The Abductor

4.

4.

Let me tell you honestly, looks can really delude you. It’s the number one delusion in this goddamned, chaotic world.

I was already smiling back at him, drunk as I was; I’d give any good-looking guy any attention they want from me. But before I could open my mouth to say some flirty response because his cheeks were obviously red from shyness and not alcohol, some guy called out my name. I was even amazed by my hearing because of how loud it was there.

“Malcolm Stacy Pepper!”

Yes, I know, ‘Malcolm?! But you’re a girl!’

I almost laughed because that was my exact thought as I read the name the guy called her.

My mom’s name was Sally and dad’s was Marcus, so when I asked them why the hell my name was like that, they just simply said that we should have some kind of equality in our family and that our names shouldn’t be just one gender.

I couldn’t find the logic in that.

Her family seems cool.

Where do they live and can they please adopt me when I find them?

I was eating the chicken by now, making my hand and lips oily.

My brother’s name is Mackie Sage that goes by Mac now, while my little sister’s is Maddock Sara that goes by Maddie now. Oh how she hates her name.

I don’t know why we never get called by our second names.

Oh yeah, where was I?

Right. The guy that called me.

I stood on my tiptoes to look past this handsome stranger’s shoulder and see Dylan Flynn, Tucker’s best friend, standing on a round table in the middle of the backyard, shirtless and a bottle of beer in hand as the other was on the side of his mouth that was still shouting my full name, causing me to shake my head because I was expecting it.

I was about to grab the stranger’s wrist so he wouldn’t be out of my sight when I walk towards Dylan when some bunch of girls pushed me away from him, laughing and saying ‘Go, go, go!’.

As I told you, I was drunk, so I immediately forgot about Prince Shy over there and laughed with the cheerleaders that were pushing me.

I let out an uncontrollable shrill as they lifted me up and put me on the table beside the grinning Dylan, his green eyes glowing and his dark hair sticking to sweaty forehead. “Mal, baby,” He opened his arms wide, leaning his body to me for a big, drunken hug.

My feet were walking backwards as he did but one of them slipped as I realized the table weren’t very spacious for two people and, and I felt multiple hands push my legs back so I stumbled on his sweaty chest, a grimace forming on my face in an instant. “Ew!”

“Aww!” he lifted me up, crushing me to his chest, my head just under his sticky chin, “I can really feel the love, babe. My little smartass valedictorian.” People surrounding the table started howling.

“There’s no love, Dylan.” I said. “There really isn’t.” I tried my best to push him away from me, but being Tucker’s best friend, he’s also a jock, which means he’s got muscles. Plus he’s a guy, so that really got me nowhere.

Now, why do I get the feeling that this Dylan guy is also hot?

Damn, where is this school?

“And I’m neither your fucking ‘babe’ nor ‘baby’.” With all the drunken strength I could muster, I pushed him off of me. To say that he didn’t expect that kind of push was an understatement because he immediately fell of the table.