𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 . neil perry

𝑿𝑰.

CHAPTER ELEVEN — i was lonely
——— ⋆୨୧ ₊ﾟ♡ ⊹ɞ ———

I WALKED UP THE FRONT STEPS of chet danburry's house and pushed open the unlocked door.

it wasn't that late, but i was far from being the first one to show up. groups of girls stood chatting, and alcohol was obviously in some of the football players' hands.

i gazed around, spotting knox in the corner of the kitchen with a few football players in front of him. he adjusted his tie and gulped down something the other two were also drinking. he caught my gaze and i smiled weakly at him.

he had his hair done and was dressed up more than anyone else there. i knew it was because of chris, and i thought it was a cute gesture.

"hi faye!" a voice said. it was chris herself.

"oh, hi," i said back, quietly because people from school made me very nervous.

"thanks for coming," she continued. she walked away mid-sentence so i knew i was okay now.

i walked away, wanting to leave already. i started to look for knox, hoping that seeing someone familiar would hopefully make me feel better.

i saw the suit. he was leaning against a wall, looking over in chris's direction. he looked sad, but i guess it was because chris was with chet danburry and they were talking.

i walked over to him. i didn't really want to, and i didn't think he wanted me to either. the least i could do was stand near him.

"hey," he said, still in the corner of the kitchen he was with the jocks at.

"hi."

silence.

this was horrible. i leaned against the counter and watched all of the people talking and drinking in the crowded living room. i was getting more nervous when i kept seeing that more people were shuffling in. i nodded to knox before walking away from knox and making my way to the hallway. it took me a while, but i finally found the guest bathroom.

i walked in quickly and locked the door behind me. i pulled out a cigarette and sat on the edge of the bathtub. my head hurt badly, and i knew the cigarette smoke wasn't helping at all. i heard a knock on the door. then someone walking away. soon, i checked my watch and i had already been in the bathroom for 10 minutes. i quickly exited and tried my way down the hall and outside.

"hey," a raspy voice said when i passed. i turned around, the person now clearing their throat.

"hi," i replied, continuing to walk down the hall to leave.

"wait." they continued. i stopped. then, i turned around to face who was talking to me.

"yeah?" i questioned, raising my eyebrows. he stepped closer to me, and the smell of alcohol was present.

"nothing, can't you just chat with me?"

"i've got to go," i said, turning on my heel and walking. he grabbed my arm. his grip wasn't tight, but it did send chills up my spine.

"why?" he continued, his hand still on my arm, "it's only 9."

"i have to get home soon, better to be early," i said this with a smile, even though i was lying.

"you can talk to me for a minute then, can't ya?" he said, dropping his hand.

"i have to go," i said. the boy wasn't wearing a letterman jacket, but he was wearing a sweatshirt with our schools name on it. it had a big stain right down the middle, and i started to wonder just how drunk this guy was.

"talk to me," he said, raising his voice a little.

"no, i've got to leave." he now blocked my path and whenever i tried to move he would change his direction. i hoped knox would see it and intervene, or anyone at this point. i could feel the lump in the back of my throat as his voice got increasing louder. i looked over at a few people walking past and even when they saw me they just kept walking on.

my headache pounded harder than before and i had a nervous pit in my stomach. he kept talking loudly and i held back even the idea of tears. then, he tried to reach for my face.

before my body knew what i was doing, my right hand had been balled into a fist and was slamming into his jaw.

i had never hit anyone before, so i could barely call it a punch. he had stumbled back only a little bit, but i used it to quickly walk to the front door. my hand was on the doorknob, and i felt the tears streaming down my face. i went to turn the knob, only to hear an argument behind me. i spun around and saw knox and chet danburry. i watched, since chet looked very upset.

then he hit knox, and he fell to the floor. i let out an audible gasp and ran to his side.

"knox!" i shouted, with a shocked expression. chet was still trying to hit him and chris was yelling at him to stop. i helped knox up, grabbed his coat and we left quickly.

"what happened?" i said to him softly, turning my face to the side so he couldn't see my upset face.

"nothing," he grumbled as i handed him his jacket and a clean handkerchief from my pocket for his bloody nose.

i looked down so he wouldn't notice me. we were halfway to welton when he noticed.

"are you crying?" he said, stopping on the sidewalk, "over this?"

"no." i said, "there was a guy and he wasn't letting me leave. and he was yelling."

"a guy? did he hurt you?"

"no. he grabbed me, though."

it got silent as he stared at me. "i'm sorry."

i shrugged and we kept walking.

we were at welton in a few short minutes and i waved knox goodbye, the bloody handkerchief still in his hand. i walked back slowly, kicking pebbles as i went. my head still hurt and i wanted to go home, but i had to stop crying–i could hardly even tell i was–first.

i made my way up the driveway and walked inside.

"how was it?" john asked from the dining table. i shrugged and walked upstairs. i took my shoes off and got into bed. i fell asleep very soon after that.

———
✉️: ꒰ 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ
sorry for slow updates, i just had to change a lot of things with this book and i started to hate it.