Pretty Venom |N.H|

78

Jasey Foster

August 29.

Paige sits to my right, but not a single thought about her from this morning is in my mind right now.

My memories are still trapped in one spot, focusing on last night instead. It's like my brain has fixated on one thing, and it's merely impossible to go to anything else. I'm in misery as I sit and replay everything in my head, knowing exactly how the story ends. I try to change the ending, but it's no use.

The night started out great, with me, Niall, and Paige getting ready together for Liam's party.

The three of us got ready, walking to the party and taking pictures along the way. I felt good going into it, and walking out, the mood was completely different for everyone involved.

I remember dancing with Paige, the laughter that filled the air between us as the night went on. I remember the confidence flooding me as I caught Niall's attention, and I remember how he took me into the bathroom after and fucked me until I was certain that we wouldn't be able to walk out without it being obvious of where we were and what we were doing.

I was proven right by the song Louis played.

I remember walking to go find Paige, wanting to make sure that she was alright and that she wasn't upset with me for leaving her to go be with Niall for a little while, even though I was certain that she had found company with Zayn at her side, which she had confirmed for me when I came back.

We walked to the kitchen, trying to get away from the crowds, when someone in a black hoodie approached me.

I didn't think much of it because I didn't want to be rude. He tried to flirt with me, and I told him right away that I have a boyfriend, including that I wasn't interested nonetheless.

He suggested that my boyfriend must not have been a very good one, considering that I was standing alone with my friend. He suggested that this made it easy for someone else to step in and show signs of interest.

This immediately made me uncomfortable. Not only was a stranger coming up to me when he was clearly drunk, but he was also trying to insinuate that he could have known anything about me, my boyfriend, or our relationship with his comment about Niall clearly not being a good boyfriend.

His next line of saying that me standing alone with my friend making it easy for someone else to step in made my heart jump into my throat. I knew right away that something was off. I didn't feel safe in front of him.

Paige stood at my side, and while the stranger's eyes were on mine, I tapped Paige's hand with my own, trying to give her a signal that we needed to get away from him. His words were taunting. He had a motive.

I continued to show my clear disinterest, but that clearly wasn't enough, which is what caused Paige to step in.

One second, I watched him push her back, and the next, he was gone, on the floor instead.

I heard the contact of Niall's fist colliding with the stranger's jaw, catching my attention, making me turn and find him swinging over and over again, until eventually, the hits were thrown at Niall, knocking him backwards. After that, Niall was on top of him, grunting as he continued to hit him.

I saw Niall's face for just a moment before his back turned to me as he swung. I saw how his jaw was screwed shut, his gaze angry and violent. I wasn't sure if I was grateful for his arrival or not, seeing that this is where it went.

I thought I could handle it myself. Maybe that was a stupid assumption.

I wanted to turn around and find Niall when I had been spoken to before the fight broke out, but I worried that if I had turned away for just a second, especially if I were asking someone for help, whoever this was could have done something worse when I wasn't paying attention.