Tongue Tied *UNDERGOING EDITING*

8. Senior Skip Day

My thoughts are interrupted when someone else sits down next to me, causing the couch to sink in. For some reason, I'm hoping it's Luke coming back to apologize for being an ass, but when I turn my head I come face to face with Dylan. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." he says, smiling. "Its alright." I say, my lips pressing together in a small smile.

"You know, I wasn't lying about what I said before. You do look nice." Dylan says. "Thanks. I'm gonna go look for Zoey." I say, standing up and walking outside. And now I'm being a hypocrite for doing what Luke literally just did a minute ago. "Hey there you are!" I hear Zoey yell from behind me. She shakes my shoulders and then turns me around. "I've been looking for you everywhere, Zoey! Where did you go?" I ask, and I don't realize I sound extremely clingy and uncapable of taking care of myself until the words fall from my mouth.

"I'm sorry, Ariel. Really, I am. But your alright now, right? Come on, lets dance!" she says, and drags me inside. Zoey dances for a while, but I feel like I just stand out. "Zoey, can we do something else? Maybe go outside and join that beach volleyball game?" I ask. She knows I don't like being in crowded places like this.

"Come on, don't be such a party pooper!" she encourages. I can't stand it anymore, I have to get out of there. I squeeze through the mob of people and walk outside. "Can I join your volleyball game?" I ask quietly to the people grouped around the volleyball net. "Sure." a girl with a long blonde ponytail says. We play a few games, and it turns out I'm actually pretty good at volleyball.

Later on, I find myself on the pool deck. The sky looks painted with streaks of pink and orange. The sun continues to set behind the puffy clouds that are tinted pink and yellow. The water sparkles under the suns soft glow while lapping gently over the sand. "Beautiful view, isn't it?" a voice says from behind me, making me jump.

I turn around to see Dylan. "You have got to stop doing that." I say, taking a deep breath. "Sorry." he says, smirking. "And yes, the view of the sunset is beautiful." I add after a while. "Oh, I wasn't talking about the sunset." he says. My eyes widen again, but before I can say something, Dylan starts talking again.

"Do you wanna dance?" he asks, kicking some sand that had landed on the floor boards of the pool deck. "Um, sure, I guess." I say, my mouth suddenly dry. No one's ever asked me to dance before, anywhere. And usually whenever a guy talks to me, I get all tongue tied. Dylan outstretches his hand, and I take it. He walks backwards while leading me inside. Is this really happening?

A slow song comes on and Dylan moves his hands from mine to my bare waist. They're warm. I'm not really sure what to do until Dylan takes one hand off my waist and places my hands around his neck. His hand then goes back to my waist and pulls me closer. Its getting harder to breathe and I feel like I have to pee.

Its just nervous pee, Ariel. You're dancing with Dylan Carter. You have a right to be nervous.

I continue to breathe in and out until Dylan separates from me and spins me around. He pulls me in close to him so I'm facing away from him. My breath hitches in my throat as he begins to sway gently. He wraps his arms around me and holds my hands in front of me. This can't be happening!

I feel a warm breath on my neck, making me shiver. "You're so beautiful." he whispers, making the hairs on my neck stand up straight. I feel a soft pair of lips on my neck, and they trail small kisses down my neck to my shoulder. This...this isn't right. This doesn't feel right. I feel his lips leave my shoulder as he slowly spins me around.

His hand remains in mine as he pulls me towards the empty kitchen. I feel immobile. He pushes me, roughly now, against the counter and presses his lips to mine. I try to pull away. I don't want this. "Dylan, stop. Dylan." I say as he makes his way to my neck again. I try to push him off, but he doesn't budge. "Dylan, please." I whimper. I don't want this. He pulls away and rests his forehead against mine, our breaths mixing.

"Ariel, don't you want this?" he asks. "No. Please, stop." I say, but he doesn't listen. Instead he just presses himself against me and pushes his lips to mine even harder. It hurts and I want to kick him in the shins but I can't move. He has me pressed against the counter too hard. I finally build up enough strength to push him off me and against the refrigerator. I run through the kitchen and out the front door. I can't breathe. I can't think. My legs feel like jello and my mouth aches and my hands are shaking.

I close the front door and lean heavily against it, trying to catch my breath. "Are you alright?" someone asks. I look up from the ground and see Luke sitting on the front steps of the house. "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine." I say. I feel tears spring to my eyes, but I wipe them away quickly before he can see. I hear footsteps and when I open my eyes again, Luke is standing right in front of me. I stare down at my feet so he won't see the tears. "Ariel, what happened? What's wrong?" he asks. "Nothing, OK, Luke? Nothing you need to be concerned with." I say, pushing past him and sitting down on the steps.

He wouldn't understand. He would just laugh in my face and encourage Dylan. I pray that he will leave, that he'll go back inside. He doesn't care about me. Why would he? We're not even friends. "Hey, Dylan." I hear Luke say. I close my eyes, keep my head down, and hold my breath. "Hey Luke. Have you seen - oh, never mind. There she is." I hear Dylan say. He comes up behind me and grabs my arm. "Why did you leave so quickly? We were just getting started." he says, breathing heavily on me. I inhale and smell...alcohol. He's been drinking. He's been drunk this whole time. Why didn't I smell it before?

"What do you need with Ariel?" Luke says, taking a step towards us. Dylan tightens his grip on my arm and pulls me around. "We were just leaving." Dylan says, and tries to push past Luke, but Luke steps in front of him. "Where do you think you're going?" Luke says. I try to pull away from Dylan, but that seems to make his grip stronger. "That's none of your damn business, Luke. Now move." Dylan growls. "No." Luke says sternly.

"Dylan, let go of me." I say bravely. Its the first thing I can choke out. Dylan turns towards me and pushes his lips to mine roughly. "Get off of her!" I hear Luke say and suddenly Dylan's lips are no longer on mine and I can finally breathe again. I open my eyes and see that Luke has Dylan pressed up against the side of the house. "Luke, relax." Dylan says. "Get out. You're drunk." Luke says. "My house, you and your little friend can get out." Dylan says roughly, glaring at me.

I swallow hard as Luke turns on his feet and grabs my hand. "Come on Ariel. We're leaving." he says. He drags me away from the house. I turn and look back to see Dylan staring at me. I turn away and follow Luke to his car. "Where are we going?" I ask. "I don't know. Anywhere but here." Luke says, his voice still stern. "I'm fine, Luke. I don't need you." I say pulling my hand away. It feels weird, not being in his. It feels empty.

"Well you can't go back there, Ariel! Dylan...he's drunk. He would never do that regularly. Yeah, he's a flirt. But he would never force a girl to have sex with him. He's really not like that." Luke tells me. "Zoey is back there and she'll be worried when she can't find me." I say. "Call her. You can't go back there." Luke says protectively. "You can't tell me what to do, Luke." I say softly. "I don't want anything to happen." he says. "To me?" I ask. "No...I don't want anything to happen to my friendship with Dylan." Luke stutters out.

"Fine. I'll go with you. I don't want to be the cause of the end of a friendship." I say. Luke doesn't say anything. He opens the car door for me and I get in. I lean my head back against the head rest and take in a deep breath. Luke wasn't worried about his friendship with Dylan. Me staying wouldn't affect that. So what is the real reason Luke didn't want me to stay?