Chapter 5
The Inevitable
A/N - Photo to the side is of Clay!
The Night Before…
Although tonight’s mission was clearly in pursuit of my brother on his ‘date’ with Lily Powell, Marnie and I had made it just a bit more fun for ourselves.
It had been about a week since our outburst in the middle of math class and she was still on edge with me. She wasn’t back to the normal, bubbly girl I was so used to. She kept saying she had to ‘focus on her homework’ whenever I invited her over to hang out after school and didn’t talk much when we were together throughout the day. I knew it was something much bigger that was bothering her, and not just the fact that I basically barked at her for not reporting Carter’s behavior. We had fights before, most that lasted nothing longer than a day or two.
So something was eating her away inside, I just couldn’t place my finger on what.
I was hoping it had nothing to do with the fact that she and Carter were finished. He wasn’t anywhere near good for her, let alone enough of a man to keep around. He was a cocky, selfish bastard who got thrills out of scaring other people senseless. The way he was acting towards Marnie in their relationship was nothing short of a façade he must have put on for every girl that came in his path. You couldn’t believe anything he did had any positive justification behind it.
Carter Wayland would forever be the nastiest form of a monster.
While Marnie was still upset about things she wouldn’t clue me in on, she still accepted my invitation to crash the house party at one of the team player’s massive houses. We made it enjoyable for us, me picking out somewhat slutty outfits to wear and her doing daring things with my eye shadow and lip stick. Even though her smiles were faltered and her eyes weren’t as bright as before, she was still trying her hardest to make this night better for the both of us. The smiles, however small, were still there.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on with you lately?” I asked gently as she applied more dark eye shadow to the base of my lid.
She paused for a moment, her brush hanging in mid air as I glanced at her with one eye. She focused on all other parts of my face that didn’t include my wandering eye.
“Um…I’m not sure what you mean.”
Sighing heavily, I said, “Marn, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Ever since Carter grabbed you up like that this week, you’ve been…somewhere else.”
She switched colors on the palette, giving the creases of my eyes accentuations while she determined what would be the best way to key me in on what was bothering her. After she blew on the brush a bit before placing it on my eye, she murmured, “Carter’s just been acting weird lately.”
“What do you mean ‘weird’?”
I wished I could fully look at her instead of keeping my eyes shut for this makeover of hers. I wanted her to know that she had my full, undivided attention if this was too hard for her to talk about.
“After he gripped me up in the hallway the other day…he’s been following me around campus a lot. If it’s not him, it’s one of his football buddies. I keep feeling like if I make one wrong move…he’ll come after me or something,” she breathed, setting the palette down and finally letting me open my eyes.
When I did, her eyes were back to the sullen, almost sunken look like she hadn’t gotten sleep in weeks. She expertly covered the dark circles with concealer and made her eyes look beautiful beneath all of the make up, but I knew her long enough to know that this wasn’t just some small thing to be overlooked.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, placing my hand over hers that was lying limply on my plush carpet.
Her mouth quivered. “He told me not to tell anyone what happened with…” she trailed off, picking up her now somewhat healing arm and putting it back down again. “And then he had all these people following me and I thought if they heard me talk about him…”
Quickly bringing her in my arms, I tried to reassure her in the best ways I could, despite my own discomfort that I had yet to tell her about. “What do you think he’s going to hurt you again or something?”
I felt her shake her head on my shoulder. “I don’t know!” she cried. “I don’t think he meant to hurt me the first time. I mean, Callie…I’ve seen him when we’re alone together. He’s always so gentle with me and he treated me like I was glass that could break or something. I think he’s just scared of damaging his reputation and being kicked off of the team.”
As she pulled back, I shook my head at her. “That doesn’t give him the right to scare people like this.”
“People?”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding and let my shoulders sag. “I think he’s been following me, too.”
“How do you know?” she gasped.
“I just feel like someone’s always…watching me. I can’t escape it. And when you were taking care of Clay that day he had him against the lockers…he said me and Clay would regret ruining his relationship with you,” I mumbled off, casting my eyes to the floor.
I should have told her sooner, clued her in on Carter’s harsh truth finally coming to light. Maybe then we could have fixed this situation sooner, nipped it in the bud before things got too drastic.
“And then he gave Grayson Foster this note to give to me saying he ‘didn’t forget’ or whatever…” I shook my head again. “He’s insane, Marn.”
She breathed what seemed to be a sigh of relief. “I’m glad someone finally agrees with me.”
Gapping at her like a fish, I said, “I thought you liked him!”
She giggled a bit, the sound a relief to hear after being resigned to watching her mope for the past two weeks. “I did! But he’s seriously insane. Did you know that he told me he was, ‘The best I would ever get’? How cocky can you get?”
I laughed along with her, not questioning Carter ever uttering those words. He treated everyone like they had to bow down to him before he snapped. Much to his dismay, he actually wasn’t God’s gift to the world. I was just glad my best friend was finally seeing what he was capable of and wasn’t letting her former feelings get in the way anymore.
*~*~*~*~*
Corey Palmer’s house reeked of weed and beer.
Stepping into the team kicker’s house on this Sunday night, I had to twist myself in a maze of sorts to get around the multitude of beer cans thrown around and bodies mangled with one another on the arm rests of couches in the family room. The party was being thrown on a school night because the team had won their latest match against Moreland County and knew just the way to celebrate…by getting drunk and forgetting all about it by the morning.
The smoke in the air was heavy, covering the party-goers like a thick blanket and making my lungs tighten at the smell. Sweaty bodies were grinding against one another in provocative motions, signaling that most would be declaring they were getting a room sooner than expected.
“Where’s Clay?” Marnie shouted from behind me over the thumping bass and rowdy people lining the room.
“I’m trying to find him!” I shouted back, making a human chain with Marnie in hand to get through the mass of kids shrieking and babbling on drunken thoughts.
After avoiding a far from sober girl who was ready to start a fight with someone, that someone clearly being me, and maneuvering back outside to the porch out front, I had to squint beneath the darkness outside. As my eyes adjusted, I noticed Lily’s blonde hair gleaming beneath the street lights with a familiar boy in hand.
I hadn’t seen Clay before he left for his date, due to the fact that he was ignoring me after our fight at school earlier on in the week. I wanted to be able to spend more time with him, especially because he was in such high spirits about the date and was no longer spending long hours locked away in his bedroom. But I couldn’t help but grin when I saw how much effort he put into his outfit choice for the night and his neatly done hair.
He was dressed in a mint green polo and dark jeans, almost making his slight tanned skin glow even further. His hair was pushed up just a bit at the front of his face to keep the little locks from fraying in his eyes. His large hand was firmly clasped into Lily’s, both of them sporting flirty smiles in one another’s direction. Neither of them had noticed Marnie and I practically stalking them on the front porch, so we continued to watch Clay’s first date unfold.
“They’re so cute together!” Marnie squealed quietly next to me, hiding herself behind a wooden beam that supported the small roof above us. She was bouncing on the back of her sharp heels, balancing herself on the metal railing in front of her.
As much as I wanted to agree, that sinking feeling of my heart plummeting to the depths of my stomach was overshadowing any hope of this going well. I couldn’t help but question why they were out here when they could have been inside enjoying the party. Or else, why spend your first date at a house party? And I knew Lily enough to know that she never passed up a good party. She liked to get smashed to the point where she barely knew the name of the next guy she slept with and seemed to enjoy the fact that people had to tell her what she did last night instead of her figuring it out on her own.
From a distance, she didn’t look drunk at all, walking in a straight line and never stumbling over cracks in the concrete. They looked to be keeping up quite the conversation, both of them laughing at something the other said. Watching them seeming to enjoy each other almost had me believing that I was just worrying too much and being a negative Nancy.
That is, until Carter and his army of men came striding up to Lily and Clay with devilish smirks on their faces. Carter had his hands stuffed into his pockets and the guys behind him seemed to be waiting for the signal word to pounce.
My heart was on overdrive, pounding mercilessly against my chest and allowing a cold fear to drain in my veins. Gripping onto the same wooden pole Marnie was hiding behind, I tried to stay put and not seem like the over-protective little sister Clay so rightfully hated to be around. My teeth were making a permanent dent in my bottom lip as I heard Carter laugh heartily.
“Well, Clay…” he laughed as he looked over at Lily. “I see you’ve finally decided to switch roles.”
“I never said I was gay, Carter. You were always the one making up that rumor…” Clay trailed off, his voice trembling as he tried to keep his cool and not bow down to him just yet.
“Because I just couldn’t understand why a guy would want to wear tights and prance around on stage like a fag,” he rambled on, his cocky smirk never leaving his lips as he spoke. He was eyeing my brother like a lion settling in for the kill of its prey.
This made Clay drop Lily’s hand roughly. “I’m not a fag!” he shouted, his back becoming taut as he straightened up and prepared himself to receive payback for the rebuttal.
“You better calm down, Tollson. I told you that you would be getting revenge for what you did to my relationship!” he pointed a hard finger in Clay’s chest, pushing him back just a bit. Carter followed his slightly falling body, the boys behind him moving like machines in unison.
“I didn’t do anything! You were the one…”
But Clay never got the chance to finish his sentence. A deafening crack resonated throughout the street as Carter’s fist collided with Clay’s jaw. The air left my body as I watched Clay fall backwards towards the concrete from the force of the hit. His arms flailing and his face already bleeding, he tried to save himself by skimming the ground with his elbows.
Without thinking about it twice, Marnie and I ran towards the scene and I immediately got in Carter’s way as he stalked towards Clay’s body once again. Pushing him on his chest, his lip curled in frustration.
“Get the hell out of my way, Callie!” he growled, not daring to push me again with Marnie in view.
“Carter don’t do this to him!” Marnie cried from somewhere behind me.
“Corey, get her out of the way!” he shouted to the guy in the pack behind him, the one who owned the house that was serving the party for everyone else. Against my retaliation with swift kicks and missing smacks, two hundred and forty pound Corey picked me up from the ground and took me out of the way.
“Let me go, Corey!” I screamed, arms still flailing about. He finally placed me down on the grass, my ass plummeting hard against the ground. Before I could protest anymore, he was making a run for Clay, getting on his knees to punch my brother in the stomach.
It was almost ten against one, and my poor brother was on the receiving end. No one else was out here except Lily, Marnie and I, who were basically useless against the entire offensive football team.
“Stop it!” I shrieked. “Let him go! He didn’t do anything!”
“Shouldn’t have overstepped your boundaries again, Tollson. I warned you time and time again,” Carter growled, wailing on Clay’s innocent face once again.
“Marnie, get help!” I screamed once again, Marnie flying off just as soon as I let the words out.
“Carter, you said you just wanted to talk to him. You didn’t tell me you would do this!” Lily cried, tears streaking down her cheeks as she watched him ruin my brother. “Carter, stop!”
Each boy got their shot at Clay, swift kicks to the ribs and hits to the eyes and cheeks all coming in a jumble of noise and grunts. I was sobbing at this point, tears streaming down my face like an ongoing waterfall. I was on the verge of throwing up as the blood became more prominent on the bland concrete floor. I could define each crack of bone and break in skin. It was repulsive and appalling, making my heart break into smaller and smaller pieces the more I watched this unfold and couldn’t do a thing about it.
Clay’s moans and pleas for them to stop became more sparse and less loud as the fight continued, Carter seeming to get enjoyment out of sucking the life out of my brother’s body. I was wishing I was stronger, taller, more defensive…anything to help save my brother. He was so helpless, so unfairly paired against a bunch of guys who could probably bench press five of him alone.
With my eyes still focused on the scene before me and my ears so tuned into the damage of my older brother’s body, I almost didn’t notice as multiple guys ran out from the party and towards the resenting football players. I didn’t recognize half of them, most probably from other schools and random passerbys who were friends of friends.
Most of the fighters were pulled off; Carter being the last one to be drug away from my brother’s half limp body. When I looked up at Carter’s pissed off eyes, Grayson Foster’s face came into view behind him, wrapping his arms around Carter’s middle and begging him to stop fighting. Carter tripped over his footing, almost falling backwards as Grayson drug him off.
“What the fuck are you doing, Foster?” Carter barked once he got back on balance turned around to face Grayson’s panting body.
“You’re about to kill him, Carter!” Grayson bellowed through heavy breaths. The exertion of pulling away his much larger teammate taking most out of him.
“This isn’t your fight to get into!” he shouted back, pushing Grayson back with less force than he had used on Clay.
I sprinted towards Clay’s still body, sobbing further as I stepped into pools of blood lining the cracks in the concrete. He had sharp cuts against his cheek and jaw line, his one eye already becoming puffy and bruised. He had an arm over his middle, probably hurting in his ribs as well. His body was covered in shoe marks and dirt, his once stylish mint green polo now rumpled and destroyed with blood and dirt.
“Clay! Clay, I’m so sorry,” I cried, picking his head up gently from the ground floor and cradling it. “I’m so sorry.”
“How could you do that?” I heard Marnie shriek, looking up at her through clouded eyes. She was in Carter’s face now, not the least bit scared of him now that more people were watching around us. “He hasn’t done anything to you! Why do you always pick him to torture?”
“Oh he deserved it and you know it!”
“You know, I didn’t break up with you because of them! I broke up with you because you’re a prick!” she shouted, stabbing him in his muscular chest with a finger.
Carter’s bewildered expression overtook his features, his eyes wandering around the growing crowd of people coming out from the party and wondering what was going on. Some people were shaking their heads at him, others overly drunk and chanting for another fight to happen. Only a moment’s span of regret was in his eyes before he shook it off and gave a look of nonchalance.
“Fuck it. I don’t have to sit around and listen to this. Come on, guys. I know a better party outside of the city,” he gestured to the boys to follow as he pushed himself through the crowd of onlookers and walked down the street from the scene.
Marnie ran over to Clay and me, kneeling down over his body to run a gentle finger over his profusely bleeding cuts. “Is he okay?
“Clay…are you?” I went to ask, but he pushed himself up from the ground with shaky arms.
With little strength, he tried to push my hands off of him, knocking himself back into Marnie for a moment. “What did I say about always pushing yourself into situations?” he yelled over a coated throat, spitting out a mouth full of blood after he spoke.
“I wasn’t pushing myself into anything!”
“What do you call what you just did? God, I can handle myself, Callie!” he went on, starting to get up from the ground on his own. The blood switched directions and started to trickle down his cheeks and on to his shirt. His elbows were scrapped and bloody from the fall, causing more blood to fall down his arms.
“You were about to be beaten to death, Clay! I couldn’t just sit back and let it happen!”
“I could’ve fucking handled it on my own!” he bellowed once more, trying to regain his proper balance as he began to walk down the street. The crowd dispersed for him, unlike with Carter, and watched with curious expressions as I followed him.
I went to go after him but Marnie pulled me back with her hand on my shoulder. "Let him go, Cal," she murmured, her eyes soft as I turned around to face her.
"No! He's hurt. I can't..." I shook my head, ignoring her further pleas as I tried to go catch up to him.
“You’re hurt, Clay! We need to make sure…” I called after him.
He turned around in his spot, a look set to kill in his former bright eyes. “Leave me alone, Callie! I can fucking fix this myself!”
It was the first time Clay verbalized his ignorance for me. He truly didn’t want me around to protect him anymore. He was hurt, beaten, bruised and bleeding. Any other sister would be able to rush to the aid of their sibling, but not me. I felt my heart re-breaking all over again at the thought of him hating me forever for this.
“I was only trying to…”
“You were only trying to help! I know, Callie! That’s the excuse you’ve used every other time before. Well guess what? I’m a big boy now and I can help myself. I know how to fix this on my own!”
And then he stomped off, wiping his face now and again with the bottom of his already ruined shirt and spitting blood onto the street. Crossing my arms against the chilly night air, I watched him walk further and further away from me, physically and emotionally. I wasn’t sure where his head was at, how he would actually react to this later on. I wanted to follow him home and make sure he was okay. I couldn’t take the thought of him being alone through this.
But the thought I really couldn’t take was how he actually planned to fix this.