There was so many things that I still needed to do before I went to bed, but all I wanted to do was lay down underneath my fuzzy blanket and relax. Mom and dad were already in their room trying to wind-down from a long day at work by watching TV. And by watching TV I mean mom put on Project Runway and was forcing dad to watch it. Thinking about all the things I needed to gave me a headache. I needed to find a dress to wear to the dance with Rowan.
I couldn't believe that Rowan wanted to go to the dance with me. After he left that night I looked through last year's yearbook to see who Rowan with last year. He went with Lacey, a girl who was far more prettier than me. Her pale blue dress made her eyes sparkle. She looked so happy in their picture together. Rowan had his right arm wrapped around her waist and he too was smiling. He had a black tux on and a blue tie that matched his dates dress.
What on earth was I going to wear?
I wasn't used to wearing dresses. Only on special occasions weddings and funerals. None of those dresses would be fancy enough for the dance. I was going to have to go dress shopping.
I hated shopping for dresses. I could never find something that fit my body just right. Everything was too big or too long. Having my body type was terrible but then again it was hard for anyone to find anything that fit them just right. You had to comprise and meet somewhere in the middle.
There was only one thing that my dress had to be and that was purple. Purple was my favorite color and it went well with my green eyes. Almost every color went with my blonde hair but I hated being a blond. Once I turn eighteen I'm buying a bottle of brown hair dye and I'm dying it, I promised myself.
Among looking for a dress design I liked, I needed to figure out what the heck I was going to do about Bradley and him messaging me. I blocked the number as soon as I found out that it was him but there was nothing stopping him from doing it again. He kept creating a new account on some texting app that gave him a new phone number each time. Me blocking him only blocked the old number. Once he made a new account he was free to message me again.
I really needed to change my phone number.
That was on the list of things to do. Change my phone number and make sure only family and Rowan had it, that way he wouldn't be able to message me ever again.
I spent hours looking up dresses online. Who knew there was many styles of dresses? I felt like my mother would have known all of them, just from how many episodes of Project Runway she watched.
The light from my parents TV was still on but I doubted they were still awake. It was two in the morning and I needed to get some sleep.
I sat my laptop off to the side of my bed, shutting the lid. My room was cold, just the way I liked it. The colder my room was the better I slept at night and after Bradley's text I needed all the help I could to get to sleep.
Once I was underneath the covers I looked at my phone to check my messages. I hadn't looked at my phone since I was shipped off to dress world on my computer.
I had only on text message and it was from Rowan, thankfully.
Hey I hope you sleep well. I'll text you in the morning night.
I smiled at the message and quickly texted a goodnight back. I didn't even bother looking at the time he had sent it before I sent my reply. Hopefully it wouldn't wake him up.
My phone rang a couple minutes after I had fell asleep. At first I didn't want to answer it. What if it was Bradley? My stomach dropped. I couldn't handle it if it was him. His memory of his voice brought tears to my eyes.
I finally looked at my phone to see it was Raven. Why was she calling me at two in the morning? She should be at her friends house asleep. She talked mom and dad into letting her stay at a friends to "study" for a big test.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Lennon." She said, sounding off.
"Yeah, what do you need?" I asked. I had no clue why she was calling me. There had to be a reason.
"Can you come pick me up?"
"Why did you and Elizabeth get in a fight?" She had only been at Elizabeth's for a couple hours mom dropped her off before she started watching her show at nine.
"No." She slurred.
Was she drunk?
"Raven what’s going on?" I demand. I wanted to know what was going on.
"Please can you come pick Elizabeth and I up." She said slurring every couple of words.
"Where are you?" I asked her sitting up in bed, now fully awake.
"I'm at a party, over at Zachary's."
Oh no she’s at a party at Zach’s house. Nothing ever good came out of his parties. His were wild. The real question was, why was my sister at his party?
"I'll be right there." I didn't want to hang up because I was afraid of what might happen while I wasn't talking to her. She was drunk and at a party with older guys. What was she thinking?
I didn't know how I was going to get to Zach's the only person I knew of to call was Rowan. I hate to wake him up but I couldn't throw Raven under the bus right away with mom and dad. She trusted me enough to call me. I called Rowan and after five minutes of the phone ringing Rowan finally answered.
"Lennon, it's two in the morning." I could almost see him yawing on the other end, in bed.
"I know, I'm sorry but I need you to come pick me up and take me to Zach's house." I said quickly. I didn't want to waste any time. I needed to get to Raven immediately.
"Why?" He asked confused.
"Raven called me. She's at a party there and needs me to come get her and a friend. They are drunk." I explained to him hoping he would say yes. I didn't know for sure where Zach lived and I didn't think walking there would do much good. It was times like this that I wished I got my license back when I turned sixteen.
"I'll be there in a few minutes. Should I come to the door?" He asked.
"No." I shook my head even knowing he couldn't see me. "I'll have to sneak out, I don't want my parents to find out about Raven until it's absolutely necessary."
"Okay."
"Please hurry." I begged him. My nerves were unsettling. I just needed to get there fast.
I hung up and got dressed in whatever clothes I could find. I wanted to be outside before Rowan got here.
Sneaking out was easier than I expected. For some reason I thought it would be much harder but with the TV still on in mom and dad's room I didn't have to worry about all the noise I was making. I grabbed a jacket and slipped on a pair of my sisters boots. They were faster to put on the my converse. I didn't have time to tie up shoes.
I ran out the front door, careful to catch it before it slammed shut. That would have woke mom and dad up.
Rowan's jeep was at the end of the driveway by our mailbox. I ran to the jeep and got in the passenger seat. He didn't say a word to me he just put the jeep in drive and we were off.
About half way down the road Rowan noticed how nervous I was. "Don't worry I'm sure she'll be fine." He reached for my hand and wrapped it in his right hand.
I was grateful for his reassurance but it didn't do much to calm me. Raven should have known better. How could she disobey our parents again just as she was gaining more freedom?
"I hope so." My voice was shaky, my whole body was. I never been to another party since that night. I didn't know if I could step inside the front door without having a panic attack.
As Rowan continued to drive I looked out the passenger window trying to convince myself that I would be fine. I had to go in to get Raven. She was my responsibility. There was nothing that would stop me from protecting her anyway I could. She could hate me for the rest of her life and I couldn’t care less as long as she was safe from any monsters like him.
Hi guys we hope you liked this chapter it was originally over 3,000 words! Wow how did that happen. Because it was so long we were forced to split it up into two parts!
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