Him

Party Drama

"What do you wanna know first?" I ask.

"What'd Jake say?" Emma asks.

"Yeah. He got pretty close," Hazel adds.

"For real! Spill it!" Fi says excitedly.

I tell them to wait till our teacher, Mr. Daws is done. He is handing out papers and doing a quick intro. We all know this class isn’t going to be too hard. As soon as he is done, my friends turn and face me.

"Okay. He didn't say much," I say. I tell them what he said and they all giggle. I decided to go ahead and tell them how I felt too.

"OMG!" Fi exclaims.

"You two must be soul mates!" Hazel jokes.

"Whatever!" I said.

"Well, have you ever felt that way about Owen?" Emma blurts out.

All of them go quiet and they stare at me. I knew this question was coming. Actually hearing it being asked, I wasn't ready for it. I have to answer them though.

"Look, Owen and I have a different kind of relation... I mean friendship," I say, quickly correcting my mistake.

"Woah, stop," Emma says.

"Did you just say relationship?" Fi asks.

"Yes, but I... I didn't mean too," I say quickly defending myself. It is too late though. They heard me. And they know me way too well! Even if I try, I cannot hide anything from them.

"So, what did happen between you two?" Hazel asks.

"Yeah, you totally left the funeral," Emma whispers.

"Okay, please don't freak out!" I start. "Obviously you saw him come after me. Well we talked a bit and then I asked him if we could go somewhere. So he took me to his house."

I stop, knowing the next part of my story.

"Then what happened Katie?" Fi asks.

I take a deep breath and say, "Well, his parents weren't home. Which you probably know, because they are never home. So we went up to his room."

"Yeah?"

"We...okay. We...” I start.

"Oh my gosh!" Hazel interrupts me.

They all look at each other, then back at me. They have wide-eyes and are kind of grinning. I was kind of confused at their reaction. It was definitely not what I was expecting. The wide eyes sure, but the smile? What the heck is that supposed to mean?

"So what you're saying is," Hazel started. "You and Owen, you know..."

"Yes... We did!” This time I interrupted her. I didn't realize how loud I was until other groups of people look at me. Most of them have shocked expressions. Jeez, I'm embarrassed now. I avoid eye contact with everyone.

"Not what you think! Mind your own business!" Fiona yells to everyone.

Everyone immediately turns away from Fiona's harsh tone. Fiona may be the smallest in our group, but she isn't one to mess with. They turn their attention back to me. Smiling instead of frowning.

I look at my desk and don’t say anything. They get the message and slowly turn back around.

Class goes by quickly and the next class I have is study hall. Really easy first semester. Pretty much easy year! Silently Hazel and I walk to our lockers.

Hazel looks at me as I shut my locker. I have no idea what to say to her. Actually I have no idea what to say to any of my friends. I start to walk to the classroom but Hazel grabs my arm.

"Katie," she says. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"I've known you forever. What's up?"

I sigh and then say, "I just don't get it."

"Don't get what?"

Hazel and I walk to our class slowly. She looks over at me and waits for my response.

"You, Fi, Emma. You're like... so okay with what happened," I say.

"Of course we are. Katie, we're your friends! We don't judge you."

"You know, I think I'm the only person in this school with perfect friends."

"Oh! I know."

We laugh and make our way into class. There are barely any people in there. Hazel and I just stand in the doorway, looking around to see who is all in there. Unfortunately three wrestlers are in here. Riley, Jimmy, and Johnny.

Great!

Slowly we walk farther in. I try to hide from the guys as Hazel and I find some seats. To my left I can see Johnny tapping Jimmy and pointing at us. I look away, but it is too late. They have all seen us and are getting up. As they move closer I look at my phone. I hope they will think I am ignoring them and leave.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite girls," Jimmy says.

Crap. They aren't leaving. And I know Hazel isn't going to make them move. Especially not Johnny.

"Oh. Hi guys," I manage to say.

"Missed you at the party last night," Riley says.

"Yeah, missed you and all your girls," Johnny adds, putting his arm around Hazel.

Hazel and Johnny have a thing for each other. They have for a while. They've never really dated before, but everyone knows to say away from Hazel. She is Johnny's 'girl." and no one messes with Johnny's girl!

"Yeah, sorry," I say.

"Katie dang! What's up with you lately?" Jimmy asks.

It's not that I'm mad at them. It's just, they're Owen's friends. So it's a bit awkward. They all know what happened. I didn't want to know what they were thinking.

"Nothing's up with me. I'm fine," I state.

"Fine, huh? Then I expect you, and your girls to be at the party tonight," Riley says.

Riley is actually one of my really good friends. I have known him my entire life. He and I were best friends for the longest time. I feel bad for not talking to him a lot these days.

"We'll be there," Hazel agrees, looking into Johnny's eyes.

They all laugh and shake their heads. Slowly they all get up and move. They go back to where they were sitting. I roll my eyes and Hazel laughs. I want to go to the party but I know I shouldn't.

School's back so I shouldn't party anymore. I need to focus so I can graduate. I look around the classroom. There still aren't very many people in here. I look up and see Owen joining the wrestlers. In the doorway I see Jake.

I nudge Hazel and point at Owen, and then to Jake. She is just as shocked as I am. I can't believe I have so many classes with Jake. I really didn't think I'd have a class with Owen, but there he is.

I avoid eye contact with both of them. Talking to Jake seems like a bad idea with Owen being there. So, I just look away. Hazel notices me looking at them.

"You can't have them both," she teases.

I roll my eyes at her and says, "I know and if they stay away, it'll be easier.

We both giggle and start listening to music together. I have a feeling this class is going to take forever. Since it's the last class and before lunch, I won't be surprised.

"Uh oh,” Hazel whispers, nudging me.

"What?" I ask.

"Look," She says pointing towards Owen group.

I look up to see Paige Jenkins and her group. She makes her way up to Owen. He stands up to let her pass him. She catches me looking at her and smirks. Instead of walking passed Owen, she puts her hand on his chest and moves closer to him. He looks at me slightly and doesn't move her. He just talks to her.

"Really?" I say angrily and get up.

"Katie, don't do anything stupid." Hazel pleads.

"Two can play at this game," I fume, completely ignoring Hazel.

I look up to where Jake is sitting and motion for him to come sit with me. He gets up and comes over to me.

As soon as he does I have him sit next to me and I say, "Play along, please."

"What do you..."

I interrupt him by sitting on his lap. He is shocked but doesn't seem to mind. I look up at Owen and then back at Jake.

"Everyone please take your seats! And sit in your own seat." The teacher calls.

I get up and move in between Hazel and Jake. I whisper a quick thank you to Jake.

"No problem. But you owe me." He says.

"What do you want?"

"I heard there's a party tonight. Go with me?"

I think for a moment and say, "Okay. Deal."

-----

As we pull onto the street looking at the house, I could see that there are way too many people there. The sight is pretty overwhelming. The music is so loud. I wonder if the neighbors notice. I'm sure they do, they probably got used to it. From the car you can see people dancing inside and outside the house. Craziness. But that's pretty normal.

Jake told me he'd meet me here. So I came with the girls. We walk up to the house and the bass immediately vibrates our insides.

"Katie! You made it!" I hear Riley yell.

"Hey!" I say hugging him.

He hands me a cup and puts his arm around me. He leads me towards a group of people. Owen of course, is included.

"Hey. I knew you'd come," He says as I get closer.

"Oh, don't you mean to say that to Paige," I say coldly.

"Oh come on. Don’t be like that."

"Just forget it," I say turning to walk away.

He grabs my arm gently and pulls me back to him.

"Katie, please don't walk away from me."

I sigh and look up at him. I feel a bit sad when I see the sadness in his eyes. He moves a bit closer to me. I can't stay mad at him. No matter how much I try, I just can't.

"Katie." I hear someone say.

I turn around and see Jake standing there. There's a quick flash of something in his eyes. I'm not sure if it's jealousy or anger. But why would he be mad? It's not like I'm doing anything wrong.

"Hi Jake," I say.

"You know, we were having a conversation," Owen says to Jake.

"Yeah? Well we are here together. So I can interrupt," Jake argues.

"Guys stop!" I say.

Owen pushes me to the side and goes up to Jake. His jaw is clenched. "I'm sure she only came with you to make me jealous."

"Like you did to her in class," Jake reminds him.

Owen and Jake continue to fight. They start to yell at each other. A crowd is slowly drawn towards to us.

Whack!

Before I know it, a punch is thrown! I look and see Owen on top of Jake. Jake pushes him off and gets up. They start to throw more punches and more of a crowd comes near us. Owen takes Jake to the ground again and punches him a few more times.

"Owen! Stop!" I yells and grab his arm.

He pushes me backwards and I fall to the ground. As soon as I hit the ground everyone goes quiet.

Owen jumps off of Jake and comes towards me. He put his hand out for me and keeps repeating 'I'm sorry.'

"Just get away from me," I say getting up and running through the crowd.

I stand up against the wall.

The lights shut off. I know the lasers are about to come on. That's the highlight of the party. But I'm not feeling it. I really just want to go home. I know Owen didn't mean to push me. He didn't hurt me. I just fell down. He just wanted me to move away.

"Staying away from him would be wise," A male voice advises me.

I don't recognize this voice. It sounds scary. And it's way too dark. I can't even see who it is.

"Stay away from who?" I ask.

"Him. And you know who I'm talking about."

"No I don't. And who says you can tell me who I can and can't..."

Whack! A hand swooshed across my cheek; hard! The pain throbs and stings. Tears fall down my face and I hear the person move away. I put my back against the wall and sink down to a sitting position.

Who was that person? It had to be someone I know. They wouldn't have been able to find me, if they didn't know me. Why'd it have to be dark!

Why'd he hit me?

----

I wake up the next morning in my room.

After what happened at the party I had called Maya. She came and picked me. I didn't tell her what happened.

I sit up in my bed and put my hand on my cheek. It still hurts. But I'm sure it'll be okay.

I slowly get out of my bed and start to get ready for school. As I walk by my mirror I jump. There is a bruise on my cheek. It is noticeable.

I look at it closer.

It'll be fine, I say to myself. Whoever it was most likely want come back. I don't need to worry about this!