Jack Devlin had just wanted to pick up his iPod.
He hadn't planned on staying at the bonfire longer than five minutes, because being the new guy in town was bad enough without showing up to a party where no one knew who you were.
But sadly, Jack had made the mistake of leaving his iPod behind at the hospital earlier that afternoon and David, a nice enough guy that Jack worked with, had picked up the piece of machinery. Normally, Jack would have waited until both he and David were scheduled to work together again, but he really needed his iPod for the work he needed to do on his grandfather's farm in the morning.
So when David suggested that Jack meet him at the bonfire to pick up the device, the Devlin boy reluctantly agreed.
So that's how Jack found himself threading though the crowd of partying teenagers, many of which were carrying around plastic red or blue cups. Country music blasted through big speakers sitting in a truck bed, and Jack could feel the warm memories of the summer nights back in Texas, filled with similar bonfires with the same type of people. Only here in South Dakota, Jack didn't feel the same need to join in the fun.
"Hey Jack!" a deep voice calls from the center of a group of obviously drunk teenagers. "Glad to see you man!"
The voice belongs to David, who is peeling himself away from an overly friendly brunette. The girl reluctantly allows the light-haired boy to worm out of her grasp, but pouts all the same.
"Some party y'all have going on here," Jack comments with a nod towards the dancing teens around the fire.
"I'm sure it's nothing compared to the ones in Texas," David responds with a lazy grin. "But I'm glad you came anyway."
Jack shakes his head back and forth quickly as he shoves his hands into the front pockets of his favorite jeans. "I can't stay, man. I just need to grab my iPod from you."
"Nonsense!" David exclaims loudly as he flings an arm around the other teen's shoulders. "Have a beer and stay awhile. Find a chick. I'm sure Missy over here can hook you up with one of the freshman cheerleaders."
Jack tries really hard to keep the disgust from his voice at the way David is offering up girls like appetizers. "No, I'm good. Really. Just hand me my iPod and I'll get out of your hair.
"Whatever, dude. It's your loss," David sighs as he reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out the device that's causing Jack so much trouble. The teen quickly snags the iPod from David's hand and pockets it before giving the other teen a nod in thanks.
He wastes no time in turning around and heading back through the throng of dancing and inebriated teenagers. All Jack really wants to do is get in his truck and head home.
But it seems the world is working against him tonight, because just as he pushes through the last of the crowd a smaller, yet solid body crashes straight into him, successfully spilling beer down his front.
"Shit," Jack curses as he jumps away from the other person and tries futilely to wipe away the liquid.
"Oh hell, I'm really sorry," a light voice responds in a slightly slurred tone. Delicate hands are fluttering lightly over jack's chest as if they're not quite sure what to do. "I'm such a klutz."
Jack lifts his head to reassure the girl that everything's fine, but his voice sticks in his throat as soon as he fully sees the girl in front of him.
She's got long, dirty blonde hair that's slightly messy, as if she's been running her hands through it in agitation. She's kind of short, Jack notices, but she's toned. An athlete maybe? She's got a long, thin scar above her right eye that stands out in the slight glow of the bonfire. But none of these features are what really catch Jack's attention, because Texas had plenty of these pretty girls.
What Texas didn't have was this girl's eyes, because he'd be damned if he'd ever seen such green eyes in his entire life. They were the shade of grass in the summer before the heat had enough time to change the blades brown. And her eyes were bright and innocent, even under her slightly buzzed state.
"Are you okay?" the girl asks as she gives Jack a concerned glance, and Jack realizes that he's been staring at her for way too long.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," Jack blurts out with a shake of his head. "No blood, no foul."
There's an awkward pause between the two teens, because neither really know how to continue the conversation. The blonde must get uncomfortable with the silence, because she shifts slightly and begins to back away from Jack.
"All right then," she says lightly. "Sorry about the shirt. I'll see you around."
Jack's not sure what possess him to do it, but he reaches out and wraps a gentle hand around the girl's upper arm, stopping her attempt to leave. "Do I know you?" he asks, because the more he looks at the teen, the more she looks familiar to him.
"Uh no, I don't think so," she responds, glancing from Jack's arm up to his face. And just as her green eyes meet his blue, Jack knows where they've meet before.
"You're the chick from the hospital!" he exclaims, jumping back and pointing an accusing finger at the blonde. "The one that clocked me!"
The girl looks stunned for a moment, and then completely worried the next. "Shit," she mumbles under her breath quietly. "Listen, I'm sorry about that. I was just in a hurry and…well I obviously wasn't supposed to be there."
"I don't want to know why you were there," Jack says with a small laugh. "I just want to know where you learned to throw a punch like that. I had a black eye for two weeks!"
The blonde just stares at Jack like he's crazy. "You're not made that I knocked you out?"
"Nah," Jack denies with a shake of his head. "What's done is done, all things considered. It makes for a great story. Not many people can say that got knocked out by a beautiful girl in a hospital hallway."
The girl blushes and smiles slightly, shaking her head back and forth. "Well, I'm glad we got this little mystery all cleared up, but I'd better be going. Nice meeting you, hospital boy." The girl doesn't get very far however, because as soon as she turns her back towards the bonfire she wobbles unsteadily and stumbles to the ground clutching her head.
Jack reacts immediately, taking a step towards the girl and crouching down in front of her. "Hey, you all right?" he asks in concern as he watches the girl blink her green eyes rapidly.
"Head rush," the blonde groans from her position on the ground. "Note to self, drinking is not fun."
Jack laughs quietly at the girl's statement and offers her a hand. The girl takes it and allows Jack to pull her up off the ground, but leans heavily into his chest for support. Not that Jack really minds, of course. And if he holds her there a little longer than necessary, neither of them complains.
"I guess I can't handle my alcohol," the girl jokes lightly as she closes her eyes in a way that Jack can only assume is to fight off a growing sense of nausea.
"You do look like a lightweight," Jack agrees with her as he gently guides her towards his nearby truck. Once they reach their destination, Jack lowers the tailgate and gently lifts the girl up onto it. "I think I should go find your ride so they can take you home," he offers.
"Don't bother," the girl rejects sullenly. "My ride ditched me an hour ago."
"They just left you here?" Jack asks in shock. Back home, he would have gotten his ass kicked for leaving a girl alone. Especially if she was tipsy.
"Not they," the girl corrects with a wave of her hand. "He. And I should have known better. Getting invited to one of these things by the football star was too good to be true."
"Well if you ask me, the moron must be blind," Jack says seriously to the girl sitting on his truck's tailgate. "He obviously doesn't understand what he left behind."
The girl just stares at Jack for a moment, as if she's trying to figure him out through her alcohol-induced fog clouding her mind. "You're new around here, aren't you? You have to be, or else you wouldn't still be talking to me." She tries to hop down from the tailgate, but Jack stills her movements by placing strong hands on her shoulders. "You're going to tarnish your reputation," the girl argues as she turns her large green eyes towards Jack.
"I ain't too worried about what people think," Jack shoots right back. "Do you have someone coming to get you?"
"I hope not," the girl responds with a shaky laugh. "My dad's going to kill me when he finds out I've been drinking. Add that to the fact that I'm definitely out past my curfew, well…" The girl trails off as she starts to clutch at her head and stomach simultaneously.
"Starting to feel sick?" Jack asks with a small smile, because this isn't the first drunk person he's dealt with in his eighteen years.
"Let's just say that I haven't felt like this since my Gramps tried to cook lobster," the girl groans. "I'm never drinking again."
Jack lets out a laugh at the girl's expense, but doesn't comment further. Instead, he offers up another idea. "Why don't you let me give you a ride home?"
The girl is quick to shake her head back and forth in refusal, even with her current state of nausea. "I don't even know your name," she denies.
Jack blinks in surprise at that revelation, because he feels like they've been talking long enough that he must have mentioned his name. But then he also realizes that he doesn't know this green-eyed girl's name either. "The name's Jack Devlin," he offers, holding his hand out for the girl to shake. "It's nice to meet you."
The girl eyes Jack with a smile before slowly reaching up and grasping his hand. "Christo," she mumbles under her breath, and Jack shoots her a funny look.
"Christo? Your parents named you Christo?"
The girl lets out a burst of laughter before shaking her head back and forth. "God no," she denies with a smile. "Christo is Latin. I'm Rayan Winchester."
HEY GUYS!
Sorry this story took me so long to get posted, but I was in South Carolina all last week on vacation. So I decided to post two chapters today. So I hope you all enjoy!
Fallen.