Melani spun around, quickly letting go of Bradin "James sweetie, what are you doing here?" she ran up to him and gave him a hug, which he allowed but didn't hug back. "You told me you weren't coming back till Friday" she said, trying to both block Bradin and look innocent.
"I decided to come back early to check on my girlfriend, but I have to admit, I didn't expect you to be hooking up with some random guy at a party" he said, now shifting his gaze from Melani to Bradin
She quickly noticed the change in gaze and grabbed his hand "Come on, let's talk about this" she said, still trying to draw his attention from Bradin to her. When she noticed the fire in his eyes she pleaded "Please James, please…"
His gaze steered from Bradin to her "Fine, let's go" he said briskly and literally pulled her away from everyone. She mouthed sorry to Bradin and then was hurried out of sight.
Kelli ran up to him "Are you ok, I tried to stop him, but he saw you guys before I had a chance to" she looked genuinely worried
"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" he asked confused
"He's really, really overprotective of Mel and he had fire in his eyes when he saw you two kissing. You should probably stay near people who can convince him not to hit you, cause I have a feeling unless you leave now, you won't make it out of here unharmed"
"He's that bad huh?" Bradin said, looking in the direction Melani had left
"Yeah, he's that bad" she said "Come on, lets go over here" she pulled him away "Listen, I don't mean to scare you, but you need to watch out for James" she said in a whisper "He's really powerful in school and if you and Mel get any closer, he's going to boil over, which might be bad for you, but it'll be a whole lot worse for her"
"What do you mean worse for her? He doesn't do anything to her does he?" Bradin asked nervously
Kelli sighed "She'd never admit it, but I think he does" she looked Bradin in the eyes "You can't say anything to her though; she gets really mad at me when I bring up my suspicions. Just watch your back ok? I don't want you to get hurt"
"How can she stay with him if he hurts her? I thought she was smarter than that?"
"I don't know, like I said, she hasn't come out and said he does but she fights with him then comes to practice the next day with marks on her. What else am I supposed to think?"
"Nothing, you're probably right. I should leave, that way neither of us can get hurt" he turned to walk home
"Please don't go Bradin. I want you to stay. I'd feel better if you stayed" she said
"Then I'll stay. I just hope Mel's ok" he said
"Me too" Kelli said as they walked back to the party "me too"
James pulled Melani far down the beach so they weren't near anyone before he turned to look at her "What's his name?" he said angrily
"Who?" she said innocently, looking down at the sand
He grabbed her and made her look at him. She saw the anger in his eyes "Bradin, his name is Bradin" she said quietly
"What, was he your summer fling while I was gone?" he yelled
"Bradin?" she laughed "No way, he used to live in Kansas with me and he moved here earlier this summer. I just ran into him yesterday"
"Like I believe that" he said angrily
"Why the hell are you yelling at me? We said that we could see other people when you were away, you never got mad when I hooked up with guys before" she yelled back
"That's because I never saw you making out with them!" he yelled back
"That's all I did though, at least I don't sleep with them!" she screamed. It took her a moment to realize what had just come out of her mouth "I'm sorry James, I didn't mean that" she said quietly, knowing the fall out of that outburst would be big.
"No, you're right" he said, letting go of her "I shouldn't have slept with that girl over spring break, but I didn't sleep with anyone this summer. I waited to be with you"
"You didn't sleep with anyone?" she said, shocked
"Nope, you?" he said, staring at her once again
"Do you even have to ask? I told you I'd never do that and I haven't. You're the only one I've been with" she said
"Good. Come on; let's go back to the party. I just can't wait to spend the rest of the night with my gorgeous girlfriend" he said, putting his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in tightly
"Are you sucking up to me?" she said sweetly
"No, just stating a fact" he said as they walked into the crowd. "Now be a good girl and get us drinks" She rolled her eyes and walked toward the cooler. James noticed the guy she had been dancing with sitting on the sand with Kelli, Lucas and a bunch of other people. He walked over to them "Hey" he said to Lucas
"Hey James" Lucas said "This is Bradin Westerly, he's new" he said motioning to Bradin
"I know" he said "Can I talk to you Bradin; it'll just take a second"
Kelli tightened her grasp on Bradin's hand, but she knew he would go with him "Sure" he said getting up. They both walked until they were far away from the group.
"I'm going to make this short and simple" James said "Stay the hell away from my girlfriend and you'll get to stay looking the way you do"
"Is that a threat" Bradin asked mockingly
"No, it's a promise" James said, looking him in the eyes
"Well bring it on" Bradin said "Because I'm not going to stay away from my friend just because her stuck-up jock of a boyfriend told me to"
James glared at him "Fine" he said and before Bradin had a chance to realize what he had just gotten himself into, James' fist rammed into his left eye.
"JAMES" they heard someone scream. Mel ran over to Bradin who had been knocked onto the ground from the blow. "What the hell are you doing? We talked about this; he's just a friend, why can't you get that through your thick skull?" she yelled
"I'm fine Mel" Bradin said standing up
"No you're not! He had no right to hit you." She turned from Bradin to James "I swear to God James, if you ever hurt any of my friends ever again, we'll be so done!" she turned to Bradin again "Come on, I'll take you home that way I can tell your aunt what happened so she doesn't kill you" She put his arm around her neck to help guide him
"Remember what I said Westerly" James yelled "I always keep my promises"