Welcome to chapter 3. We will join our characters at the party! Enjoy!

CHAPTER 3- the party!

10 minutes later we're all sitting in a booth at the local restaurant. Matt's wearing nicer pants and a button-down shirt with a tie. Gil is wearing a red dress shirt with black pants. Ludwig and Feli are wearing matching suits, and Al is wearing a jacket and pants. Arthur is wearing a suit, as usual. "Congrats dude. I'm happy for you." Al said to Matt, who blushes. "thanks." He says quietly. Gil laughs and kisses him. "We're very happy." I sit between Gil and Matt, across from Feli, Ludwig, Al and Arthur. We were all talking, eating and laughing, when I spotted Ivan. He was sitting at the counter drinking vodka. He must have felt my eyes on him because he turned. When he saw me looking at him, he smiled. It was a smile full of malice. I shuddered. Gil noticed. "Something wrong, Kura?" Everyone else fell silent staring at me. "No." I said looking away from Ivan. But Gil followed my gaze. "Shit" he muttered. "What's wrong?" Looking at Arthur Gil explained. "See that boy over there?" Everyone looked at where Ivan was sitting, and once they had Gil told them about how he and I were dating, but he abused me so I broke up with him, and how he wants revenge. One he was finished all the eyes were on me. I knew that they could see the bruises from earlier. I shifted and Matt put his arm around me. Someone cleared their throat. "Having fun Kura? Enjoy it while you can da? You won't have much to smile about soon." And then Ivan walked out of the restaurant. Arthur looked after him. "Bloody Hell, that guy is dangerous." At that moment, our food arrived and the conversation shifted to more pleasant things, like Ludwig and Feil's wedding or Arthur and Alfred's anniversary.

...

After dinner, we walked everyone to their cars before heading to Matt's Prius. Once we were in the car, the discussion turned to what Ivan had meant by what he'd said. We talked the whole ride home, but couldn't think of anything. We got home late, about 10:30pm. School was almost out, so I had no homework to do. I was going to go to bed. Matt and Gil wanted to talk so they were going to hang out in the living room for a bit. I showered; put on the sweatpants and cami I slept in, and climbed into bed with my book. A few pages in, I thought I heard something in my closet. The doorknob turned and out stepped Ivan. He approached the bed, but I jumped out and ran for the door. Ivan grabbed me and pulled me towards him taping my mouth shut and binding my hands behind my back. "Stop struggling" he said. I just aimed a kick at his legs. Ivan sighed and shoved me to the ground. He then pulled out an iron pipe and began raining blows on my body. I tried to crawl away, but he put his boot on my leg snapping it to hold me in place. I heard Matt and Gil climbing the stairs. Their bedroom was right next to mine, and I knew that if I could just make a sound, however quietly, they would hear and save me. As if he was reading my mind, Ivan Put a hand on my throat cutting off my air, and slapped me. My vision blurred and I started to loose consciousness. Ivan untied me, and slipped out the window. I reached up and pulled the tape off my mouth, letting out a groan as I did. I heard Matt and Gil stop talking and heard their footsteps run into my room. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was their concerned faces looking at me. I remember that Matt had tears in his eyes, and Gil's were bright with anger, not at me but at the person who'd done it to me. Then the blackness swept over me like a wave and I saw nothing more.