Chapter 5
"You didn't see the look in his eyes when I left. I know you're skeptical, but that was definitely a look that said I mattered." Meg pointed out as she bent over her Mathematics book, finishing up the last question.
"And these looks are coming from the guy who drove off, leaving you in the middle of nowhere after he had just seen someone attack you? Sounds like a solid winner to me." Serena replied sarcastically, twisting off the top of one of her nail polishes. "Not to mention he had this gorgeous sex bomb riding shotgun? Mr. What-Dreams-Are-Made-Of sounds a little sketchy to me."
"First of all, that is his sister. Besides, it's the fact that he took the risk of following me in the first place. I must have run past dozens of schoolmates and dozens more complete strangers who didn't even catch on to try to help. Considering he had his sibling beside him and could've easily revealed our relationship accidentally, I'd say it's a sign that he cares."
"He says it is his sister. But how many siblings still live together in their late twenties, and drives around everywhere together?" Serena asked. "And why would it even matter? I thought you were over him. Pass me your hand."
Sighing, Meg dropped her pencil and extended her fingers toward Serena as she began painting them a bright red. "So did I. But it was easier for me to convince myself that this little infatuation was unrequited, leaving the burden on me to get over him. But if he's just as interested as I am..."
"I think you're getting ahead of yourself. So he followed you before you tackled a mugger like a massive bull dyke. That's not really much of an indicator, he would be pretty scummy to just leave you to your vices." Serena commented, not taking her eyes off of Meg's perfectly oval fingernails. "But unrequited or not, the original problem still stands. He's a teacher, and you're not only a student—you're jailbait. You can't carry that kind of risk. You need to move on before you get yourselves both in trouble."
"What would you propose?" Meg asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "It's not fair that this isn't as difficult for you and Darien."
"Welllll," Serena trailed on teasingly. "I know clubbing normally isn't your thing, but the girls and I area going on this group date to Oasis in a couple of hours. You should come. Borrow some of my clothes."
Clubbing? Clubbing was a horrendous idea. Full of idiots who couldn't tell sincere conversation from douchebags who just wanted to get into girls' pants. Where "meeting someone" entails getting surprise butt sex from a random stranger who begins grinding up on you from behind.
The disgust on Meg's face must have showed, because Serena immediately burst into giggles. "C'mon. They'll be here in like two hours. Lita's going to play bartender." Serena pressed. She tapped Meg's textbook. "It's Friday night. This homework isn't going to be due in like, two days. That's plenty of time."
Meg sighed. "I'll go, but only if you promise for us to go to a 21+ club. There's no way I'm going to get all dolled up just to dance with a bunch of kids that are my age."
Serena's jaw dropped, and immediately a large smile lit up her face. "Deal! Darien's coming, so that has always been the plan. She rolled away to grab her wallet. "I have a backup driver's license from my cousin. She looks like you… somewhat."
After looking into Serena's eager eyes, Meg grinned and conceded. "Alright, I'll go. But what the hell is with this picture? This girl must way at least seventy pounds more than I do!"
Serena glanced at the photo and shrugged. "We are all very impressed with your miracle weight loss and the bouncer will be too."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It was almost midnight now, and Meg did not doubt for a second that her mother would be freaking out right now if she hadn't been away on business. Staggering into the girl's restroom of Oasis, probably the most crowded club she'd ever been it, Meg checked herself out in the mirror.
Reaching into her bag for her compact, she heard it clatter noisily against the ground. Giving out a giggle for more or less no reason in particular, Meg leaned over and picked it up. If Maxfield could see how hot she looked right now, she had no doubt in her mind that he would come in his pants.
The crowd tonight had a surprisingly good selection. There were plenty of college guys, plenty of girls who didn't make Meg feel unnaturally young in comparison, and even younger guys who weren't overly rowdy. Everyone was just having a good time.
Well, except maybe Lita.
The sound of vomit hitting the water made Meg cringe as she glanced back to see Serena and Rei crowded inside one of the stalls, holding Lita's hair back as she puked out her guts and memories.
Reluctant to let this kill her night, Meg slipped out of the washroom again and back onto the dance floor.
"Hey, how is your friend doing?" One of the guys from my school, Josh, touched my arm as he hovered nervously outside the girl's washroom with a glass of water in his hand. "She looked pretty sick when she left." Lita had chosen this guy with whom to make out with all night, and Meg could see why. He was tall, handsome, and seemed pretty sweet to worry about her rather than go onto the next easy target.
"I think she will be fine." Meg lied. Lita was most definitely done for the night, but at least she would be alright tomorrow. "Can I have some of that?"
He offered Meg his class, and she took a quick gulp of it before nearly throwing up in her mouth. Water? Unless it came from the sewers, its taste completely threw her off. "Dude, what the hell is this?"
"Gin and tonic. What did you think it was?" Josh asked, grabbing onto Meg's arm to steady her while she staggered over to the wall for balance. "Are you feeling alright? Want me to take you back to my place to rest?"
Meg immediately regained her composure to the best of her ability and gave him a blank stare. It certainly didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out what was on this guy's mind. He definitely looked older than his age though, with his broad and muscular shoulders from swimming. In other words, for a high schooler, he was pretty damn sexy.
"It's a bit late, isn't it?" She asked dryly.
"Don't worry about it. My dad's always at his law firm downtown working late, and my mom's out of town. What do you say?" He leaned forward and slid his hand behind Meg's slender waist and pulled her into him, sucking tentatively on her neck.
Tilting her face to the side, Meg checked her phone awkwardly one last time. She didn't even realize at the time what she checked it for—check the time? Check her notifications? After a second, it dawned on her. She was hoping for a text from Maxfield. Since it became exceedingly clear that he did not in fact text her, it made her feel inexplicably angry and bitter.
"Fine." Meg said quickly, sliding her phone back into her purse and grabbed onto the chest of Josh's shirt. "I could use a little bit of rest." She grabbed the glass from his hand and drank the rest of it in long, fast gulps.
The room began spinning around her as Josh took her hand and began leading her towards the exit toward his car. He drove standard, so the car ride was a little bit shiftier than Meg normally liked her drunken rides to be. Meg just shut her eyes for the majority of the ride, ordering her queasy stomach to behave. When she finally heard his voice again telling her that they'd arrived, Meg opened her eyes and was thrown off by how familiar the neighborhood looked.
And then it hit her.
"Meg? What the hell are you doing here?" She heard a voice hiss from behind her, and Meg looked groggily to see none other than her teacher's angry face. "I can't believe this. Are you drunk?" He looked up and laid his eyes on Josh, who was obviously quite intoxicated himself. His eyes fell suspiciously to the keys in Josh's hand. "Were the two of you driving?"
Clearly out of fear, Josh ducked and made a break for it, although it was obvious that his house couldn't have been very far. What a pussy! This is why didn't date kids. They didn't know how to be a man. They didn't know—
At a complete loss, Maxfield bent down and swept Meg up into his arms. Ordinarily, Meg would have thought this was romantic, but at this moment only panic struck through her heart at the thought of a) her panties possibly showing from the angle of her short skirt and b) him possibly dropping her onto the floor like a tonne of weights.
"Come on." He said, his deep, crisp voice bulldozing into Meg's thoughts. She leaned her against his collarbone and folded her hands up against her pounding heart. "Let's get you some water, then I'll take you home."
Normally, he had a strong distaste for sloppy girls. Normally, if he saw a girl getting herself into trouble, he would dismiss it and continue on with his night. But somehow, when he spotted Meg intoxicated and being more or less dragged into this less-than-intelligent jock's home, he nearly flipped out. How could she be so stupid? What did she think she was getting herself into?
He felt Meg's slim figure curl defensively against his chest. "You came late to the party." She murmured out of the blue, and for a moment he puzzled over whether or not she actually knew it was him who was helping her. "The club... I thought you would come."
The club? What club? For God's sake, he didn't even have her number.
Looking down at her face, eh felt his anger disappear. Even with makeup on her face, she looked angelic and sweet. Fumbling with his keys in one hand, Maxfield opened the door to his home and switched on the lights. Luckily, Melisssa wasn't here tonight, or else he would have better concerns at the moment. Making his way to his bedroom, he lay her gently on his bed and took the cap off of a nearby water bottle. "Drink this, it will make you feel better." He ordered.
"No." Meg murmured stubbornly, rolling onto her side with her back facing him. She tucked her knees into her chest and curled up into a little ball. "I want to sleep."
"Won't your parents be worried? We should get you mom." Maxfield pointed out, climbing onto the bed beside her. Meg rolled over and looked him in the eyes sleepily, before laying one hand on the thigh of his grey sweatpants.
"My mom's not home. What do you care?"
Maxfield hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward and kissed her. "You're not stupid, Meg. You know that I have feelings for you, certainly enough to care about your general well-being."
"So when you saw me with Josh, you were... jealous?" Meg purred, closing her eyes and trailing one small finger in little heart shapes against his pants. Maxfield sighed, and for a moment questioned if she was just pretending to be drunk just so she could torture him.
Yes, the reality of the situation was that he had been furious. He wanted to rip that little boy's head off, because there was no way he was going to let some kid take what was his. There was no explaining it, but Meg was just different. She was more of a woman than some of his closest friends.
She was getting sleepy, he could tell that much. Looking over to the clock, Maxfield let out a sigh. Well, there didn't seem to be much harm in letting her stay here tonight if her mom wasn't even going to be at home to take care of her. Using his free hand to set up the garbage can conveniently beside the bed, he turned off the table lamp and pulled her close, stroking her surprisingly soft, thick hair.
This couldn't be good.