I know what you're thinking, holy FLYING TACOS it's been like, a couple of days since last update WTF? *face explosion*
I assure you, this is not a facial aneurysm on anyone's part- this truly is CHAPTER 11!
Oh and… Got a little carried away with 'getting ready for the party' scene in this one… Bear with me, there may or may not be something important in there….
Warning: some slightly graphic content in this one. I will not call it lemon and you will see why….
See you down below… (not like that…. you sick fucker!)
-Chapter 11-
"So, what? They're back together again?"
"Looks like it… Damn, I was gonna' see if she was looking for a rebound fling."
I rolled my eyes at some of the idiotic comments being thrown around the corridors on Friday morning. Thankfully, most people seemed to have decided to drop it, having obviously realised the romantic affairs of Cameron and Renesmee weren't really that fascinating after all.
Talk of another subject was tainting everyone's lips anyway- the big party tonight. That, and the fact that it was Friday had everyone buzzing. It was almost tangible and in my relieved state of mind caused by Cameron's return, I found myself being swept along with it.
Neither of us had slept at all last night after his return- well, this morning technically- and were both walking around with dazed looks on our faces caused from exhaustion. To the humans, we probably looked stoned. I laughed at the thought, finding it ironic how that only reinforced the stoner image- laughing in the middle of the corridor for no apparent reason.
Cameron turned to face me, raising his eyebrows in my direction with an amused smirk on his lips.
"I was just thinking we probably look like we're high," I whispered conspiratorially to him as we exited Maths. He looked at me incredulously for a moment before bursting into hysterics beside me. His face set me off, too, and I joined him.
I was pleased things seemed to have returned to normal since his return; only a few hours later and it was like he'd never left. The two days of school without him had been unbearably lonely and now that he was back I felt myself slipping back into the now-familiar niche of contentment that I was unaccustomed to feeling in school.
It made me feel guilty to realise I enjoyed school more with Cameron than I did with my family but deep down I knew they would've understood. He was my species and my own age with a similar sense of humour to my own.
And you like him, my inner voice chirped at me, sounding like a petulant six year old.
Nessie and Cameron sitting in a tree… I sighed, the children's rhyme making me long for the end of the sentence.
Ever since he'd kissed my cheek, practically all I could think about was him kissing me in other places. I wasn't one to have such perverted thoughts but I'd seen enough from my Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett to know there were definitely better places to be kissed than the cheek.
Lips, neck, collarbone…. other places, inner-hormone-crazy-Nessie listed and I was unsurprised when I felt the familiar warmth fill my cheeks.
The school day passed relatively quickly and although I was exhausted, I enjoyed my day immensely. That is, until the last bell rang and I approached my locker.
Sasha stood against it, smirking at me with a mischievous fire alight in her eyes.
Crap.
I'd forgotten I'd agreed to go to her place to get ready for the party that night. I hadn't really felt like going to the party at all and when I'd suggested to Cameron we stay home and watch a movie or something instead, he'd surprised me by saying he wanted to go. I'd shrugged it off at the time but when I saw Sasha's face, I knew she'd gotten to him.
Probably threatened him.
I sighed as I approached Sasha and she grinned wickedly at me, dangling her car keys in front of my face.
"Ready to go?" she asked.
"Sasha…." I began but she cut me off.
"Shh! No backing out now. Do you have an outfit?" she demanded as I put the last of my books away and shut my locker door. I saw an escape option and pounced on it.
"No! Oh damn, guess I can't go anymore. Bye Sash-" once again I was cut off.
"Oh no you don't! Your birthday's coming up isn't it?" she asked randomly. I nodded cautiously, narrowing my eyes when her face turned victorious.
"Great! Cause' I bought you the cutest outfit to wear tonight and it can count as your present!" she giggled and started marching toward the parking lot. I trailed after her with my mouth hanging open like an idiot, astounded.
We passed Cameron on the way to Sasha's beat up Mazda and he smirked down at me. I growled at him in a tone that would be inaudible to humans and tossed my car keys in his general direction. He caught them- the bastard- and waved jovially at me.
"See you tonight!" he called as Sasha clicked her little button and her small car beeped in response.
I lifted my middle finger at him over my shoulder as I jumped into the car and the last thing I heard from him before I slammed the door was his resounding laughter from across the lot. I couldn't help the giggle that escape me as Sasha started the car and she looked at me quizzically, seeming pleased I was warming up to the idea of being beautified by her. I frowned and then turned to look out the window.
It was a ten minute drive to Sasha's apartment block and we passed the drive by chatting aimlessly about school. Her room was on the top floor and as far as I knew she lived with her just her and her mom. I'd been there a few times before and we found our way easily up the elevator and into their unit.
Her mom wasn't home from work yet so we dropped our bags in the entryway and then made our way to the kitchen for a snack before Sasha set about 'Project Fix Nessie' as she had so aptly named it. She was on some kind of diet and ate only celery sticks with some kind of obscure orange dip whilst I helped myself to a piece of lemon cheesecake in the refrigerator.
After our quick break, Sasha directed me to her fair sized bedroom. It wasn't as large as mine was but it had a simply enormous bathroom to make up for it, likely the reason Sasha was content with it.
"Okay, the party doesn't start until nine o'clock so we have approximately…" I waited patiently for her to figure out the basic maths, "Five hours to make ourselves stunning!"
I smiled agreeably and waved my hands in front of me.
"You've got me here, now… do what you will," I laughed and sank down onto her bed while she went into the bathroom. She came out with a large basket of general beauty 'stuff' that I couldn't name if I tried.
"Go take a shower while I get all this stuff ready. I still have that spare shampoo and conditioner that you left here last time in the cupboard and there's a towel on the counter," she instructed. I nodded, slipping my shoes off by her bed and entering the bathroom. Once the door was shut behind me, I stripped and then dug through the cupboard for my familiar hair products. I'd left them behind the last time I was here accidentally and had never bothered to come and pick them up after Sasha insisted she would keep them for me. I found them behind a pile of sponges and placed them in the bottom of the shower alcove. I turned the faucet on and jumped under the steaming spray. With the sleep deprivation I was suffering, the hot water felt amazing against my tired body and I slumped against the shower wall, prepared to stay there until the hot water ran out. Or Sasha dragged me out by the hair. Whichever came first. I washed my hair with my familiar smelling shampoo, trying desperately not to fall asleep standing up. Horses could do that but I didn't think that it was a good idea for humans- or vampires for that matter- to attempt it.
I got out of the shower after Sasha started banging on the door and wrapped myself in the fluffy white towel provided. It was so warm and soft and felt how I imagined it would feel to be hugged by a carpet.
I groaned and called out to Sasha who was still in the other room. "Changed my mind, I think I might just fall asleep on a pile of your towels."
I could almost hear her grinding her teeth through the door and laughed, pulling the towel around me tying it in a knot to stop it from falling down. I then turned to the mirror and borrowed one of Sasha's brushes to gently comb out my damp hair. When I was satisfied it was straight, well as straight as it would get before Sasha attacked it with the straightener, I pushed open the door to the bedroom and saw Sasha sitting in front of her vanity. Her expression was impatient and I gathered that I had taken too long in the bathroom. I smiled and settled myself down on the chair, preparing for the assault.
"Now, I'm going to work on you first and then while you get dressed and do our nails I'm going to fix myself up," she announced solemnly, daring me to object. I didn't have a death wish so I simply nodded and let her start up the hair dryer. The way she held it made it seem like a gun and I couldn't help but giggle. She smiled back at me as she started up the device and directed the jets of hot air at my long hair.
It was a long time before she was done with my hair- an hour, maybe more. The end result was wonderful, transforming my wavy cascading hair into a sheet of bronze silk.
"What do you think?" Sasha asked as she twisted the straightener, curling parts of my hair inward to frame my face.
"You did good, Sash, real good. Thank you," I smiled genuinely up at her. Because, at the bottom of it all, I truly was thankful for a friend like her.
"No problem," she smiled. "Now, makeup!" she squealed, running over to her bed to retrieve everything she had obviously set aside especially.
Thankfully, she had decided that I was to take the 'subtle sexy' approach in the makeup department that night and she didn't overdo it. It actually wasn't too much worse than what I would have applied, had I been allowed to dress myself- just mascara, eyeliner and shadow. I was actually quite pleased with the general effect until Sasha pulled out a traffic light red lipstick and liner.
"What?!" I cried.
"Shhh, you were being so good, don't ruin it," she murmured, her lip twitching as she tried to put it on my face.
"No Sasha! Too much!" I stated, crossing my arms firmly over my chest and fixing her with a determined scowl. She huffed, seeming to realise I wasn't budging on this one thing. She dug around in a small black bag for a few seconds then produced a light pink colour. I nodded reluctantly and she smiled in victory as she applied it to my now-sullen face. I sat there and sulked while she made her finishing touches to my face.
"Beautiful," she chirped, pointing me to a mirror. I couldn't hold back the gasp that escaped me when I took in my face. I looked like me, yet different. Everything was enhanced, bold and… beautiful.
"Thank you," I whispered to Sasha, my eyes sparkling.
"You look fabulous, if I say so myself," she smiled smugly and I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, though, you're glowing. Totally jealous here!" she laughed.
"Glowing?" I repeated after her, unsure what she meant.
"Yeah. I've seen it many times- love."
She turned and started fussing with some of her supplies leaving me staring, open mouthed at my reflection.
Love?
It didn't make sense in my head so I had to say it out loud.
"Love?" I whispered.
"Sure, I can tell. You two are gone on each other, it's obvious from the way he looks at you. And you always get that dopey look on your face whenever he's around," she replied, not looking up from her work, unaware of the effect her words were having on me.
I continued to sit, gaping at myself in the mirror as her words sunk in.
Love?
Cameron?
Me?
What?
It didn't make sense. I didn't love him… did I?
Sasha decided that right then it was time to discuss the latest boy she was stringing along and I tried to forget her earlier words, trying to focus on what she was saying now. I didn't need her confusing me further. I had no idea how I felt about Cameron and her dropping the 'L' word on me did absolutely nothing but befuddle my already confused perception of what I thought we were.
I managed to mostly forget what she'd said and was surprised when I managed to engage her in conversation about the latest gossip at school. I was so pleased she'd moved on from her crush on my dad. That had been… just plain nauseating. We chatted while she did her own hair and I did both of our finger and toe nails. She may have had the artist's eye but I had the vampire's precision when it came to painting with polish.
It wasn't until we only had an hour left before the party that she seemed to break out of the happy trance she'd been in and looked at me in alarm.
"We'd better get dressed. Oooh I can't wait to show you your outfit," she practically screamed and I sat back on her bed as she dived into her enormous walk in wardrobe to find what I was to wear tonight.
She came out a few seconds later holding the tightest lookingpair of dark denim skinny jeans I'd ever seen. Before I could voice my protests she was retreating back into the closet, presumably to retrieve my shirt.
I grimaced at the jeans I was expected to fit into while she was gone and gulped, wondering how the hell I was supposed to wear them and still be expected to breathe.
"Tada!" she announced, whirling around to reveal my shirt for the night with a flourish. Any and all anger I'd held towards the jeans dissipated immediately and was redirected at the shirt as I took in what she had picked out for me.
On the hanger, there was probably enough material for a dishrag. A small dishrag.
The scrap of clothing that only vaguely resembled a shirt was black and quite obviously made to show some midriff and a lot of cleavage. There was a simple silver, red and white swirl pattern creeping from the sides of shirt that, on anything else, would have looked quite pretty.
"I'm not wearing that," I said straight away, making my remark before she could start the puppy dog eyes on me.
"Oh, but you are," she replied, staring me down. "I haven't gone and done all that work on you for nothing. You're wearing the outfit, you're going to the party. End of story," she declared.
"I'll wear the jeans but no way in hell can I be seen in public wearing that," I shrieked, pointing an accusing finger at the top she still held.
"No dice, Nessie. What are you gonna' do, wear that towel? You don't have another shirt to wear," she said.
I turned to the bathroom, stalking inside and searching on the ground for the shirt I wore to school. It was nowhere to be seen.
"I already hid your other clothes. Don't worry you'll get them back after tonight," she called evilly from back in the bedroom and I suppressed a growl.
"Fine!" I shouted, stalking past her, taking the jeans and shirt off her and entering the wardrobe. I shut the sliding door behind me and turned to face the wall mirror. I huffed and dropped the towel, then remembered I didn't have any underwear. I slid the door open slightly and peeped my head out, about to demand them back when she smiled at me.
"Check the bag hanging on the door handle," she suggested with a wink.
I grimaced and shut the door, glaring at the little black shopping bag. I stuck my hand in and pulled out a black, lacy push-up bra with matching panties.
"Godamnit," I growled, quickly pulling them on and facing myself in the mirror, knowing full well if I didn't she would leave me locked naked in a closet all night. I then attempted to put on the jeans, surprised when they slid on more easily than I'd expected. They were firm fitting but not as difficult to move around in than I had anticipated.
"Alright, here we go," I muttered to the next piece of offensive clothing. I pulled it over my head and adjusted it before I looked at myself in the mirror.
Ugh.
It was as bad as I thought it would be, if not worse. It covered all the vital places but hinted aggressively at the top of my cleavage. There was a few inches of my midriff showing but I found that it wasn't too much. And it was tight. I adjusted the short, slightly off-shoulder sleeves and shoved the door roughly out of my way, about to go and strangle Sasha.
"Oh my God… So lesbian right now," she laughed from where she was in the middle of putting on mascara.
"I look like- like… I look like a hooker!" I whispered the last word, embarrassed to be thinking it. Sasha burst into laughter and then cocked her head to the side to survey me.
"No, you look slutty. But just the right amount. Not 'I'm trying too hard' slutty. Innocent yet sexy," she assured me. I let out my breath slightly. Sasha knew her various levels of slutty and I didn't think she would lie to me. I squared my shoulders and sank to her bed.
"Here's your shoes," she said, throwing a box at me from the other side of the room.
I took a stab at what was inside and almost smiled when I guessed right.
Black Stilettos.
I quickly pulled them on, grateful that I at least knew how to walk in them without doing a face plant the way a lot of human girls were prone to doing.
With only ten minutes left before we had to leave, I turned to take in Sasha's appearance. I was irritated to find her dress was far more modest than my outfit. It was yellow and low cut but didn't scream the same message mine did.
"Oh, here, I almost forgot this," Sasha said, foraging through a shopping bag in the corner of her room. She pulled out a black leather jacket and passed it to me and I found myself grinning. At least it would cover me up partly. I pulled it on and admired the effect in the mirror. I looked… I couldn't quite find the word and was surprised when my friend spoke up from behind me.
"Sexy. Just like I told you," she supplied and I laughed to myself, then smiled at her.
We took a few minutes to clean up our mess somewhat and after a final make up check, Sasha and I exited the bedroom. Her mom was sitting in the living room watching a chick flick but she looked up when we passed through the room. I saw her eyes widen at our appearance but then she just shook her head indulgently and grinned.
"Go get em' girls," she laughed.
"Thanks mom. See you later, love you!" Sasha called as we made our way to the front door.
Sasha's mom's words reminded me of my own mother and I wished suddenly that she was there. I wondered what she would say of my outfit. I knew my dad would tell me to take it off and go put proper clothes on suitable for a 'young lady'. I laughed then sighed sadly.
The ride to the party was quick as Gary Toddson lived in nearly the same part of town as Sasha did. His house bordered on a large and imposing forest where already a bunch of cars were parked nearby. My eyes scanned for either of my cars and I was unsurprised when I spotted the black Lamborghini parked slightly apart from the others.
Cameron was already here.
I smiled as Sasha locked the car and we headed towards the house.
Cameron POV
I laughed uncomfortably as the girl in front of me offered me another sip of her drink.
"No thanks, I think I'm good," I replied, holding up my own bottle. It was full of some kind of beer that I found didn't actually taste too bad. I very, very rarely drank but when I did it had always been cheap human beer. This stuff tasted better but didn't affect me at all. Alcohol rarely could touch my consciousness, the vampirism obviously numbing most of the affects.
I'd only been at the party for about ten minutes but already there were drunk people running around everywhere. I gathered that a large number had just come from another party or else gotten wasted at home before coming here. I shook my head at the idiocy and turned to go and find somewhere to sit while I waited for Renesmee, when suddenly I bumped into someone.
"Oh, sorry," I apologized, stepping backwards to avoid running into her again. I turned to leave and then did a double take.
"Nessie?" I said, turning back to the girl I'd just run into. It was her but she looked… different.
I needed to go and shake Sasha's hand.
When she'd cornered me earlier that day to ask if I could help her make Nessie go, I had agreed only a little reluctantly. I was so glad I had.
Renesmee's long legs were accentuated with the tightest pair of jeans in existence and she was wearing an extremely tight fitting shirt, too. A portion of her perfectly flat stomach was showing but my gaze was immediately drawn to her chest. Holy shit, I swore in my head. I looked her up and down- perhaps rudely, but I couldn't find it in myself to care at the time- for a few heated seconds before I managed to look her in the eye.
"Hey," Renesmee said, looking a little embarrassed. I nearly slapped myself.
What the fuck? How dare you perv on her, you prick, I mentally chastised myself.
I opened my mouth to return her greeting but I was still slightly dazed and all that came out of my mouth was, "I-uh.. yeah- you look… uh. Hey."
She laughed at me and I grinned sheepishly, glad to see she wasn't upset with me as she rightly should have been.
"So… are you enjoying the party?" she asked, her eyes glinting with excitement.
"You could say that," I smiled and raised my bottle to her.
"What are you drinking?" she asked, a look of almost shock crossing her face.
"I think it's beer of some sort. Tastes alright," I said. An idea entered my mind and I found myself voicing it before I fully thought it through. "Want a sip?" I said, offering her the bottle. She smiled and took it from me, raising it to her lips and taking a sip. She didn't take her eyes off me as she drank and I didn't find myself looking away from her, either. There was something extremely hot about the way she lowered her eyes then and I found myself staring at her lips the way I had last night.
I'd almost kissed her then, had been so, so close, too, but then I'd remembered at the last second why I couldn't.
As she gave me back the bottle I found the urge rising in me again, my hand already half way to pulling her face to mine before I realised what I was doing. She looked at me quizzically and I quickly directed my hand's path to the mantel behind her and offered her a bowl of potato chips instead.
Smooth, Cameron, real smooth. I mentally rolled my eyes at myself.
"Tastes good," she smiled at the beer and took a chip from the bowl.
For the next hour or so we just meandered around the edges of the party, talking to people we knew from school and we both drank some more beer. I felt moderately charged but not nearly enough to even declare myself tipsy. I had no intention of getting drunk, finding no point in it, but didn't object when the same random girl from earlier offered me some kind of vodka mix drink. I took a swig and grimaced. Chick drink.
The only damper on things was when guys asked Nessie to dance. That pissed me off. I wasn't her real boyfriend but seriously? What was wrong with these people? But each and every time she said no I felt myself smirk and always had to hide it before she saw.
Why was I getting possessive of her all of a sudden?
Of course, girls made their way over to me, draping themselves over me and trying to coerce me into dancing with them. Each time I smiled politely and backed away, feeling a desire to dance with only one person there. And I couldn't. I didn't know if Renesmee would even want to dance with me. She would probably feel uncomfortable. A few times after she would reject a guy I was sure I saw her eyes flit to me, something strange in them, but by the time I got to examining her face closely enough, they were back to normal.
About two hours into the party, things started getting a lot more heated, the dancing becoming more of a contest as to how much skin people could show before they left to find someplace more quiet with a stranger. There were a number of couples taking off and finding bedrooms to go and fornicate in. I nearly laughed every time I saw them, wondering what the morning after would be like for them.
I was glad that when Kyle showed up he kept to the other side of the room to us. I didn't want him anywhere near Nessie after what he'd said to her the other day and feared that if he approached her I would probably end up hitting him, if not killing him.
At some point in the night, Sasha came over to us. Part of me wanted to thank her for dressing Nessie like that but the other half was slightly annoyed that she'd put Nessie in that position, embarrassed her like that.
"Hey you guys!" Sasha shrieked happily, obviously well past tipsy and on her way to drunk.
"Sasha, how much have you had to drink?" Nessie asked, quirking an amused eyebrow in her friend's direction. Sasha took a moment to think, and then shrugged obliviously. I chuckled, amused.
"This music's wicked awesome! Why aren't more people dancing?" she cried, looking around her in an almost panicked manner.
"I don't know Sasha. Why don't you go dance?" Nessie suggested with a smile, obviously as amused by her friend's antics as I was.
"Ooh! Why aren't you two dancing? Go, go, go!" she ordered, pushing the both of us into the center of the room.
After recovering our balance quickly, we both stilled and looked at each other, expressions cautious. And then a hard shove sent Nessie flying into me and I caught her, looking quizzically over her head at Sasha. She grinned wickedly and then ran over to the side of the room. I looked down and realised I was still holding Renesmee against me, most likely against her will. I helped Renesmee stand upright and, of course, she was blushing furiously.
"Sorry," she mumbled, about to move back to the side of the room where we had been standing earlier. I felt something strange surge through me and reached out to grab her hand, pulling her back to me.
"Dance with me," I said simply. To my relief she nodded and a smile slowly spread across her face.
Just then the music changed to a slow number and I looked over in surprise at the music player, seeing a devious Sasha standing proudly next to it. She had changed the song to a slower one, obviously in an attempt to make Nessie and I dance together to it. A very few people protested the tempo change but a large number of couples that had stuck to the fringes of the dance floor overshadowed the complaints by stepping onto the dance floor and wrapping themselves around their partners.
I shrugged and pretended it was no big deal when really my heart was thumping away in anticipation of holding her again so soon. She didn't stop me when I pulled her close to me and put my hands hesitantly on her waist. She seemed to catch on then and, just as hesitantly, she put her arms around my neck. I smiled down at her without thinking and, together, we started to move to the music.
The dance floor was rapidly filling with people who had obviously been waiting for a slow song so they didn't have to move too much and we quickly found ourselves pressed tightly together.
I wasn't complaining.
We didn't talk while we danced, nor did we look at each other much. Every time I would catch her eye, she would blush and then look down. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as we twirled slowly amidst the sea of bodies. Again, I had that sensation of rightness wash over me, as though this was the way things were meant to be.
The song ended after a few short minutes and whilst I wasn't quite ready to let her go, I sensed it would be pushing it to hang onto her once the song was over. We retreated back to our side of the room.
"I'm just gonna' go get a drink," she mumbled, keeping her eyes away from my face as she backed towards the room I knew the kitchen was in.
"Kay," I smiled and turned to find my own drink.
Once again, that same girl was there, offering me alcohol. I politely shook my head, wondering what the hell was wrong with her when suddenly she burst into tears. I looked around, panicked, as she started wailing incomprehensible words. She stopped after a full minute and expected some kind of answer from me.
"What?" I asked, extremely puzzled as to what she wanted from me.
Without another word she took my hand and started pulling me away. I could easily have broken out of her grasp but she looked extremely drunk and, as exasperating as she was, I didn't want her to hurt herself or anyone else whilst so incapacitated. She pulled me into a deserted room, the den I guessed, and forced me over into a corner.
"Are you alright?" I asked. She didn't answer with words, instead, throwing herself towards me and attempted to kiss my neck. I froze immediately, unsure what to do. Girls had come onto me before but never had one so literally thrown herself at me. A few seconds passed while I stood frozen, completely unsure what to do. I quickly decided that doing nothing would only encourage her and realised that I needed to act quickly before I got caught up. I wanted Nessie and I'd repeatedly denied myself so much that my body was cheering loudly at the physical contact, even if it wasn't from the girl I wanted.
I grasped the girl's head between my hands and pulled her back away from. She still looked desperate and drunk and I sighed wearily, wondering what to do next.
I heard someone walk into the room but didn't have time to look up before they left again, probably deciding that this was going to go a lot further and be something they didn't want to witness. And it just might, if I didn't get this girl off me quickly.
I ended up pushing the girl completely off me and then sitting her down on a nearby chair. I told her to stay there while I went to fetch her some water so she could sober up a bit. I went through the dining room to get to the kitchen and quickly located an empty glass, filling it with water. As it was filling I heard a group of girls clustered nearby talking and my ears pricked up as I heard Renesmee's name.
"She just drank it all down, an entire screwdriver at once! I never thought she had it in her," one of them laughed admiringly.
I felt slightly stunned that Nessie had done that but shrugged it off. I took the water back to the girl in the room and made her sit there while she drank it. She promptly fell asleep and I held back laughter. I found a pillow from a nearby cupboard and threw a throw rug over her.
"Sleep well you crazy, drunk human," I muttered as I took a seat. The party was getting a bit crazy and I decided to take a quick respite in the den to calm myself back down again.
Renesmee POV
I blushed as I backed away from Cameron, telling him I was going to get a drink when really all I wanted was a few minutes to collect myself. Dancing with him had been… amazing. It had felt so natural, so perfect, I hadn't wanted to let go but he hadn't seemed to want to dance anymore.
I made my way to the kitchen to grab a drink of whatever was going but then a girl I was friends with, Linda, walked forward and started talking to me.
"Hey, I was just about to make some screwdrivers! You want one?" she offered, gushing loudly in her drunken state. I giggled and nodded.
Just then a group of girls walked past me, chattering inanely to themselves.
"So Nadia was all, whatever, but then I was like, no way seriously! She grabbed him right after he finished dancing with that Nessie chick," one of them laughed. I frowned, puzzled. Why were they talking about Cameron?
"She's in the den, like, right now! I bet she gets his pants off," one of the others giggled. I froze, understanding dawning on me.
One of their friends was trying to seduce him right about now. I fought back a growl and turned to Linda who was still making my drink.
"I'll be right back, just put my drink on the bench," I told her, walking away to find Cameron. Of course he would push the girl away. I was just going to see if he needed reinforcements. Well, that was what I told myself, anyway.
I quickly found and entered the room I'd been told was the den. A few armchairs and one long sofa littered the room but my gaze was immediately drawn to the far wall.
Cameron was standing with his back against the wall and a girl with dark hair was pressed flush against him, her arms around him. As I watched, he pulled her head back and looked into her eyes. He was going to kiss her.
I felt like I'd been punched in the gut as I gulped silently and turned on my heel, leaving the room as fast as I could in human guise. There was no way I could witness that.
My brain felt like it was slurry as I pieced it together, my legs carrying me mindlessly down the corridor.
Cameron and a girl.
What were they doing? Who was she?
Why was he kissing her?
I felt sick to my stomach, the image of him and another girl spinning around in my head and pressing on my consciousness. I hadn't recognized the girl and he hadn't seemed like he had either when she offered him a drink earlier. This was the first time they'd met. He was letting a girl he barely knew drape herself all over him. He was kissing said girl.
I felt a few tears sting in my eyes as I entered the joint kitchen and living area and I tried desperately to forget.
You're not really together, I tried to remind myself.
It didn't matter to me, though. I hadn't exactly told him what I felt- hell, I didn't even really know myself- but I'd thought it was an unspoken thing.
I'd thought we had something.
He obviously didn't feel the same way.
Trying to forget, I returned to my glass on the kitchen counter top where Linda had obviously left if for me, picking it up determinedly in my hand.
To forgetting things we wished we didn't see, I toasted myself bitterly in my head as I raised the glass to my lips.
I tipped my head back and downed my drink in one, not letting the bitter taste of the alcohol make me cringe. A few people nearby applauded and I smiled as I discarded the paper cup into the trash. I looked at the bottles sitting on the counter near the cup I'd just grabbed and saw that what I'd just drank was vodka and orange juice. I vaguely remembered Linda calling it a 'screwdriver'. It was bubblier than I'd thought it would be, considering neither vodka or orange juice were carbonated, but I shrugged it off, enjoying the feeling of recklessness and its helpful memory impeding effects too much to really focus.
Already, I could feel the slightly intoxicating presence of the stronger alcohol in my system, giving me a slightly buzzed feel. My vampire side made me somewhat immune to the effects but it was still enough that I could feel it coursing through my body. I talked with a random group of people, my mind moderately hazy and a slightly electric feeling coursing through me. I determinedly didn't bring up Cameron once, changing the subject of the conversation swiftly when he was brought up. I laughed more than I usually did and my reactions were more delayed than I'd thought possible for someone of my species but I just laughed it off.
I carried on in that strange way for about ten minutes before I abruptly clutched my stomach. The Toddson's living room swirled before my eyes and I felt nausea overcome me. At least it's what I thought nausea felt like, having never experienced it before. My stomach tightened and I felt the urge to gag for some reason. Yep, definitely nausea.
As I fought with a strange dizziness that was surrounding me, the music suddenly started to seem too loud. The walls tilted and people's faces blurred. I blinked hard twice, and, murmuring excuses about fresh air to the people I was talking with, I retreated out onto the back porch to get a little peace and quiet.
You idiot, you shouldn't have drunk that, I told myself as I slouched over the railing a little, letting the pure air wash over me and lessen the nausea some. I waited out there alone for a few minutes, trying to calm my stomach and clouded head, until someone opened the door and joined me on the porch. I looked up through foggy eyes and saw Kyle grinning down at me.
"Hey, Renesmee. How are you feeling?" he asked, a strange smile on his face.
"A little woozy," I replied honestly, in my poor state forgetting that I hated him.
"That's good to hear," he laughed and I didn't miss how he stepped closer to me.
"Good?" I repeated, my head spinning too much for me to really make sense of it. I got the feeling that I should be worried for some reason and my mouth went dry for some reason when I noticed a few of his friends appear in the doorway to the house.
"I think it's about time you loosened up a little, that's all," he replied, smirking when he noticed me start to panic. I stood up, trying to right the dizziness that overcame me when I did, and moved to step around Kyle. He stepped with me and I felt my feeling of dread pick up in intensity.
"I'd like to go inside now," I managed to speak steadily but I could feel my control slipping. Kyle shook his head and his friends moved outside and shut the door behind him. The sound of the blaring music was immediately muffled and I glanced at the group of guys in alarm. In an ordinary situation, I knew I could take any and all of them in a fight but with my movements and mind processes slowed down I suddenly wasn't so sure. I backed up against the railing and briefly considered my chances of running. There was six of them and only one of me. I knew that, for humans, they were all exceptionally fast from playing football. But you can't just stay here, I reminded myself. I tried to step quickly to the side past them, towards the porch stairs, but my movement was sluggish and they were able to pace my clumsy stride.
I quickly ruled out running.
I stood there trying to organise my thoughts while they smiled darkly at me, most specifically trying to think of how the hell I was supposed to get myself out of this situation. I wished fervently that someone would open that door. No one did and found myself feeling actual fear from these humans. More than anything, I wished Cameron would open the door. It didn't matter that he'd hurt me, that he was probably making out with that girl in another room right now.
None of it mattered anymore. I just wanted him there. I didn't know what they planned to do to me but a small voice in the back of my head whispered things to me that made my stomach roll with disgust and outright terror.
The human part of me reflexively opened my mouth to prepare a scream but Kyle stepped forward and clapped his hand across my mouth while one of his friends moved behind me and pulled my arms behind my back, pinning them between his body and me.
"Don't scream right now, save your breath. You'll be doing a lot of screaming before tonight is over," the one pinning my arms promised darkly in my ear. I squirmed and tried to pull away from the two men, hating how vulnerable I was in that second. I wasn't used to being overpowered by humans, it wasn't natural for me. Even with the alcohol, I realised, I should've been able to control my reactions and movements better.
And that's when it clicked. The extra bubbles and fizz in my drink… I'd left my drink alone for a few minutes when I'd seen Cameron. Was it possible they'd slipped something in my cup? I could feel my muscles giving out, a sedative feeling creeping through my body… My mind briefly ran through everything I knew about drink spiking. The drugs I'd heard about from one of the many safety seminars at school all played the same cannon- fast acting sedatives that rendered the victim unconscious about fifteen minutes after ingestion.
Yes, it was possible they'd spiked my drink. Screw possible! my subconscious screamed at me. They've drugged you. What the hell are you going to do now? I asked myself. My fifteen minutes were almost up but I chanced a guess that because of my vampiric body, I could probably fight the unconsciousness for a few minutes more than a human. I felt anger towards them that I desperately wanted to unleash in the form of violence but I couldn't control my body, it refused to obey me. My knees folded and my mind swam in a sea of murky thoughts that refused to cohere themselves.
Distantly, as though it was happening to someone else, I felt one of the other guys come forward to take the other side of my body. They put their hands on me and picked my limp form up, walking down off the porch and half dragging, half carrying me towards the forest that bordered the Toddson's yard. I fought groggily, screaming against the hand that was over my mouth. I sounded weak to even my ears. I couldn't process much but my sluggish bran was retaining enough power to tell me I had to find a way out of the situation before it was too late.
I summoned up all the concentration and strength I could and tried to break my arms out of their grip. I failed dismally and the one holding my arms gripped them tighter in response. Panic ripped through me like fire does dried grass- all consuming, terrifying, inescapable.
I drifted vaguely in and out for about a minute, the noises and sights blurring together. My head lolled against one of their arms and I moaned in pain as my stomach lurched uncomfortably. They all laughed and someone's derisive voice reached my ears but I couldn't make out the words.
After we hit the dense cover of the trees, they dragged me through the forest faster, laughing and joking about what they were going to do to me.
"You think she's a virgin?"
"Not for much longer." They laughed uproariously at that, confirming my worst fear. The one who was still holding my arms brought his lips to my neck and whispered profanities in my ear. I shuddered and tried to pull away from him. Aunt Rosalie had told me her story, her terrible tale. Men had done terrible things to her and she'd made me promise her I would never let anyone do that to me. I didn't want to fail her- or myself- but I couldn't fight.
I couldn't escape.
"So, who gets to pop her cherry?" one of the group asked.
"I think I should get to do the honours. After all, this was my idea," a voice volunteered. Through all the confusion I could recognize it and the hatred and fear inside me grew impossibly further. Kyle…
There were a few noises of protest from the others in the group but Kyle spoke over them.
"Don't worry, you'll all get your turns. I want her first, though," he exclaimed loudly, his voice excited. I very nearly passed out at that moment. You'll all get your turns…
Tears sprang up in my eyes and dripped down my face and a defeated broken sob sounded from deep within my chest.
"Please, don't," I begged in a subdued voice and my words came out like mush. They laughed again and seemed to reach the spot they'd been looking for. It was a small clearing and I could see a Jeep parked off to one side with a blanket spread across the open back. One of them pushed me roughly forward and my legs in their weakened state, fell out from under me, causing yet more laughter as I fell to the damp forest floor. Weakly, I tried to push myself up from the ground, but I failed dismally and felt my consciousness leaking out of me as my muscles shut down.
All my life, I'd thought myself practically invincible- I was a supernatural with a powerful, protective family. How could this be happening to me? All my life I'd laughed and shrugged off reassurance and protection.
Back in the deserted clearing with six men who planned to do terrible things to me, I suddenly wished for someone to make it better, make the pain and fear go away. Somebody, help me, I thought uselessly to myself.
Wait- my thoughts weren't useless, I realised suddenly as I gasped for breath. I gathered up every ounce of concentration I possessed and projected my thoughts towards the one person I knew could help me. I didn't even finish the thought, my body and mind giving out altogether before I say anything but the one sentence.
Cameron, help me…
CLIIIIIIIF HANGERRRRR!!!! Dayem… guess you people will just have to review to get chapter 12…. Blackmail is such an ugly word….
On a serious note: Drink spiking is no laughing matter. It's a very real and dangerous thing, and though I personally have not been a victim to it, thousands of women have been and it is a very serious matter. So to all you ladies reading this- WATCH YOUR DRINKS! And keep an eye out for your friends when you're out clubbing. *end serious note*
Slow song they dance to in my mind is 'I Fall by Fatis Valour'. Little known band, I actually know the lead singer. Check them out on iTunes k??
Press the R button or no chapter 12!
Well, there will be a chapter 12 but the faster/more you review, the quicker it will be released.
Author power! Mwahahaha, my, how the tables have turned!
*facepalm* okay, I'll stop now, promise.
Review : )