Lost and Found

Chapter 15 | The After Party

The noise of the party drowns out Julia's shriek as the cold, sticky drink in her hand splashes on Matt and herself. With a gasp, Julia turns around to the person responsible. Ava.

Ava smirks at her. "Whoops."

Maddix, Jackson, and the mean girl laugh. Her self-confidence drips away as her drink drips down Matt's shirt. Don't they have something else to do? Dance, drink, or annoy themselves instead of her.

"Bitch," Matt says. He wipes the wet spot on his shirt.

Ava narrows her eyes, and her mouth dramatically drops. Maddix steps forward to defend Ava. Although, she's far from a helpless girl who needs a knight to save her.

"Shut your mouth Lions-scum," Maddix says. His presence makes Julia shiver.

Matt puts away his drink. "Still using the same little insult after all these years. Small vocabulary or not creative enough to think of anything else?"

Maddix shoves Julia aside, hurting her shoulders, and pushes against Matt's chest. Shi–. In less than a second, Matt's friends are beside him. But so is Maddix's crew while she stands between the two groups.

How did she end up here?

Mason grabs her arm and pulls her out of the Lions and the–whatever Maddix's team name is–standoff.

"Don't effing touch her," Matt snaps at Mason.

"Don't tell me what I can't do." Mason pushes her behind him.

In other situations, Mason putting on his dirty armour and protecting her would be sweet. The romance movie kind of thing to do, and not the I'm-going-to-murder-you horror movie. Point for Mason? Should she start scoring romantic Mason and psychopath murderer Mason? Maybe.

Still, she's scared. Her heart pounds rapidly in her chest. Please don't fight. Please don't fight. There's nothing she can do to stop them. Domoor.

Testosterone fills the air. The tension is high between the two groups. Before anyone can throw the first punch, a twenty-something guy with short black hair and green eyes steps between them. "Okay. That's enough." His low voice grabs everyone's attention, and the guy holds their gaze. Julia peeks from behind Mason's back. The guy seems sort of familiar.

"Don't worry. We're taking the party somewhere else. We don't lower ourselves to bullies," Matt says, walking backwards. Olivia dashes to his side and clutches his arm.

This could've gone really wrong. All of the sudden, Julia becomes aware that her trembling hand clutches Mason's shirt. She quickly lets go as Matt meets her eyes, gesturing with his head to come. Guess the party's over. Matt turns around and walks away with his friends.

"Julia?" Mason reaches for her arm, but Julia has other plans. She runs after Matt and Olivia. This wasn't supposed to happen. 

Oliva stops, gesturing for Matt to walk further. Turning to Julia, Olivia's eyes spit fire. "What is wrong with you?"

Confused, she shakes her head. "I didn't–" She didn't mean for any of this to happen. This wasn't her fault, right? She was talking to Matt. Nothing more. Ava was the one who started all this.

"Why don't you go with your new friends?"

"But... They're not—You and Matt are my friends," she stutters.

"I guess not anymore." Olivia turns around and catches up with Matt.

Hot tears roll down her face as pressure builds up in her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. Her eyes become blurry. Her hands shake at her side. This isn't happening. Without thinking, she pushes open a door and runs into the house. Her eyes dart around the hallway. Julia doubles over as she hugs herself.