Present Drifter

Chapter 12

It takes me a minute to compose myself before I'm even able to physically pull myself up off the ground. I use the palm of my hands to wipe off the tears from myself, but I'm left with streaks of mascara. A groan escapes as I imagine what I look like with tear streaked makeup. I run my hands up and through my hair as I try to prepare myself to go downstairs.

Slowly, I wobble down the stairs, my hand tightly gripped around the handrail. I breathe in, my chest shaking as I inhale. Some people are around the bottom of the staircase, but not too many. Hopefully I can slip past without anyone seeing me. I have to find Victoria though, she's my ride home.

When I reach the main floor, I lower my head slightly to avoid eye contact. My eyes remain on my feet, carefully choosing each step. The music is still blaring throughout the house and the lights still flash through the room where I danced with Charlie. I glance at the dance floor where I left him before moving through into the kitchen. My eyes continue to travel around the room as I look for Victoria.

Soon enough, I'm back where I started my night. In the backyard.

The table where the boys were playing beer pong has been abandoned, empty cups left toppled over. The group of girls appears to still be in the same spot but the group is larger. Other stragglers still scatter the yard which has now grown dark after the sunset. I search their faces for my friend.

Near the far side, I find her, her black hair shimmering in the moonlight. I see her briefly look towards me but she looks away so quickly I can barely tell if she even looked at me at all. My eyes follow hers to the person she's talking with. His hair is still a mess, his face scrunched up in anger as he glares at her.

Daxon's arms are tightly wrapped in front of him, his nails digging into his arm. It looks like he wants to hurt Victoria and is doing everything in his ability from doing so. I feel myself quiver as I look at them in confusion. I almost completely break when he sees me.

Dax looks at me and then turns away like Victoria, but he quickly comes back to stare at me as if it took him a second to realize it was me. I feel the tears pricking at my eyes again so I quickly turn around and run back into the house almost running into someone near the door.

"Sorry," I mumble as I move around him in the direction of the other house exit. I have to get out of here.

I do my best to weave through the crowd but I'm distracted. My eyes end up locked on the ground as I try to make my way through the house without hurting anyone. I feel people brushing past me, their arms brushing past mine, but I don't even comprehend the touch.

"Woah, hey there," says someone, grabbing my shoulders to hold me back before I run into them. I glance up to find a concerned Charlie, his eyebrows gently furrowed and slightly raised as he looks down at me. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," I say. I gently move backwards to release his grip on my shoulders and then move around him as I try to avoid the question. A laser of light flashes past me and I realize that I'm probably pretty close to the front door.

"Thea wait," Charlie says. I don't turn around to see if he's following me as I begin to push my way through the crowd, I just want to get out of here.

I make my way around one final group before I'm at the door. Gently, I open it just a little and slip through it, but a large hand grabs it just as I attempt to close it behind me. Charlie opens it wider and then comes to stand in front of the door, pulling it closed behind him. He stares at me with a blank face as I stand directly in front of him.

"Thea." Charlie states a little harshly.

"What?" I ask annoyed. He continues to look at me in silence in an attempt to coax an explanation out of me. After a moment of staring back at him, I turn and move to walk down the porch steps. I only make it about a step before he grabs my wrist and spins me back to face him.