Killing Me Softly

Ten - Run

I told Sydney that she could get ready at my place for the party. Sydney was going to stay the night at my house and now I just had to figure out how to sneak us back into the house. Thankfully, Paul said he would drop us off on the way to his friend’s house and even offered to pick us up. That solved the problem of sneaking back into the house.

“Should I wear this shirt or this one?” Sydney asked me, holding up two halter tops.

I frowned. “It’s going to be cold, no?”

She shrugged. “If I drink, I won’t be cold.”

“You’re going to drink?”

She shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Don’t get sick. I’m not carrying you inside.”

Sydney laughed. “I’ll be fine.”

I rummaged through my closet, looking for my striped sweater. It would be cold tonight and unlike Sydney, I wasn’t planning on drinking. It took a minute, but I finally found my sweater and the black jeans I had forgotten that I had lost.

“Are you going to do your makeup?” I asked.

“I think so. You?”

“I feel like I should.”

“I think you should. Grayson is going to be there.”

My stomach fluttered at the mention of Grayson’s name. “We’ll see,” I replied.

At around eight o’clock, Paul was irritated. He kept knocking on my door while yelling that we were taking forever. Mom and Todd went out for dinner so sadly, they weren’t here to tell him to shut up. At about a half past eight we were ready to go. We would’ve been done sooner but Sydney forced me to do my makeup.

“We’re ready!” I yelled out from downstairs.

Paul came rushing down the stairs. “Took you long enough.”

“What? You got a hot date?” I teased.

Paul scoffed. “Maybe.”

I rolled my eyes. “I doubt it.”

Sydney chuckled earning a glare from Paul.

Paul dropped us off at the house and as we were getting out, he called my name. He rolled down the passenger window and I bent down to peek in.

“Be careful. Call me if you need anything,” he said.

“I will. Thanks again.”

Paul sped away, leaving Sydney and I standing on the sidewalk across the street from the house. Sydney was beginning to look a little nervous. I took a deep breath before making my way towards the house. There weren’t too many people at the house right now, but I immediately spotted Grayson’s car in the driveway. I wove our way through the small crowd that was formed by the front door.

Inside, there was countless more people. I glanced behind me to make sure Sydney was following. I grabbed her hand to make sure we didn’t get lost. I didn’t know where I was going, I was just trying to get away from the crowd.

I pulled Sydney closer to me. “Where to?” I asked.

She looked around the room. We were in what I was assuming was the living room which still had a multiplex of people and growing by each second. She chewed on her lip as she looked around. She was looking for one specific person. She grabbed my hand and quickly walked towards someone.

“You made it!” Jensen said over the music and people. He gave Sydney and I a big bear hug. “Do you want anything to drink?”

“What do you have?” Sydney asked, completely delighted.

“Uh, everything,” he said with a chuckle. He led us to the kitchen where there was beer bottles, plastic cups, and food wrappers along the counter. There was an island in the middle of the kitchen with a giant punch bowl sitting atop it. Jensen pointed to it.

Sydney made a face. “What’s in it?”

“Vodka, I think.”

Her nose scrunched up. “Is it good?”

“I like it.”

“I’ll have a cup.”

Jensen dug around the cupboards looking for the plastic cups. He pulled out two and filled up each of them a little more than halfway. He handed one to Sydney then one to me. I didn’t want it but I didn’t want to be rude and refuse so I took it.

I took a small sip. I tried my best to not make a face at the pungent taste. My throat burned as it slowly went down. I wanted to gag. Vodka was not good and i don’t know why anyone would drink this.

“Where’s Grayson?” Sydney asked.

Jensen pulled a beer out of the fridge. “He should be around here. He just got back from picking up Hope.”

“Who is that?”

I nudged Sydney. She needed to stop asking so many questions. Jensen was going to get suspicious and wonder why she wanted to know about Grayson.

“He invited her.”

“Oh,” was Sydney’s only reply.

“Why do you ask?”

“Curious. You’re always hanging out together.”

Jensen took a drink, eyeing Sydney suspiciously. She didn’t seem to notice. Or she

chose to ignore it and down most of her drink.

“Do you want to play beer pong?” Jensen asked.

I was about to say no when Sydney screamed yes. I had no choice but to follow them

outside to the backyard where there was a table set up.

“Austin!” Jensen shouted to someone in the crowd. A guy with longish, shaggy, blond

hair appeared.

“What’s up?”

“Me and you versus them,” Jensen nodded in our direction.

Austin smiled. “Sounds good.”

Get this: I was actually good at beer pong. Like, really good. A small crowd had started

to form around us and watched as the game grew intense. Austin was also really good and was constantly making Sydney and I take drinks. The game seemed to go on forever, but we finally made it towards the end. We had one cup left while the guys had two. It was my turn to. I threw the ping pong ball towards the last cup. It hit the edge of the cup and bounced off the table. Sydney was next and I was too focused on the game to even notice who was around us.

Sydney tapped the back of my hand and looked over across the way where Grayson stood with a girl. Her arms were around his waist while he rested his left hand on her shoulder. In that moment, I wanted to ground to swallow be whole. It bothered me to see him with someone else. There was an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. I downed the rest of my drink to fill the emptiness.

Sydney took her turn and also missed. She gave me a sympathetic smile. I wasn’t sure if it was for missing the cup or Grayson. Either way, I smiled back to reassure that I was fine. Jensen took his turn and made it into the cup. My cup was empty, so someone handed me theirs to take a drink from. There was a little less than half left, so I downed the rest and handed the cup back to them. Austin went next and thankfully missed the cup. Sydney wanted to go first this time. She missed which meant it was up to me to make this last cup. I was beginning to feel a little drunk. I threw the ball hoping for the best.

Lo and behold, I made it.

Everyone cheered.

Jensen shook his head. They had one last chance to redeem themselves. Austin was way too drunk and missed. Jensen was the last one to go and he also missed.

People around Sydney and I congratulated us and kept telling us how awesome the game was. I faked a smile and said thank you. One girl even pulled me away to hang out with her and her friends. At this point I was drunk so I went along with it.

Since I had somehow made it to the kitchen, I poured myself another glass of punch. I laughed and talked with everyone that came along my way. I think I actually ended up dancing with someone. I felt like I was suffocating in the house, so I went outside to get some fresh air. I pulled my phone out from my pocket to text Sydney. I had seen her earlier sitting on the couch talking with Jensen.

The brightness on my phone was too much and I struggled to turn it down. I was starting to see everything in double. Someone ran into me, making my phone drop to the floor face first. I quickly picked up my phone from the floor to check the screen. It was slightly broken.

“f**k,” I whispered to myself.

“You should probably slow it down,” someone said coming up behind me.

I quickly turned which I shouldn’t have done because it made me dizzier. Grayson stood just a few feet away from me. He was alone this time.

“I’m trying to call Sydney to go home.” I turned my back on him and started walking towards the front of the house to get away from the loud music and the crowd. I dialed Sydney’s number, but the call kept failing. So, I walked down the street just a bit to try to get a better signal. I kept trying and trying with no luck.

Right when I was about to give up, I heard some rummaging in a bush. I ignored it, thinking it was just a raccoon or some other animal. I went to call Paul when I heard a slight growl coming from behind me. I turned around to find a dog a few feet away from me.

The growling grew louder, and I started to realize this wasn’t a dog. Slowly, I took a few steps back. With every step I took, he took one forward. I grew more and more nervous with each step. What I couldn’t understand was how in the world there was a wolf in the middle of the suburbs. I looked around to call out for some help but there was no one. Somehow, I had wandered off farther from the house then I thought.

I didn’t bother to look behind me, so I ran directly into something. Or someone, I should say. I turned my head to see that I had back directly into Grayson. He didn’t bother to look at me, he was too focused on the wolf.

The only thing I heard him say was, “Run.”