the music is
playing .
People are dancing on couches
,
tables
,
the
floor. I stumble a little when someone runs into me. I turn to tell whoever it is to watch out
,
but big
,
green eyes look up at me and
a pair of thin lips stretch
into a smile.
Jackpot.
"
How
'
d I get so lucky to have you run into me?
"
Yeah
,
I know. I
'
m laying it on thick and it
'
s actually ridiculous
,
but her smile grows wider.
"
Hi.
"
Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink.
"
I
'
m Jaden. What
'
s your name?
"
"
Samantha.
"
"
You here with anyone?
"
"
Just my friends.
"
"
Wanna dance?
"
"
Definitely.
"
She starts to lose some of her shyness when I pull her into my arms and start to dance with her. Is it a slow song? Nope
,
but what
'
s the point in dancing if you
'
re not close when you do it?
Samantha and I move together to the music. Her arms
wrap around my neck and sit
under the bill of my hat. Her waist is small
,
thin
,
and for a second Pris pops into my head. They
'
re so different
,
these two. She
'
s got that smooth
,
dark skin where this girl is lighter. She
'
s curvier. I remember her and Aspen arguing about it once. Pris was doing that girl thing of thinking she was fat.
I wanted to tell her
,
screw that. Curves are hot. But yeah
...
of course
,
I didn
'
t.
"
Do you go to school here?
"
I ask Samantha against her ear.
"
I don
'
t remember seeing you.
"
"
No
...
I
'
m one town over.
"
We keep dancing until the song ends and keep moving into the next one. Once it
'
s over
,
I reach for her hand and lead her to the quietest corner we can find. It feels wrong
,
but I
'
m trying to move on
,
so I lean forward
,
cupping her cheek with my hand. But then
...
she gives me that sweet smile. The one that says she
'
s looking for a boyfriend
and I
'
m
totally
not looking for a girlfriend.
Sebastian and I have met tons of girls over the past few years
,
but neither of us has ever been down with the playing-them-thing. It
'
s not how I roll.
"
I really want to kiss you right now
,
but I gotta tell you
,
I
'
m just trying to have fun. I
'
m not looking for anything more.
The lips I just wanted to kiss turn downward and I know I
'
m losing her.
"
I
'
m not into random hook-ups.
"
I pull my hand away
,
strangely okay with it.
"
Thanks for being honest
,
though. Most guys wouldn
'
t.
"
I give her my best smile and a wink.
"
I
'
m not most guys.
"
She laughs
,
giving me an
"
A
"
for my fake effort.
I pull off my hat and scratch my head
,
trying to figure out what to say. I shove it back on my head and keep going with the honesty thing.
"
I
'
m gonna go
,
okay? I
'
ll see you around
,
sometime.
"
I
'
m not trying to be a jerk
,
but go figure. I am.
Samantha looks down at the ground.
"
See ya around.
"
"
Thanks for the dance.
"
And just like that
,
she
'
s walking away. As I watch her
,
my eyes catch familiar black hair. It
'
s long
,
straight
,
and moving way too fast as Pris shoves her way toward the door.
My heart starts to jackhammer as I push my way toward her. She
'
s heading for the kitchen
,
then the backdoor.
"
Pris!
"
There
'
s no way she can hear me over the music and the people. I still can
'
t stop myself from trying.
"
Pris
,
wait up!
"
She
'
s out the door when I see Aspen and Sebastian run out behind her. I don
'
t even know where they came from. I can hardly breathe as I run through the doorway and into the backyard. I see Pris and Aspen off toward the back of the yard
,
in a corner by some trees and I head straight for them.
"
What happened?
"
Pris
'
s eyes find mine and they
'
re red. I start to
see
red
,
too.
"
What did he do? Did that douchebag hurt you?
"
My words seem to upset her more.
"
I can
'
t
...
I can
'
t do this with you
,
Jaden. Not with him
here.
"
And then she turns
,
burying her face in Aspen
'
s shoulder.
My stomach drops.
My hands tighten into fists even more fierce than the ones at my house early.
Sebastian throws a hand over my shoulder.
"
Come on
,
bro. I think they need girl time
,
or whatever.
"
My body is too tight. My muscles are frozen
,
making myself unable to move.
"
What happened?
"
"
I don
'
t know
...
From
what I heard it sounds like they were in the room. He started to get a little too touchy-feely and she told him to slow down and he just dumped her or something.
"
"
Bastian!
Come here. I need your help.
"
Aspen calls to him. His eyes flash toward her quickly and I take advantage
,
ripping out of his hold and running. I don
'
t take the time to see if he
'
s following me.
This time I
'
m shoving people out of my way. I don
'
t care who it is
,
I just have to find him. People are yelling at me and pushing me back
,
but I keep going
,
my eyes scanning the crowd
,
looking for Craig. Finally
,
finally
I have a reason to hit him. It pisses me off that it took him hurting Pris for it to happen.
He turns around a corner right as I approach the hallway. Without giving myself time to think
,
I lunge
,
shoving Craig into the wall.
"
What the hell
,
Sinclair!
"
Right about that time
,
people start to step in around us
,
all itching for the fight that
'
s about to go down.
"
I
'
d think you would be happy. Now that I dumped her
,
you
'
ll have a chance.
"
And then the prick
winks
at me.
I swing my arm and connect my fist with his jaw. It feels good. There
'
s so much in my life I have no control over
,
but this? Protecting her? This is all
mine
.
Craig stumbles
,
tries to swing at me
,
but misses before I nail him again. My hand aches at the connection
,
but it doesn
'
t matter. As soon as I go for a third
,
someone grabs me from behind. I know
its
Sebastian without having to see him.
"
Get the fuck
off
,"
I yell
,
but of course he doesn
'
t. Then someone else is grabbing onto me and they
'
re dragging me out of the house. A few people are around Craig
,
checking out his face as I fight to get back at him.