That One Moment...

Chapter 12

Ryan glanced around the crowd. He had lost track of his prey a few minutes ago. Ever since Sarah had stormed away from him with a fixed look and started chugging beer at the keg he had been stalking her. He'd realized his mistake, but too late. His concern that she was drinking, that something must be wrong for her to actually drink, hadn't exactly come through when he had confronted her. Instead, he must have sounded like a typical egotistical, bossy male.

Shit.

Now she was trashed. It was past midnight and he hadn't seen Abby or Anna in a while. He knew they had come together. He'd asked Abby earlier why Sarah was drinking and she was as shocked as he was. It dawned on Ryan that he might have actually pushed her into drinking with some reverse peer pressure or something. Now, he was worried about the fallout.

Where had she gone?

Glancing around once more, he found her talking with some kids. Although one of them was from their school, Jeremy maybe, the rest were unfamiliar. They must have come from out of town. Moving there way, Ryan decided he needed to try and get Sarah home, back to reality. Having followed her around most of the night, he had forgotten to drink almost anything and was totally sober.

"Hey baby. I've been looking around for you." Ryan heard as a hand was dragged up his side. "Wanna join me in the back of my car?" She continued.

Removing the hand and trying to step away from the swaying girl, Ryan stated as calmly as possible, "Jennifer. I told you earlier that I am not interested. That hasn't changed."

"Come on. I won't expect any strings. Just some fun. You can't say no to that."

"Actually. I can and do. Go find your friends and sober up some."

Scoffing at him and throwing a dirty look, she turned away. Ryan thought he heard her whisper something about him being stupid and that eventually he would say yes.

Looking back at his prey, Ryan noticed that half the group had piled into an old sedan. Were they thinking of driving? Hopefully someone was sober.

Hurrying a bit faster, Ryan stepped in front of Sarah. "Hey. I've been looking for you." Ryan cringed a bit as he realized that he had just copied what Jennifer had said to him. Before Sarah could respond, he added in "I wanted to apologize for earlier. I was worried and acted like a jerk."

Sarah stared at him and blinked slowly as she swayed slightly. Man was she drunk. 

"Yeah, sure. Whatever Ryan."

From behind him he heard someone yell. "Hey. You coming?"

Without thinking, Ryan responded, "She's way too drunk to go with you guys. I'll get her home."

Turning back, Ryan realized he had made the same mistake twice. Sarah was now glaring at him.

"I wasn't going to, but the sound of a different party is sounding better and better." She pushed past him as she moved towards the car.

Grabbing her arm gently, Ryan almost begged "Don't do anything stupid. Please."

"What do you care? You haven't talked to me in two weeks and now all you do is tell me what to do and talk for me. I don't get you. I don't get this. I don't care anymore." Huffing slightly she turned again. Ryan was at a loss for words when he saw a head pop up from the driver's side. 

Jeremy looked over at him, "Don't worry man, I've had like two drinks all night." While this didn't solve the issue, it did make Ryan feel a bit better.

Walking over the Jeremy, Ryan tried to be subtle, "I said some stupid shit to her tonight and feel responsible for her getting trashed. Can you watch out for Sarah? Can I give you my number if she needs anything?" Jeremy tilted his head to the side and looked at him odd. They had been in maybe one or two classes together and hadn't really spoken much at all before. "Sure man. Sarah's in my Spanish class and has helped me study a few times. She's a good one. Was wondering what brought her here. Not sure how I got dragged into driving either, but thought it was better than letting these fools go alone. One of the guys squished in the back is my cousin from over in Beach. They were going to try and get to a party over there." Exchanging numbers, Ryan nodded his thanks to Jeremy as he climbed back into the car. The drunk passengers were starting to get cranky at the delay.