Chapter 4 (Kim's POV)
Kim fumbled with the door for a moment, trying to unlock the thing but merely turning the knob back and forth from her hold on the lock instead of actually doing anything. The egress was equipped with a round turn-lock that was embedded in the middle of the knob. While she had no recollection of having difficulties when she sealed herself in, the struggle to get out was instant and, under better circumstances, would have been comically outrageous.
"Fuck!" she huffed, momentarily contemplating just how embarrassing it would be to have locked yourself inside of someone's bathroom, at a party full of people, and needing to call for help to get out.
Couldn't just be a push-button lock, could it? Oh, fuck no... Kim criticized in her head, not making the situation any better.
The loose handle rattled in her grip as she tried to make the contraption work the way it should. Changing tactics and leaning the full force of her body into the latch push-and-twist, the handle clicked as it was shoved back into place and Kim found that the the fixture was now collaborating with her efforts, turning with a twist of her thumb. Still bearing the full weight of her body, the entryway swung open after her umpteenth curl of the handle, almost throwing the girl out onto the floor.
As she exited, she looked back at the door, wearing a look of contempt that she normally only saved for living things that pissed her off so much, so quickly.
When she reached the end of the hallway, leading to the living room, she was greeted by the sight of a clustered group of drunk teenagers ogling over the two men in the middle of the action; Ken and Carl.
Carl had a reputation about him, that much Kim knew for sure; he was creepy, weird and most of the time just downright repulsive to any girl he tried to hit on. He also liked to fight, especially when he was drunk. The term 'liquid courage' never had a more apt embodiment than Carl. Ken, on the other hand, was usually far more laid back when under the influence and it took either a whole lot to rile his feathers or just the right touch. From what Kim could see, Carl had the magic touch and it was about to cost him more than he looked to be able to chew in his condition.
A quick echo of 'hey, hey, hey' entered into the fray before anything could even start and Daniel rushed toward the two, pulling an advancing Ken back just in time.
Kim let out a 'pfft' of ridicule and rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she was disappointed to not see a fight go down and either Ken or Carl be possibly injured, it was just that her ex running into save that day was, as she would put it, 'typical Daniel bullshit'.
Seeing him jump into action, almost on cue, made her think of all the other times he would always have to be the star, the hero... the guy who 'fixes' everything.
Funny, she thought, he's never been that fast to try to fix us, to stop us from arguing. Why would he though? There's no way to show off if there's no fight. No way to make me look stupid or crazy in front of other people if that happens.
Kim had, inadvertently, went off in entirely the other direction with Daniel, as she had so many other times that night. Equal time spent missing him and hating him and she still didn't know where she truly stood on the issue of 'them'.
It took all of twenty seconds to diffuse the situation, but it was still clear to see that Carl was still riled up and just itching to start trouble with someone else, somewhere else. Kim watched as Daniel pulled the seasoned drunk aside to talk with him separately.
Daniel probably did that old fart a favor, Kim reasoned, Ken doesn't play around in a fight.
She was speaking from experience, as she had witnessed Ken trade blows with a few jocks and, despite how physically unassuming he was, he usually got the better of them.
A sly smile spread over Kim's lips as she caught sight of Daniel's disapproving grimace and the fact that he seemed to be focusing it towards Lindsay. While her view of the not-to-be fight was horribly skewed due to her angle, she pretty much had a straight shot of both Lindsay and Daniel from the side, able to read their movements and facial expressions over hearing their words.
Thrilled with the notion that the brunette newcomer had somehow caused the whole mess between Ken and Carl and was now going to get a verbal lashing from Daniel, Kim couldn't avert her eyes from the events playing out in front of them. To watch Daniel basically eviscerate Lindsay's doe-eyed crush on him by showing his true colors would have just been extra icing on the cake for how Kim's night had suddenly turned for the better, and while the Brain's head dropped, gaze poignantly being driven to the ground, Kim's hopes rose.
If Lindsay hadn't been a rich, poser wannabe who drooled just at the thought of Daniel, then maybe she would have had sympathy for the girl. If she had taken the hint and stayed away when Kim had first bared her fangs, the blonde may have even felt a little guilty. Neither were the case though, so Kim continued to bask in the perceived drama unfolding in front of her.
At least, that was, until Daniel did the unthinkable. With a single, simple action, he turned Kim's world on its head.
Her face changed from lively and unabashedly nefarious to wholly crestfallen as she watched Daniel slowly, gently cradle Lindsay's chin with his fingers and lift her head up so they were meeting eye to eye again. He had said something to her then; something that Kim desperately wished she was within hearing range of because, whatever it was, it made Lindsay's face light up with a smile and a blush dot across her cheeks.
Kim wasn't enjoying this anymore, oh no; she was actually doing all she could not to explode in front of the entire room. In that moment, all she wanted to do was scream and yell, to call Lindsay a bitch, a slut, to toss her around by her hair and show her just who she was fucking with. Hell, if she had a beer in hand, she likely would have thrown it at the couple. The idea made her remember something that had been pushed to the back of her brain the moment Ken and Carl started shouting at one another.
Luke! Where the hell is Luke? And my beer?
Desperate to have someone to wrap her arms around the waist of and steer in the general direction of Daniel and Lindsay, Kim 's eyes darted all over the living room, fiercely looking for any sign of her blue-eyed suitor. While the thought occurred to her that anyone would do, she had already primed Luke for the role and it needed to look authentic, not some last minute bullshit. Daniel may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he wasn't a complete idiot either...
Besides, you need someone you can look really into as well... and Luke's not half bad.
Kim shook her head at the thought, a look of anger weaving into her features as she finally concluded that Luke had bailed on her. Either that or he was with some other girl, and God help both of them if he was. She spun around, fully intent on releasing her frustrations on her party beau if that was the case. She stopped at the first room on her left (avoiding the cursed bathroom doorknob at all costs, no matter who was in there) and threw open the door. She was expecting to catch someone off guard, hell anyone, but the room was empty. A quick peek around hinted to her that this was likely Lindsay's bedroom. Stuffed animals everywhere, cabinets lines with blue ribbons and geeky trophies... though there was a cute mouse-type one. Kim briefly entertained the idea of trashing the Brain's room, but dismissed the notion when a far better one entered her mind. Lindsay would pay for flirting with Daniel, Kim assured herself, but it would just have to wait until she caught the bitch alone at school and gave her her beating.
She was already tired of looking for Luke and the thought of trying the other two rooms was not as alluring to her as having a smoke was. The constant up and down of the night had worn on her nerves and she knew that a surefire way to calm them was always in the form of a cigarette between her lips. She touched her hands to either side of her jeans, feeling the pockets and being both relieved and burdened. She had her lighter, she could feel the instrument resting against her thigh at the bottom of her pocket, but her pack of smokes was nowhere to be felt. She groaned aloud begrudgingly, remembering that she had left her pack in her coat pocket... which she had left in her car on the other side of the street.
Kim left the bedroom, slamming the door shut as she did. Even though the action was slightly satisfying, it was hard to really hear the impact over the collective roar of the party-goers and thus dampened the enjoyment somewhat. The plan was to get herself another beer, see if she could maybe bum a cigarette from someone and go outside and enjoy the hell out of it. If she couldn't get a smoke, she would go to her car, but either way she was committed to the idea of a nice, long drag to ease her down again. When she was this stressed, she knew that that first slow, romanticized inhalation of smoke was almost as good as getting drunk or having an orgasm. Almost.
As she stepped into the living room once again, trying to prepare herself for whatever she may see Lindsay and Daniel doing, there was a moment of comfort that neither individual was within sight. That comfort quickly changed to agitation again as her brain began to wonder if the two had snuck off to make out or fuck somewhere. A hasty scan of the room revealed that that conclusion was, at the very least, half wrong. Lindsay was near the keg, standing next to her geeky little brother and talking to him, but it was clear to see that his eyes were firmly on Cindy Sanders. Lindsay was out of the way, but people were starting to gravitate towards the keg again and Kim didn't trust herself to be within punching distance of the brunette without causing her bodily harm. To make matters worse, they were just a few feet away from the pile of coats, most of which amassed there after all of the wall hooks were occupied by the first arrivals, so Kim couldn't even sack a pack if she wanted to.
So much for another beer or bumming a cigarette, she complained in her head.
Almost facetiously, Kim stuffed her hands in her pockets and stomped her way to the front of the Weir residence, once again abandoning her plans and making due with what she could. She pulled the lighter out of her pocket and opened one of the front double doors, slipping out and turning to close it. She rested her head against the barrier briefly, trying to figure out exactly how the night had gone to complete shit so quickly, and turned around to a sight that sent her into a silent panic. Daniel was standing right there!
His back was turned away from her and his form was slightly hunched over, leaning against the wrought-iron guardrail that ran along the porch. Tendrils of smoke drifted to the space above him and Kim immediately knew that he must have been in a smoking trance. While getting lost in the moment and drowning almost everything else out to simply enjoy a cigarette happened to her every once in a while, it seemed like the daze overtook Daniel anytime he smoked alone. It was as if he just zoned out for a bit and forgot that the world was still spinning.
Frozen, Kim had no idea what to do. This could either be a golden opportunity or a ride on the highway to hell. With how things had been falling downhill over the past few minutes, she was more inclined to go with the latter. Rage began to bubble in her system as she thought of the shit he had just pulled in the house, as she remembered that this was the kind of shit he always pulled, not just when they were broken up, and she came dangerously close to convincing herself to give him one hard shove, to push him over the guardrail and watch him tumble over and flop onto the ground in a confused heap. The two-foot fall wouldn't kill him... hell, it probably wouldn't even hurt him considering it would be his lower extremities that would hit the ground the hardest, but she quickly had to swallow her anger put on a fake face when she caught him snubbing out his spent smoke and tossing the butt into the yard. She knew Daniel was going to turn around and it was too late for her to either go back inside or to her car without him noticing, so, ready or not, she would just have to grin and bear this confrontation. First things first though: she needed a cigarette. He obviously had them, and therefore a smiling, serene Kim would be facing him when he made a one-eighty. This was gonna hurt no matter what, and she knew it had to happen sooner than later with how far he had already gone with Lindsay, so why not mooch a butt off him beforehand?