Mary Ellen Mercer
I fidgeted with my dress while checking my text messages outside of the school gym. I wasn't ready to face the people in there who all knew what was going on. I wasn't ready to go in there and see Asher and his "pack" in there. It was just too much. I needed to wrap my head around things first and then face them.
I brushed a strand of hair from my eyes and shivered. Why did West Virginia nights have to be cold? I wrapped my arms around myself and could already feel my feet starting to ache. I sighed and decided that it was best to just walk in there. I would spend a few hours with my friends and then escape to be with my boyfriend.
I turned off my cell and slipped it into my clutch before walking slowly towards the school. I was half dreading to go in and half not wanting to wear the heels that Alyssa insisted that I wear. I sighed and pushed open the school door and walked down the hall towards the gym, where I could already hear the music and feel the bass' beat. I brushed my hair from my eyes and walked through a pack of freshmen on my way into the gym.
I stopped in the doorway and surveyed the surrounding. I saw all the faces that I went to school with, that I had known since kindergarten. I also saw a few unfamiliar faces. They weren't people's dates, but a pack of boys standing over by the refreshment tables. I turned and looked to my left and saw Nick and his gang standing against the wall, half hidden in the shadows. They too were watching the new people, but the looks on their faces were…frightening.
I remembered the story Nick had told the previous night at the party. It sent shivers down my spine, especially after hearing the wolves in the woods and John ushering all of us into the house with a slightly worried look on his face for an instant. But, in that short time period, I had felt that there was something behind that face, a story that went with the story that we had all been told. It was a story that no one wanted to tell.
I walked into the gym and headed towards the refreshment table. It wasn't that I was curious of the new kids, but rather that I saw that Grayson and Alyssa were waiting for me over there. I was half way across the gym when I felt a slightly warm hand on my wrist. This hand was warmer than a regular person's. I turned and found myself looking up into Asher and Sawyer's eyes. Did any of them not travel in a group?
"Hey," was all I said. I was going to let them do the conversation part because I was always stuck doing it. Asher and Sawyer exchanged a look, a look I didn't know what it meant. Was it good? Bad? Did I want to know?
"Hey," Sawyer said finally, nudging Asher. Asher gave him a look. I had the feeling that Asher didn't want to be doing this because Jessyca walked over and hooked her arms through both of theirs.
"They were wondering if you would like a drink," she said, speaking for them. "Well…Asher was wondering if you were thirsty since you were heading to the refreshment table and Sawyer said he should go find out, so here they both are, looking like total and complete idiots."
"Don't you have a date, Jess?" Asher asked, looking at her with a cold look. She shrugged it off, unaffected.
"Jareth is sulking because of his little argument with Nick last night," she said simply. I looked at the dark haired boy next to Nick. He did seem a little ticked. Matt, on Nick's other side, was watching Jessyca closely while Nick was looking at something past me. Lexi was nowhere in sight, but perhaps she had a date. "Or would you prefer that one of these idiots danced with you?"
"I'm fine, really. I was just…going to go meet up with Grayson and Alyssa," I said, nodding slightly and turning.
"Wait," Asher said quietly, but I still heard it. I stopped walking, but still had my back to him. "Did you go see Tyler last night?" Bingo. I turned slightly and shook my head.
"I had to go home. It was getting late and my dad was worried that I wouldn't be safe at the hospital even though my mom works there," I replied softly. He looked at me and nodded.
"You should go tonight," he said and turned. I frowned as I watched them walk away. I turned and walked towards Alyssa and Grayson.
"What did Nick's minions want?" Alyssa asked as I reached her. I shrugged and leaned against the table.
"Nothing much," I replied. She eyed me, but nodded slightly.
I looked up as a blonde boy approached me. It was one of the new kids. His shaggy hair was falling into his eyes, his brown eyes were like a puppy dog's, huge and innocent. I took in his height, six foot and smallest of the group he'd been with. I took in his muscled, compact body. I took in the way his lightly tanned skin looked against his white dress shirt and dress pants. I smiled slightly when he smiled, able to clearly see his white, straight teeth.
"Would you like to dance?" he asked with an accent as though he was from Texas. I heard Alyssa suck in a breath and nudge me. I smiled softly.
"Sure," I said, mesmerized by his beauty as he took my hand and lead me onto the dance floor as Sleeping at Last's Turning Page started playing. "I'm Mary Ellen Mercer." He smiled down at me.
"I know who you are, Mary Ellen. People at this school talk nothing else than of you. I'm Evan Westholder," he replied. I nodded the name unfamiliar. "My family and I moved here from Dallas." He pulled me to him, resting his hands on the small of my back as I reached up and wrapped mine around his neck.
"I've always lived here," I replied. He looked down at me and nodded.
"That's cool."
"What brought you here?" I asked. He looked down at me, a ghost of a smile on his face. I watched him.
"We needed…a change of lifestyle," he replied. I looked at him and nodded slowly. "My brothers and I, I mean."
"They're your brothers?" I asked. He opened his mouth to reply, but he didn't because a tanned hand was clasped on Evan's shoulder.
"May I have a dance with her?" Matt asked. He looked menacing and handsome at the same time. I frowned. I would have thought Asher or Sawyer would have asked me to dance first. Evan glanced at me.
"Of course," he said. The two locked eyes before Evan retreated and Matt's hands replaced his. I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"You look handsome, Matthew," I said, looking at him. He looked down at me. He did look handsome. His solid black attire made him have a mysterious look, as well as making him look handsome.
"Thank you, Mary Ellen. You look nice," he said, but something was off with him.
"Thanks," I said. We swayed to the music, silent. "If you wanted a dance, all you had to do was ask for one. You didn't have to cut in." He looked down at me.
"Yes, I did have to cut in," he replied. I frowned, confused, but he was watching something else. He wasn't looking at me. I frowned and turned us around so I could see what he was looking at. Evan and his brothers had been in a glaring competition with Nick and the others.
"What's wrong?" I asked softly, not sure if he could hear me over the music. He looked down at me and shook his head, spinning us again.
"Nothing's wrong," he replied. I didn't have that feeling, though, but I let it drop. There was something obviously going on and I was being left out of it.
"You're coming to Jareth's party," Jessyca said sternly as I stood with Grayson and Alyssa by the school exit. "It'll be fun, Mare, promise. You don't have to stay long, just come!" She took my hands and had a begging look in her eyes. "You cannot leave me alone with all those boys and Lexi. I mean, they may be cute and all, but I don't want to be the only girl…with Lexi. It's just…weird."
"I'd have to call my dad and all. I told him I'd be home by eleven," I said. I dreaded calling my dad because, since he was a cop, he had all these questions he asked. Will it be chaperoned? Is there going to be drinking? When will you be home? Are you going alone? Who are you going with? And the list continued.
"I'll call him. It'll work out. Please, Mare, you have to come," she said, ignoring the impatient looks her friends were giving her. I sighed and looked at Alyssa and Grayson. They shrugged.
"Fine, I'll come," I replied. Jessyca squealed and smiled as I cringed. She hooked her arms through mine and Alyssa.
"This is going to be amazing," she said, sighing. I acknowledged that Nick, Jareth, and Matt had slipped away. If it was Jareth's party, shouldn't he be going?
"Um…where are they going?" I asked Jessyca. She looked at them and her smile faltered slightly, but it quickly reappeared.
"They're going to be a little late, but they'll be there," she said, tugging us towards Grayson's Jeep.
