Lifesaver

Chapter 1

How she did it? I'll never be able to tell you. Somehow, my roommate Kris, short for Kristina, convinced me to go with her to a frat party at Alpha Delta Gamma. Partying is not my thing. The idea of drunk, sweaty college kids rubbing up against each other to dubstep music makes me cringe. I'd much rather curl up in my dorm and read a good book.

"Ava! Get up!" I snapped out of my thoughts as Kris yelled for me.

"Please don't make me go, you'll have so much more fun without me!" I begged her. Apparently, it didn't work because soon she was storming into the room and dragging me by the ear to her closet. Kris' closet was a monstrosity. She rummaged through the closet looking for something. Finally, she emerged from the sea of clothes.

"Pick one and hurry! We still have to do your hair and makeup." I'm sure my eyes were as big as saucers when I saw the first option. It was a white lace see-through dress. There was no way that I was wearing that. The second option was only a little bit better than the first. It was an off the shoulder bodycon black dress with long sleeves. With a glare, I grabbed the short black dress. She smirked, already knowing that would be the one I chose.

"Come on, time to get dressed. We have an hour before Sam is here to pick us up." Sam was here boyfriend at the moment. I wasn't sure how long he'd last with Kris. She was kind of going through a rough time at the moment. I stripped off my sweats and t-shirt and then slipped on the dress.

"Wow!" I hear Kris praise me from her bed. I blushed and looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes widened at the sight. I looked completely different. The dress fit nicely and showed off my curves that I previously thought were nonexistent. Breaking me out of my thoughts, Kris pushed me down into her desk chair and started sweeping makeup onto my face. She added some blush and highlight to my cheeks before adding a few coats of mascara to my lashes. Then she stalked towards me with a tube of bright, red lipstick. I backed away.

"No lipstick. I think I'll stick with regular ole chapstick," I said while quickly getting up. She let out a huff of air but didn't push it. Kris went into the bathroom and came out with her straightener. I sat back down in the chair and let her work her magic. When she was done, my normally thick, curly hair was straight and sleek. I smiled at my reflection and thanked her. She gave me a smile back. I got up to put on my white tennis shoes, much to Kris' dismay. Soon after her phone buzzed.

"Sam's here. Let's go!" I grabbed my small purse and checked to make sure that it held the proper necessities. Chapstick, gum, my wallet, my phone, and pepper spray. You never know when you might need pepper spray. Kris grabbed onto my hand and pulled me out of the door. My anxiety started kicking in once we got into Sam's car. This was happening, and there was no turning back now. Why did I ever let her talk me into going to this party? Eventually, we pulled up at a large house. This was it. There was no going back now.

Music was blaring on the speakers, and people were dancing in the living room. Already overwhelmed by the number of people, I tugged on Kris's arm and gave her a pleading look. She smiled at me and pulled me to the kitchen.

"Here," she handed me a bottle of water. I thanked her and gulped it down. After calming my nerves, I was ready to interact with others. I followed Kris out to the back patio. There was a large pool in the backyard, and some people were swimming in it. With their clothes on! I couldn't help but shiver at the thought of getting in the chilly water. We sat down on some lounge chairs.

"Are you having fun?" Kris questioned me. I thought about her question. I mean I wasn't having a bad time, and watching sloppy, drunk college kids was kind of funny.

"You know what? I actually am." Her face lit up.

"See, I told you it wouldn't be that bad!" She did a little celebratory air punch and then got up.

"I'm gonna go get another drink," Kris said.

"Aye, bring me one," Sam yelled to her from his spot on the ground. He was chatting with some friends that played in his band. They were all pretty nice. Behind them loomed a figure in the darkness. The figure seemed to be that of a boy. I decided to investigate. I got up and started walking toward the figure. Suddenly, I heard a loud crash. Looking around I finally found where the noise came from. A group of boys were trying to pick up another boy so that they could throw him in the pool. By the looks of it, he was probably one of the pledges. There was something different about this boy though. He had genuine fear in his warm, brown eyes. Something flared up in me. I don't know where the burst of courage came from, but I decided that I needed to save the boy from the cold water. I quickly rushed over to where the boys were still struggling to carry the pledge over to the edge of the pool.

"Put him down right now!" I yelled at them. They didn't seem to notice that I was standing there, so I yelled at them again.

"Hey, I said to put him down." They seemed to hear me this time. They released him and turned to me. I walked over to the boy to make sure he was okay. He was shivering and looked like he was about to cry.

"It's okay." I tried comforting him. He got up and ran back to the house. I frowned. I felt bad that he was traumatized. A wave of nausea hit me as I felt a pair of large, warm hands grabbed me by the waist. I turned my head to see that the guy who was trying to throw the boy in the pool, had now grabbed me.

"Put me down! What are you doing?" My voice shook as I feared the events to come. He chuckled.

"You ran off our pledge, so you're going to take his place." I felt all of the blood rush out of my face. This couldn't be happening. He can't throw me in the pool.

"No, please put me down," I begged him, but he didn't listen. He just continued to carry me to the edge. I hit him with my fist, but my hits seemed to bounce off of his muscular back. I went to hit him again, but before I could do any damage he tossed me over the edge.

I hit the water with a cold, hard slap. Water filled my nose and mouth as I desperately tried to breathe. I can't swim. This was it. I'm gonna die in Alpha Delta Gamma's pool. I closed my eyes and prayed that I wouldn't suffer. Soon darkness consumed me.

I woke up and started throwing up gallons of water. I realized that I was on the cold stone that surrounded the pool. After coughing for what felt like hours, I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was a pair of ocean blue eyes. A boy loomed over me, one of his hands under my head. I studied his features. He was tan with wavy, brown hair. His face was one of relief.

"Are you alright?" he asked me. His voice was deep and raspy. I snapped myself out of my daze.

"Yeah, what happened?" He frowned at me. I looked up at him in confusion until the memories came rushing back. Some burly guy picked me up and threw me into the pool. I remembered that I couldn't swim and eventually fell into darkness. Oh my gosh! He saved me.

"You saved me?" I asked him. He smiled at me. I realized that he was the guy in the shadows from earlier. I could tell because he was wearing all black and had a mysterious aura to him.

"Yeah it's nothing, you should probably get home." He scratched his head. I nodded and got up. As I stood up, I stumbled. An arm wrapped around my waist.

"Here, let me help you." Mystery boy picked me up bridal style and walked around the side of the house to the front. He took a pair of keys out of his pocket and unlocked a BMW i8. Impressive. Opening the passenger side door, he placed me in the red leather seat.

"Wait, what are you doing?" I asked confused.

"I'm taking you home. Where do you live?" he asked. I told him that I live in the east dorms on campus. I tried so hard to stay awake, but I drifted off.

Ugh, sunlight. Oh no! How did I get home? Oh, wait. Shadow boy drove me home in his BMW. I sat up and looked around, wondering how he got me into my bed. A note caught my eye. 

You really shouldn't leave your door unlocked. Give me a call when you wake up. 

678-999-8212 - Ian.

Ian. So that was his name. Getting up, I looked for my purse. Shoot. I must've left it at the party. Groaning, I fell back into bed and fell asleep dreaming of shadow boy. 

* Announcement: Thanks for reading my book. This is my first story, so bear with me. Chapter 2 is coming soon!