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Okay, this took me two days to finish typing, but I finally got it done. I know it's long, but that's why I had to cut off the other half of the chapter, which I will be posting asap. Also, like I said in my profile, I'm making a banner asap, and I would like someone to make a Youtube video trailer for this story for me. If you would like to, let me know; PM me or comment this story. I'm not too picky about the details, I just really want one done, and I'm a sad pathetic loser who is unable to create something so awesome. Oh, and I'll have chapters for my other two stories up as soon as I can. I promise. Thanks for all the reveiws! To Britishgl,WritingxIsxMyxLife, Covenantgirl8689, MaxineAlix, Zachariah123, Evil Little Chaotic Angel, Black.Purple.Roses, Niffer01, and all my other faithful readers; Thank you so much for your encouragement and support! Your reveiws really do broghten my day, as corny as that sounds. tear tear sniffle sniffle And now!! On with the chapter! ENJOY!
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Disclaimer: I don't own the covenant.
Sarah
When Kate and I got to the dells, Alice was already there, and it was clear that there were only three things on her mind; having fun for the first time in weeks, dancing, and Reid. She had already yanked Reid towards the bonfire where everyone was dancing, and she was laughing non stop. Alice motioned me over to where Caleb and Pogue stood beside Amy and Tyler. The two of them smiled when they saw us, but stopped as soon as they realized we were taking them towards the dance floor.
As we were dancing, Alice tapped me on my shoulder."Look." She shouted over the music to me, pointing over to where Amy and Tyler stood together, akwardly. Kate and I exchanged a quick glance, and Alice continued, saying, "Oh, come on, they so like each other. Let's get them out here; together."
"Oh no." Caleb said, not hearing what Alice had said over the blaring music. "I know that look. I've seen it before. Bad things happen when you get that look."
"Oh hush up and dance, baby." I told him, wrapping an arm around his neck, signaling Alice over his shoulder to go for it. She smirked, and then whispered her plan into Reid's ear. When she was done, he smiled wickedly, and nodded.
They danced toward Amy and Tyler, and Alice 'accidentally' bumped Tyler so that he flew into Amy, almost knocking her down. He reflexively shot his arm out and caught her around the waist, stopping her from falling. I saw Alice shrug as I heard her say, "Well woops… sorry about that." But as Alice and Reid danced away grinning evilly, it look as if Tyler and Amy hadn't even heard them.
He pulled her back up to her feet, the two of them still blushing. Finally, he held out his hand to her and said, "Do you… um, well, I… would you like to dance?"
She looked at his hand for a moment, and then grinned, taking it, nodding enthusiastically as they walked out onto the dance floor. I heard Alice cackling like a crazy person, and saw her punch her hands into the air victoriously out of the corner of my eye as Amy and Tyer started dancing. Wow, she was good.
After a while, the boys went off to get drinks, and Amy went to go find her brother, who had shown up, finally. The guy really does take longer than a girl to get ready. Kate, Alice, and I were still dancing. Suddenly, "What's up ladies? Long time no see." The smug, drawing voice froze me stiff, causing a chill to run down my spine.
Kate and Alice turned to see who it was, but I didn't, because I already knew who it was, but I was praying to myself that it wasn't who I thought, eyes tight shut. "Evan!" Alice shouted, leaping to give him a hug. I looked to Kate, but she didn't seemed to understand what I was thinking because she smiled. Uh-oh, I thought, this was gonna be trouble. I glanced over at the boys; Reid had caught sight of them. He looked pissed. The others didn't look to happy, and, at something Caleb said, Reid suddenly downed a beer in one huge gulp. Shit. Tyler grabbed his arm instinctively, holding him back to keep him from coming over and killing Evan.
"Where have you been?" Alice asked, smiling brightly, not noticing everything going on like I had.
I finally turned around to face him, fake smile plastered on my face, but I let it fall when he smirked at us; well, actually, at me, to be more precise. "Oh, you know. Around." He said, turning his attention back to Alice. I didn't like how he was acting. I never really liked the vibe I got from him before, but tonight, he radiated something even worse… something, dare I say it, evil. He seemed to be very focused,
sinister, and calculating. Like he was up to something. He looked at me, nodding to me and Kate in acknowledgement. Kate was pretty buzzed, and his eyes only flickered to her once before they had locked onto me. After that, he never took his eyes off of me, not even once. "Sarah. Kate." It was creepy, and he was giving me the heebie geebies. I wish he would stop looking at me like that, as if he were examining me, trying to see if I was drunk enough to write off as no problem to whatever he was up to, or sober enough to pose a threat to it.
"Evan." Kate nodded back with a goofy grin that made me realize she was a little to drunk to be of any real help, and that I was completely and utterly alone on this one. I just nodded to him tentatively, desperate to escape his gaze that felt like he was reading my very soul, and I finally tore my gaze away from his as I looked over to Reid. Reid was finishing beer after beer as if he were drinking water; not a good sign. He would be drunk in almost no time. I tried to keep a watchful eye on him at this point, to keep him from doing anything too self-destructive.
"So, what have you girls been up to?" Evan asked, finally tearing his eyes off of me, fixing his gaze on Alice once more, and I relaxed from my rigid posture, letting out a breath I didn't know I had been holding.
"Oh, well, Kate and Sarah bought a new apartment on campus, and then I moved in." Alice told him.
"What? Really? You serious?" She nodded. "Wow, congrats." He said, putting an arm around her waist in a sort of half hug, only he didn't remove it. At this, Reid grabbed as many more beers as he could and stumbled up the hill. Tyler exchanged a few obviously biting words with Caleb before he swiftly followed Reid up the hill; Tyler was obviously still sober.
Tyler was always sober; that's why he was the designated driver after a huge blow-out party like this; that, and it was almost always positive Reid would get upset over something and end up doing something like this.
Pogue looked up worriedly after them, and Caleb looked guilty as he shoved his hands in his pockets, and he and Pogue began to argue. Caleb narrowed his eyes at Pogue hissing something obviously very serious as their conversation deepened. Pogue scowled.
The next words Evan said pulled my attention back to our conversation. "You finally got out of your jackass of a brother's house."
"Watch it." I snapped, glaring at him. "Because that 'jackass' you're talking about just so happens to be my boyfriend." I know I could've just stopped there considering the look on his face, but I couldn't; I was on a roll. "Oh, yea, and here's a little fun-fact for ya; really, you're gonna get such a kick outta this one. He's not just Alice's brother; he's also her legal gaurdian!" I said with fake enthusiasm, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "He's a good person." I said, my tone turning deadly serious. And again, I could;ve still stopped there, but it just wasn't enough for me; I wasn't finished with him just yet. "He has reasons for everything he does; all of those reasons in Alice's best interest." I informed him, trying to keep my voice steady and calm despite the fact that I was beginning to see red as I motioned to his arm that was still stratigically glued to her hips, making my point. He pulled his arm away from Alice quickly, as if I would rip his arm off if he didn't… then again, that might not be such a bad idea. "He cares for her more than you'll ever know." Kate put her hand on my back in a such a manner that implied she was silent pleading with me to calm down She was not sober enough to see something off with Evan, but not drunk enough to not see the fury I radiated.
"Sarah." Alice said in tiny voice of quiet disbelief.
"No, it's cool." Evan said, although his tone suggested he didn't really think so as the two of us glared at one another, eyes locked. "She's right. I crossed the line." He said, lying through his teeth. He tore his eyes away from me, looking at Alice again, but still obviously watching me out of the corner of his eye. "Speaking of, how are you and Reid?" Then all the sudden, he looked at me and Kate, alarmed. "Oh shit, do they know?" God damn it. That was fucking it! I was insulted. Of course we fucking knew; we're like her best friends! I clenched my hands into fists, taking a step towards him that he didn't see because he was once again looking at Alice. Kate grabbed my arm, pulling me back to her side just as he looked our way, to keep me from puching that smug look off of his punk-ass face.
"Duh, of course." Alice said. "They've known all along." She informed him, causing him to raise his eyebrows as she continued. "Besides, there's no need for any more secrecy. Caleb finally caved and gave us his permission to date. Reid is now officially my boyfriend." She told him as something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. Caleb and Pogue called Amy over, and were discussing something, shooting glances in our direction. She looked kinda confused.
But Evan's ever-obnoxious voice, and even more obnoxious comments pulled my attetion back to him once again. I wonder if he thrived off of attention, because he sure as hell knew how to get it; good or bad. "Oh, his permission, huh?" Evan said, and I narrowed my eyes. What was he up to now? What was he getting at? What was his angle on this tidbit of info? "You still need it, even when you're not living under his roof anymore? I mean, really Alice? I don't know, doesn't that seem to be a bit controlling? I mean, you're not his property, are you, Alice?" There it was.
"Well, I… no, but-" She started to say, looking a little hurt and confused by what he had just said; it was like he was trying to make her doubt us; all of us.
At that point, I interrupted. "Alright, listen here friend;" I snarled, lunging forward as Kate grabbed both of my upper arms, barely able to hold me back as I struggled to get free from her. "I don't give a flying fuck who you are, or who you think you are; you say one more word against Caleb, and I wll make you deeply regret ever meeting me. You don't know a damn thing about him!"
"Sarah… Kate… I don't mean to interrupt… everything alright?" I stopped fighting, but stood strong, refusing to be moved by Kate even a centimeter as we turned to see Amy, who was regaurding us warily, looking a bit paler than usual; a bit sick. My anger evaporated at the sight of her, my worry for her well-being causing the earlier emotions of hatred towards Evan to be pushed to the back of my mind; for the moment.
"Honey, are you alright?" I asked anxiously.
"I'm just really not feeling well. Do you think, well, that is, would you drive me home?" She asked.
"Yea, Sarah and I will do that." Kate said, and my shoulders slumped in deafeat, the fire in my heart gone as I allowed her to begin to lead me away from Evan and Alice.
"Oh and Alice?" Amy said, and Kate and I stopped, waiting for Amy.
"Yea?" She asked, looking worried about her, too, moving to Amy's side.
Amy leaned close to her, whispering in her ear so that only she, Alice, Kate and myself could hear what she said. "Caleb says that you might want to 'go and collect your wasted boyfriend'." She said, wrinkling
her nose at the words she had uttered to Alice, like it was a direct quote from Caleb, and that she wasn't exactly thrilled at being the bearer of bad news.
"What?" Alice said sharply, no longer laughing nor looking worried. Amy nodded, looking sorry Alice had to hear this, especially from her. "I gotta go. I'll see you later, Evan." She said, her eyes stone cold, her voice detached and emotionless. "I'll meet you back home." She said to me and Kate as she searched the crowd, scanning, moving through the crowd before getting a response from any of us.
Kate started to tug me away again, but when I saw Evan scowl, and then look after her in obvious longing and desire that screamed 'I want to be so much more than friends!' And then I remembered he did want to be more than friends with her; I remembered the kiss she had with him. And then I realized something; he was rooting for Alice and Reid to fail. He wanted their relationship to fail, to be a total disaster so he could swoop and be her knight in shinning armor. And he was trying to drive her away from Caleb and the rest of us so that when that happened, we wouldn't be able to fix it, and she would be confused and vulnerable and he would use that. He would declare his feelings for her, and then ask her to date him. And if she wasn't on speaking terms with any of us, we wuoldn't know when this was happening, we wouldn't be able to warn her against it, to stop her and save her from him, and from herself. And then I froze, refusing to be tugged anymore, slipping out of Kate's grasp as the fire returned to the forefront of my mind once more as I moved quickly back towards Evan. Of course, it was just a theory, but I was almost positive it was correct.
I stood in front of him, crossing my arms as we glared at each other once again. He ran a hand through his hair as he let out a hissing breath before saying, "Sarah." Like he wanted to strangle me. "Look, I'm so not in the mood-"
"The mood for what?" I said sweetly; underneath it, my voice was full of malice for him.
"Oh for fuck's sake. Alice isn't here anymore, although you couldn't even mask it the. So drop the act, because I know you hate me." He said.
"I know what your up to." I told him quietly. His face looked calm, but I could see panic in his eyes as he raised an eyebrow, trying to mask it.
"Oh you do? Well I'm sorry to say I have absolutely no clue what you're on about, you bipolar bitch." He said, causing my blood to boil.
"Oh, that's a lod of horse-shit, and we both know it. I see the way you look at her when you think no one is looking. I know things you think I don't." At that he narrowed his eyes at my obvious insinuation to the kiss. I would have been scared if it wasn't for the fact I seemed to be on the right track. So my theory didn't seem to be so far-fetched after all. I was thrilled as I continued. "I know what you're trying to do." I continued on. "And I'm gonna let you in on a little secret; it's not going to work. Do you see the look in her eyes? The way she rushes after him? The way she doesn't stay with you instead?" I said, my words were harsh, pain registering on his face. I knew that last one was hitting below the belt, but I had to. It was my only way to protect Alice form him and herself. "The way she abandons all reason and sanity when it comes to him? The way she tries to save him above all the rest, from others and himself? Even at her own expense? Do you know why that is?" I asked. When he didn't answer, I continued, answering myself for him. "She loves him. More than life itself, she loves him. She would do anything to be with him, including defying Caleb and leaving the home she loves. All of it, every detail about her life, means nothing if she doesn't have him. And that includes you, Evan. You are disposable. You are not needed. You are just minor inconvenience; a tiny twist; a small complication. And you're making her life harder, trying to guilt her into being with you. It's not right, and you know it. It's selfish, and wrong. And if you really cared about her like you think you do, you wouldn't be doing it to her." I finished, turning to see both Kate and Amy gaping at me. "Now we can go." I said, taking Ana's arm to help her to my car as I felt a pang of sympathy at how sick she looked, yanking Kate after me without looking back, leaving him to stew in my words, not waiting for a response.
Tyler
"I'ma… I'ma… I'ma justa sayin'," Reid slurred to me, pointing down at Evan, who was still holding onto Alice's tiny waist, but looking at Sarah, who seemed to be letting him have it by the look on his face. It was actually a really good thing we had sat down, because Reid was so drunk now that he would have otherwise tripped and rolled down the hill by now. "tha'-that Erick? Ed?" He struggled over the words, searing his memory, face screwed up in concentration as he tried to recall the name of the smarmy bastard who was down the hill, all over Reid's girl.
"Evan?" I offered finally.
"Yes, tha'… tha' Evan." He said as his lip curled up in digust as he took another swig of his beer. "He's…he's…he's jus, jus a, a prick. That's wha' he is."
"Of course he is." I said soothingly as Evan pulled his arm away from Alice, and Kate put her hand on Sarah's back. "And it looks like Sarah might be thinking the same thing."
"I-I've always liked her."He told me, and I snorted a laugh. "Ty, tell-tell me, why, why doesn't Alice… see it?"
I shot him a confused look, saying, "Why doesn't she see what?"
"Wha'… wha', wha' scum he is."
I let out a long breath. "Reid, maybe he's not. Maybe he just likes her a little bit too much for his own good. Is that really a crime?"
"Yes." He said stubbornly. I resisted the urge to laugh as he continued. "Be-besides… wha' doya mean 'mayb' 'e's not? He sur' as hell is!"
"Reid…" I started, but then stopped. "look, man, you're shitfaced. Let me just take you-"
"No, no, I'ma not." He insisted angrily.
"Sure, sure." I said, not really acknowledging his words as I tried to help him up. Once I did,he pushed me away.
"So wha' if Iam? Huh? Even if I'm drunk, I-I-I'm no' an idiot!" He shouted, stumbling a bit. I tried to help him, but he shoved me away again.
I stood still once I'd registered his last words while he hung onto a branch from a nearby tree. Slowly, I said, "What do you mean, Reid? No one said you were an idiot."
"No on had to!" I waited patiently while he pieced the rest of his response together in his head. "She… she kissed 'im. Alice did. She kissed 'im, she did; the… the day Caleb banned us fro'… from seein' each otha' anymore." He said slowly.
"Who?" I said calmly, but panicking on the inside. I really hoped he wasn't going to say what I thought he was going to say.
He looked at me, a burning pain registered in his eyes, hurt on his face. "Evan. She wants 'im, she does. An' she ne'er tol' me." He said.
"Reid, I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for this…" I said, trying to convince myself more than I was trying to convince him, for he was already lost. "I mean, she was probably going to soon, it was just hard because shed idn't want you to go to jail for murder. Or maybe-"
"Fuck you… fuck you, Ty. Jus' sha' upt." He said, looking furiously at me as he ket go of the tree, dangerously swaying a bit. "Stop tryin' to cover fo' her… don't… I don't need you to jusdifee this for me, Ty."
"Reid-" I tried to say, but he cut me off.
"Jus' leav me th' fuck alone." He said darkly, stumbling away from me.
"Reid. Reid! Reid, where are you going? I have the car keys! REID!" I shouted after him, but he just flicked me off as he stumbled towards the woods and out of my sight. "Shit." I murmered as I ran my hand through my hair, licking my lips, before letting my anger get to me. "Goddamit!" I shouted, kicking the ground in frustration, bringing a hand up to my face as I leaned up against the tree to calm down.
"Baby boy." I heard someone say. I looked up to see Alice coming up th hill towards me.
"Well fuck. God must hate me." I cursed under my breath, looking up at the sky. "Thanks a lot you bastard. I hope you're having a good, long fucking laugh at my expense right now, aren't you?" I muttered, pushing myself away from the tree.
"What?" She asked, having obviously not heard my previous comments as she came to stand in front of me.
"Nothing." I said. Faking a smile to the best of my abilities at this moment, considering how thin I was being stretched at this one moment in time, going for a distraction tactic. "What's up, A.J.?"
"Cut the crap, Ty." She said, crossing her arms. "Where is he?"
"Where is who?" I said lamely. I couldn't help it though; I was honestly a little scared. Alice may be sweet, but when she was this livid, she was a force to be reckoned with; even more so know that she had limitless amounts of power in her hands. So, actually, I was a lot scared.
She fisted the front of my shirt, her eyes turning back as her fury grew, it suddenly became very windy, the power rolling off of her in strong waves of anger, and she lifted me off the ground. You see what I mean? Scary. "Don't fuck with me right now, Baby boy. Where the hell is Reid?"
"He went that way." I said, finally giving in,pointing to where I had last seen Reid before he had disapeared into the woods. She let go of me, letting my fall flat onto my ass as her eyes turned back to normal and all the wind stopped. Storm clouds were still gathering, however I didn't think that was her doing.
"Thanks." She said off-handedly to me, stalking away.
"Wait!" I said as I stood, and she froze. She stood there, stiffly, not turning around as I closed the gap between us, putting my hand lightly, and hesitantly on her shoulder. "Alice… he doesn't mean it."
"Mean what?" She said in a suprisingly broken voice. She turned to face me, and her face had changed from anger to pain and anguish. "To be totally useless like this? To run off without an explanation? To get totally trashed for no reason? To hurt me more than words can describe because he just could come and tell me what was wrong? That he couldn't be honest?" She shouted shrilly.
I couldn't stop myself as the words fell out of my mouth, "You mean like you couldn't be?" Shit. Her eyes narrowed as she whipped around to walk away, but I grabbed her arm, pulling her back and turning her around. "Wait, Alice, I didn't mean that, I can explain-"
"Don't touch me!" She practically shrieked, yanking away from my touch as if I'd burned her with a hot-iron. But still, she stayed put, waiting for my explanation.
"Evan's a bad dude." I said finally.
She scoffed at me. "Yea, like you would know."
"I do." I insisted. "And Reid just cares-"
"OH!" She let out an angry cry. "He does, does he? Well, give him a fucking academy award then, because he's great a pretending he doesn't. Is him getting piss drunk supposed to show me that?"
"Yes! Because he's childish, and jealous, and doesn't know what else to do!" That got her attention. She faltered and then fell silent as I continued. "Look, Alice. Everything you said was true. But he doesn't try to do that to you, honestly he doesn't. It's how Reid is. And what I meant when I said he doesn't mean it…" I let out a deep breath before I continued. "When I was trying to say is that he doesn't me to be all messed up like he is. But, I mean, after his mom died-"
"Don't -" She said bitterly, her voice breaking, tears pricking the corners of her eyes as she looked away from me, recalling the memory from when she was only 11 years old… Reid was only 12. "I was there, Ty. I remember."
"Right, well, then you remember how Reid practically lived with me after that. His dad left on business trips every other week. Reid was hurting and alone. I was there for him, you were there for him, Pogue and Caleb, too. You saw him changed. His life has been so fucked up since them. He was a kid raised in an unstabe, unreliable, and unpredictable world, Alice. You of all people know that. So when he gets like this, it's because he cares, Alice. He's not trying to hurt you. But you've become the one stable and reliable thing in his life-"
"Besides you." She pointed out.
"Yes, besides me." I said, nodding in agreement, but grimacing when I thought, well, not at this exact moment, but close enough. "And he needs you Alice. You were helping him. He was starting to get so good with not using as much. His love comes out twisted, but it's still love. So forgive him if he gets jealous because he couldn't bear to have anything or anyone take you away from him. The shock of that alone would kill him, Alice, I'm sure of it. He's just a sad, scared little boy who has a hard time showing his emotions in the right way." I told her.
She nodded. "Right." And then turned without another word, walking away from me.
"Alice!" I called. "Where are you going?" I looked up at the sky as it started to drizzle.
She paused, and then continued walking as she called over her shoulder, "Where do you think? I'm going to find my drunk-ass idiot, boyfriend."
I stood still for a moment, and then cursed under my breath again. "Shit. Reid is gonna kill me."
So... did you like it? R&R!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!
