Finding His Sun

Chapter Five

Erin had the night off work and Mason was busy, so she knew she needed to stay home and supervise. She applied makeup to cover up Mason’s work from the night before. She felt dizzy. Do I need to eat? She thought but decided against it when she remembered Mason saying her hips looked bigger.

 She hated staying for Ryan’s parties and she normally would go to Mason’s, but he had work tonight. And tonight, was one for the books apparently. 

Ryan was known for his outrageous parties, but tonight was a reunion of a large number of his high school friends. Everyone in the town was talking about tonight. Erin picked up the house and put on a brave face. Ryan had bought ten kegs, most likely with Erin’s money, so she knew tonight would end in a wild mess. She was actually thankful that Mason had bought her a new outfit just a couple of days ago, to show her how much he loved her. She looked at herself in designer clothing and knew she didn’t deserve it, but it made her feel pretty.

She set out food, while people started to pour in. She saw a few people she knew and had small conversations. Most were just surprised to see her. She rarely showed up until the morning after, ready to clean up. 

She had friends in high school but was always too busy with her thoughts and dreams. She loved to paint and sketch and found herself in the art classroom most of the time. It was where she could be at peace and leave her sadness on the paper. She never enjoyed Ryan’s friends or the gossip that was spread. She was the talk of a lot of conversations lately. Mason was always in the spotlight, but she was fine in the shadows. She just tried to keep her head down in a small town like hers, gossip spread like wildfire.

Half of the people she saw were a mix from her and Ryan's high school classes. Erin knew these people were never really friends with Ryan, they just used his house as the party stop, and its continued for years. It seemed like Ryan's parties would just get crazier and crazier as time went on. Erin hated it, but had no say in the matter. 

After an hour of socializing and watching people tear her house apart, she found Ryan. She couldn't take it anymore and needed to breathe. 

“Hey, I’m going to head out. I'll be back in the morning. Call me if you need me”.

He was lost in the song, so Erin walked out the back door when someone stopped her. Next thing she knew she was pushed up against the bricks. Pain gushed through her head and abdomen.  Once her head stopped spinning, she saw Mason staring at her with his deep blue eyes. His brownish blonde hair is perfectly in place, as always.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were going out?” she asked, ignoring her pain.

“Is it not okay to come see my girlfriend? Is that against the rules?”. Ow. That was stupid.

 “No! It’s perfect!” She said with a smile hiding her fear. 

“Well from the looks of it you don’t even want to see me! I’ll leave and let you have your fun” he said through gritted teeth. 

“Mason! I’m sorry it just caught me by surprise, but I am so happy to see you!” She said with her biggest smile. It wasn’t good enough. It’s over.

His grip tightened. She closed her eyes when she saw his glazed-over eyes. She clenched her jaw and awaited the first blow, which ended up knocking the breath out of her. 

As she was trying to gather the air around her, the faint smell of whiskey filled her nose. Oh no. She knew better than to fight back, so she braced herself for the next one. This one knocked her down. Dammit Erin.