CHAPTER 2
1837 Words
Beth
I woke up with my head hurting real bad. My stomach felt sick. I hated drinking.
I put on a big t-shirt and shorts and went to the kitchen. I needed coffee.
Lori was there reading a book. She always read old books that nobody else read. She had her coffee and didn't look up.
"You could've told us where you went," she said.
"Sorry." My face got hot. "I just needed to leave."
"Why didn't you tell us about Tyler?" Maya came out of her room. She had a towel on her head and was wearing her pink robe. She looked mad.
I started crying. I couldn't help it. Maya ran over and hugged me.
"I'm sorry!" I said. "He told me he wanted to wait to tell people. I thought he was being nice. I didn't know it was all fake."
"Boys are trash," Lori said. She still didn't look up from her book. "Most of them anyway."
"Yeah screw boys!" Maya said. "You're smart and pretty and you're gonna be a vet! You don't need Tyler. Let's get breakfast."
I got dressed in my normal clothes. Jeans and a hoodie. I fixed my braids. Then we went to get food.
When we got to the dining hall I saw him. Stephan. He was coming out with some other guys.
"Oh my god that's Stephan Nightshade!" Maya grabbed my arm. She was freaking out. "He's so hot! He owns like half the buildings in town. He's rich and gorgeous!"
Other girls around us started getting excited too. They waved at him. I hid my face with my hair. I wanted to disappear.
But he walked right over to us. I kept looking at the ground.
"Hi Stephan!" Maya said. She was twirling her hair. "Did you hear about the party tonight? To celebrate the hockey win?"
"Yeah," he said. His voice made my stomach feel weird. "Should be fun."
I looked up a little. He was staring right at me. His eyes were doing that thing again. Like he could see inside me.
"You coming?" Maya asked him.
"Maybe." But he was still looking at me.
Then he left with his friends. I could finally breathe again.
"Did you see how he looked at you?" Maya whispered real loud. "Beth I think Stephan Nightshade likes you!"
"No he doesn't," I said. But my heart was beating fast.
We got food and ate. But I couldn't stop thinking about last night. About his hands on me. About how good it felt.
Later that day there was a hockey game. Maya made me go. She said I needed to show Tyler what he was missing.
The arena was packed. Everyone was excited. We found seats near the middle. I could hear girls around me talking about the players. Mostly about Tyler.
But some were talking about someone else.
"Did you know Stephan Nightshade is here? I heard he comes to all the games."
"He's not even a student! Why does he care about hockey?"
"Who cares? He's so hot!"
Then the cheerleaders came out on the ice. Sasha was in front. She looked perfect in her tiny uniform. Her blonde hair was in a high ponytail. She smiled and waved her things around.
I felt sick looking at her.
The hockey players came out next. Tyler skated over to Sasha and they looked at each other. Everyone knew they were together now.
He never came to see me at games. He said it would be too obvious. But he had no problem showing off Sasha.
"Don't look at him," Maya said. She handed me binoculars. "Here look at the other players."
I took them and looked around. I don't know why but I looked for Stephan in the crowd. I wanted to see him.
Then I found him. He was sitting way up high. But somehow he was looking right at me. Right at my exact seat. How did he know where I was?
His eyes met mine through the binoculars. They looked silver. Almost glowing. I dropped the binoculars real fast.
"You okay?" Maya asked.
"Yeah fine." But I wasn't fine. How did he find me in all these people?
The game started. I watched Tyler play. He was good. But then I noticed someone else watching the game real close. A guy in the front row. He was wearing all black.
It was Stephan.
Why was he here? He wasn't a student. Maya said he owned buildings. Why would a rich guy care about college hockey?
The game got rough. The other team was getting mad because we were winning. Their captain kept trying to trip Tyler. Then Tyler scored and the guy totally lost it.
He threw down his stick and helmet. Then he jumped on Tyler and started punching him.
Everyone screamed. The refs blew their whistles. They pulled the guy off Tyler.
Tyler got up and his face was bleeding a little. But he was okay.
At halftime the cheerleaders did their show. Sasha was flipping and jumping. Everyone clapped.
"I'm hungry," I told Maya.
"Want me to come?" she asked.
"No it's okay." I just needed a minute alone.
I went down to get a pretzel. While I waited I felt someone watching me. I turned around.
Stephan was standing by the side with his friends. But he was staring at me. His eyes were so bright. Almost not human.
I felt like I couldn't move. Like I was stuck. Like he was pulling me toward him without touching me.
"Miss? Your pretzel?"
The food guy broke the spell. I took my food and paid. When I looked back Stephan was talking to his friends like nothing happened.
I felt weird and scared. I didn't want to go back to my seat. I just wanted to go home.
I threw away my pretzel and left the arena. The cold air felt good. I walked back to the dorm fast. I kept feeling like someone was watching me. Following me.
But every time I looked back nobody was there.
When I got home I locked the door. I was being crazy. Why would Stephan follow me? Last night was just s*x. That's what he did. He probably already forgot about me.
But then why did he keep staring at me?
An hour later Maya came home. "Where did you go? I couldn't find you!"
"My stomach hurt," I lied. "From all the drinking last night."
"Well you better feel better because there's a party tonight! At the fire pit in the woods. And you have to come! You need to show Tyler what he's missing."
She went to her room to get ready. I texted Lori to see if she was going.
"Yeah I promised Maya," she wrote back.
I sighed. I had to go. I couldn't hide forever.
I took a shower and looked at my clothes. For some reason I wanted to look good. Not for Tyler.
For Stephan.
I picked a short black dress with tights and boots. I put on my leather jacket. I did my makeup. Just a little.
When I came out Maya smiled big. "You look hot! Tyler's gonna be so jealous!"
But I didn't care about Tyler anymore.
We walked to the party around nine. It was in the woods behind school. There was an old campground there with little cabins. Students used them for hooking up.
In the middle was a huge fire pit. The fire was already going. Music was playing loud. People were dancing and drinking.
Lori pulled out a joint right away and went to sit alone. That was normal for her.
"You look good," Maya said. Then she went to talk to some guy.
I got a beer and looked around. I didn't know if I wanted to dance or sit.
Then I heard voices from one of the cabins. They sounded mad. I walked closer to listen.
"I made it clear I was just having fun!" That was Sasha.
"I broke up with my girlfriend for you!" Tyler sounded really mad. "You said we'd be together!"
"I never said that," Sasha laughed. "Why would I date you when I can have any guy I want? You're pathetic."
"Oh yeah?" Tyler said. "Any guy? How about Stephan Nightshade? Everyone knows you're still mad he dumped you. Why don't you go ask him to dance?"
I heard someone walking. Then the door opened hard. Sasha came out and almost ran into me.
"If you're gonna listen at least don't make it obvious," she said mean. Then she walked toward the fire.
I watched her go right up to Stephan. He was standing with a bunch of girls. Maya was there too.
"Hey Stephan," Sasha said sweet. "Want to dance? I haven't had a partner yet."
Stephan looked at her. Then his eyes moved to me. Just for a second. But I felt it everywhere.
"We broke up a long time ago Sasha," he said.
"Come on!" Sasha pushed her boobs up. "You can't tell me you don't miss this."
Stephan just shrugged and turned away. Like she wasn't even there.
Sasha got so mad. She walked away fast. Then Stephan looked at me again. His eyes were glowing again. Gold this time. It scared me.
I dropped my beer and walked away fast. I went behind one of the empty cabins. I just needed a minute.
"Hi Beth."
I jumped and turned around. Stephan was right there. He was so big and tall. The fire was behind him so his face was dark. He looked scary.
Something else was weird too. At the bar we never said our names. How did he know mine?
I tried to walk past him. But he blocked me.
"Why are you avoiding me?" He sounded hurt.
I stopped. "I'm not."
"It seems like it," he said. "You left last night without saying goodbye."
"What do you want me to say?" I whispered so nobody would hear. "You had your one night stand. You never see girls twice. I made it easy for you."
"Is that what you think of me?" He sounded really upset now.
I felt braver. "Everyone knows you only sleep with girls once. Then you move on."
"You're different," he said.
Was this a joke? Was Tyler watching somewhere? Did they plan this to hurt me more?
Stephan moved closer. He touched my face. "I want to see you again," he whispered.
My heart was beating so fast. This didn't make sense. Guys like him didn't want girls like me. Not for real.
He leaned down. His lips were almost touching mine. I could smell him again. That forest smell that made me dizzy.
"I want a second time with you Beth," he whispered. His breath was hot on my skin. "And a third. And a fourth. I want all your times."
Then he kissed me. Right there behind the cabin where anyone could see.
And I kissed him back.
- Writer
