The Country Boy and The City Girl

Don't Get Your Hopes Up

Jason's POV

Daniella was back in my arms. Nothing could be better than this moment right now. She was here. With me. Hopefully to stay.

As we slow danced to the song playing all around us, I felt a tight knot in my chest loosen and untangle. This was real. The entire house was packed with college students, my friends somewhere in the mix, yet all I could see was her. Daniella Somerton. The one that got away and now the one that came back.

"Jason," she sighed as she lifted her head from my shoulder. "Please don't be mad at me..."

"Why would I be mad?" I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as we continued to sway.

I could see tears pooling in her eyes, shining off their baby blue hue. "It should've been you. I told myself that you weren't stable...unpredictable. And that Kent was who I was supposed to pick. He wasn't. You were. You are the one who fits together the whole puzzle and I-"

"Shhh," I shook my head. I hated to see her all worked up over something that was fixed now. "Everything worked out. It's okay..."

"I love you."

The words echoed and rang in my ears as if a bomb had gone off. I could feel my heartache evaporate into the air as she leaned forward to kiss me. This girl had the power to turn my whole world upside down with those three words. I smiled.

"I love you, too."

She grinned and kissed my cheek before excusing herself to the kitchen for more drinks. "Be back in a sec."

I don't know if it was the party... Or just intuition...but I felt like something big was about to happen and it definitely wasn't good either...

Daniella's POV

Jason. Jason. Jason.

He was here. Still gorgeous. And I was still madly in love with him.

I never stopped, actually. Now that I know I was just trying to talk myself into what I thought was best for me, I knew now that it was entirely wrong for me. I love Jason. I loved Kent. Loved as in the past. Jason was who I fell in love with as the me I am today. The Daniella that loved Kent wasn't me anymore.

"Hey! Can you pass me that bottle?" A voice asked over my shoulder.

I turned around and handed the bottle to a blonde haired guy with glasses. "Hi, I'm Andrew. Andrew Charter. Sophomore."

"Daniella Somerton. UK freshman."

He looked surprised as he took a sip of his drink. "Woah. What's a wildcat doin' on hilltopper turf?"

"A friend. More than friend, actually."

"He got a name?"

"Jason. Jason Barkley."

He threw his arms above his head and laughed/shouted drunken gibberish. "That's my best bud! So you're the girl he's been so hung up on? And I thought he had moved on to trying to get my girl! That's a relief. I really didn't wanna kick his-"

"Moved on?"

"Yeah. He's probably been with a couple girls on and off throughout the year. Said he thought he was pretty much over you. Could've been a pride thing, though. They never meant much to him. Boredom dates. You know how it is."

I felt my throat close up and my eyes began to burn. Over me? Was he really just going out with girls because he was trying to prove a point to himself? What if he did stuff with them? Even though I was with Kent, we never did stuff. I guess it was because I wanted it to be Jason someday....How would I even go about asking him about the girls? I couldn't. And if I did, would he lie? I grabbed two shots from the table and downed them quick.

"Why does this always happen to me at parties," I mumbled to myself. Drama. Jealousy. Alcohol. Greaaat.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you!" Andrew shouted over the pounding bass.

I found two more shots and threw them back, feeling the smooth liquid rush down my esophagus like fire. "Don't worry about it."

"Did you just drink all of those?!?"

I acted like I didn't hear him as I walked out to the crowd once again. I was already feeling the room tilt and spin. What was in those shots?

I needed to leave. Now. I couldn't see straight anymore, each beat from the music blaring inside my head. I was becoming overwhelmed more and more by the second....

"Daniella! Danni!" a voice shouted. "Oh my god! What were you and Audrey thinking?!?"

Even in my dizzied state, I could make out the blonde surfer hair and green eyes surrounded by tan skin. "Kent?"

That's when I felt my body hit the floor. Then...nothing.

Kent's POV

I couldn't believe what was going on. Music was blasting, bodies were crammed together in tight groups, dancing and shouting with drinks in hand, and Danni was on the floor. Out cold.

"What do we do?! Call 911?!" Audrey panicked as she tried to shake her awake by the arm. It was no use as Daniella's hand just flopped back down, no sign of response.

"I should never have left her. This is all my fault!" I shouted over the deafening noise around us. "She never should've come..."

That's when I saw him. The country boy. He had seen us and was running past people towards us. "This is your fault!" I shouted at him. Before I knew it, I was in his face and shoving him away from her.

"No surprise you followed her here. She told me you were obsessive these days," he sneered as he threw me off of him. "And my girlfriend is on the floor unconscious so IF YOU DON'T MIND!" I felt him yank me to the side, out of his way, before he knelt down beside her.

"She is not YOUR girlfriend!"

Before I could deck him, some guy came rushing towards him, panicked and hysterical. "Jason! Jason! She drank the bad shots. All four of them! You didn't warn her?"

I heard Jason curse under his breath. "All four?"

"Yeah...I may have told her about you dating around because you were bored...." He fumbled with his glasses and awkwardly cleaned them on his shirt as the guilt swept over his face.

"You. Did. What."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes at the stupidity of this guy's actions. "Why am I not surprised? This is why she picked me over you, you jerk."

That's when his fist nearly dislocated my jaw.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HER ANYMORE!" Jason freaked. The whole party had stopped now, even the music was at a halt. All eyes on us.

"Will you two ladies SHUT UP AND HELP?!" Audrey roared. Now we were silent.

"What was in the bad shots, Charter?" Jason asked reluctantly.

He frowned and brought Trina (who had drunkenly stumbled over) close to him. "They were the Knockout shots..."

"What?!"

"Knockout shots! I want one!" Trina giggled excitedly. Andrew shushed her and handed her a water.

I shook my head, confused. "What are Knockout shots?"

"They're four shots the main frat brothers drug up to give to their pick of the four hottest girls at a party," Charter explained. "One would have enough hard drugs to be effective but not too dangerous..."

"But four?" Audrey asked.

Andrew looked down at Jason with the most horrified look I could imagine. "Four could kill her."