17. We Lived
1606 Words
I run for a long time. I find myself on the opposite side of the property from the pools. There is not much here. A bunch of trees and bushes. My feet hit the sand and I back up. I find a tree and sit on the ground beside it. I ring my fingers over and over.
This night has been so weird. I didn't want to be here from the beginning. There are too many people here. Most of them are drinking. I don't know any of them except Everett. Everyone else is a stranger. Drunk strangers. I'm so dumb to stay here.
I hear someone yell and I try to lie in the bush.
The slides were fun. Lots of people were around. It seemed safe.
The phone was too much. I just wanted to leave. They wouldn't let me leave. Then the drunks no doubt caused something to break.
It's ok though. I'm fine here. I just need to breathe. Did I convince myself it was safe so I could play on the slides? I should have listened to my gut at the beginning. That really caught up to me.
A dog licks my head. Then he whines and lays down. I giggle and he rolls over. I give him a belly rub. "You're a good dog. You can be in my safe spot."
He sits up and barks.
"No. Shhh."
He barks again.
Dante walks through the bush. "Do not run. He will chase you."
I side eye the dog and take off. He chases me barking. I laugh and run the beach. I get close to the water and splash him. He jumps in the water. Then he chases me and shakes. I laugh so hard and try to block the water.
Dante walks over to us. "We need to go back. You can't stay over here. It's too dark."
"Yea. I'm sorry. This whole thing was a mess. I need to go home."
The dog barks and shakes at me again. I crack up laughing and chase him.
Dante guides us to his little sitting area. Hugo, Cassie, Nyx, and Everett are in it. Everett jumps up. "You scared me, baby."
"I'm sorry. It was the loud..."
"I know."
The dog starts barking and growling.
Everett backs up. "Ok. Good job finding her secret spot though. I figured it would be impossible out there in the dark."
Dante nods. "I wouldn't have found her without Barney. He gets the credit. But the asshole ran right towards her. Never even changed direction once."
I pet his head. "He's a good boy."
Hugo reaches for him and he growls. "Don't even, boy."
Barney gets so close to me and growls louder.
Dante reaches for him and he shows his teeth. "BOY. Now you're in trouble."
I give Barney a hug. "He didn't mean it." He licks my head.
Nyx tilts his head. "He's protecting her. You realize that, right? Even you can't get close to her, Dante."
"No. He won't." Dante stands right beside me and holds my arm.
Barney growls and grumbles but ignores him other than that.
Hugo takes a step towards me and Barney jumps in between us. He shows his teeth and starts snapping them together.
"I'll be damned. He is protecting her." Dante scratches his head.
Everett nods. "As fascinating as this is, we need to go. It's 10:20. We need to be back by 10:30. Are you coming with us, Nyx?"
"Yea. I put Dante's alcohol in your helicopter. I'm definitely going with that."
Cassie cracks up laughing. "Teenagers are so fun."
I wrap my arms around myself. "I'm sorry I went crazy."
Dante winks at me. "It's fine. I think we all went a little crazy tonight. We'll make sure you guys are alive in the morning. How much alcohol did you take?"
Nyx takes off running. Barney chases after him, barking.
Cassie nearly falls off her chair.
Hugo shakes his head. "Good luck getting him back in his crate. That boy is wired."
Everett gives me a hug. "Everything is fine, baby. Let's go relax and drink half of Dante's alcohol supply."
I crack up laughing and Dante shakes his head. "I need to check your helicopter before you go."
We get to the helicopter and Barney is sitting on the seat beside Nyx. "I think he's trying to come home with us."
"Appears that way." Dante and Hugo get in. Then they laugh. "No. Just no. You kids don't need eight cases of liquor. You'll be in the hospital before you can drink one case." They unload it and give us a bottle of wine.
"Thank you." I hug it.
"You're welcome. Have fun and get out of the helicopter, Barney. You're not going with them." He grumbles and lays down with his head on my lap. Dante shakes his head. "No. OUT." He finally jumps down.
Hugo hops out laughing. "Your dog has it worse than you."
Dante laughs and gives a signal to the pilot.
Everett's phone goes off as we lift off. "And there's my mom."
He texts her back right away. Being in a helicopter over the ocean is amazing.
"Crap. Give me that. They'll see it if we carry it in." Nyx shoves it in a bag and I hear glass clink.
"You got more?"
"I grabbed a bottle of wine first. They missed it in their search. Now we have two."
We laugh and Everett puts his arm around me.
We smuggle it to my room and split it up into water bottles for us. We change into regular clothes and go to the kids' party. They're in the living room watching the New Year's stuff on the TV.
I drink half a bottle then Andy downs the other half. We laugh at each other for a while. He's a good kid.
Another older teen must figure it out, cause soon she's walking around with one of our water bottles.
We listen to music and dance until it turns midnight. Then we jump around cheering. This was a fun party even if it was just kids. I actually liked it more than the other one.
When we're leaving, Andy trips on the stairs and takes out Nyx. I crack up laughing while they blame each other.
"Kids go to bed. It is late." Jessica and Ann chase everyone to their rooms.
Everett goes into his room, straight through the bathroom, then gives me a big hug. "Are you alright, baby?"
"Yes. Tonight was a lot. I want to think about it more tomorrow. I don't know how much of an effect wine has on me right now."
"Yea, you did drink a bit. Are you ok with me in here tonight?"
"Are you ok?"
"Yes. I didn't drink that much. But even if I was hammered, you'd still be safe. But you need to be ok with me sleeping in here. If you're not, I understand. I can go to my room for the night. You decide."
"I want you to stay with me."
He picks me up and carries me to bed. "Good. I want to stay too. I can't imagine not sleeping here. I haven't slept in my own bed once."
I giggle and fall asleep in his arms like always.
About 11 the next day, me, Nyx, and Everett get summoned to the dining room. Dante is sitting at the table.
Nyx rolls his eyes. "We lived. You didn't have to check on us."
I giggle and sit down. "You made the kid's party more interesting. Andy and Nyx fell down the stairs."
Nyx cracks up laughing. "Then Jessica yelling at us for f*****g around. We weren't f*****g around, we couldn't make it up the steps."
Everett shakes his head. "They made it eventually. Everything is fine."
"I'm glad you had fun, but that's not why I'm here." Dante pushes the phone box at me. "It's not negotiable. You have to have a phone for safety. I was told, you don't like owing people money or having them pay your way. You don't have to worry about this. It is one of my business phones. I have at least fifty lines for employees and ten lines are chilling in my office. You're not costing me any money. I promise you."
"But."
"No. I'm not negotiating. Not with this. You have to have a phone. When you don't have a phone, the school can't contact you. Nobody from BlackRock can contact you. You can't call for help. Your friends can't contact you. You are taking it."
"But."
"I'm not negotiating. I dropped it last night and waited until today, so you wouldn't be overstimulated. But I'm not waiting anymore. It's your phone."
I look at Everett. "He's really pushy."
He shrugs his shoulders. "You need a phone. He's not being dramatic. What if the school needs something and can't get a hold of you?"
"I guess."
Nyx hands me the phone. "I'll help you set it up."
Everett kisses my head. "Then you can use the money from last night to buy a case. That'll help keep it safe."
"I was going to give that to your dad."
"Give him $200 and then get a case. A case is important."
"Will I have enough left for peanut butter?"
"Yes."
"Ok."
Dante smiles and stands up. "Thank you. My old bones need to rest for a few days after that party."
"Thank you." I don't really want it, but maybe they're right. And I have to say thank you.
"You're welcome." He winks as he leaves.
- Writer
