Bitter

twenty-six - cal

Just after Lydia had gone inside Jason's house, I walked down the patio steps under the clear night sky. A group of people were talking to my left, but as soon as they saw me, they started whispering and eventually headed back into the party. They made it fairly obvious they didn't want me here. Whatever.

I kicked an empty soda can into the grass and strolled around the glowing, turquoise pool. I thought about the way Lydia had looked just a minute ago. Scared. That's how she looked. And Haley had the switchblade? Still? As much as I hated Marco right now, he was in danger. It just gave me another reason to find Haley and do...something. I wasn't entirely sure what yet, but I'd do something because no one else would.

I looked around the backyard for awhile, just in case Haley was hiding in the shadows somewhere. No one. Not one person. The only thing that was keeping me company out here was the bass of the music inside, knocking on the walls. It was useless searching outside. I'd have to go back in and try upstairs. That was the moment I lifted my gaze to the balcony of Jason's parents' room on the second story. The curtains drawn in front of the sliding glass door were shuffling. The room looked to be completely dark, but there were definitely people in there.

Squinting (as if that would help me see better at all), I watched as the door finally squeaked open, filling the silent air. A laughing Marco stepped out first, followed by Haley who was saying something I couldn't make out to Marco. It must have been a joke or something because Marco cackled, leaning on the balcony railing. What was so funny?

That was when it hit me that Marco was drunk and Haley had taken advantage of that. From where I was standing, I could see a small, glinting object grasped in Haley's hand and he held it out of Marco's view. The switchblade. No, this couldn't be good. My heart dropped into my stomach and I raced around the pool, sprinting for the patio door.

Once I was back under the pink lights inside, I shoved people aside, fighting my way through everyone like I was hacking vines. I made it to the living room and briefly saw Lydia standing by the stairs, just before someone blocked my view. I pushed on, earning a lot of angry glares, but I was only focused on reaching those stairs. Lydia turned, meeting my eyes, and I could tell she knew something was wrong.

   "Go," I urged, slipping by her, "upstairs, go." It was all I could say because I didn't have time. Bolting up the steps, I reached the second floor and crashed through the door. Haley and Marco both snapped their heads to look right at me from out on the balcony. I darted straight towards them through the dark bedroom.

   "No!" was all I could shout as West Haley shoved Marco over the low railing. It didn't help that Marco had already been leaning pretty far over it. I ran and just barely missed his fingers when he plummeted down into the pool below. I whipped around and all I saw was Haley staring back at me, a smile playing on his lips. I cursed and was just about to punch him when he swiped at me with his blade, causing me to slip backward into the railing, losing my balance. That was when he used all his strength and pushed me.

  I felt myself slip over the side, my breath hitching in my throat and there was a moment of weightlessness. It all happened so fast. Haley was staring down at me from the balcony and he was the last thing I saw before I hit the water with a smack.

I was swallowed by silence when I sunk. The water was cool and all I saw was darkness. It would've been kind of nice if I wasn't in the situation I was in now. Another muffled crash into the water sent frothy bubbles my way, rushing into my nose and mouth. I fought to swim upward as I realized West Haley had jumped into the pool and was in here with me. With a switchblade.

   Surfacing for only a second, I gasped for air before something (someone) forced me back down. The silence surrounded me again and as much as I struggled to swim up, Haley was holding me under. I could feel myself running out of air, so I kicked Haley and propelled myself backward, out of his grasp. I then broke the surface again and choked out water. My eyes opened to Haley swimming right toward me, the blade cutting through the pool like a shark fin. "Come here you little sh—"

I grabbed his arm that had the blade and twisted it so he shouted out in pain. Unfortunately, with his other hand, he balled it into a fist and drove it directly into my already injured nose. I couldn't help but release his arm as sparks exploded across my vision. Then I felt something warm travel from my nose to my lip and eventually tasted it. Great. It was bleeding again.

Haley cackled and held the switchblade up, flicking the blade back into itself. "You just can't win, Warrick!" he yelled, even though the backyard was completely empty and I could hear him perfectly fine. I swam a little farther away when he went quiet, and then I realized he was shaking with laughter, the kind where you can't get a single sound out. "I think," Haley started, "you forgot something."

What? Forgot something? Then I remembered Marco. I immediately began searching the pool, the darkness of the backyard not helping much. "Marco?" I said, my gaze falling on a form floating soundlessly on the other, deeper end of the pool. "No..." I breathed. Haley completely disappeared from my mind as I launched myself forward and swam quickly to where the drifting form was.

Yep, it was no doubt, Marco. Unconscious. How long had he been like this? He had definitely been drunk and Haley knew that. Haley had likely been distracting me while Marco drowned just feet away and I had fallen for it. "Marco?" I tried, reaching out for him and holding him up as best as I could, so that his lolling head was above the water. I didn't think twice about dragging him over to the side of the pool. The light from the party inside was brighter now, washing over the yard and the moonlight guided me over to the edge. That's when I noticed two people emerge from Jason's house.

   One was Meg Sadler. Her brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she was wearing a very sparkly dress. I wondered if that was what she had been planning on wearing to the dance with me before I'd ditched her. She looked good in it, I had to admit. I'd seen Meg once tonight but hadn't really been paying attention to her.

   The other girl beside her was none other than Lydia Bosher. The only thing I could think of when I saw her was our strange, brief conversation. It wasn't even a conversation, more like a quick warning and then she had pushed her way inside the house. She had warned me about Haley and the infamous switchblade and once I thought about that, it never really left my mind.

I had reached the edge of the pool and was trying to get Marco out of the water, pushing him up. Meg and Lydia both rushed over and hauled him off, setting him down gently right beside the pool and I climbed out, eyes trained on Marco.

"Is he breathing?" I asked, kneeling as I looked over what appeared to be a lifeless Marco. Was I too late? Was he d—

   Marco gasped so loud it was like his soul had left and was now reentering, filling his body. He retched and water spilled from his mouth. Then he said nothing. Not to me, not to anyone. He didn't even look at us. He just stared off into the distance, shaking under Meg's hand that was placed on his arm. West Haley had done this.

Lydia and I both looked at each other and it seemed like we were thinking the same thing. There was a hint of fear in her eyes and I understood what I had to do. I glanced around the backyard, realizing Haley was gone and had most likely run off somewhere. That's it, I would find Haley and I'd kill him. I was sure of it.

   Marco was staring endlessly at the fence behind me and the wet boot prints running up the side of it told me all I needed to know. I was instantly on my feet, running to the fence. I leapt the wood panels and hoisted myself up, swinging one leg over the top.

A voice stopped me in my tracks. "Wait!" it blurted into the still air. I turned my head and saw Lydia flitting across the grass, eventually arriving right at the bottom of the fence, gazing up at me. A moment passed before she stuck her hand out at me. Was she seriously thinking about going after Haley? What could she do?

I mean, she had told me about the blade and everything. And she told me about Marco being in danger too. Still didn't know why she even cared about him though. Maybe she knew something more. Maybe she could come just this one time. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I knew I'd regret it. Rolling my eyes, I leaned down and gripped her hand.

   I lifted her up part of the way and she climbed up the rest, right onto the top of the fence beside me. Letting go of her hand as fast as possible, I told her to keep up (because I wasn't slowing for her) and jumped down,  landing in Jason's neighbor's yard.

   Wherever West Haley was, I'd find him. After what he'd done to Marco, I would make sure I did and I'd kill him.