Careless, Reckless Decisions | ONC 2021

Chapter Three

WARNING: This chapter includes violence, strong language, and graphic scenes.

UPDATE: I passed the 1st round! Yay! I'm thanking all of you guys who have been supporting me, and I am really enjoying writing this book! I hope you all enjoy it!~

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Kia's eyes floated over to mine, and when she glanced at John, I instantly knew what she was planning.

Gulping, I let her words play out, "Jenna, truth or dare?"

I knew that if I picked truth, she would ask me if I liked John, but if I picked dare, she would make me do something equally as embarrassing.

Looking around at the faces around me, I noted that the only people I really knew were Danielle, Kia, and John. So, taking my chances, I stated the only reasonable answer.

"Dare," I watched as Kia's smile grew bigger, and hoped that I had made the right choice.

Everyone had their full attention on us, including John. I'm guessing the people around me weren't the only ones who knew that Kia had a bit of a wild streak in her.

"Bad idea." Kia snarled, but I knew what she was going to say couldn't be that bad.

Right?

She cracked her knuckles, and sat up straighter, "I dare you to go out into the woods with John for a full 10 minutes. You guys can do whatever you want with each other, and it stays between the two of you."

My mouth slowly parted, as I spared a look at John, my face blushing with embarrassment.

He shrugged nonchalantly as if going out into the woods with girls was on his daily routine.

I tried to keep a straight face, but when John turned to walk out of the sunroom to the backyard, my smile erupted, spreading from ear to ear.

And don't think I forgot the wink Kia sent my way, as everyone cheered excitedly at our turned backs.

The wind was like a slap on my face as I stepped out of the house, with John hot on my heels.

We walked side-by-side, not really speaking, as we got closer to the stillness of the woods, the music that seemed so loud before, just background noise.

"So," John started, as we crossed the street that seemed to be the only separation from the house and the forest in front of us.

"So," I responded, hoping he would continue his sentence.

I took in a glimpse of our surroundings and decided that it was too dark to focus on one thing.

"So there must have been a reason why Kia put us both out here...alone." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and stared at me, his eyes holding some kind of hidden mischief.

I chuckled awkwardly, "I don't know, you tell me."

That's when my laughter instantly died down, as John pushed me against the trunk of a tree.

It was harder than I had expected, but John didn't seem to notice.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," I could feel his hands gripping my thigh, and I immediately wanted him off of me.

"John-what are you... what are you doing?" I put my hands on his chest, trying, but failing to push him off.

I could feel him edging closer to me, and I knew that the John I knew, was nowhere to be seen.

Everything was happening so fast, and I suddenly became very aware of where we were, and how little help I could get from way out in the middle of what seemed to be a deserted forest.

"Get off of me," I stated simply, hoping John would get the memo, but to no avail.

Again, I gave him a hard push, and this time he seemed to be surprised as he stumbled back.

I recognized this as an escape and took my chance gratefully.

I sprinted faster than I ever have before towards the music and lights that I was just basking in a few minutes ago.

"Jenna!" I could hear John's voice behind me, but I kept running.

Realizing that we went further into the woods than I was anticipating, I stumbled over a branch on the ground, scratching up my hands pretty badly.

I could feel the sting of my cuts, and the warm liquid that was sure to be spilling out of them. While I was on the ground, I tore off my heels and threw them in John's direction to slow him down. My horrible aim only ended up slowing me down instead.

"Shit," I cursed under my breath, quickly picking myself up, and continuing to run.

If it wasn't for the flashing lights of the party, I would have been lost by now.

"Where are you going, pretty thing?" I could still hear John calling for me, and I could tell he was getting closer.

When I finally reached the road, I was more than out of breath and was panting heavily.

Maybe I should have gone to the gym with Kia yesterday.

Darn my terrible social skills.

My ears were pounding, and my adrenaline was racing.

"I got you," I shrieked as John snaked his arms around my stomach and squashed me until I could barely breathe.

I felt as if I was drowning, and when I finally got a gulp of clean air, the shark dragged me down again.

"John, please," I yelped, tears streaming down my face. "I don't want to do this with you. Let me go."

It was like a flick had switched on John's calm and collected behavior from earlier. He was acting like a completely different person than I was used to.

"I don't think so. You're much too fun to play with." I could hear the smile in his voice as he whispered down my neck.

We were fighting in the middle of the road, me trying to push him off, and him trying to tug me back into the forest.

I could barely see anything through the blurring of my tears, but I knew that if I was taken back into the woods that anything could happen.

So, I settled with poking him in the eyes when my hand was free and then made my get-away.

I finally broke apart from John, and when I did, there was a sudden blazing flicker of lights that appeared out of nowhere, and it seemed to blind us both.

I heard some sort of shouting, and then the unmistakable sound of a car's motor bursting to life.

When I realized the sound was not coming towards me, I knew that John would be experiencing something way worse than being blinded by headlights.

And if the sound of bones cracking, and liquid splattering onto my face wasn't enough proof, then I don't know what was.