“Jeez Ivy, what happened to you last night?” Tyler asked me, arching an eyebrow at me.
I glared at him with any energy I could muster…which considering I stayed up all night, meant I had almost no energy left.
“Horror movie,” I muttered, stumbling to the fridge.
“You know if you’re scared you can come to my room,” he said, his other eyebrow rising to meet the first.
“That’s what one of the girls tried to do…and the demon killed her,” I said, wide eyed.
Tyler burst out laughing. “Ivy you’re being ridiculous. It’s not real. It’s all Hollywood magic.”
“Screw off,” I muttered, grabbing a piece of toast. I all but threw it in the toaster and stared at it until my toast popped out. Of course when it popped I nearly had a heart attack.
“Good morning!” Jake said cheerily as he walked into the kitchen, he stopped short when he saw me, “Holy shit, what happened to you?”
I sighed, “Horror movie.”
He chuckled, “I’m guessing you didn’t sleep at all last night?”
I mock gasped, “What gave it away?”
“Someone’s moody,” he commented as he reached over me for cereal.
“Pardon me for PMS’ing,” I muttered.
“Aw, mother nature being a pain in the ass?” he teased.
“More like endometrium,” I muttered darkly as I bit into my toast.
“What?” Tyler and Jake asked at the same time, both frowning at me.
I rolled my eyes. “Nothing. Just know I’m bunking with you guys tonight.”
“Fine with me,” Tyler shrugged, “I hope you know you’ll have to be on the floor. I love you but I’m not giving up my bed.”
“Gee thanks, Tyler." I finished my toast and hurried back upstairs to get ready. For some reason during the day, with the sun out, nothing was scary. I took advantage of that and took a quick shower. I blow dried my black hair a bit before I braided it so it rested on my left shoulder.
I ran downstairs once I finished getting ready and found Tyler and Jake already outside.
“Holy shit, its freezing!” I shuddered, jumping into the car.
“Well duh, it’s December. It’s kind of a given that it’s going to be cold,” Jake said as he got into the drivers seat and Tyler in the passenger seat.
“Ah shut up,” I slapped the back of his head.
“Make me,” he turned his head to stick his tongue out at me before he put the car in drive and drove us to school.
Almost as soon as he parked the car at school I hopped out and ran inside to the warmth. I went to my locker and dumped my stuff, when suddenly my locker door was slammed shut.
I nearly hit the ceiling and screamed loud enough to scare the students around me.
“Holy shit!” I scowled, hitting Chad in the arm hard, “Don’t ever do that again!”
He laughed, “Sorry, babe. I didn’t think you’d get that scared.”
“Yes well that horror movie has made me a little bit skittish,” I muttered, opening my locker again while I got my English books out.
“Oops,” he grinned impishly.
“Oops my ass, I’m thinking you picked horror on purpose just so I could ‘cower in your arms’,” I made a face at him as I closed my locker.
“Guilty as charged,” he said cheerily.
“Can Chad James please come to the front desk?” the secretary buzzed on the intercom.
He scowled. “I haven’t even done anything,” he grumbled.
I grinned, “Maybe karma is getting you back,” I said, standing on tip-toe to kiss him on the cheek, “See you in History.”
“Ew, History,” he scrunched his face up.
“You only hate the class because you suck at it…plus the teacher still hates you for doing that really gross ‘harder Ivy harder!’ thing, remember?” I laughed.
He shrugged, “What can I say? The teacher doesn’t have a good sense of humor. Anyways, I better go before they get even more annoyed.”
And with that he jogged off down the hall to the front desk. I shook my head and went down the hall in the opposite direction to first period.
“Watch it!” someone snapped.
Startled, I jumped and then tripped over my own two feet, flying forward right into something hard and warm.
“Oh my God I’m so—” I cut off when I looked up and saw the familiar blonde hair and blue eyes, “Let go of me!”
“Now why would I do that?” Liam smiled at me, holding me tightly in his arms as my stomach turned in revulsion.
“Because my brother and friend will kick your ass, not to mention I will too,” I said, struggling against him.
He made a show of looking around the hall, “Really? I don’t see them anywhere,” he grinned in a way that made my skin crawl, leaning his head down to mine to whisper in my ear. He pushed me back so I was pressed against the wall of lockers, “And soon the hallways are going to be empty. And I can do what I wanted to do with you if you had decided to be my date and girlfriend.”
“Liam don’t you dare,” I hissed, trying to sound brave, but inside I wanted to cry. It was like my worst nightmare coming true.
I felt his lips suddenly moving everywhere, against my neck, my cheeks, even my own lips while I struggled to push him away from me.
“Liam stop,” I pleaded, his hands roaming over parts of my body that no one had ever touched while he continued to kiss me everywhere.
“Oh stop fighting it already,” he said, "I like you, but you are such a drama queen. Just admit you like me.”
“Uh…no! Why the hell would I like you?” I said, feeling panicked now. No one seemed to notice what was going on as they made their way to class.
He pulled away, his happy expression hardening, “You should be happy I like you Ivy. Not every girl gets an opportunity as good as this.”
I let out a short, nervous laugh, “From where I’m standing it’s not that great of an opportunity…” I swallowed, “So I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline,” I said, as he shifted his weight slightly.
And then I realized I just got the perfect opportunity…but not the kind he was talking about. He opened his mouth to say more, but I wasn’t letting this chance slip through my fingers. I brought my knee up and slammed it right into his crotch.
“Fuck!” he yelped, doubling over as he let me go to clutch at his wounded family jewels.
“Bye Liam,” I said cheerily before I sprinted down the hall, heart hammering in fear. Oh my God! I took off to the nearest bathroom. I hid in one of the stalls, trying to calm my beating heart as I hoped to God that Liam wouldn’t come looking for me. The bell rang, meaning I was late for first period.
Once I had sufficiently calmed down I came to a new dilemma. What if Liam was still in the hallways? What if I came out and he was there? We were alone now, everyone was in class…
Oh my God! What if he killed me and raped me and I became like the demon girl from the movie? Slaughtering and eating people?
My stomach turned as I thought of all the blood and gore from the movie.
That was the last time I was ever going to watch a horror movie. No amount of money on Earth would get me to watch another one.
I decided to take a chance and stuck my head out of the bathroom. I looked up and down the hallway; it was empty. I took a breath and stepped out…and then ran to first period like the Devil himself was after me…which he kind of was.
When I walked into first period my teacher got annoyed, but didn’t give me detention thankfully so I sat down and shut up.
Jo shot me a questioning look but I could only shake my head as a response. After all, nothing too bad had happened. Hopefully the rest of my day, or life, would be clear of that psycho.
*********
“So what did they want?” I asked Chad as we walked to lunch together. We hadn’t had a chance to talk during History since we had a surprise test, which I’m pretty sure I failed, and I wanted to know why they called him to the front office.
He shrugged, “They just wanted to know if I skipped last period Friday,” he replied, “I told them I had a doctor’s appointment.”
“Did you actually skip?” I asked, slightly amused.
“Yeah, so?” he grinned, “They think I actually did have a doctor’s appointment. It’s all good,” he looked up when someone called his name, “Hey man!”
I rolled my eyes. Must all guys say ‘hey man’? I mean, don’t they know the names of their friends?
“Oh, you two are dating?” A familiar voice said.
I froze and my stomach twisted sickeningly as I looked up. Liam stood in front of us, smiling down at me. I felt the color drain from my face. He may have been smiling, but he did not look happy.
I cringed into Chad’s side.
“Yeah, you didn’t know?” Chad said casually.
“Well I do now,” Liam eyed me with those creepy blue eyes, “I’m surprised Ivy here didn’t tell me. We’re pretty tight.”
“Really?” Chad seemed surprised, “You guys are friends?”
“Liam what the hell are you doing?” an angry voice cut in and suddenly Jake was standing beside me, his jaw set and tense, fists clenched at his sides.
“I’m just chatting with Chad and Ivy, there’s nothing wrong with that,” he said innocently, but his grin was mocking.
“Just chatting? Somehow I doubt it would stay that way for long,” Jake said icily, “What did you not comprehend in the words ‘if I see you anywhere near her again I’ll kill you’?”
Chad looked completely confused, Liam still looked on with that creepy sneer and Jake looked like he was truly about to kill Liam. I stepped out of Chad’s arm towards Jake, but Liam grabbed my hand and yanked me against his side in a death grip.
“Oh come on Jacob, don’t be so over dramatic. Ivy’s over it and so am I. We’re friends now,” Liam said, holding me so tightly it was almost difficult to breathe.
“Liam let her go,” Jake practically growled.
“Tell him Ivy, you’re over it now. We’re friends,” Liam said, looking down at me with a smile, but his eyes were sharp and threatening.
I could only stare wide eyed at Jake.
“Liam,” Jake said warningly, taking a step towards us.
“Relax,” Liam advised him, taking a step back, pulling me with him. “You wouldn’t want to cause a scene.”
“That’s exactly what I want to do. That way everyone will know what a creep you are,” Jake said, his tone deadly. “But I won’t do a thing if you let her go and never go near her again.”
“Why would I do that?” Liam said, his tone almost taunting. Gone was the dumb jock from a few months ago who seemed like a normal, albeit an annoying, sweetheart. Instead was this creepy, psycho guy who shouldn’t be allowed out in public without someone responsible present. “We’re best friends.”
And before I could even register the action Jake swung his fist out and caught Liam right in the jaw. His hold on my waist loosened, but as he went down he took me with him. Warm hands caught mine, jerking my whole body to a stop, yanking me upright and away from Liam’s form that hit the ground hard.
“Don’t come near her ever again Liam or you’ll get something worse than a punch in the face,” Jake hissed, holding me tightly. “Come on,” he said more gently to me. He cocked his head to the side, looking at Chad. He seemed to understand and walked with us to our table, while everyone in the cafeteria just watched us.
I kept my head bowed, black hair covering my face while Jake kept his arm around me. We sat down at our table and Chad took his usual place on my other side.
“Thanks Jake,” I said quietly, taking his hand and squeezing it.
“Trust me, it was my pleasure,” he said, eyes narrowed.
I half smiled and he chuckled a bit, kissing my forehead.
“Anyone want to tell me what’s going on?” Chad asked, looking confused and a little annoyed.
“Yeah, what was that whole scene for?” Jo asked, eyebrow arched.
“Liam,” I said simply, wincing. Jake wrapped his arm around me and I leaned against him gratefully. Tyler and Leena suddenly joined us.
“Hey,” Tyler said, his eyes landing on me and Jake for a moment before he frowned, “Something wrong?”
“Well Jake punched Liam out,” Chad said, still sounding puzzled, slightly annoyed and concerned all at once.
Tyler’s hands curled into fists, “What did he do?”
Jake gave a quick explanation while I stayed quiet.
“Is that everything?” Tyler asked, looking relieved.
“No,” I said quietly.
“What do you mean?” Jake said sharply.
I swallowed hard, giving my own quick, and quiet, explanation of this morning. As I watched I saw Tyler and Jake’s faces get even more furious. Even Jo and Leena looked angry. Chad looked angry as well, but also still confused.
“Why didn’t you tell me about that?” Chad asked me, his blue eyes troubled.
“That’s not all,” Jo shook her head, blonde hair swaying, “There was also Homecoming.”
“Homecoming? How many times has he done shit like that?” Chad’s eye widened.
“Just those three times,” I said quickly.
“God Ivy, I’m sorry,” Chad said, wincing.
“It’s okay. You didn’t know,” I assured him, biting my lip.
“Still, I feel bad,” he took my hand and squeezed it, looking guiltier than I ever thought it was possible for Chad James to be. I mean, he was not the type to get guilty over anything.
I smiled a bit, “Honest, it’s fine. I even forgot about him until I ran into him this morning.”
“What a creep,” Jo shuddered, “I can’t believe I ever found him drool worthy.”
“Well he was normal a few months ago. I guess that’s not the way he really is.”
“Still, he’s such a freak,” Leena said, making a face.
“Nothing we can do about it now. We can only hope Jake’s punch rattled his brain enough to maybe make him realize that it’s not a good idea coming near me again,” I grinned at Jake, leaning my head against his shoulder comfortably.
“I sincerely doubt that he’ll give up, but that’ll be a good thing. Punching him is kind of fun,” he said, looking oddly cheery now considering a few seconds ago he looked like he was ready to kill. Hmmm. Wonder what his deal is.
“I bet you’ll be dreaming of beating on him tonight, eh?” I teased, “But while you’re dreaming be careful not to hit me. I’ll be sleeping on the floor next to you.”
“Why will you be sleeping next to each other?” Jo asked, blue eyes darting between me, Jake and Chad pointedly, before going back to me.
“He,” I straightened up and poked Chad’s side, “Made me watch a horror movie. I didn’t sleep at all last night because I was scared out of my mind. So now I’m bunking with Tyler and Jake, but Tyler refuses to give up his bed and be a gentleman so I have to sleep on the floor instead.”
“Well I say if you watched the horror movie you deserve to be scared out of your mind. Be happy I’m letting you sleep in my room with Jake, I’m bending the rules for you,” Tyler said, shrugging.
“Bending the rules?” I frowned.
“I wasn’t aware those rules were still in place,” Jake’s eyebrows rose.
“What rules?” I asked.
“Nothing you have to worry about,” Jake said hurriedly.
I glared, “Fine.”
The bell rang and we all stood up. And it took me a moment to realize that Jake still had his arm around my waist and my arm was around his. I disengaged myself from him and blushed, suddenly feeling guilty for doing that with Chad sitting right there. I guess that was the look Jo had been giving me meant. Not to mention Chad’s unusual quietness.
I watched Jake and Tyler walk to their foyer together, while Chad walked with me to my locker and Jo and Leena went their way.
“You okay?” I asked once we got to my locker.
“Shouldn’t it be me asking you if you’re okay?” he asked with the ghost of his usual humour. He seemed distracted.
I shrugged, “I’m fine. But you look like something’s bothering you. What’s up?”
“I don’t really like the idea of you and Jake sleeping together,” he said. “I mean, you guys used to date…and I know you used to be good friends and all…”
“Chad seriously, nothing happens when we sleep together,” I assured him and then I realized too late how bad that just sounded.
“How many times have you guys slept together?” Chad’s eyes narrowed.
“A few times, sometimes it was just we were up to late and passed out on the couch, sometimes it was just sleepovers with Tyler, Jake and I. We all slept in Tyler’s room and as usual I got the floor since prissy pants didn’t want to give up his bed for anyone. But nothing ever happened. We just slept or talked. That’s it.”
“Still. I don’t like it. I mean, Jake’s cheated on you, so he wouldn't be afraid to kiss you or something even when you’re with me."
I bit my lip, “Jake wouldn’t do that to me.”
“He cheated on you. Why wouldn’t he kiss you now? Doesn’t he still want you?” he pointed out.
I shook my head, “No. You don’t know him like I do. He would never do that to me unless I wanted him to,” I noted my tone sounded a little more mean and snappy than I’d intended…I think. I couldn’t help getting defensive about Jake; I cared about him too much to let people think or talk about him as if he was a manwhore or something. If anyone was going to be mad and not trust him, it was going to be me.
Chad shook his head, raising his hands in a surrender gesture, “I don’t want to fight about this. I was just saying.”
“I know. And it makes sense to be worried, but nothing’s going to happen. Promise,” I pecked him on the lips before I turned back and reached for my French binder.
Chad got it down for me and handed it to me, “You should really put that on a lower shelf.”
I swallowed. That was exactly what Jake had said to me and did for me before…I took a breath and tried to push the thoughts out of my head.
“I should,” I agreed, taking the book before I slammed my locker shut. “Come on. We better hurry or else we’ll be late.”
********
The sleepover idea wasn’t really working. Tyler was asleep and snoring like a freaking old man. Jake was passed out on the floor a few feet away from me. And I was lying flat on my back scared out of my mind, especially every time I heard a creak or noise.
But after a long time I finally got exhausted enough to sleep. I guess from not sleeping last night helped me get tired tonight.
Of course I couldn’t have a happy, peacefully slumber. No. I had a nightmare about demons killing my friends, blood and gore and screams included, and then Liam and surprisingly Chad coming after me, their faces changing into ugly beasts as they tried to kill me together.
Apparently, I made quite a racket screaming my head off in fear because the next thing I knew someone was holding me and rocking me back and forth, whispering. I didn’t even know who it was, I just curled up in a ball, buried my face in their neck and tried to calm down and forget about the gory images my mind had concocted.
“Ivy it was just a nightmare,” the voice said, warm and comforting as a hand stroked my hair. “Nothing’s going to get you. I promise.”
It took a long time, but after a while I finally relaxed enough to see who was holding me. I wasn’t surprised to see Jake looking down at me with concern, wiping away tears I hadn’t even known I cried.
“Jake,” I whispered, “I’m scared.”
“I know,” he finished wiping my tears away and instead cradled my face with one of his strong hands, the skin rough from playing guitar. But it was oddly comforting. “Let’s go downstairs.”
I nodded mutely as he picked me up and crept into the hall. It was black as night in the hall and I eyed it with huge eyes. I was horrified. The end of the hall was where Liam and Chad cornered me and tried to kill me. But Jake walked towards it as if it was nothing and then turned to go down the stairs. Once we got downstairs he set me on my feet, but continued to hold me with one arm while he flicked on lights, making my creepy dark house seem bright, cheery and safe.
He set me down on the bar stools at the breakfast counter and went to the freezer. I put my head in my hands and closed my eyes, breathing deeply through my mouth.
A small thud in front of me made me look up. Jake took the stool next to mine and popped the lid open on the container of ice cream before handing me a spoon.
“Comfort food,” he explained, smiling wryly.
I smiled a bit and took the spoon from his hand. We ate ice cream together in companionable silence. Even after we stopped eating ice cream we still sat there, not talking.
“Can we watch Beauty and the Beast?” I asked quietly. There was no way I was sleeping tonight and I wanted something to occupy my mind.
He nodded and stood, taking my hand and leading me to the living room. He turned on more lights while I sat on the couch, knees pulled up to my chest. He searched through our collection of VHS until he found it and popped it in. He joined me on the couch, wrapping us up in a warm blanket before sliding his arm around me. I leaned my head against his chest as the movie started and he lowered the volume so we could hear it, but wouldn’t wake anyone up with it.
As the movie progressed I sat up a bit straighter and sang along softly, feeling almost like a little kid when I used to sneak down with Tyler to watch our favorite movies and shows during the night. But I wasn’t a little kid anymore and I most certainly wasn’t with a guy that I even thought of as a brother anymore.
Halfway through the movie, exhaustion started hitting me and it was a struggle to keep my eyes open and to continue singing along. But I kept going, even when my eyes started closing and my singing turned to half hearted off beat mumbles. My head fell comfortably against Jake’s warm shoulder. And then I was out like a light with no dreams or nightmares to bother me.
--------------
Idk how well imma sleep tonight considering I jist watched a bunch of episodes of WITCH the last of which (haha) was season 2 the episode called Self and NOW I HAVE 'WILL TO LOVE' IN MY HEAD AND IT WONT COME OUT ITS SO PRESH ugh i havent watched much of anything lately so even the bit of fluff in WITCH is making me all giggly and toe-curly and ugh guys I need some affection like asap xD
Its almost my sisters bday and i cant WAIT for her to open her present i hope she likes it ugh it was kind of hard but it was fun and ill post pics of it on my deviantart/art blog soon!! i finally finished her gift today and im so relieved, i thought i wouldnt finish it in time and hells yeah i finIshed it three days beforehand. And she thinks im a procrastinator HA! Now all i have left to do before school starts is my ironman drawing and my moms alice in wonderland painting. both are nearly finished so i hope it wont take me long. i also got some new markers to try and wow markers are so much FUN i so need to go back to the art store and get a whole bunch more in diff colors cause ive got an elsa drawing and a stormfly/astrid drawing calling my name! and also i seroously need to get the latest Wedding Planners Daughter books because they rock forever and I need to read them asap.
Anyhoo im off to edit some more then sleep cause its already 12:37 am yo
Much love and good vibes,
xx Laura <3
Edit: can you tell I'm tired I thought I published this last night. I guess not. Oops.