Don't Say You Love Me

Chapter SEVEN

Teegan

Luke Turner seems like a pretty cool guy. That is, until Lola and Riss are suddenly walking over towards us, and fast. It's a bit after 10P.M. and I'm slowly drinking a can of warm beer and making small talk with Luke. We mostly talk about the rental hut and how I like Avila Beach so far. Isaac and Miles have been around, too, keeping the fire going strong. Lots of other teenagers are all around us, talking, laughing, drinking. The party has been pretty chill so far, and - dare I say - fun.

"I'd back off if I were you," Lola calls out to me, but I'm not even sure she's talk to me, at first.

"Wha-"

"Oh, shit," Luke says and then he's standing.

I look to my left, where he's looking, but it's too late. I don't have time to stand up or move out of the way or even say a word. A split second later, an entire cup of something sticky is being tossed in my direction.

I'm stunned, more than anything. I don't know what's going on. It feels like the moments are passing in slow motion and when I realize what's happening, my mouth drops open.

"He's taken," the girl in front of me is saying. I can see she's talking to me but still everything feels a bit off. "Seriously, who even are you?"

    "Naomi, why would you do that?" Luke asks, stepping forward. He's beside the girl now, looking at me.

I'm still sitting. I'm still confused.

"I'm talking to you!" the girl yells at me. "Are you dumb?"

"I'm covered in whatever the fuck you just threw at me," I say, standing up slowly.

"You were trying to chat up my boyfriend," she goes on, like she's done nothing wrong.

"I wasn't-" I say, at the same time that Luke says, "Naomi."

"So, who are you?" she asks me, her hands on my hips. She's short and looks younger than me, and I remember suddenly that Luke said he's only just going into senior year in the fall.

"I'm leaving," I say, instead of giving her my name.

"Yeah, you should. And leave my boyfriend alone," she goes on, as if she's won whatever fight that was.

"Teegan," Luke says, exposing me a moment later. I don't want to give him a second look, but I do. "Sorry."

"Luke, let's go," Naomi yells, already storming off towards the house.

I'm embarrassed and pissed off, mostly because I literally did nothing wrong and got a drink thrown at me. I'd mistakenly thought I was having a good time, too. If that girl was so concerned about her boyfriend talking to me, she should have used her words like a big girl. But, also, Luke didn't mention he had a girlfriend. Not that that mattered. We were just talking.

Luke saying he was sorry did nothing, because when she beckoned him, he followed her like a lost puppy. My heart still racing, I walk down the twenty or so feet until I'm at the water, where I wash off my legs and hands, and then start the walk back to my mom and Francis' house.

It should only take about fifteen minutes, but it's dark out now and I can barely see in front of me. When I was sitting near the fire, I didn't realize how dark it was. After taking off my sliders and walking barefoot in the wet sand, I'm just watching my feet, putting one in front of the other.

Pulling out my phone, I realize the battery is almost dead. I need to turn on my flashlight to see where I'm going and how much further I have to go, and just as I flick on the light, I see a body coming towards me.